The first thing to do before bedding-down, is to see that the floor is dry and clean. If the floor is damp, and especially if it is evil smelling, we may have it freely sprinkled over with powdered peat moss, sawdust, or even dry vegetable mould, and then swept out with a birch broom. Exposure to air and sunlight, and a sprinkling of sawdust impregnated with carbolic acid (p. 259), will, after drying, be sufficient for disinfecting purposes in all ordinary cases.

With straw, an ample bed may be made for a box having an area of 132 square feet (12 ft. by 11 ft.), with 5 bundles, each of which weighs 14 lbs. An additional bundle or a trifle more every second day, would be sufficient for most horses; but animals which eat their bedding, or which make a practice of walking round and round in their box, would require about an additional 50 per cent. Two-and-a-half bundles would be enough for a stall, with an additional bundle every second day.

The cost of straw bedding may be put at from 1s. 9d. to 2s. 6d. a week.

Theoretically, the arrangement best suited to utilise the elasticity and drainage power of straw would be to have the bedding composed of layers of single straws, the straws of each layer being all in one direction, and at right angles to the direction of the straws of the layer next to them, so as to form a honeycombed structure. Such minute attention to detail could not be carried out in practice. Besides, all useful purposes can be fulfilled by putting, to begin with, half the quantity of the straw evenly over the floor with the direction of the straws running across that of the box or stall, and the other half longitudinally over the lower layer; or vice versa. The groom should spread each layer as evenly as possible, and should go through and work up the whole of the bedding with a stable fork, so as to render the litter as elastic and porous as possible. The straw should be banked up, supposing that the supply is ample, on the side of each partition, and the ends twisted-in at the entrance. The simplest way of twisting-in is to lay the handle of a stable fork across the ends of the straw at the entrance (Fig. 34), and while standing on the handle to twist-in the ends underneath. A more elaborate way is to twist-in the upper layer of straw and afterwards the lower layer in the manner shown in Fig. 35. Here the feet keep the straw in place while the ends are being twisted-in by the fingers, and the twisted-in edge can be finished off with a fringe of ears of straw.

Fig. 34. Ends of straw bedding twisted-in, with stable fork laid across them.

From I to 1 1/2cwt. of moss litter will be required for a stall in the first instance; and about double that quantity for an ordinary sized box. The peat moss should be laid down in an even layer free from lumps. A daily allowance of 5 or 6 lb. for stalls and 6 or 7 lb. for boxes would be ample. The daily cost of such a bedding would vary from 1d. to 1 1/2 d.

With sawdust, a horse may be bedded down in the same manner as with moss litter. A bedding four inches deep of sawdust, or a foot deep of shavings would probably be sufficient for health and comfort. As tan and sand are heavier, and of a more compact nature than moss litter and sawdust, a bedding of either of the former materials need not be as thick as one of either of the latter. The cost of sand, ferns, and fir needles will generally be only that of the loading and cartage. The price of sawdust and shavings at their place of production is usually very low.