aside from ventilation, which is discussed in the
next chapter, there is little to be said concerning the other buildings
on the farm. Barns for hay are not involved. A few words may profitably
be devoted to barns for stock, involving, as they do, by their
construction, the health of the stock. One enthusiastic farmer writes
that it is possible for farmers to keep their stock at all times under
conditions which are an improvement upon the month of June. He believes
that the cow stable should be as comfortable for the cows as the house
is for the owner, subject to no fluctuations of temperature, and that,
in this way, the health as well as the comfort and milk production of
the cows would be maintained.

Light should be listed as the first essential of healthy stables, light
to kill disease-producing bacteria, to make dirty corners and holes
impossible, and to react on the vitality of the animals. Compare this
with some stables where fifteen, twenty, or thirty head are stabled in
an underground dugout with two or three small windows not giving more
than four square feet in all. Stable windows should be set, like house
windows, in two sashes and capable of being raised or lowered at will.
In winter a large sash may be screwed over the regular window to keep
out frost and moisture, provided there is some independent method of
ventilation.

For good healthy conditions, a cow needs about 500 cubic feet of space,
with active ventilation. In old stables, with poor construction, as
little as 200 cubic feet per cow was allowed, and when stables were made
tight with matched boards and building paper, 200 cubic feet was found
to be too small, and it was recommended that one cubic foot be allowed
for each pound of cow. But when tried by wealthy amateurs, it was found
that this was too large; the stables were damp and cold in winter and
became a predisposing factor in the development of tuberculosis. Between
the two extremes, 200 and 1000, is the practical average named above,
namely, 500 cubic feet of air space for each cow.

For the health of the cow as well as for the good quality of the milk
the stable should be built with special reference to being kept clean.
The ceiling should be dust-tight, so that if hay is stored above, it
will not sift through. The part of the barn where the cows are kept
should be separated from the rest of the barn by tight partitions and a
door into the cow stable. Nothing dusty or dirty should accum