THE STABLE AND ITS MANAGEMENT 221 



manure, that were most valuable for fertilization, 

 left in the stables for no other reason that I could 

 fathom than that it seemed to be no one's bus- 

 iness to take it away. " Why don't you spread it 

 on the pastures, or use it on the ploughed fields ? " 

 I asked one gentleman. " Oh, the ground does not 

 need it," he replied. I did not like to go any fur- 

 ther for fear of seeming intrusive. Then again I 

 did not believe that a man who thought tilled 

 ground even in the limestone enriched land of the 

 Blue Grass section would not be better for stable 

 manure would bother particularly about the ad- 

 vantages of keeping stables clean. 



Stables should be light not dark. There is a no- 

 tion as old as the hills that a stable should be a 

 dark and somber place. There are those who still 

 hold stoutly to this view. Why a stable should be 

 dark and the living room of a human being light, 

 I cannot conceive. Light and air are the great 

 purifying agents. Germs of various kinds multi- 

 ply mightily in the dark, while many are killed by 

 the light. The only reason that is given for a dark 

 stable is that constant light in a horse's eyes is 

 likely to injure his organs of sight. I grant that 



