bles in the country are so situated as to allow the use of good clay bottoms in the loose boxes, there is no better or more healthy flooring for a horse to stand upon, provided, of course, they are properly attended to and frequently renovate]. In the average town stable, where the horses are kept in standing stalls, a slat flooring made of some soft wood, such as white pine, and draining slightly to a grated trough at the rear of the stalls, is most practical. It is wisest to have this floor laid with solid planks on either side next the partitions, and three or four loose planks or slats about three inches wide laid half an inch apart to fill up the centre. The solid planks should be put down in concrete or asphalt, to allow of no crevices.
The question as to the width of the stalls depends somewhat upon the size of the horses kept. The average idea seems to be that four feet six inches is the width for any and every stall. The author's personal experience, after quite extensive experiments, inclines him to believe that this width is just about proper to insure an average-sized horse becoming cast when he attempts to roll, and that it is better to have the stall either so narrow (about four feet wide) as to prevent the animal from trying to roll, or so wide (about five feet) as to reduce the chances of casting to a minimum.
The suggestion as to the use of soft woods for the stall floors will be found a sound one, for they
