354 '^'^"^'^ MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



Stables made of such materials as brick and stone. In 

 many parts of the United States, however, and espe- 

 cially in the prairies of the West, the price of lumber has 

 so advanced as to make its use, in a sense, prohibitory. 

 Because of this, attention during the more recent years 

 is being centered on other materials that may be used 

 in the construction of stables. The use of tar or build- 

 ing paper during recent years has greatly added to the 

 warmth of stables made of lumber where this has been 

 desired. Where stables are made of lumber, the aim 

 should be to put them on a foundation made of stone, 

 or some other material that will resist decay. 



Where stones are plentiful, they may be used in the 

 construction of stables. They furnish material that is 

 most enduring. Thev have been much used in the con- 

 struction of basements, even when the structure above is 

 made from lumber. In basements they resist the decay 

 that comes to wood when brought in contact with the 

 earth. W'hen dry, stone stables are warm, but care must 

 he used in their construction or they may be damp. Such 

 dampness may be prevented by building them with 

 hollow walls of proper construction. The chief objec- 

 tifin to the use of stone is the cost of construction. In 

 some localities the stones are so scarce as to render such 

 building prohibitory. 



Brick may be made to serve precisely the same uses 

 as stone, but where stones are plentiful they are more 

 costly than the latter. The chief reason whv brick 

 stables are not more in evidence arises from the cost of 

 construction. But in estimating the cost of building 

 stables from wood and stone, due allowance should- be 

 made for their durability. Brick stables may also be 

 damp, unless due care is taken to prevent this, as when 

 building stone stables. 



The indications at the present time point to cement 

 as the material that will be most used in the construction 

 of stables i)i the future that is not distant. This ma- 



