TENTIIATION OE STABLE. 17 



of the main urine channel, should be set with eight inch sets, 

 the same in fact that are used for setting the stalls. The urine 

 channel is next to be laid down, and the remaining space 

 covered with larged-sized flags, three and a half inches thick, 

 and having a roughened surface. It is best to bed flags in Ume, 

 and what in Yorkshire are called scraplings. Ashes are not so 

 good : they imbibe and retaiu moisture ; and they also favour 

 the propagation of black beetles, and other insects of a dis- 

 agreeable kind. Where it is desirable to give a more complete 

 finish to the interior of a stable, a plinth, eight or ten inches 

 deep, may be put down along the bottom of the wall; this 

 plinth should be made of Eoman cement, it being cheaper than 

 wood, and far more durable. The window backs may also be 

 lined with boards, and a cornice run along the top of the ceUiug. 

 In short, where expense is not regarded, the taste of the owner 

 may direct itself in a thousand ways to beautify the interior. 



V. — Ventilatioit of Stable. — In treating upon the 

 ventUation of the stable, it is taken for granted that every 

 thinking person must be perfectly aware of the necessity for a 

 regular and copious supply of pure air, for the maintenance 

 of the health not only of ourselves, but of the lower animals 

 also. This, although admitted as a fact, and not unfrequently 

 theorized upon, is yet very far from being adopted ia practice 

 to the extent which might be anticipated. People continue to 

 build dwelling houses for themselves, and stables for their 

 horses, as though totally unconscious that those destined to live 

 within them wiU require such a very necessary element as 

 air. The capacity of the lungs of the horse is enormous. He 

 requires a large amount of pure air to thoroughly purify the 

 blood. Bad ventilation is the cause of innumerable diseases ; 

 and where it does not directly cause disease, if a diseased 



B 



