ARCHITECT'S DESCRIPTION 215 



Paving. — In regard to the floors of the stable I 

 may remark that I have seen asphalte, concrete, and, 

 in fact, almost every kind of material tried, and I un- 

 hesitatingly declare that nothing can excel a good 

 blue brick for the boxes and stalls. Care should be 

 taken, however, that the bricks are blue throughout 

 as proof of their hardness ; blue throughout their 

 entire thickness and not skin deep — not, in fact, blue 

 outwardly and red inside, as is commonly the case. 

 That means a soft inside, whereas if the bricks are 

 blue they are just like iron. The brick I advise is 

 9 by 415, and the face of the brick divided into six 

 panels by means of chamfered grooves, so as to 

 prevent the horse from slipping, as the hard blue 

 brick soon wears very slippery and greasy. They 

 should be laid on a bed of concrete and jointed in 

 cement. I am of opinion that you get a perfect 

 floor by this means. For the passages, however, 

 I invariably use the adamantine clinker bricks. 

 These bricks are 6 by 1 \, and as hard as the blue 

 bricks ; but being of a warm yellow colour they have 

 a better appearance. They are much dearer than the 

 blue sort, but surely some regard should be had to 

 appearance. 



The walls of the stable should be built of bricks, 

 stone, or other hard material to withstand the 

 moisture, and of sufficient thickness to keep the 

 inside of the stable dry and of an equal tem- 

 perature, and there should be a proper damp course 

 immediately above the floor line to prevent moisture 

 from rising from the ground. The inside of the 

 walls for a height of about 4 ft. ought to be lined 

 with glazed bricks, and these may be of any colour 

 or ornamentation desired. I strongly recommend 

 that bricks, and not tiles, should be used, as these 

 frequently come off. The heads of the stalls should 

 be constructed of glazed bricks — or tiles for this pur- 

 pose, if the latter be preferred — and also around the 



