THE HORSE. 97 



good old and present custom, as well as of hay, it is 

 the receptacle of all kinds of filth and impurity — the 

 dung and urine of cats and mice, the excrements and 

 exuvicd of spiders, and the accumulated and sacred 

 dust of perhaps half a century. Add to these trifles 

 the perpetually ascending clouds of steam from the 

 stabling below, contaminating, drying, and exhaust- 

 ing the hay of its fragrance, and of every pure and 

 beneficial quality. Let the chamber then, if a cham- 

 ber there must be, be henceforth styled the store 

 chamber, and applied to the purpose of containing 

 such articles as may, with most convenience, be there 

 stored and put out of the way, or be converted partly 

 into bedrooms for the boys. Hay should remain in 

 the stack, in order to have it in its utmost fragrance 

 and moisture of quality, be cut often and taken fresh 

 to the horses, there being a clean and cool hay room 

 in the stable to contain small quantities ; and, if at 

 any time it should be necessary to cut a considerable 

 quantity, the best mode of preservation is to bind it 

 in trusses as if for sale. Large wooden receptacles 

 lined internally and externally with tin, and placed 

 in a stall or room adjoining the stable, would prove 

 the most secure and wholesome keeping for the horse 

 corn, which should, previously to its being there 

 stowed, be thoroughly skreened and sifted. The gang- 

 way and walls of the stable should be perfectly clear 

 of all incumbrance of chests, pails, brooms, shelves, 

 saddles, bridles, or lumber of any kind, for which 

 extra rooms are the proper place. 



The heated and impure atmosphere of sporting, 

 particularly running stables, has always been a sub- 



F 



