112 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



addition, the manger fronts have been closed in with shutters. 

 In the modern stable, in place of the wall of single thick- 

 ness of straight-edged boarding we find one of matched 

 boards, sheathing paper, clapboards, and with inside walls 

 sheathed or plastered, — a condition quite in contrast to that 

 found in the old stable, so commonly seen in some of our re- 

 mote rural districts. I would not have you think that the 

 modern stables possess no advantages over the old-style one. 

 There can be no possible objections to keeping animals in a 

 warm barn, provided they are supplied with the essentials 

 of good health, such as fresh air, sunlight, wholesome food 

 and water. 



It is })Ossiblc, in a stable with walls constructed of several 

 thicknesses of board, sheathing paper and plaster, to regu- 

 late conditions of temperature, distribution of air currents, 

 etc., to a much greater extent than in one with only a single 

 wall. The trouble in the past has been that in using sheath- 

 ing paper, clapboards and plaster to make the stable warm 

 no provision has been made for the introduction of fresh air, 

 which in the old-style stable sifted in through the cracks. 

 In general, the sanitary condition about our stables has been 

 very bad. 



In many instances an attempt to improve them has resulted 

 in converting them into hotbeds for the propagation of dis- 

 ease. Our experience during the past five years with bovine 

 tuberculosis has shown that the disease is most prevalent in 

 those herds kept in our so-called " best barns." This is not 

 wholly due to influence of stabling, but to a forced system 

 of feeding, lack of exercise, close in-and-in breeding, the 

 most potent predisposing factor being defective ventilation. 

 Good sanitation, together with a rational system of feeding, 

 breeding, etc., favor the development of strong constitutions 

 in animals, which is the one quality above all others that 

 atifords the greatest protection against disease. 



Experience has taught and statistics prove that infectious 

 diseases are more prevalent, spread more rapidly and are 

 more fatal among animals kept under unsanitary conditions, 

 in damp, poorly lighted, badly drained and unventilated 

 stables, than among those surrounded by hygienic influences. 

 Parkes says, "Disease and health are in the direct propor- 



