444 



SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part II. 



2818. The depth of a stable should never be less than twenty feet, nor the height less than twelve. The 

 width of a stall should not be less than six feet clear. But when there is sufficient room, it is a much 

 better plan to allow each horse a space of ten or twelve feet, where he may be loose and exercise himself 

 a little. This will be an effectual means of preventing swollen heels, and a great relief to horses that are 

 worked hard. With respect to the rack and manger. White prefers the former on the ground, rising 

 three feet high, eighteen inches deep from front to back, and four feet long. The manger, eighteen inches 

 deep, eighteen inches from front to back, and five feet in length. The rack he prefers being closed in 

 front, though some farmers prefer it open, alleging that horses when lying down will thus be enabled to 

 eat if they choose. A close-fronted rack, however, is better adapted for saving hay. The back part of 

 the rack should be an inclined plane made of wood ; should be gradually sloped towards the front ; and 

 should terminate about two feet down. Such a rack will hold more hay than ever ought to be put before 

 one horse. The advantages of this rack are numerous : in the first place, the hay is easily put into it, 

 and it renders a hay loft over the stable unnecessary; which ought to be an inducement to the builder 

 to make the stable as lofty as it ought to be, to obtain proper ventilation. All the hay that is put 

 into this manger will be eaten ; but in the common rack it is well known that a large portion of the 

 hay is often pulled down upon the litter, and trodden upon, whereby a considerable quantity is often 

 wasted. It prevents the hay-seeds or dust from falling upon the horse, or into his eyes ; and what is of 

 considerable importance, though seldom attended to, there will be an inducement to the horse-keeper to 

 give the horse hay in small quantities at a time, and frequently, from the little trouble which attends 

 putting it into the rack. The saving in hay that may be effected by the use of this rack is so apparent, 

 that it need not be dwelt upon. A great saving also may be made in oats, by so fastening the horse's head 

 during the time of feeding, that he cannot throw any of them out of the manger. This kind of rack and 

 manger, from being boarded up in front, will effectually prevent the litter from being kept constantly 

 under the horse's head and eyes, by which he is compelled to breathe the vapours which arise from it. 

 It will also prevent him from getting his head under the manger, as sometimes happens, by %vhich means, 

 not unfrequently, the poll evil is produced. The length of the halter should be only four feet from the head- 

 stall to the ring through which it passes : this will admit of his lying down with ease, and that is all which 

 is required. The ring should be placed close to that side where the manger is, and not in the centre of 

 the stall. The side of the stall should be sufficiently high and deep to prevent horses from biting and 

 kicking each other. When the common rack and manger are preferred, the rack-staves should be 

 perpendicular, and brought nearly down to the manger, and this may easily be done without the necessity 

 of a hay-loft, and the manger may be made deep and wide as described. 



2819. The window of the stable should be at the south-east end, and the door at the opposite end. The 

 window should be as high as the ceiling will admit of, and in size proportioned to that of the stable. In 

 one of twelve feet high, it need not come down more than four feet, and it will then be eight feet from 

 the ground, and out of the way of being broken. I'he frame of the window should be moveable upon a 

 pivot in the centre, and opened by means of a cord running over a pulley in the ceiling, and fastened by 

 means of another cord. With a window of this kind, in a stable of three or four horses, no other ventilation 

 will be required : a person never need be solicitous about finding openings for the air to enter, where 

 there is sufficient room above, and means for it to escape. A stable thus constructed will be found 

 conducive to the health and comfort of horses, and will affbrd an inducement to the horse-keeper to 

 attend to every little circumstance which may contribute to cleanliness. He will not allow the smallest 

 bit of dung to remain swept up at one end of the stable, as it commonly is. The pails should be kept 

 outside, and not standing about the stable as they usually are. If it is necessary to take off the chill 

 from water, it is much better, and more easily done, by the addition of a little hot water, than by suffering 

 it to stand in the stable ; and while the horses are at exercise, the litter should be all turned out to dry, 

 and the brick floor well washed or swept out. A little fresh straw may then be placed for the horses to 

 stale upon. Litter thus dried during the day will serve again as well as fresh straw for the bottom of the 

 bed, and be perfectly free from smell. The litter necessary to be kept under a horse that he may stale 

 with comfort, and without splashing himself, is not considerable, and may be changed once a day. A 

 great saving maybe made in litter by turning it out, and drying it as described; and ashed built adjoining 

 a stable would afford a place for doing this at all times, and might serve also to exercise and clean a horse 

 in during wet weather. 



2820. Neither dogs, fowls, nor goats, should ever be permitted to enter a stable ; and dung should be kept 

 at a distance from it. A good contrivance in cleaning horses is, to have two straps, one on each side of 

 the stall, about one yard from the head of it. By these the horse may be fastened during the time he is 

 cleaned, by which he will be effectually prevented from biting the manger or the horse-keeper; and being 

 kept back in the stall, the man will be better able to clean the front of his fore legs, chest, and neck, and 

 be able to move round him. This is better than strapping him to the rack. 



2821. Farm stables in Scotland, the editor of The Partner's Magazine observes, are constructed in 

 such a manner, that all the horses stand in a line with their heads towards the same side-wall, instead of 

 standing in two lines, fronting opposite walls, as formerly. Those lately erected are at least sixteen feet 

 wide within walls, and sometimes eighteen, and the width of each stall upon the length of the stable 

 is commonly five feet. To save a little room, stalls of nine feet are sometimes made to hold two 



horses ; and in that case, the manger and 

 the width of the stall are divided into 

 equal parts by what is called a half tre- 

 vice, or a partition about half the depth 

 of that which separates one stall from 

 another. By this contrivance, each horse 

 indeed eats his food by himself; but the 

 expense of single stalls is more than com- 

 pensated by the greater ease, security, 

 and comfort of the horse.s. The trevices 

 or partitions which divide the stalls, are 

 of deals two inches thick, and about five 

 feet high ; but, at the heads of the horses, 

 the partition rises to the height of seven 

 feet {fig. 410. a), and the length of the 

 stall is usually from seven to eight feet. 

 In many cases the end stall has a door 



or frame of boards to fit in between it and the back wall {b), in order to enclose food of any kind, a sick 



horse, a foal, or mare and foal, &c. 



2822. The manger (c) is generally continued the whole length of the stable. It is about nine inches 

 deep, twelve inches wide at the top, and nine at the bottom, all inside measure, and is placed about two 

 feet four inches from the ground. Staples or rings are fixed on the breast of the manger, to which the 

 horses are tied. 



2823. The rack for holding their hay or straw, is also commonly continued the whole length of the 

 stable. It is formed of upright spars (rf), connected by cross-rails at each end, and from two to two and 

 a half feet in height The rack is placed on the wall, about one foot and a half above the manger, the 

 bottom almost close to the wall, and the top projecting outwards, but the best plan is to place it upright 

 (c, d, a,). The spars are sometimes made round, and sunk into the cross-rails, and sometimes square. 

 In a few stables lately built, the round spars turn on a pivot, which facilitates the horse's access to 



