276 MILK AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH CHAP. 



to cold in the autumn, it will put on a heavy coat in the 

 winter. Many of the cows in Somerset are out of doors nearly 

 all the year. Such animals are decidedly less likely to suffer 

 from mastitis and other inflammatory conditions than cows 

 living under artificial conditions of warmth, since these are 

 always liable to sudden temperature variations. Of course, if 

 cows are suddenly turned out of cowsheds which have been 

 kept too hot by insufficient ventilation, they may catch cold, 

 but this is obviously a quite different matter. 



The composition of the floor is another feature of primary 

 importance. It is essential that it should be of some imper- 

 vious material, and, on the whole, cement-concrete is the best. 

 It should be ribbed to prevent slipping, and must be of the 

 best quality. It is false economy to construct the floor of 

 asphalt or poor quality concrete, since, owing to the very hard 

 wear to which it is subjected, such floors soon fall into holes 

 and require renewal. Some landowners and cowkeepers have 

 objected to the whole of the floor being cemented, and con- 

 struct the fore part of clay, as they maintain that the cows' 

 knees are apt to be damaged by the hard concrete. Im- 

 pervious bricks set in cement also make a good floor. 



The floor should slope gently back (^ inch fall is sufficient) 

 to a grip running the whole length of the cowhouse, the grip 

 having a slight fall to a gully outside the cowshed. The grip 

 or manure trench should be about 12 to 18 inches wide, and is 

 usually about 4 inches deep. Speir, 1 however, dealing with 

 this point, remarks : " The manure channel should be 24 inches 

 wide, 6 inches deep at the side next the cows, and 4 inches at 

 the walk. The floor of the channel should be ^ inch lower at 

 the walk than at the cows' heels. It should also have a fall 

 lengthways of ^ inch for each cow." He remarks that these 

 apparently trifling details are of immense importance as far as 

 the cleanliness of the animals is concerned. If made in this 

 way, the opportunities for a cow fouling herself from her 

 excreta are largely reduced. He adds : " A sine qua non of an 

 efficient byre is a manure-channel 24 inches wide, sloped as 

 suggested, and nothing else will give satisfactory results." 



The distance from the front of the feeding-trough to the 

 manure grip is another detail of essential importance, and one 



1 Public Health, 1900, xii. p. 775. 



