Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/409

 MODEL DESIGNS FOR FARMERIES. 385 certainly essential where cattle arc tied up ; and one of the principal poinis m the construction of the floor, in every liouse for horned cattle, is, to place the gutter at 798 ,pvf , a a proper distance from their hind feet. This distance, in Holland, is never less than six inches, nor more than a foot. The gutter is generally made a foot broad, and three or four inches deep ; it is usually perpendicular on the sides, but some- times the cross section of the gutter is that of a semicircle or semioval ; which last form is, however, objectionable, as it is apt to make the cattle slip when they cross it to their stalls. Whatever be the form of the section of the gutter, the hoe or scraper employed to clean it out must have its blade of a corresponding shape. In houses where cows or cattle are kept untied, two or three are generally placed together in an apartment ten or twelve feet square, opening into a small yard of twice that area. Such cattle- houses are called, in Northumberland and Berwickshire, hammels ; and in them there is no regular gutter, but simply a vei-y gentle inclination of the floor of the shed and of the surface of the yard to one angle, where there are, or should be, a trap and drain, com- municating with the liquid manure tank. 757. -Cow-houses, in which cows are kept for giving milk, require to be constructed with more care than other cattle-houses, with respect to ventilation, light, and cleanliness. Cows on common farms are not generally kept in separate stalls, except in cases of sickness, or when they are near the period of cahing. The width of a common farm cow-house, where the cows are to be ranged lengthwise of the build- ing, should be at least sixteen feet, and the width allowed for each cow, of the largest and most improved breed of cattle, should not be less than five feet, or, when the cows are kept in-doors throughout the year, six feet ; and the space from the manger to the gutter should be eight or nine