HABITATIONS 323 



Provided as follows : 



' (a.) In calculating the air space for t'he purposes of this 

 regulation, no more space shall be reckoned which is more 

 than sixteen feet above the floor ; but if the roof or ceiling is 

 inclined, then the mean height of the same above the floor 

 may be taken as the height thereof for the purpose of this 

 regulation. 



' (6) This regulation shall not apply to any cowshed, con- 

 structed and used before the date of these regulations coming 

 into effect, until two years after that date.' 



It has been found necessary to make these extracts in 

 order to explain the position. The Act of Parliament upon 

 which the Dairies, Cow-sheds and Milk-shops Order is based 

 makes no mention of cubic space. Even the Order itself 

 in Section 13, which gave local authorities power to make 

 regulations regarding cowsheds, makes no mention of cubic 

 space, and it required a judicial opinion to settle the point 

 that local authorities had such power. 



The amount of this cubic space is not mentioned any- 

 where but in the above quoted Model Eegulations, which 

 are not official, and Sir Ernest Clarke, after a careful 

 examination of them, has pointed out that the ' Models ' 

 have no more real authority than that of the printers who 

 sell them!* The general feeling among cow proprietors 

 and landlords is that the cubic space laid down is exces- 

 sive ; with this we do not for one moment agree, but it is 

 interesting to know the regulation cannot be enforced. 



Superficial Area.^'We repeat the minimum cubic space 

 for a cow should be 1,000 feet ; unfortunately very httle of 

 this can be allotted to the ground on which she is actually 

 standing, as the universal prejudice is in favour of a narrow 

 stall, often only three feet in width, occasionally three and 

 a half feet, allowing a superficial area of from 21 to 24^ feet 

 of standing room. Of course by including the share of the 

 passages the total superficial area is raised, but it is seldom 

 as much as 70 feet. 



* 'Air Space in Dairies and Cow- Sheds': Journal of the Boyal 

 Agricultural Society, vol. viii., No. 4, 1897. 



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