The Roof of the stable usually forms the floor of the hayloft. In some of the farm stables there is no hay-loft. The outer roof is the roof of the stable, and is of thatch or tile, plastered or unplastered. "The most wholesome stables," says a popular, though a very superficial author, "are those where nothing intervenes between the roof of the building and the floor, and I have had occasion to observe that roofs made of unplastered tile, form the best mode of ventilation."* In the country, where it is impossible to have the litter removed as it is soiled, and where the horses are not the worse of having a long coat, a roof of tile, plastered or unplastered, may afford all the shelter they require, while it favors the escape of effluvia from the rotting litter, upon which the horses of a slovenly farmer are compelled to seek repose. But stables of this kind are not for horses of fast and laborious work., They are too cold.

If the loft be above the stable, the ceiling must be nine feet from the ground, and if the stable contains more than four horses the ceiling must be higher. A height of from twelve to fourteen feet is sufficient for the largest stable; and the smallest ought not to be less than eight feet high. When too lofty the stable is cold; when too low, it requires large ventilators, which create a current, not at all times safe or pleasant to the horses. Professor Coleman used to recommend a very low roof, about seven feet I think from the ground. I forget his reason. His own stable is so low that medicine can not be given to a horse in it without driving the crown of his head through the ceiling. It certainly is not right to have the roof so low. The height must vary from eight to fourteen feet, according to the number of horses. When there is no loft above, the height should be rather greater; in summer the slates or the tiles become hot, and make the stable like an oven; and in winter when snow lies on the roof, the stable is like an ice-house. The hay-loft, when over the stable, should have no communication with it.

* White.