140 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MILK HYGIENE 
improve the conditions. Any woodwork can be treated 
in the same manner. Whitewashing removes dirt and 
cobwebs, improves the light, and exerts a disinfectant 
action. 
The platform, or the floor of the stall, should be about 
8 inches above the bottom of the drop or gutter and 
should be smooth, free from cracks or depressions and 
impervious. All things considered, cement is probably 
the best material of which to construct platforms. 
Cement platforms are objected to on the ground that 
they are slippery, cold, and hard. If given a rough 
finish with a wood trowel or by drawing a stiff broom 
over the surface before the cement is dry, they will not be 
slippery. ‘A layer of coal tar or pitch about 114 inches 
below the surface will reduce the conduction of heat from 
the body of the cow and will therefore make the platform 
warmer, while the hardness can be overcome to a certain 
extent by the use of plenty of bedding. Recently, a 
mixture of two parts of sawdust and one part of cement 
has been recommended in place of the usual cement mix- 
ture, the claim being made that it is warmer and is not as 
slippery. A covering of inch boards is sometimes laid 
down over the cement to reduce the hardness and cold- 
ness. Cement floors have several advantages: they are 
readily cleaned, wear well, and do not absorb urine or 
liquid manure nor permit these substances to leak through 
and saturate the earth beneath. Next to cement, the 
most desirable floor is one of matched planks, with the 
joints filled with tar. Wood is less of a heat conductor 
than cement and is not as hard, but it absorbs urine and 
liquid manure and is liable to crack and form crevices in 
which manure and other material may lodge and decom- 
pose; it is also less durable than cement. Cork bricks 
