FARM BUILDINGS. 287 



The cribs should be occasionally scrubbed with weak lye, 

 and once a year a coat of lime whitewash should be laid up- 

 on the walls. 



When the floors of stables and sheep-folds are not paved, 

 the bed of earth of which they are formed should be remov- 

 ed several times in each year and carried into the fields, its 

 fJace being supplied by a bed of rubbish from salt-petre 

 ands, or by any other dry and porous substance. 



Those animals that are accustomed to feeding in the open 

 fields, should not be unnecessarily confined in buildings, as 

 they suffer from weariness, and from the impure air, if de- 

 tained too long in them. There are but few days in the 

 year when they may not be allowed to come out into the 

 open air for several hours, since even our greatest degree of 

 cold is not injurious to their health, and as soon as the build- 

 ings are left vacant, the doors and windows should all be 

 opened to allow of free ventilation. 



In some countries no use is made of litter for animals, 

 and in others the litter employed is allowed to remain till 

 it is almost entirely decayed ; both of these methods are 

 wrong and contribute equally to render the abodes of ani- 

 mals unwholesome. The litter used should be removed at 

 least as often as once a month ; and in the intervals fresh 

 layers should be added as soon as the others become foul 

 upon the top. Where no litter is employed the danger of in- 

 fection must be avoided by having the floors cleaned every 

 day. 



Another and not less pernicious custom is that of forming 

 dung-hills in the corners of stables and sheep-folds, instead 

 of removing the clearings to some other place. By this 

 method cleanliness is secured to a certain extent, but the 

 danger of infection is not removed. 



When any contagious disease does make its appearance 

 amongst the animals in the stables or sheep-folds, the first 

 step to be taken is to separate the sick from the well, in or- 

 der that they may be subjected to different treatment, and to 

 remove the whole to some other spot. 



In order to restore the infected building to a state fit for 

 being again inhabited, proceed as follows. 



After having removed all the litter, wash the pavement, 

 if there be one, thoroughly ; if there be none, scrape the 

 ground so as to remove from it whatever may have been 

 made, by moisture, to penetrate into it. Burn sulphur in 

 all the different parts of the enclosure, so that the vapor 



