AVOID DAMPNESS 339 



the second floor, because of the condensed moisture and 

 the breath of the animals in the stable. One of these 

 barns was fitted with elaborate, expensive and highly 

 recommended metal ventilating appliances. In both of 

 these barns, icicles more than a foot long depended in 

 many places from the rafters and roof -boards in winter. 

 We have gone from the one extreme of sieve -like 

 boarding and open floors to the other air tight boxes. 

 A happy medium should be adopted. 



Unmatched, surfaced, vertical, outside boarding, 

 properly battened, supplemented in cold climates with 

 inside, unmatched but jointed covering, will be ample 

 protection from the cold and wind, except, perhaps, 

 in extremely exposed localities. If added protection 

 is needed, the space between the two boardings, which 

 may be about one foot apart, may be filled with cut 

 straw or chaff. A dry wall, through which the air 

 passes slowly and upon which little or no moisture will 

 condense, is secured, and a much more satisfactory one 

 than can be constructed with matched lumber and 

 building-paper. In rare cases, even with such a wall, 

 the dampness in the stable, in extreme cold weather 

 when doors and windows are closed, may be too great. 

 If so, cut several small openings near the floor and pro- 

 vide them with fine wire -screen covers and a drop -lid 

 for closing them when they admit too much air, and 

 place one or more ventilating tubes at right angles to the 

 one already described above. In any case, cold air is bet- 

 ter than over -moist air. The air can now be directed 

 into and out of the stable without creating drafts or 

 depositing moisture. The simplest and most direct way 



