Tlie Improved Construction of Stables. 
367 
No. 7. The question of paving involves the following prin- 
ciples : — 
Paving should wear well, not become slippery ; be watertight ; 
be easily cleansed. 
No. 8. The objection to cess-pits extends to all sewers or 
covered drains within stables, which are merely cess-pits of 
another form. 
The drains, like the stable floors, should be impervious to 
moisture. Cobble-stones and paving-stones should never be used 
for forming stable-gutters ; these should be made of smooth 
material, with as few joints as possible, carefully laid, having a 
shallow saucer-shaped section, and with as rapid an incline as it 
is possible to obtain 
These gutters should discharge into an underground-drain 
(which should be a drain-pipe), at a distance of at least 12 feet 
from the stable-wall. As the surface-drains always receive a 
considerable quantity of dung, besides urine and water, it 
would be advantageous to provide a trap at the openings of the 
underground-drain to prevent effluvia returning, and to avoid 
stoppages. 
To mend old Stables, — Besides the directions here given for 
the erection of new buildings, the Report offers suggestions for 
the improvement of existing stables. Those arranged on the old 
transverse construction should have shafts for the removal of foul 
air carried from the ceiling to above the roof. The middle of 
the length of the stable is the best place for such shafts, although 
the corners may be more ready of access. "Their conjoint area 
should be equal to 18 square inches per horse at the least." 
Fresh air may be admitted by openings close to the ceiling 
Explanation of the Plan. 
The plan is that of a stable for 48 horses under a single roof. The interior 
length of the building is 143 feet 8 inches, and the breadth 33 feet. The 
height of the side-walls to the spring of the roof is 12 feet, and the total height 
is 20 feet 6 inches. Each horse will thus have 1605 cubic feet and about 
100 superficial feet of space. There is a door opening in halves and two 
windows at each opposite end, and a door opening in halves on each opposite 
side. The stalls are of the usual width of 5 feet 6 inches, and there is a 
central passage 14 feet wide between the opposite stalls. 
This stable is ventilated by a louver 16 inches wide carried from end to end 
of the roof, affording about 4 square feet of ventilating outlet for each horse. 
To ensure a continuous movement of the air in the stable at all times, a 
course of air-bricks is carried round at the eaves ; the whole affording a fresh- 
air iulet of one scpiare foot per horse, and an open space is left under all the 
doors for the same object. When a larger amount of ventilation is required, 
it can be afforded by opening a sufficient number of swing windows, of which 
one is provided for each stall. These windows are 3 feet 3 inches high, by 
2 feet 6 inches wide. To ensure a movement of the air near the horse's head 
when he is lying down, an air-brick is introduced between evcrv two stalls. 
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