350 THE VILLA GARDENER. 



tilating, we may refer to Jiy. 216. ; in which the ventilating tube, with its 

 protecting cover, is shown at r r ; y is a corn-bin, placed under one of 

 the windows ; s is the drain under the floor of each stall, which leads to 

 a main drain under the gutter behind the horses ; these drains having 

 grated openings, each with a bell-trap, to prevent the ascent of bad 

 smells ; t is the cast-iron manger ; u, the bull's eye cast-iron rack, the hay 

 to which is let down from the loft above, through the open space behind. 

 The mode of keeping hay in lofts over the horses, and letting it down 

 through a space over the racks, which is continually open, is very properly 

 objected to, as contaminating the hay by the breath of the horse ; but, when 

 there is a raised ceiling with a ventilator, as in the section before us, the 

 breath of the horse rises to the ventilator, and does the hay no injury what- 

 ever. At the bottom of the rack there is, in the space behind, a grated floor, 

 which retains the hay, while it allows the dust and seeds to drop down into 

 the space (v), whence they can be taken out at convenience, by an opening 

 under each stall. There is a cast-iron ramped cap {w) to the boarded partition 

 between the stalls ; and a cast-iron sill {x) ; both cap and sill having grooves 

 for receiving the ends of the boards which form the partition. The partition- 

 post {y) is also of cast-iron. That part of the floor of the stable on which a 

 horse stands should always be made perfectly level, with a grating and bell- 

 trap under it, in the centre, for drainage. In general, the floor of the stallg 

 should never be covered with litter in the daytime, or when the horse is not 

 expected to lie down ; because the litter retains moisture, harbours insects, 

 and produces an unequal surface for the horse to stand on. Stables, as they 

 are commonly kept, contain an atmosphere charged with ammoniacal gas from 

 the lu'ine, and carbonic acid gas from the lungs, of the horse, which, with 

 moisture from the floor, and other aeriform matters, are extremely disagree- 

 able to man ; but, if the stables were properly constructed, ventilated, and 

 drained, kept free from litter during the day, and amply lighted, in the 

 manner Ave have recommended, they would be as wholesome for a human 

 being to enter, and to remain in, as the living-rooms of a dwelling-house. For 

 various modes of constructing stables, and all their details on the best prin- 

 ciples, we must refer the reader to our Encyclopcedia of Cottage, Farm, and 

 Villa Architecture, p. 373 to p. 383. 



424. The coach-house should not only be dry, and well ventilated, from its 

 situation and construction, but there should be a fireplace in it, or, rather, a 

 flue for a stove ; because it must be recollected, that a coach is composed of 

 wood, iron, cloth, stuffing, &c., and is as liable to be injured by changes in 

 the temperature, or by moisture, as chairs, tables, sofas, beds, or any other 

 articles of furniture in the dwelling-house. Nobody would think for a moment 

 of sitting or lying on a sofa which had been standing for some time in a damp 

 out-house without fire ; and yet, if there be any difference between the 

 quantity of damp likely to be imbibed by a sofa and a coach, it Avould 

 undoubtedly be greater in the latter. The lining, stuffing of the back, and 

 cushions, all act as sponges, and become charged with moisture ; which, when 

 the coach is used, is drawn forth by the animal warmth of the persons it 

 contains. Hence, the unknown cause of colds, inflammations of the lungs, 

 and many other diseases, with which those who keep close carriages are often 

 attacked. 



425. 21ie harness-room should have the walls battened and plastered inside, 



