20 ON LODGING, LITTER, &LC. 



the open stables, they are not, however, the best lodg 

 ing. But a shed, or sheep-cot, supported on all sides 

 by posts, makes the best shelter for sheep, the infected 

 air goes off, and the fresh enters on all sides : the sheep 

 can go out, when too warm, and enter for shelter 

 against rain : it certainly makes the best cover, as it 

 is the most healthy and convenient for them ; but they 

 are costly, and the expense may be avoided by a pen 

 in the open air, which may be placed in a yard, or 

 other domestic enclosure, by which only, it is distin- 

 guished from the field pens. 



Q. What is the least expensive manner of making 

 a covered pen for folding sheep ? 



A. A covered pen may be made without walls, by 

 posts from six to seven feet high ; place them in a 

 manner, that each may be supported by a brace, and 

 arranged in two lines, at ten feet distance from each 

 other ; connect them with joists and plates of the same 

 length, to support a roof, the top of which should 

 also be ten feet, and the rafters only seven. In the 

 middle of this space is placed a double rack ; and on 

 each side, is built a small shed only two feet broad, 

 with the top placed against the middle of the posts, a 

 foot and a half below the plate ; the joists of this shed 

 are two feet long, and the rafters three feet ; the posts, 

 which support the plate of the little shed, are only 

 three feet ; supports or braces placed at distances, pro- 

 portioned to the length of the building, and connected 

 with the beams and posts, prevent the work from 

 spreading ; a rack is placed against the posts of the 

 small sheds, so that there are four ranges of racks in 



