544 The Construction of Cow Houses. [oct., 



amount of damage. It is also defective, in that the passages 

 from which the milking is carried on are usually too narrow 

 to secure milk standing on them from risk of pollution, as 

 where the passages are under 5 ft. or 6 ft. wide, the walls 

 behind the cows are often spattered with dung. 



Passages. — The majority of cow-houses usually have the 

 passages much too narrow. A feeding passage cannot be 

 worked in with comfort if the breadth is less than 4 feet, and 

 it will be all the better if made slightly more. Milking 

 passages, no matter whether in single or double buildings, 

 should not be less than 5 feet wide for single cow-houses and 

 6 to 7 feet for double ones. This width is not necessary, 

 either for feeding or cleaning, but on most farms, particularly 

 the larger ones, nothing less should be allowed for a milking 

 passage. It is only on the very smallest of farms that each 

 milker carries the milk direct from the cow to the dairy or 

 cooler. The common practice is to have special cans for 

 carrying the milk, and during the operation of milking these 

 are left in the passage or walk, and as each cow is finished 

 the milk is emptied into these cans. When full, they are 

 carried to the dairy or refrigerator and emptied, after which 

 they are returned to their place in the passage. With a 

 double cow-house where the passage is less than 6 feet wide 

 there is always a risk, while they remain there, of a cow near 

 at hand passing either urine or dung, and part of these not 

 only getting splashed on the can, but also into it. The 

 narrower the milking passages are, the greater is the risk of 

 this source of pollution, which, although always present, is 

 more pronounced during the season when pasture is young 

 and succulent. Single cow-houses with 24-inch manure 

 channels and 5-ft. passages behind the cows become spat- 

 tered with dung even during the winter months, so that it 

 is quite evident that cans of milk standing in the passage 

 run more risk of pollution than most people care to admit. 



Stalls. — The stalls of cow-houses only require a very trifling 

 incline from the trough to the manure channel. Each spring 

 when the cows go out to the pasture the stalls should be 

 thoroughly scraped, and all filth removed. This necessitates 

 soaking the stall with water, and, when the dirt has been 

 removed, thoroughly washing it out, and unless the stall is 



