PRACTICAL HINTS ON STABLE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA. 173 
urine has fallen during the night well scraped, or even, if neces¬ 
sary, completely dug out; the moist, tainted earth carried away, 
and the hole, if any has been made, refilled with dry earth, which 
not only mends the breach in the flooring, but tends to keep the 
atmosphere in the stable pure, dry earth being a valuable disin¬ 
fectant and powerful deodorizer. 
Urine and dung .—During the day dung or urine dropped on 
the floor should be immediately lifted and taken outside the 
building; the faeces can be easily collected and removed, and 
there is little difficulty attached to collecting and removing the 
urine. This is to be done by covering the surface on which it 
falls with dry earth ; that will absorb the fluid, which can then be 
gathered by scraping the mass together, and taken away in a 
basket. At the same time care should be exercised to scrape and 
dry the floor thoroughly before again sprinkling it with dry 
earth, and much supervision is called for on this point, as many 
syces will cover the urine with dry earth and there leave it. The 
above plan, therefore, should be strictly enforced, and though 
it may seem difficult to carry out, it will be found perfectly 
feasible and amenable to firmness and attention on the part of 
those in authority. 
I would have drawn attention to the fact that almost every 
syce will, if it be left to his option, allow the fseces and urine 
to accumulate in the stables and boxes of the horses entrusted 
to his care; the dung he may possibly remove to a corner of 
the box or stall when dropped, and afterwards take it outside 
once during the day, but the urine he never dreams of remov¬ 
ing, but will, if permitted, not only allow it to soak into the 
flooring, but sink a chattee or earthen vessel in the centre of 
the floor under the horse, in which the urine is allowed to collect 
for an indefinite period, till overflowing, it saturates the floor in 
its vicinity, poisons the atmosphere, and in all probability pro¬ 
duces an outbreak of infectious and deadly disease. If, however, 
the general lieakli of the animal exposed to the miasma arising 
from this state of things escapes derangement his feet will be 
almost certain to suffer from the effects of the excretions on 
them, and he may be utterly ruined (by thrush or canker re¬ 
sulting therefrom) as a saleable or useful horse —“ No foot no 
horse ” being an old and true axiom. 
Flies .—In addition to the above dangers, dirt of any kind per¬ 
mitted to remain in the stables presents a great attraction to that 
inveterate, though apparently insignificant, enemy to the horse, 
“ the fly ” and therefore the walls and ceilings also should be 
kept perfectly clean, and swept daily if necessary. 
Manger .—The manger or receptacle from which he may be fed, 
let it be of what material it may (I prefer iron mangers, as they are 
