122 THE FAMILY HORSE. 



Bons, as domestic comfort is greatly dependent on the carriage being 

 always at command. This may be secured in most cases by thorough 

 drainage. Every stable should be kept free from dampness. Hardly 

 less important is it to provide the t^est means of keeping up a toler- 

 ably even temperature in summer and winter, and to furnish sufficient 

 ventilation. The horse requires a constant supply of pure air. Pure 

 air is the source of pure blood and pure blood is the source of health. 

 Too many, in their desire to keep their horses comfortable in cold 

 weather, neglect this important matter. Neither man nor beast can 

 enjoy health while inhaling corruption at every breath. Yet many 

 stables are built with little regard to ventilation. The air in the 

 stable should be constantly changed, without creating a draft upon 

 the horse. The impure air can be carried off by ventilators, which 

 should be placed on the top of every stable. The stable should be 

 well lighted. Light exercises as much influence upon animal as 

 upon vegetable life. Many diseases are much more virulent, and 

 the eye cannot retain its full power if deprived of light. 



The stable for the horse should be of good size. The narrow 

 dimensions of many of the stalls are a positive cruelty to horses. 

 They are built too narrow to enable the horse to extend his limbs 

 when he desires. He is compelled, when in a recumbent position, 

 to double his limbs up under him, and his legs are thus kept cramped 

 when they should be completely at rest. Box-stalls permit the 

 animal to choose its position and change it at pleasure. Comfort is 

 essential to health, and it is evident that the animal cannot be com- 

 fortable when closely tied in a narrow stall. The stalls should be 

 kept clean, and the floor daily sprinkled with some good absorbent, 

 as gypsum, to absorb the foul odors continually arising. Absorbents 

 are not generally used freely enough about stables. Besides having 

 pure air for the animal to breathe, a stable that is stored full of hay 

 and grain ought always to be well ventilated, and kept clean, that the 

 impurities of the air may not penetrate these. All food should be 

 kept as pure as possible. Cleanliness about the stable is just as 

 important to the health of the horse, as cleanliness about the house 

 is important to the health of the family. 



MANURE ; ITS STORAGE AND DISPOSAL. 



Every thoughtful farmer realizes the importance of saving the 

 manure from all his stock. Yet few give it the care necessary to 

 save it as it should be. The urine is the most valuable part of the 

 excrements of animals (being the main source of nitrogen), yet this 

 is mostly allowed to settle into the soil and be lost. How many of 

 our farmers throw the manure under the eaves of the stable, expos- 



