132 ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 



manger may be of inch oak, or other hard wood. If made of pine thty 

 should be of inch and a half thickness, 



IV. How to Insure a Good Temperature. 



If the stable be of brick or stone, it may or may not be lined with wood 

 with an air space between. If of wood, there should always be a lining, 

 and the sheathing upon which the weather boarding is nailed should be 

 covered with tarred paper. Ventilation must be attended to ; this is best 

 secured by orifices at proper distances next the ceiling, that may be 

 opened or closed at pleasure, and provided with lattice work to throw the 

 air up when opened. This with the doors and windows in Summer ^vill 

 give plenty of ventilation and in Winter the ventilators alone will suflSce. 

 It is one of the most essential points in building a stable in our American 

 climate, with torrid Summers and Arctic Winters, that no expense be 

 spared to make the buildings comfortable. We are decidedly in favor of 

 a vestibule, large enough to hold a harnessed team, or if preferred, if the 

 carriage room be large enough and separated by a close partition from the 

 stable, as it should be, this may be made to do. From this the entrance 

 to the stable may be a sliding door, through which to lead the horses ; the 

 object being to prevent the rush of cold air into the stable chilling every 

 horse in it. 



Whore more than five horses are kept in a stable we advise a close par. 

 tition between each four stalls and their accompanying loose box. The 

 reason is, that in each compartment an equal temperature is retained. It 

 is not so much the degree of cold that affects horses, as sudden changes 

 of temperature. Thus each may have its separate ventilation and air 

 shaft, and conduce very much to the comfort of the animals kept therein. 



V. Cleaning the Stable. 



Cleanliness in the stable is of the utmost importance. There should b» 

 sufficient bedding under the horses at all times to insure cleanliness ; all 

 damp portions together with the droppings should be removed twice a 

 day. We have never found a better nor more economical way than to 

 use a wheel barrow, with sides sufficiently wide and flaring to hold the 

 load a man may handle, in which the manure and damp bedding could be 

 thrown and wheeled on planks immediately to the pile. Where it ia 

 thrown out of windows it often heats so as to be offensive in Summer, 

 «nd in Winter these windows, besides often allowing the wind and storm 

 to beat in, are objectionable in many ways. 



