STABLING SUITABLE FOR CATTLE 355 



terial is durable, and furnishes stables warm and dry, 

 and, under ordinary conditions, not excessive in cost. 

 When properly reinforced it has great strength. But in 

 some localities sand and gravel are so far distant as to 

 add greatly to the cost of construction. 



The most costly item, relatively, in the construction 

 of stables, viewed from the standpoint of permanency, is 

 the roof. The materials used for roofing in permanent 

 structures include shingles, felting of various kinds, 

 and roofing made from metals. Roofs made from 

 shingles require frequent renewal. Shingles that are 

 sawed are less durable than those shaved, since they 

 have less power to resist the penetration of moisture, 

 and nearly all the shingles now put on the market are 

 sawed. Felt roofing, which is laid on in strips, has some 

 commendable features, as the ease with which it may be 

 laid. It is so constructed as to be impervious to water, 

 but its use is not so rapidly extending as its merits would 

 seem to justify. Of the various kinds of metal roofing 

 that have been put upon the market, that known as steel 

 roofing is one of the most satisfactory. It is laid on in 

 strips, and should be laid securely to prevent its being 

 lifted in severe windstorms. Painting a steel roof occa- 

 sionally adds much to its duration. The merit of some 

 of these materials is yet in the tentative stage. 



Earth, planks, blocks, and cement are materials 

 chiefly used in the construction of stable floors. The 

 objection to earth floors in cattle stables is the difficulty 

 found in keeping them dry, and from becoming more or 

 less filled with holes through the treading of the cattle. 

 The objection to plank floors is the cost, the liability to 

 decay, and, in cow stables, the extent to "which they 

 absorb urine, the odor from which injures the flavor in 

 milk. Blocks are objectionable also in such stables, be- 

 cause of the extent to which they harbor offensive odors, 

 and get out of repair. Cement, although at present one 

 of the most costly materials used in stables for flooring, 



