142 HOW TO STABLE 



the air shall not blow full on the horses ; and it is well to 

 have it sawn in two halves, horizontally, in order to allow 

 the upper half to stand open in summer, for the admission 

 of fresh air. 



The windows which should be large as in a modern 

 dwelling-house, and as numerous in proportion to the size 

 of the room, should be opposite to one another, so as to 

 allow a free draught of air in summer, but they should 

 never open at the bottom nearer to the ground than at 

 a full distance of six feet, so that the air ma}^ not blow on 

 the horses, but circulate above their backs. The stalls 

 should not be less than five, but had better be six feet wide, 

 and nine feet deep ; and the stable should not be less than 

 fifteen, or better, seventeen feet, from the head of the stall 

 to the back wall. If hay rooms or feed rooms be placed 

 above the stables, the roof should be of solid, permanent 

 plank, well joined and under-ceiled, and with good trap- 

 doors to the apertures by which the hay is thrown into the 

 cribs. Otherwise the ammoniacal vapors will certainly 

 arise, taint the food, and render it unfit for eating. 



Lastly, the stables must be ventilated by a complete and 

 permanent system, which, by the way, is neither difficult 

 nor expensive. This can be done in two ways, — either a 

 single shaft, of a square of two feet on each side, may be 

 carried up through the loft to the roof, made of well -join ted 

 boards, and there fitted with a ventilator of the same size ; 

 or, a central shaft equal in space to the square of two feet, 

 ■jor every horse in the stable, may be carried up in the 

 same manner, and fitted with a grand central ventilator, of 

 large dimensions, through which all the heated air will rise, 

 while by the use either of Janes & Beebe's patent valves, or 

 of some other suitable arrangement, no cold air can possi- 

 bly descend. To this must be added a plan for the regular 

 admission of cold air, at proper places, for the supply of 

 [941 



