No. 4.] 



BARN BUILDING. 



173 



The Cow Stable. — The floor of a cow stable should be nonab- 

 sorbent, easily cleaned, not slippery, a nonconductor of heat, and 

 durable. A wooden floor does not fulfill these conditions. The most 

 satisfactory floor available to-day for this purpose is undoubtedly 

 made of cement, with some material that is a nonconductor of heat 

 in the stalls where the cattle stand. The writer is inclined to be- 

 lieve that bricks made of ground cork and asphalt are the best ma- 

 terial for this purpose; they are laid in hot asphalt and seem to be 

 giving satisfactory results where they are in use. Many dairymen 

 use a cement floor in the stalls as well as in the other parts of the 

 stable, but it is not entirely satisfactory. All slopes and grades 

 where the cattle are to pass should be left rough, that is, given a 



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FiQ. 3. — A cheap and eflBcient truss for a stable roof. 



float finish. The smooth trowel-finished cement is much more easily 

 cleaned and should be used for the feed floor and mangers, and may 

 be used for the walk behind the cows if ordinary care is taken in 

 handling the cattle. The cattle are more apt to slip on the smooth 

 finished floor. 



In the arrangement of the cow stable there should be not less 

 than two rows of stalls if the most economical use of space is desired. 

 Whether the cattle should face in toward the center or out toward 

 the outside walls is a disputed point. In stables built on the latter 

 plan it is possible to drive a cart or manure spreader through the 

 center of the stable behind the cows and load the manure directly 

 from the gutters, thus saving one handling. On most farms, how- 



