STABLING SUITABLE FOR CATTLE 353 



made of baled straw, the walls are made of the pressed 

 bales, which are so placed as to break joints. The roof 

 is made of poles covered with straw, or, what is better, 

 marsh hay. In other instances they are made of poles 

 which take the place of rafters with log supports on end 

 to sustain them. The roof, end, and rear side are com- 

 posed of loose straw so built around and over them as 

 to shed the rain. A rim of woven wire may extend 

 upward around the inside of the walls to keep the straw 

 from being eaten or pulled out of place. The objection 

 to the latter, though sufficiently warm, is the lack of 

 light, the absence of storage room, and the difficulty 

 sometimes found in preventing the roof from leaking, 

 and yet such sheds serve a good purpose during the 

 early years of settlement on western prairies. Sheds 

 built from pressed straw have never attained that 

 popularity to which their merits entitle them, the rea- 

 sons for which are not readily apparent, as they should 

 furnish stables cheap, reasonably well lighted and 

 durable. 



Log stables are made only in forest areas. They 

 are made by placing logs tier above tier and so fitted 

 at the corners as to prevent spreading. Durable woods, 

 as pine or cedar, are preferred. The crevices are filled 

 with moistened clay. The roof is made of slabs or of 

 boards covered with shingles, but may also, for a time, 

 be made of poles overlaid with straw or marsh hay. 

 Such stables are warm and durable, and serve the pur- 

 pose reasonably well in new areas, but they are wasteful 

 of lumber material when it has any commercial value, 

 and they are frequently lacking in light, loft room, and 

 even in ground floor space. 



Where lumber may be secured without too great 

 relative cost, it furnishes the best material obtainable 

 for the building of stables, as but little labor is involved 

 in the erection of the stables, and they are entirely free 

 from the dampness that, in many instances, characterizes 



