The whole of the ground surface included between the foundations of the outer walls, should be laid down with a material which is thoroughly damp-proof, so as to keep the building dry, and which will afford an immovable bearing for the weight that is to be placed on it. A floor should be durable, waterproof, free from slipperiness, and fairly cheap. It would greatly conduce to the welfare of the horses' feet, if the material of the floor was a bad conductor of heat; but this is a condition which is usually unattainable in conjunction) with the requirements just mentioned. This drawback may be more or less obviated by keeping the floor of the boxes and stalls covered with bedding. It is an advantage, as far as the lighting up of the stable is concerned, for the floor to be of a light colour. A good kind of waterproof flooring can be made of cement-concrete. I am indebted chiefly to the kindness of the Rugby Portland Cement Company and to that of the Croft Granite and Cement Company for the following details of its construction.

Concrete is a form of artificial stone, and consists, as explained in Potter's Concrete, of an "aggregate" and a "matrix." When the aggregate has to serve as a foundation for a floor of paving bricks, granite sets, or similar material, it may, for convenience or economy, be made of broken-up fire bricks; but when it has to form a part of the floor of a stable, it should consist of hard, tough stones, which should have a rough surface to enable the subsequently applied matrix (cement) to firmly adhere to it. If pebble (kidney) stones be used, they should be broken, and their fractured surfaces placed upwards. In all cases for the purposes under consideration, Portland cement is the best matrix. Cement-concrete may be employed in situ (to use the trade expression), or in slabs. Situ flooring is the cheaper of the two, but is not so resistant to wear as these slabs, especially when they have been stored for a year or more after having been manufactured. In these slabs the aggregate may consist of granite chips, which should be from 1/2 to 1/4 in. in thickness and width. The aggregate should be washed, so as to free it from all adherent earth or other matter which might impair the strength of the concrete. For a situ floor, we may lay down a foundation 4 in. thick of hard stones; the larger ones, which may have a diameter of from 2 to 3 in., being placed at the bottom of the bed and kept apart by smaller stones put between them. We may then pour over this foundation, thin cement (in the proportion, say, of a shovelful of cement and a shovelful of clean sharp sand to a bucketful of water), so as to bind the stones together; and work over the whole, cement mortar (consisting of one part of cement and three parts of granite chips of the size just mentioned) to a thickness of 4 in. Before wetting the cement and chips, they should be thoroughly mixed together with a shovel, so that the mortar may be of uniform composition. The surface should be worked over with a wooden float, and gutters and notches made as may be required. The application of the mortar should be done in one operation; for if the upper layer be subsequently put on, it might not adhere to the lower one, and would consequently suffer a proportionate loss of strength. Gutters may be conveniently made in the damp surface of the concrete by placing in it metal pipes or metal rods sunk to half their diameter and left until the mortar has become hard. Notches may be cut with any convenient instrument. Only slow-setting cement should be employed, for the quick-setting kind is not so strong. The following is an extract from the pamphlet published by the Rugby Portland Cement Company on "Portland Cement" : - " The cement mortar should be used as quickly as possible after it is mixed, for to re-mix or to disturb when partially set, destroys its setting property. No doubt one of the difficulties attending the use of cement mortar is the tendency on the part of the workmen to mix too much at a time and afterwards to re-mix it. Or, secondly, to mix it with too much water. This should be prevented, and in order to secure satisfactory work must be attended to. For cement will not bear working up like lime mortar, the great essential of its success being that it should be gauged, laid in position, and left at rest in as short a time as possible. It should be allowed to dry naturally, artificial heat being injurious." The cost of good Portland cement is about £2 10s. a ton, and that of granite chips, exclusive of freight, about 6s. a ton. A square yard of flooring, 4 in. thick, would require 108 lb. of cement and 324 lb. of granite chips.

Excellent cement-concrete slabs, 3 in. thick, are made for stable floors by the Croft Granite and Cement Company. If economy be a matter for consideration and the ground be dry, the ordinary concrete foundation may be replaced by one of 7 or 8 in. of well rammed and watered ashes. A convenient size for these slabs is 2 ft. square, and they cost at the works yd. the square foot, which is equal to 5s. 3d. the square yard. These slabs are grooved, in order to prevent slipping, and they preserve during wear a gritty surface. Owing to the exactness with which they are made, they are far less liable to become shifted when forming a floor than blocks made of stone.

A reliable material for general flooring purposes is hard, grooved blue bricks, which are usually grouted in with liquid Portland cement. They give good results even with heavy omnibus horses, such as those of the London Road Car Company, which use these bricks under their animals. A flooring made from them costs about 7s. the square yard, including the concrete. For heavy cart horses, the bricks may be placed edge on; that is to say, with a surface of 27 square inches (9 in. x 3 in.), instead of 40 1/2 square inches (9 in. x 4 1/2 in.). In order to give foothold to the horses which have to stand on them, it is well to have paving bricks bevelled, and to have a groove running transversely across them, so as to divide the bearing surface of each brick into two squares. Blue bricks vary a good deal in quality.