STABLES. 39 



i«table is five and a-lialf feet, but five feet will suftice, if the 

 length of the stalls is as recommended aboA-c. There sliould 

 be a shallow gutter behind the stalls, for which a width of 

 from six to nine inches should be allowed. 



Mang^ers and Racks — Cast-iron mangers, which are 

 enamelled inside, are greatly to be preferred to wooden ones, 

 as the former are practically indestructible, and also more 

 cleanly thnn the latter. If wooden mangers are fitted, tljeir 

 depth should be about nine or ten inches. Hay-racks ought 

 not to be placed above the manger, but on a level with it, 

 they being fixed either alongside tlie manger, or in the right- 

 hand corner of tlie stall. Hacks made ot cast-iron are m^'ch 

 superior to those made of wood. 



Floor of a Stable. — This should be raised some inches 

 above the level of the surrounding: "round, in order to ensure 

 dryness. Before flooring the stable, the soil must be exca- 

 vated to a depth of from six to nine inches. The first-named 

 depth is sufficient when the soil is light, but if the. soil is clay, 

 tlien the site requires to be excavated to a depth 

 of nine inches. The excavation should be filled with 

 rubble and broken bricks, this bemg done in order 

 to have a porous layer underneath the floor. The 

 floor itself must be thoroughl}'- waterproof, so that there 

 is no chance of the urine draining through the floor into the 

 soil beneath ; if this happens, the stable soon becomes un- 

 healthy, and the air in it is always impure. Bricks are pretty 

 fiequently used for flooring the stables on farms, as they are 

 comparatively cheap. The great dra^vback to the ordinary 

 brick as flooring mateiial is that it absorbs wet, and is moro 

 or less porous. Blue stable bricks are much superior to 

 ordinary bricks, and the same applies to clinkers; both make 

 an excellent floor. In addition to the materials named, con- 

 crete is very suitable for floors; in order to })revent the 

 liorses from slipping, it should be grooved in a longitudinal 

 direction in the stalls. Bricks and clinkers must be set iji 

 cement, the interstices also beino' cai'efullv fllled with cement. 



