CH . xvi REFORMS IN CONDITIONS OF SUPPLY 273 



(d) A construction and arrangement convenient to the 

 farmer, which enables the labour of attending to 

 the cows to be reduced to a minimum. 



Provided these requirements are fulfilled, a shed may be of 

 very simple design, although of course some types of sheds are 

 preferable to others. 



Considerable latitude may be allowed in the general 

 construction of the sheds, provided the essential matters of 

 ventilation, lighting, and composition of the floor are satis- 

 factory. The actual material used must be largely governed 

 by the local building material available. Sheds of brick or 

 stone are preferable to those of wood. A slate or tile roof is 

 the best. Thatched roofs are unsatisfactory, as they harbour 

 much dirt, but may be rendered fairly satisfactory by covering 

 the under surface with any smooth substance. Corrugated 

 iron roofs are bad, owing to the difficulty of regulating the 

 temperature. In many old cowsheds the ceilings form the 

 floors of hay-lofts, which is a very bad arrangement unless, as 

 is rare, the hay -loft is completely boarded off from the cow- 

 shed with tongued and grooved boards, and separate extraction 

 shafts are provided. It is an advantage to have half-doors, 

 i.e. the doors to be in two halves, the top and bottom opening 

 separately. 



The internal walls of the cowshed should be impervious, and 

 if they are of ordinary brick they should be cement-covered 

 to half-way up. A cheaper form of impervious lining is to 

 smooth and cover the bricks with some form of petrifying liquid. 



Many cowsheds, particularly in Somerset and other parts 

 of the West of England, are completely open along one side, 

 and few cowkeepers who have used such sheds are willing 

 to return to closed ones. With these cowsheds, problems of 

 air-space and ventilation do not exist, and the lighting is 

 usually a simple matter. 



The majority of sheds are closed, and for these some 

 standard of air-space is necessary. The model by-laws of 

 the Local Government Board recommend 800 cubic feet per 

 cow. Some writers of repute have advocated 600 cubic feet 

 per cow, but this seriously adds to the difficulty of ventilating 

 without draught. In calculating air-space the model by-laws 



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