CHAPTER IV 



SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING STABLES 



SELECT a site where the drainage will be away 

 from the barn and not toward it. 



Have the barn in the rear, never in front of the 

 house. 



Arrange for a sheltered, sunny spot for the 

 stock to exercise in on bright winter days. 



Finish your cement floor with a wooden trowel. 

 In finishing with a metal one the surface is made 

 so smooth that cows are in danger of slipping 

 and injuring themselves. One-half inch from 

 front of cow to gutter is plenty of slope. A gutter 

 ten or twelve inches deep and fourteen to sixteen 

 inches wide is safer and cleaner than a shallower 

 and sloping one. The cows step over the deep one, 

 and are not so apt to slip. If they back into it they 

 soon step up again and learn to avoid going down. 



Placing the drinking basin about half way down 

 the stall at the side, just so the cow can turn her 

 head and reach it, prevents to a great extent the 

 soiling of the water by food, and there is no slop- 

 ping of water on the floor. 



Double windows are not necessary. Being too 

 carefully housed weakens the constitution, and 



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