62 STABLE ECONOMY 



either for rack-boles or a trap-door. A hay-crib, if the stable 

 afford room for it, may be placed in one corner, and the daily ' 

 allowance of hay can be put into it every morning. In the 

 country a hay-loft is of little use when tbe hay can be cut 

 from the stack every day in such quantities as to serve for 

 twenty-four hours. In this way it is always cleaner and 

 fresher than when kept in a loft. 



In towns, the only fault I can find with hay-lofts, besides 

 their communication with the stable, is their size. Tbey are 

 always too small. The length and breadth are limited, but 

 the height seldom is. There should always be some spare 

 room for shaking the dust out of the hay, for taking in an 

 extra supply, for turning it over when in danger of heating, 

 or for storino- straw or grain. However roomv, the hav-loft 

 is to contain nothing but food andnitter, and not litter unless 

 it be sound and dry. A corner may be boarded up to pre- 

 serve the hay-seed for use or for sale. The practice of cut- 

 ting the hay is becoming pretty common, and it would be 

 more so if people had room. The hay -loft should afford 

 space for the machine and the process. But in large estab- 

 lishments, an apartment adjoining the hay-loft is required. 

 In that the hay is cut, the grain bruised, mixed, weighed, and 

 measured. The loft has little need for windows, but it should 

 have a ventilator, and the door may be so placed as to give all 

 the light required. The cutting or bruising apartment requires 

 both lioht and air. 



The Straw is sometimes kept in the hay-loft, sometimes 

 in a spare stall. It should not be open to dogs, swine, 

 or pouhry ; these animals often leave vermin among it, which 

 find their way to the horses. 



The Granary is merely a cool and well-aired apartment. 

 And if placed over a stable, the floor should be perfectly 

 close, that the moist air may not pass through. But it is 

 better to have it over a shed or coach-house. Vermin should 

 be carefully excluded. 



The Grain-Chest supplies the place of a granary, where 

 only two or three horses are kept. No more grain is pur- 

 chased at one time than will be consumed in a few weeks, 

 and that is placed in a box,^which usually stands in a corner 

 or recess in the stable. In a small stable the grain- chest 

 takes up too much room. It is constantly in the way ; and 

 in all stables it is occasionally left open or insecurely closed. 

 A horse breaks loose and gorges himself till he is foundered 

 or colicked. It ought to be out of the stable altogether. If 



