For bedding I do not think that anything is better than prime wheaten straw, properly shaken down and evened, to secure the comfort of the horse when he stretches or rolls. To leave it in lumps is both wasteful and cruel, for when it is so an animal cannot rest upon it for more than a very short period of time. He becomes restless and disquieted, he fidgets about, just as we do when we have the misfortune to be put to sleep on a hard, lumpy, uncomfortable bed,--and by-and-by he stands up, fretted, and declines to stretch himself any more. Thus his rest is disturbed and broken, and he is unfitted for his work next day.
Straw must of course be frequently changed, according as it becomes littered, broken up, or damp. It is sometimes left open to the inroads of dogs and poultry, a thing that ought to be guarded against for various reasons, among which may be counted the liability of vermin, which very soon find their way to the horse.
The best place for a granary is over a shed or coach-house. It ought to be a cool, airy apartment, with concrete floor, and walls lined with glazed brick. In small establishments the corn chest supplies the place of one. This, if used, ought never to be kept in the stable, owing to the chances so frequently occurring of its being left open by mistake, and horses breaking loose and gorging themselves almost to death. It should be placed in a loft, with a tube or shaft attached to bring the corn to the place where it is required.
Every stable ought to be provided with a copper, or boiler, for heating water and cooking food. This, both in town and country, should be considered an indispensable appendage. It is a great advantage, as well as a saving, to have the boiler made of malleable iron, which will stand every kind of hard usage without sustaining injury. It should be placed in a room that will afford space for all kinds of cooking implements, coolers, pails, &c., and a supply of coals as well. The entrance to this should be sufficiently wide to admit a good-sized wheelbarrow, or a cooler on wheels, and there should be a good lock to fasten the door. The furniture ought to include a couple of iron ladles for mixing or measuring the food, and a water-pipe with a stopcock running into the boiler.