STABLING AND FEEDING 81 



stables took exception to my recommendation 

 that the standing stalls have floors. " Floors 

 are wrong in principle," he said, " and so must 

 be wrong in practice " ; and he had his stalls built 

 without them. In less than a month from the 

 time they were first used they were in such condi- 

 tion that he was obliged to have floors put in. 

 The same thing has doubtless happened in many 

 other instances and simply goes to show that a 

 thing may be absolutely right in theory and yet 

 not work out well in practice. 



I have used both standing and bos stalls all my 

 life, and on most farms it will be generally most 

 convenient to have both. The special desirability 

 of the box stall is for growing colts and for horses 

 that are not used regularly. For horses that are 

 used every day the standing stall is more con- 

 venient and serves every purpose. 



In feeding, no hard and fast rules can be laid 

 down; both kind and quantity must be according 

 to circumstances and the judgment of the feeder. 

 A great many horses are injured by being fed too 

 generously when idle, or comparatively so, just 

 as a great many are hurt by being worked or 

 driven hard on light rations. Moreover, certain 

 grains are more available than others in almost 

 every locality and this, too, must be considered 

 in feeding. Upon my own land, for instance, oats 



