120 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



apart. This will hold the whole wall to the beam and pre- 

 vent any swaying. These long sides will give room for 

 inserting plenty of windows for light, the frames placed in 

 the boxes, and the concrete built over them. The sash 

 may be hung on a pivot in the center, so as to open easily 

 to give ventilation at certain seasons ; but the fresh air 

 should be introduced through the wall near the bottom, 

 through hard-burned earthen or pottery pipes, 15-inch 

 bore, just long enough to reach through the wall. These 

 pipes may be laid in the boxes bedded in the concrete, and 

 the concrete tamped down upon them. They may be 

 placed ten feet apart and will not weaken in the wall. 

 Close covers may be fitted to the inside, so as to shut them 

 at will ; and with proper ventilators to discharge the heated 

 and vitiated air through the upper part of the barn, there 

 will be a constant circulation of fresh air through the 

 basement. 



One other point must be mentioned in reference to the 

 wall. A concrete wall contains a large amount of moisture, 

 and if the sills are to be placed on before the wall becomes 

 quite dry, which is usually the case, the moisture will pass 

 up into the green timber of the sill, form a coating of lime 

 on it, and prevent the sap from escaping, and the result is 

 a rapid decay of the timber. To prevent this, take well- 

 seasoned pine boards, 12 inches wide, coat one side with 

 gas tar, and bed this tarred side in the mortar on top of 

 the wall. The sills arejaid on this leveled board, and no 

 moisture can come through this board into the sill to rot 

 it. This point is important has been determined in our 

 practical experience. 



LAYING OUT THE BASEMENT. 



These long stables must be laid out so as to render the 

 labor as convenient as possible. There must be easy access 

 to every animal in the stable, and this becomes more 



