STABLING AND STABLES 



drains should be arranged to flush the stall-gut- 

 ters, for carriages, etc., must be washed, and the 

 water used will daily effect what careless grooms 

 neglect. All details about stables should be ar- 

 ranged not as if the best sort of help was to be in 

 charge, but so that the worst cannot do harm. 



Stall floors are best made of cement, laid with 

 the proper slope, covered with plank or slats so ar- 

 ranged as to afford a level footing, bevelled to re- 

 quirements upon the under side. The two middle 

 planks — or the four middle slats, if these are 

 used — should be movable, either by hinges, or 

 may be left loose. They can thus be daily swung 

 up, and the cement beneath disinfected very easily 

 and quickly. All moisture falls on about the 

 middle of the stall, and thence it easily percolates 

 to the gutter at the heel-posts ; nor is there any 

 chance for the accumulation of filth as in the 

 ordinary stall. Of course whether planks or 

 slats are used, the ordinary separations between 

 them will be observed. 



This arrangement is advised, provided earth 

 floors cannot be arranged, than which nothing is 

 better, cheaper, or more easily renewed. Six inches 

 of large stone, six of gravel or ashes, and four to 

 six of earth, make an ideal floor, self-draining, 



Z9 



