BARNS AND STABLES. 41 



cise a very important influence upon animal as well as vegetable 

 life. Provide the windows with shutters or blinds, to exclude light 

 when desired, and with facilities for opening. In summer the 

 windows may be replaced with fine wire gauze to exclude the flies. 



Perfect drainage is a matter of prime importance. Dampness 

 is a fatal defect in a stable, and is usually the principal cause of un- 

 wholesomeness in basements. If the soil upon which the barn stands 

 is naturally damp, it must be drained by porous tiles, laid from two 

 to three feet underground. For draining the stalls no plan is cheaper 

 or more effective than a gutter in the rear of the stalls, leading 

 through the side of the barn to the manure pit, or to the sewer in 

 cities where the liquid manure is of no practical value. Compli- 

 cated systems of blind drains, with grated openings inside the stable, 

 are almost certain to give forth foul emanations of so-called sewer- 

 gas, about as bad as no drainage at all. 



The foundation of a good horse is its feet. No matter how sym- 

 metrical the head and body may be, without sound legs and feet it 

 is next to valueless. The first care, then, for the horse passing a 

 part of every twenty-four hours in its stall, should be for the feet 

 and legs. Standing upon a hard floor is liable to injure the feet. 

 A floor of clay and coal -ashes is desirable for a horse whose feet are 

 liable to become inordinately dry from lack of natural moisture and 

 subject to contraction of the heels. Such a floor should be four or 

 five inches thick, one-third sifted coal-ashes and the remainder 

 moist clay. Make a thin mortar of the clay and add the ashes, 

 working the mass with a hoe, as mortar is made for plastering pur- 

 poses, until the two are thoroughly incorporated together. When 

 the mortar becomes quite " stiff," put it in place and beat down 

 hard with a rammer of wood, similar to that used by pavers. When 

 dry, this earthen floor will be hard, but it may be moistened where 

 the horse's forward feet come — the hind feet, for obvious reasons, 

 are not subject to the same conditions as regards moisture. Such a 

 floor will become worn by constant use where the most tread conies, 

 but is easily renewed by cutting out portions down through its 

 thickness and replenishing with new material. A horse predisposed 

 to tender feet, and liable to contraction of heels, with other feet and 

 ankle troubles, if obliged to occupy his stall half of the time or 

 more, will do better upon the earthen floor. 



A great deal has been written about stable floors, and elaborate 

 directions given for constructing them of stone, concrete, asphaltum, 

 and cemented brick. But there are objections to all of these 

 materials, so serious that none of them has ever found general favor 

 in this country. Stone is hard and cold for the horse ; concrete and 



