26 ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTION. 



Many of the hay racks were made from hay-band wire, in fact 

 this article was made use of for very nmnerous pm-poses. 



Material of buildings. Some stables were of wood, and were 

 erected under contract. Others were of iron of standard 

 pattern obtained from England and could easily be screwed 

 together and erected by our own men. They could be taken 

 down and erected elsewhere if a forward move was necessary. 



Horse tents. In the very early days of the war, when there 

 was little in the way of covered accommodation, I chanced to 

 find a circus owner stranded at Gom-nay-en-Bray, and obtained 

 permission to purchase his tents, including a large round 

 performance tent, four horse tents, which would accommodate 

 forty horses each, and an elephant tent. A chalk pit at the 

 Advanced Base comfortably held the large round tent. Its 

 numerous poles were shortened by three feet, its top was 

 lowered, and it remained in glorious function in its abode, 

 affording accommodation for 160 horses for nearly two years, 

 until Anno Domini tolled the knell of its demise. The horse 

 tents proved invaluable, and were the origin of a complete 

 tented hospital and several tented sub-divisions of other 

 hospitals. One hundred and two horse tents, each holding fifty 

 horses in a double row, were maintained by Veterinary Service 

 in France. They were easily erected, were stable in bad 

 weather if made to proper design, and animals did well in them. 

 They should form part of the mobilisation equipment of 

 Veterinary Hospitals and with ordinary care will last two years. 



Stable floors. I was often asked the question whether I 

 would have "pucca" standings or overhead cover. Any one 

 who had experience of the mud of France and Flanders would 

 have found no difficulty in replying, and would have plumped 

 for pucca standings every time. Solid standings and hygienic 

 surroundings are indispensable factors in institutions for the 

 treatment of sick and wounded, and particularly where con- 

 tagious ailments are concerned. Stable floors exercised the 

 attention of hospital commanders in France more than any 

 other item of hospital management. The material used 

 comprised bricks on edge, beech planking, stones, cobbles, 

 cement, and wooden blocks. Perhaps the best of all was pine 

 or beech trees sawn across in four-and-a-half-inch blocks, and 



