94 THE HORSE 



of the floor of each stall, as, unless constantly 

 flushed with clean water, which it seldom is, it is 

 little better than a small cesspool almost under 

 the nose of the horse. An open gutter running 

 the length of the stable, at the back of the stalls, 

 with a good outfall, is sanitary if unsightly. The 

 slope of the back part of the stalls to this gutter 

 will require to be about one in eight}^ ; no greater 

 slope than is absolutely necessary for drainage 

 pui^poses should be allowed, as it is not only un- 

 comfortable, but absolutely injurious to a horse to 

 stand for a prolonged period with his legs at 

 different levels. 



Floors 

 The material for the floor of a stable must be 

 sanitary, durable, easily cleaned, and not slippery. 

 A variety of gTooved, so-called sanitary bricks are 

 made in these days, and no doubt some of them 

 answer very well. A concrete floor also answers 

 the requirements, and has the extra advantage of 

 being one of the cheapest adequate floors that can 

 be laid. A very rough estimate of the cost of 

 laying concrete twelve inches deep would be about 

 one dollar per square 3^ard, including ramming, 

 and to this must be added a small sum for render- 

 ing the surface with cement. 



