STABLE MANAGEMENT. 59 



of wire netting to exclude flies. If the interior doors are made in 

 halves, as described in chapter III, the upper half may be left open. 

 A horse in a box stall greatly enjoys standing at such a door with 

 his head thrust out of the open part, watching with apparent inter- 

 est all that is passing around him. It is certainly a relief from con- 

 finement in a sultry stall. 



Perfect drainage must be maintained. If the drains are clogged 

 the air of the stable becomes humid, and the horse shivers in cold 

 weather, and suffers much more from heat in summer. Dampness 

 in a stable is the prolific source of many forms of disease. 



BEDDING. 



A comfortable bed is as necessary for a horse as for a man. Indeed, 

 of the two, the man would doubtless suffer less if obliged to sleep on 

 a bare floor, than the more bulky horse. The horse's bed should be 

 of sufficient thickness, spread smoothly and evenly, so that there are 

 no heaps, hummocks or hollows. Wheat straw is the most common 

 material for bedding. It is cheap, easily handled, and can be made 

 comfortable. The straw of oats and barley is less commonly used, 

 not from any inferiority for this purpose, but becauss they possess 

 greater feeding value. Sawdust is used to some extent in the vicinity 

 of saw-miUs. Forest leaves, gathered in autumn and kept in a 

 dry place, make very good bedding, and add more to the value of ma- 

 nure than any other jnaterial used. The pressed peat-moss recently 

 iatroduced from Germany is superior in many respects to all other 

 substances for stable bedding. It is as soft as feathers, elastic, and 

 possesses many times greater capacity for absorption than straw or 

 saw-dust. It is pressed in bales of convenient size for handling, and 

 a stock sufficient for several months requires very little room for 

 storage. It is in fact sphagnum moss, like that largely used by flor- 

 ists for various purposes. It is found in peat swamps everywhere, 

 and the fact that the imported article only is sold in our markets, 

 arises from the greater cheapness of labor in Germany rather than 

 from lack of the material in this country. 



"Whatever the material used, the bedding should be cleared up 

 every morning, the droppings and foul litter carried to the manure 

 shed or other suitable receptacle, and the unsoiled portion, together 

 with all that may be dried for fm-ther use, put by itself in an empty 

 stall or a shallow box kept for the purpose in a convenient place. 

 At night the bed is to be re-made with the old bedding at the bot- 

 tom, and fresh material laid smoothly above it. 



