Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/401

 MODEL DESIGNS FOR FARMERIES. 377 loose in separate compartments. When it is considered how much the health of almost all quadrupeds depends upon their reposing a portion of every twenty-four hours in a horizontal position, and more especially when we reflect that the horse is particularly liable to have swelled logs and heels, we cannot help being of opinion that all horses whatever ought to be lodged in separate cells or rooms, with divisions so high as to prevent them from seeing each other. We are informed by Waistell that some stables in the north of Yorkshire are divided in this manner, and that horses have been found to lie down in these stables, which would seldom do so when tied up with other horses, cither with or without stalls. In several stables in Britain for hunters or riding horses, we have seen this practice adopted ; and it is very general in the great breeding establish- ments known by the name of des haras (studs) in France. There is a very large stud of this kind in the neighbourhood of Nancy, which we visited in 1828 ; and where we found entire ranges of stabling partitioned off into separate cells for mares and foals, with a passage behind. The dimensions of these cells, as estimated by us on the spot, and marked down at the time, were about fifteen feet square ; the partitions were of inch and a half boards, ten feet high, grooved and tongued into each other ; and in the centre of the side next the passage was a doorway opening into it : this passage was at least six feet wide. These dimensions, being for mares with foals, are much more ample than would be required in farm stables : in these, eight or nine feet by twelve feet, the dimensions adopted in the north of Yorkshire, would be sufficient. It is well known that almost all hai-d-worked horses fail first in the legs and feet, and that the best way to alleviate this evil is to induce them to repose as much as possible in a reclining position. Now, since horses are found to lie down more readily in separate rooms than in stalls, there can be no doubt that, as a matter of economy, this mode of lodging them would repay a farmer for the extra-expense. This once proved by practical men in the best cultivated districts of Britain, such as East Lothian or Northumberland, for example, such stables would as soon be substit'-'ied there for those now in common use, as the threshing mill was fifty years ago for the flail, in the same districts. Whether the stable is laid out with stalls, or in separate compartments for single horses, there ought to be a broad passage behind, between the stalls or horse-rooms and the wall ; which passage ought to be paved, and kept at all times dry, clean, and free from litter. In the wall there ought to be one or more windows, according to the size of the stable, for light and ven- tilation. Each window may contain two glass sashes,sli ding past each other in grooves, and should have on the outside fixed luffer-boarding, or shut- ters of that description, either hinged, or also sliding in grooves. Under each window there should be a recess for a com bin ; or these may be placed at the extreme ends of the passage, or in the fodder- ing bay. There ought to be tubes under the eaves for ven- tflation, protected outside by luffer-boarding, and furnished with sliding shutters inside, for the purpose of regulation. There ought to be cupboards formed in recesses in the walls, one for each man who works a pair of horses, in which he may keep the currycombs, and other articles necessary for cleaning them. The harness of every horse that is in daily use ought to be hung against the wall behind it, in order to lose as little time as possible in taking it off and putting it on ; and that which is only used occasionally should be kept mi'm^iw 5 ■^