In some places the floor is washed every morning, in others only once a week; in very many it is never washed. The water, with the assistance of a broom, clears the grooves, and prevents the stones from becoming slippery. In a causewayed stable it removes the dung and urine which lodge between the stones, and contaminate the air. But, while water cleans the floor, it renders the stable cold and damp. On close or cold days the process should be omitted. If the horses all go out in the morning, the floor should be washed after they are gone; the doors and windows being set wide open till they return. After washing, the floor is sometimes strewed with sand or saw-dust. This absorbs the water, roughens the stones, and gives an air of cleanliness and comfort to the whole stable. It is very useful when the floor is naturally damp, or when wet operations are performed in the stable.

Besides the daily, weekly, or monthly washing, which in some places is made upon the floor, the whole stable requires a general purification once or twice a year. All the woodwork, travises, doors, mangers, and racks should be thoroughly washed every six or twelve months; and the stall or stable in which a horse having glanders has stood, should not be occ upied by any other horse till it has undergone purification, which, in such a case, must be performed with great care. Hot water, soft soap, and a hard brush, when properly applied, will loosen and dissolve the dirt, and the whole may be removed by boiling water and a mop, such as is used for washing coaches. The windows may be cleaned often. The walls and ceiling may be whitewashed with a solution of lime. When the stables are well lighted, a white color is rather glaring, and is supposed to injure the eyes. A little clay dissolved along with the lime, produces a fine stone color. The walls and roof, however, can not be too white, if the stable has not sufficient light.

A warm windy day should be chosen for this operation. If the stable contain more than two or three horses, and is never empty, only two stalls should be washed in one day. The white washing may be done in one, and this process should precede the wood-washing. When a large stable is all washed on the same day, it remains cold and damp for a week afterward. The woodwork absorbs much moisture, and does not part with it very readily. It is better not to do much at a time, unless the horses can be kept out till the whole is dry.

The underground drains, where there are any, should be examined occasionally before they become clogged, or much injured by rats. Defects in the pavement, breaches in the wood, decay of anything, or of any place, should be repaired at once. Attention to these, and to many other little things, of which a good stableman need not be reminded, saves a deal of trouble and expense. An industrious groom will keep the stable, and all belonging to it, clean and in order; a lazy fellow, at most only puts them in order, and everything goes wrong at the intervals of his working fits.