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FARM-HOUSES AND OFFICES

pit. Allowing six inches for this, there will remain a widthof f eet to the back wall, if the stable be 18 feet wide, a partof which, close to the wall, is occupied with corn chests andplaces for harness.

In some of the best stables, the racks occupy one of theangles formed by the wall and trevices, and form the qua-drant of a circle. The spars are perpendicular, and widerplaced than in the hanging racks. The hay seed falls into abox below, instead of being dropt on the ground, or incom-moding the eyes and ears of the horses.

With a view to save both the hay and the seed, it is an ad-vantage to have the hay stack so near the stable, as to admitof the hay being thrown at once upon the loft. In somestables there is no loft, and the hay is stored in a separate a-partment. ' Ventilators are not common in farm stables,though there are windows on the back wall, which may an-swer nearly the same purpose. The floor is for the most partpaved with undressed stones, but, in some instances, the spacefrom the gutter to the back wall is laid with flags of freestone.(See Plates VI and VII).

5. Feeding-houses.

These are required on farms where either the turnip hus-bandry or soiling is practised. They are generally well aired,and constructed so as to occasion the least labour in feeding,and in clearing away the dung, and that the cattle may be keptas clean and dry as possible. The dung, in the more im-proved districts, is never put out at the windows, which is amost slovenly practice, but taken away in wheelbarrows.

A small stream of water, if it can be got, is occasionallyintroduced* for washing the stalls, and affording drink to thecattle; but the generality of courtins or straw-yards are pro-vided with ponds, or pump wells, from which any supply ofwater may be obtained.

There are a variety of methods of constructing feeding-houses. The most common are the following:—