10 The Practical Stud Groom. 



their legs in safety while their boxes are being cleaned 

 out. Again, when the Summer sun has baked up the pad- 

 docks and rendered them totally unfit for the lungeing of 

 fat yearlings, the sand ring will be ideal, both from the 

 concussion and tiring-out points of view. 



With regard to the materials to be employed in the con- 

 struction of stud farm buildings, the author has no hesita- 

 tion in declaring for brick, stone, or concrete walls, tiled 

 roofs and concrete or chalk floors. The straw-thatched roof 

 may have its advantages of warmth in Winter and coolness 

 in Summer, but these are outweighed by the utter impossi- 

 bility of effectually disinfecting it after cases of fever, 

 strangles, influenza and other infectious complaints. The 

 same drawback applies to boxes built of timber ; the cavities 

 between their double-sheeted walls, whether stuffed with 

 fibre or not, afford a lurking place for harmful microbes, 

 which even a powerful spraying machine will not effectually 

 reach. The advantages that bricks and tiles hold over wood 

 and thatch in the event of fire breaking out are obvious. 



The best material for floors, when it is available, is 

 chalk. Well rammed down, it takes a durable surface, yet 

 is absorbent, and, best of all, every few years can be easily 

 dug out and replaced with perfectly fresh material. 

 Cobble stone paving, set in mortar or cement, besides being 

 much more costly, has the disadvantage that the mortar has 

 a way of becoming detached from the cobbles, and the 

 horse's urine soaks through the interstices thus created, 

 with the result that the underlying soil becomes saturated 

 with impurity. The remedy is to take up the paving, 

 remove the foul soil, replace it with fresh, and repave 

 altogether a troublesome and costly process. The ordinary 

 grooved brick or tile used for stable paving, where expense 

 is no objection, answers well, but the cross grooves are apt 



