If the ground is sloping the floor timbers can be set on cedar posts projecting about two feet, but if level a foundation will be required. Merely a stone wall two feet in height will do for this if the soil is light or sandy, but if clayey or of other nature calculated to retain moisture it will be necessary to build such a wall and fill in with cinders or make a concrete foundation in this way: Over the space the building is to cover lay closely large stones; fill in between them with small stones; cement the top and "point" the sides.

This foundation ought to be two feet in depth, and at least one barrel of cement with as much gravel as can safely be mixed with it should be used in its construction if the contemplated building is of the size about to be advised. And the floor timbers laid on it there will be absolutely no danger of dampness from the ground.

If intended for two small dogs or one large one the kennel should be nine or ten feet in length; five feet in width; height at the front nine feet, and at the back seven feet.

The timbers should be of spruce, free from large knots, sap or shakes, and of the following dimensions : -

Sills, 4x4; posts, 4x4; studs, 4x2 - double at openings, sixteen inches on centres; plates, 4x2; rafters, 4x2

- twenty inches on centres; floor joists, 4 x 2 - eighteen inches on centres, - and these should be furred up on the rear and one end so that the floor when laid will have a double pitch of three-quarters of an inch to the foot and towards the small door for the dog.

Cover the rafters of roof and studding which form the walls with rough boarding; over this on the walls place two thicknesses of Beaver brand sheathing paper.

Cover the papered walls with spruce clapboards, laid 4 1/4 inches - but not over this distance - to the weather using galvanized iron nails.

Under all finish around the doors, windows, etc., put on tarred paper over the sheathing paper.

Cover the roof with cedar shingles, laid 41/2 inches to the weather.

On the floor joists put down 7/8 rough boards; on them two thicknesses of tarred paper, - turning the same up four inches all around the walls - and over all lay a finished floor.

By building after this plan one will obtain a kennel which will be cool in summer but warm in winter and thoroughly weather-proof.

At one end there should be a door to admit the owner; while the door for the dog should be at the back and where it will open into his out-door yard.

This door should be large enough to permit the dog to pass through with ease, and it should be hung with "fly hinges "that he may push it in or out.

Inside this door should be placed another so adjusted that it will slide up, that the tenant may be confined when desirable.

Mindful of the infinite importance of sunlight, a large sash window should be put in in front, and hinged that it may be opened when the weather is favorable. It must also be protected on the inside by strong wire netting securely fastened at top, bottom and sides.

This window cannot be depended upon for ventilation of infinite importance in a kennel - nor are the small ventilating windows which are hinged at the bottom and chained at the sides perfectly safe, for the incoming air would likely strike the occupant while on the sleeping-bench. But this danger of draughts can be wholly obviated by what is known as the "Eureka Ventilator" - a simple and inexpensive device, which placed high not only admits fresh air but draws out the foul air and at the same time keeps out the rain and snow.

As for painting, tints may be used if the owner fancies them, and the clapboards be of one color and the "finish " another, but three good coats of white paint, made of pure white lead and linseed oil only, would be preferable, for the reason it would not attract the sun in summer as much as dark colors.

Some breeders will have no other floors to their kennels than the ground, and this might do in the warm climates, or even in the cold were the buildings located on knolls and the surface drainage good, or there were trenches on all sides to rapidly carry away the water falling from the eaves and on the adjacent ground. But available situations like this are rare, while to trench and drain securely would be quite expensive. And after all a ground floor that is perfectly dry even is no better if as good as one of boards, provided it is sloped, as directed in the foregoing, so that the water used in washing will drain off quickly. Earth is a disinfectant, it is true, but like all other agents of its kind there are limits to its power, and when it has been treated to impurities the emanations from it are not only highly offensive but very prejudicial to health.

Really a ground floor is to be preferred only where the dogs have an adjoining yard to which they have free access and they are cleanly in their habits, for otherwise it must have an absorbent covering and be frequently dug up and renewed.

Returning to the kennel undergoing construction, sleeping accommodations are next in order, and these are easily provided in the form of a bench about six inches in height and two or three feet in width - according to the size of the dog for which it is intended. This should be at the end opposite the door; and that it may hold the bedding it should have a strip of board nailed to its front, while to prevent its being gnawed the top of this strip should be protected with hoop iron. It should also be built in two parts, with about one-third or one-fourth of it stationary, and to this part the other should be attached by hinges, so that it can be tipped up and back without necessitating removal of the bedding.