Chapter II: Part 2

Among the uninitiated, there is an all too prevalent idea that anything is good enough for the making of concrete. Some will tell you that sawdust, shavings, mud, clay, etc., will do to complete the mixture, but the absurdity of this notion will very soon become evident to anyone who neglects the precautions which have been above pointed out.

Reinforcement

_Principles involved_

Concrete and steel render valuable assistance to each other in the support of heavy burdens. On a solid foundation, loaded from above and thus under direct pressure, a concrete column will withstand the strain of an enormous load. A much smaller load so placed as to cause stretching or bending toward one side of the same column may cause it to snap off, for concrete is strong, but brittle. On the other hand, steel is tough and elastic. In the form of rods or wire, steel withstands massive loads that tend to stretch it, and thus displays a kind of strength directly opposite to that of the plain concrete column. In modern construction these two valuable properties of concrete and steel are utilized by combining them in what is called reinforced concrete. With steel properly buried in the concrete, the column withstands not only the load which might otherwise snap it, but one many times larger, and even though it is applied at any place along its length.

Reinforcement, therefore, is steel in the form of rods, bars or wires, buried in concrete to take up and to withstand the strains which tend to stretch or to bend the concrete. A concrete fence post is merely a small concrete column. Reinforced, it easily stands the strain from usage in a fence line.

The value of reinforcing concrete posts properly may readily be seen in the figure. If a load (L) is raised so that its weight is supported on one side by a wooden post, the post will bend. The fibre in the wood on the side away from the load may be tough and elastic enough to prevent the post from breaking, and when released the post will spring back into its former position. In the third figure a No. 9 wire (W) is fastened securely to the wooden post at the top and at the ground surface, and is supported along its length by the struts (S). If the same load is applied, the post will not bend, because the wire takes up the bending or stretching strain. This is precisely the case with the reinforcement in a concrete post. Supported along its length by the concrete, the wire (W) or steel in other shapes takes up the bending or stretching strains. Since the load which causes bending or stretching may come from any direction, concrete posts are reinforced on every side; otherwise they might break in a manner somewhat similar to that in which the wooden post bends when the reinforcement is not on the proper side of the post.

In the effort to be safe it is a common fault to insert more reinforcement than is absolutely necessary. This adds needlessly to the cost, for concrete becomes stronger as it grows older.

Kinds of Reinforcement

With regard to the roughness of the outside, metallic reinforcing materials are divided into two classes, smooth and corrugated or deformed. The general result of the many tests carried on in testing laboratories seems to indicate that in strength of bond, if the concrete is sufficiently rich and well mixed, smooth surfaces give satisfactory results. Two kinds of reinforcement are much used—bars and wire.

_Bars._—Round bars three-sixteenths or one-fourth of an inch in diameter are the size and kind most used on the farm. The stock on hand at blacksmith shops and hardware stores is generally from steel that stretches too easily and therefore is not the best for reinforcement. Companies which make a specialty of reinforcing materials can furnish both rods and bars which stretch only under very large loads.

_Wire._—The development of the wire fence has produced a material well suited for reinforcing purposes. Of equal size, such wire will produce a stronger reinforcement than the material above described. In order to obtain straight wire of the necessary length, the coils ordinarily placed on the market should not be straightened out. Straight wire can be obtained from dealers in the same manner as baling wire; that is, either single or twisted into two or three-ply cables, and of the length desired. The plain, ungalvanized fencing wire is the proper kind, for galvanization adds nothing to the strength, and the metal will not rust when incased in the concrete.

Concrete Sidewalks and Floors

Concrete floors are nothing more than sidewalks of large size, and are formed by casting slabs in place.

The description given is an economical and practical method of laying sidewalks or floors, easily adapted to any use where concrete is found advantageous. This description will therefore apply not only to the building of sidewalks, but to all flat surfaces of concrete resting on the ground.

Lasting Qualities

Concrete floors must remain hard and in position to be permanent. To accomplish this, good materials must be used, and proper methods of mixing and placing must be followed. Only in this way can settlement cracks, upheaval by frost or roots of trees, contraction cracks, crumbling, and general failure be avoided.

Settlement Cracks

To avoid settlement cracks, thoroughly ram the ground after excavating for the foundation. This gives a solid bearing to the concrete slab.

Upheaval by Frost

To prevent upheaval by frost a foundation formed of crushed stone, hard furnace cinders, brick bats broken to about a 2-inch size, broken tile or any other hard porous material, should be laid in such a way as to obtain perfect drainage. Never use ashes.

If freezing occurs, room is in this way provided between the pieces of stone for the expansion of the ice.

If this foundation is placed in clay soil, side outlets or blind drains of tile should be provided at points along the walk where they are necessary, leading into holes filled with cinders or crushed stone, which will allow the surrounding earth to soak up the accumulated water. Clay soil holds the water collected in the drainage foundation, and if it becomes entirely full of water, the ice formed during freezing weather will upheave the walk.

Upheaval by Tree Roots

Upheaval by tree roots can be easily avoided by cutting out all roots which run under the pavement at a less depth than 18 inches below the surface of the ground.

Contraction Cracks

Cement concrete expands and contracts by changes of temperature in the same way as steel. It is, therefore, necessary to cut joints which will allow for this expansion and contraction. The concrete must be cut entirely through to the bottom of the slab with a trowel, cleaver or other instrument, the joint formed being from ⅛ to ¼ of an inch wide. Blocks formed in this way should not be greater than 6 feet square (36 square feet).

Scaling or Crumbling of the Surface

The principal causes of scaling or crumbling surfaces are improper mixing, drying out before the cement has thoroughly hardened and the use of bad materials.

Cement needs water not only when mixed, but after being placed and tamped, and until it has entirely hardened. If concrete is not kept continually wet until hard, it is weakened, and the surface of such a walk scales or becomes soft and chalky.

Specifications

DRAINAGE FOUNDATION

Stake out the lines of the walk, or dimensions of the floor. Excavate to a depth of 16 inches, ram and tamp the ground thoroughly and evenly and fill in 12 inches with clean large cinders, broken stone, pebbles, brick bats, broken tile or other material selected. Place in position wooden forms made of 2 by 4’s, these 2 by 4’s to be set on edge and held in position by stakes firmly driven in the ground, the top edge to be located so as to accurately outline the established grade or slope of the walk or floor.

A walk should be higher in the center, or at one edge, to insure the water running off. This slope should be ¼ of an inch to the foot.

SELECTION OF MATERIALS

Particular attention must be paid to the selection of the materials and their mixing.

The concrete should be composed of gravel or crushed stone all of which will pass through a ¾-inch mesh screen, and be collected on a ¼-inch mesh; sand, free from loam and preferably coarse, and a grade of Portland cement guaranteed to meet all the requirements of the Standard Specifications as adopted by the American Society for Testing Materials and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

PROPORTIONS

The strength of the slab is not always governed by its thickness. The greater strength is obtained by properly proportioning the gravel or crushed stone, sand and Portland cement, so that all the spaces between the stone are filled with sand and cement.

The Portland cement, sand and gravel or crushed stone should be mixed in proportions, if the sand is not very coarse, of 1: 2: 4—which means, 1 part Portland cement, 2 parts sand, 4 parts gravel or crushed stone, all passing a ¾-inch mesh and all collected on a ¼-inch mesh. If the sand is coarse and the crushed stone or gravel well graded in size of particles, it may be mixed in proportions of 1 part Portland cement, 2½ parts sand, 5 parts gravel or broken stone. All proportions are measured by volume.

Bank run gravel is often used for sidewalk work, particularly where a good bank can be found on the farm. It is safer, if this material be used, to screen out the pebbles, using them as stone, measuring the quantities of stone and sand as described above. Concrete should not be laid in freezing weather.

CONSISTENCY OF CONCRETE

Mix the concrete as described on page 15 to a consistency that when tamped, it will not quake, but it should be sufficiently wet so that some moisture will rise to the surface under tamping.

PLACING

Divide the walk by setting forms at right angles to the side forms. The cross forms can be made of 2 by 4’s. These provide for expansion and contraction joints. Hold these forms in place by driving stakes through the foundation into the ground on the opposite side from where the concrete is to be placed. Spread the concrete over the drainage foundation to the thickness of the walk or floor, and in slabs not over 6 feet square. The thickness of a walk should be 4 inches, a driveway 6 inches, a floor over which a wagon may be driven 6 inches, and all other floors 4 inches.

Fill in every other slab, placing enough forms to use up all the concrete mixed in one batch. No batch should stand longer than one half hour before being placed.

Tamp the concrete thoroughly. Use a template, with ends resting on the side forms, and cut to a curve to give the walk the necessary crown. The concrete should be tamped so as to conform to the curve of the template. If one edge of the walk is made higher than the other, use a straight edge resting on the side forms. Tamp the concrete to conform to the straight edge.

Mix another batch of concrete, remove the cross forms and place the concrete between each slab, forming a continuous walk. Use the template or straight edge and tamp as before. Immediately after placing the closing slab, work a straight trowel or knife down through the entire depth of the concrete between each slab, thus insuring a perfect contraction joint. Smooth the surface with a wooden float.

A neat appearance may be given the contraction joints by running a jointer along the top, thus smoothing the edges. Do this before the concrete gets too hard. The sides of the walk may be smoothed in the same way by use of an edger.

When the concrete is nearly hard go over the surface with a piece of oakum or a stiff brush, removing the marks of the float and giving a good even wearing surface which will not be slippery. In using oakum or a brush be careful not to remove the larger pieces of stone. If surfacing in this manner disturbs the particles of stone and roughens the walk to too great an extent, allow the walk to harden a little more before finishing in this way. At the end of each day’s work see that the last slab is entirely filled and finished.

All interior floors, such as floors of cellar, barns and stables require no contraction joints. They are made by laying a solid continuous sheet of concrete. All outside floors should have contraction joints forming slabs not over 6 feet square. These are provided the same as in sidewalks. A feeding floor is formed merely by sidewalk pavements set side by side. Instead of using a template for crowning the surface, use a straight edge, each end resting on the extreme outside forms to give a slope to the feeding floor. Contraction joints for exterior floors are formed in the same way as for sidewalks. The concrete is also placed in alternate slabs and finished in the same way as sidewalks. When completed the walk or floor must be continuously protected from the rays of the sun and from the wind for at least three days, so that it will not dry out at any time. This can be easily done by covering the concrete when it is hard with hay, straw, or old carpet. This covering should be thoroughly soaked with water, and kept wet for three or four days or longer if economy will permit.

While the walk or floor is hardening it should be so protected as to prevent persons or animals from disfiguring the surface by walking on it.

A Foundation Gutter and Walk

Foundation gutters catch the water from off the rain-beaten side of the building, quickly carry it away, and, by preventing “seepage,” keep the cellar, basement, or ground-floor dry. In sloppy, muddy weather, they also serve as convenient walks around the out-buildings.

Determine the grading or sloping of the gutter bottom from observation of direction of the flow of surface water during rain storms, or from local conditions, such as location of outlet into underground drain. Excavate a trench 1 foot 6 inches in width, 10 inches deep on each side, and hollowed out to 13 inches deep in the middle. Use a straight edge or a grade cord, together with a spirit level, to give the bottom of the trench the desired slope or “fall.” For each foot of length a slope of one-eighth inch will be sufficient.

Clean the dirt off the foundation wall with a stiff broom or brush.

In the bottom of the trench place a 6-inch foundation of well-“tamped” gravel, brickbats or crushed stone.

Make a one-bag batch of concrete in proportions, 1: 2½: 5. Have the mixture just wet enough to tamp well.

Place a 4-inch thickness of concrete to form a dish-shaped gutter 3 inches deep in the middle. Every five feet, make an expansion joint ⅛ of an inch wide by inserting a metal strip not less than 7 inches wide and 18 inches long, or by cutting a joint entirely through the concrete with a straight spade. Smooth the surface with a wooden float.

=Materials Required=
One cubic yard crushed rock or screened gravel;
½ cubic yard sand;
6 bags of Portland cement, for a 50-foot section.

Repairs to Farm Buildings

Since wood always fails first at the ground, the use of concrete on the farm has developed from the ground up. After a farmer has had to replace several sills or blocks of wood, he begins to look about him for a new material which will not rot or will not have to be replaced. Concrete is his natural selection.

Support the building by temporary struts, alongside of the post to be removed. Saw off post entirely above rotten part. Dig a hole directly under the post 2 feet deep, and slightly larger than the post itself. Build a box with sides only, with the same inside measurement as the hole already dug. The box must be long enough to reach from the ground to a few inches above the bottom of post.

Fill hole with concrete, mixed 1: 2: 4. Then place the box in position, and fill it with concrete until the bottom of the sawed-off post is embedded about ½ an inch in the mixture. Leave the forms in place for one week and after two weeks remove the struts which have been used as temporary support for the building. The concrete should be mixed fairly wet, and churned with a stick while being placed.

The bottom of the foundation may be made larger than the top, by simply sloping one side of the box form—giving the effect shown in the photograph.

Why Concrete Should be Used to Repair Farm Buildings

Repairs to foundations of this kind vary greatly in size and shape. Concrete is the only material which can be used for any purpose, whether large or small, without first having to be cut to the shape and size desired. Consequently there is no cheaper known material for this kind of work.

Replacing an Entire Foundation with Concrete

The work can be done by the farmer, with the help of his own farm labor, at times when more important work is not claiming his attention.

Foundations of concrete are indestructible.

At necessary points, remove a few stones or bricks, as the case may be, inserting short pieces of heavy timber to wedge or jack up the building. Carefully raise the building, by this means, until it stands free of all foundations. Remove all the old stone or brick foundation to be replaced, and set in place the forms for the concrete.

Small buildings can usually be raised high enough to allow working room, whereby the form may be filled right up to the top with concrete. The mixture should be a wet one. (Proportions, 1: 2: 4.)

Where buildings are too cumbersome to be raised by “jacking,” to a sufficient height to give head-room, it will be found necessary to make the foundations 3 inches wider than the sill. Carry the forms to the desired height and utilize this extra 3 inches of width for placing the concrete in the forms. The top board of the forms may also be left off until you are ready to place the last of the concrete. In this case the last batch of the concrete should be very wet. Tamp the concrete until it comes up flush with the bottom of the sill, to the entire width of the wall.

Be sure to leave a space in the concrete wall, under and on the sides of the underpinning support, so that the building may later be lowered back onto the new foundation and the timber removed. This opening must be slightly larger than the underpinning support. After the building has been lowered fill these openings with concrete. Lower the building after the foundation has been in two weeks.

A Concrete Entrance Floor

At a point 3 feet from the building, dig a trench 6 inches wide and 18 inches deep—the length of this trench to be 2 feet greater than the width of the doorway of the building. From the edge of the trench nearest to the building, dig away the earth between trench and building to a depth of 1 foot, and place here, to a depth of 6 inches, a fill of either coarse gravel or crushed rock. Do not, however, place any of this gravel fill in the trench. Mix concrete 1: 2½: 5, and lay same, first in the trench, and then on top of the gravel fill; sloping the surface so that it just meets the floor level at the doorway. Before the concrete has had time to set, provide a runway slot for the sliding doors—or better, build little guides or humps with the concrete, to hold the doors in position. If the doors happen to be swinging ones, place a gas pipe or iron socket in the soft concrete, for a “shove-fastener.”

Note the concrete curb on the right of entrance door. This prevents the gravel that surrounds the building from washing down onto the approach and getting in the way of the doors. To build this curb, use 1-inch planks placed on top of the concrete floor, to serve as forms to hold concrete in place.

=Materials Required=
One cubic yard of crushed stone or screened gravel;
2½ cubic yards of sand;
5 bags of Portland cement.

This entrance floor was constructed in half a day, by one man.

Farm Buildings Should be Connected by a Concrete Driveway

By using concrete to connect up buildings, this farmer has a solid, substantial roadway that will last for all time—instead of the usual muddy, untidy space that ordinarily separates such buildings.

To construct a driveway between the various buildings of a farm, first excavate a trench 12 inches deep, this trench being the exact width that you wish the finished driveway to be. Six feet is a convenient width; but the drive should be made slightly wider than this at the corners to provide for turning of vehicles.

Place in the trench a fill of gravel to a depth of 6 inches and tamp it well. On top of the gravel fill, place your concrete mixture, to a depth of 6 inches on the sides, and 7 inches at the center.

For this work, concrete should be mixed in proportions 1: 2½: 5, and wet enough to pack well.

To finish, no mortar is needed. Leave the surface rough, so as to afford a better footing for the horses and cattle.

=Materials Required=
5 bags of Portland cement }
½ cubic yard of sand } make a section of roadway
1 cubic yard of crushed stone or } 6 by 10 feet
screened gravel }

Approximate cost, at current prices of materials, 6 cents per square foot of surface.

Alleyways Between Buildings

The farmer of to-day plans for comfort and convenience. About the home, mud is the greatest of all nuisances. In the spring and winter, the driveways from the public road and the alleyways between buildings become so muddy that they are often impassable. As a result the grassy lawns and lots are driven over, cut to pieces, and the general appearance of the farm is ruined. Moreover, in bad weather the chores cannot be done unless the “hands” wear rubber boots. The women and children are unable to get out to gather the eggs and to see after the poultry. Muddy feet track up the house walks and floors.

Alleyways between buildings are built of concrete similar to driveways with this exception—they are made dish-shaped to the same extent that the driveway is crowned. This carries the roof water away from the buildings instead of letting it soak in around the foundation walls.

Carriage Washing Floors

Nothing will take the sticky mud off the wheels and body of a rig except water. People have at times tried to remove this mud by scraping, but have found that after the mud has once dried a large amount of the varnish comes off with it and the “looks” of the carriage is ruined.

Convenience in washing means that the wagon is pulled just outside of the barn and quite near the pump or other source of water supply. All of the carriages are washed in exactly this same spot, and, as this is done day after day the washing place very shortly becomes nothing more nor less than a mud hole. To avoid this a concrete floor should be built.

This floor should be of the size to take not only the wheels of the rig but the shafts or tongue as well. Unlike feeding and other floors, this floor is built with a slope toward the center, with a catch basin under the middle, from which a drain leads. Thus all of the water, together with the mud coming off the wagon, flows into the basin. This basin should be protected with a grating, with holes in same not less than ¼ of an inch. This grating should be removable so that the mud, which is bound to flow into the basin, can be removed. A pipe less than 6 inches should not be used to connect this basin up with a sewer or ditch outlet. This will prevent the stoppage of the drain for many years. A slope from the edges of the floor to the drain of ⅛ of an inch to the foot should be made. To lay the floor proceed exactly as described in “Sidewalks,” and, as the floor is exposed to the weather, contraction joints must be provided, as in Feeding Floors.

After the floor is finished and while the concrete is yet soft, make grooves in it, running from the basin to the edges of the floor. This can be done by taking a V-shaped strip of wood and driving it into the concrete at regular intervals by means of a tamper. This strip of wood should be thoroughly greased so that it may be removed without having the concrete stick to its surface.

Feeding Floors and Barnyard Pavements

The saving principle of feeding floors has long been recognized by successful breeders and feeders of live stock. The trouble, heretofore, has been to obtain an entirely satisfactory material for floor construction.

Disadvantages of Wooden Floors

Wooden floors kept the feed out of the mud and dust and not only saved every particle of grain but also prevented wheezing coughs and otherwise temporarily improved the health of the animal. However, in a short time, the best wooden floors rotted out and became infected with disease germs. Often floors had to be burned to free the farm of hog cholera.

Advantages of Concrete

In concrete the farmer and ranchman have found an ideal floor material. Such floors not only effect a saving in feed, a shortening in the time of fattening and a decrease in labor, but also afford perfect protection to the health of the animal. Concrete floors do not soak up water and therefore cannot become infected with disease germs. Their surfaces can be easily cleaned and thoroughly disinfected with oils and dips. Rats cannot nest under them. Careful tests have shown that concrete floors, through the saving of grain and manure alone, pay for themselves in the short period of one year.

How to Build Feeding Floors

Feeding floors are merely several sidewalks laid side by side, and the same general rules of construction (given under SIDEWALKS, page 28) apply to them. Choose a site in the lot where the ground is slightly sloping, well drained and wind protected, and convenient to feed and water.

Drainage Foundation

Excavate to a depth of 12 inches for the drainage foundation, and around the outside edges of the entire floor dig a trench 12 inches wide and 18 inches deep. (This trench, filled with concrete, prevents hog wallows from undermining the floor and keeps the rats from nesting under it.) Fill all of this space (except the trench) to the natural ground level with well tamped coarse gravel, crushed rock, tile culls or brickbats. This fill forms the drainage foundation as described for sidewalks.

Grading the Floor

The floor must be graded or sloped so that water will not collect on it in the winter and so that the manure washings may be caught by the gutters and run to the water-tight concrete manure pit. (To shape the gutter, make a mold or template by rounding the corners on the flat side of a 6-foot length of a 4 by 6-inch timber.) A gentle slope, toward the low corner, of ¼ of an inch for each foot of length or width is sufficient. This is secured by the use of a heavy grade stake at each corner of the floor, a straight edge or a grade line, and a spirit level.

It is an advantage to have a feeding floor its full thickness above ground. Make light floors 4 inches and floors subject to heavy loads 6 inches thick. For the forms use 2-inch lumber of a width equal to the floor thickness. Begin on a low side of the floor. Mark the grade height on each corner stake and set the forms to a grade cord stretched from stake to stake. Use only good materials and mix the concrete 1: 2½: 5 according to direction on page 15.

Placing the Concrete

Always begin placing the concrete on the low side of the floor, so that the rain from sudden showers will not run from the hard onto the newly placed concrete. Fill the trench and the slab section of the forms with concrete. Bring the surface to grade by drawing over it a straight edge with its ends on the opposite forms or with one end on the form and the other on the finished concrete. Four inches in from the edge, on each of the low sides, temporarily embed the rounded 4 by 6-inch gutter mold and tamp it down until its square top is even with the surface of the slab section of the floor. Remove the mold, finish with a wooden float and cure the floor as described on pages 31-34. Connect the gutters with the manure pit by means of a trough, another gutter, or by large drain tile laid underground.

On the next page is given an itemized bill of materials necessary for a 6-inch floor 24 by 36 feet, amply large to accommodate 50 hogs.

=Materials Required=
Crushed rock or screened gravel, 20 cubic yards @ $1.10 $22.00
Sand, 10 cubic yards @ $1.00 10.00
Portland cement, 28 barrels @ $2.50 70.00
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$102.00

Mixing the concrete by hand, 5 men can usually finish this floor in two days. Depending upon the price of labor and materials and the thickness of the concrete, the floor will cost 6 to 12 cents for each square foot of surface.

Manure Pits and Cisterns

For restoring the fertility of the fields, there is nothing better than barnyard manure. By the ordinary methods of piling it on the ground or storing it in wooden pens, from 30 to 50 per cent. of the manure’s strength is wasted. This loss is brought about in two ways:

First—By “leaching” or washing out, due to heavy rains.
Second—By heating or “firing,” caused by lack of sufficient
moisture.

Since concrete pits are waterproof, manure can be kept in them as moist as necessary. Moreover, with concrete pits the supply of manure is increased, as all the liquid manure, from the gutters of the barns, barnyard pavements and feeding floors, is saved.

How to Build

Locate the manure pit handy to the barn and so as to catch the manure from the outside floors. Two pits may be better than one. Excavate the hole to the desired size and depth. (Manure pits are seldom over 4 feet deep.) Dig a sump hole 3 feet square and 2 feet deep at one corner of the pit. Slope the floor toward this hole, from which a pump will draw the liquid manure. Frame forms of 1-inch siding on 2 by 4-inch studding spaced 2 feet, so as to mold a wall 8 inches thick. If the dirt sides stand firm, they will serve for the outside form and nothing but an inside form will be required. Mix the concrete 1: 2: 4 (see page 11). Lay the floor so that it will be one solid piece 6 inches thick. No contraction joints will be necessary. Without delay, set up the forms, brace them firmly and fill them with concrete as directed under DIPPING VATS, pages 76-80. If a very large pit is needed, build it with sloping concrete ends sufficiently wide to accommodate a manure spreader. Let the inclines be gentle, and, to give the horses a firm footing, embed iron cleats every 18 inches in the slopes, the same as for dipping tanks. Cisterns for liquid manure only, may be made like ordinary CISTERNS, page 68. However, the solid manure rots more quickly and is better for the fields if both solids and liquids are kept in the same pit. An ordinary pump, with a pipe leading to the sump hole, covered with a grating, is a convenient means of removing the liquid. Liquid manure is especially good for the vegetable and flower garden, since it contains no weed seed. Cover the pits or keep the manure well soaked with water, so as to remove the principal breeding places of the house and barn fly.

The manure pit shown in the photograph is located in the side of a little hill. It is 21 feet long, 14 feet wide, 10 feet deep on the hillside and 6 feet deep on the low side. The bottom is 6 inches and the walls 8 inches thick. Four men built the pit in two days.

=Materials Required=
Screened gravel or crushed rock 17 cubic yards at $1.10 $18.70
Sand 8½ cubic yards at $1.00 8.50
Portland cement 30 barrels at $2.50 75.00
-------
$102.20

The Value of Manure Pits

Rotten manure not only enriches the ground, but also increases the water-holding capacity of the soil. One load of well rotted manure from a concrete pit is worth two loads of manure as ordinarily stored.

Concrete Barnyards

The advantages of concrete feeding floors so appealed to the farmers who first built them that they enlarged the floors until their entire barnyards were surfaced with concrete.

It is no uncommon sight in the spring and winter to see an earthen barn lot so deep with mud that animals go thirsty rather than attempt a trip to the water trough.

The effect is bad on all kinds of livestock, especially on fattening animals and dairy cattle. “Feeders” must have an abundance of water to fatten quickly. Insufficient water cuts down the quantity of milk given by dairy cows. Lack of enough exercise further decreases the yield. An occasional trip through this mud to the trough, so cakes the cows’ udders with dirt that the milker wastes valuable time in washing them—and they must be washed, if one would have clean, wholesome milk. Continual tracking through the mud not only makes more currying, but often produces that irritation on horses’ legs known as “scratches.” Suddenly frozen, such an earthen lot is so rough that it is impassable. Moreover, the old barnyard—with its surface worked up year after year—becomes a storage place, which carries over the disease germs from one season to another. The “droppings” are entirely lost, and, mixed with the earth, tend to make the lot muddier the following year. To keep up the fertility of the soil, all the manure produced on a farm should be saved and returned to the fields.

Concrete Floors Increase Profits

A concrete barnyard makes a fine exercise lot in all kinds of weather and always affords a dry spot for the animal’s bed. Every shower washes the surface clean and flushes the droppings into the manure pits. Concrete yards lighten the work of the housewife, as there is no mud to be tracked on the walks and kitchen floor. The use of rubber boots is unnecessary. On concrete floors not a particle of grain need be wasted. The way to the water trough is always dry, smooth and passable. Concrete floors promote and protect the health of farm animals and increase the profits of farming, stock raising and dairying.

Construction

The construction of concrete barnyards is exactly like that of FEEDING FLOORS, page 43, except that the work is on a larger scale. Often the entire lot is not paved in one season, but from year to year as the farmer has time. In excavating for the drainage foundation (see SIDEWALKS, page 29), be careful to remove all manure and straw which may be tramped into the ground and which may be so solid as to resemble earth. In time any kind of manure decays, shrinks, causes the floor to settle and forms water and ice pockets on its surface. Dig the trench for the foundation apron as for FEEDING FLOORS—there is no material so rat-proof as concrete.

With the drainage foundation ready, set the forms in the manner described for SIDEWALKS. Even if the whole lot is not to be paved at one time, plan the grading for the entire barnyard so that the completed pavement may have perfect surface drainage. Build and cure the pavement and make provision for saving the manure the same as for concrete FEEDING FLOORS. Do not be too particular about giving the surface a smooth finish—a rougher finish affords the animals a better footing. The cost per square foot is no more than that of feeding floors—the investment yields a greater profit.

Feeding Troughs, Racks and Mangers

With a progressive farmer, the health of his livestock is second in importance only to that of his family. Concrete is a great factor in promoting and preserving health. With concrete troughs, animals are seldom “off their feed”: there are no slivers to stick into their gums. Even with wet feed, concrete troughs are never sour.

Concrete does not rot and become infested with disease germs. Such troughs and mangers can be thoroughly disinfected without injuring them.

Troughs for Horses, Cattle, and Sheep

In general, the method of constructing feeding troughs and mangers for horses and cattle is practically the same as for WATERING TROUGHS AND TANKS, page 74. An outdoor trough, suitable for feeding grain or silage to cattle and horses, is shown on page 48. (However, most farmers will prefer not to locate a feeding trough in a fence corner.) This trough is 10 feet long and 2 feet 2 inches wide, outside measurements. The bottom is 4 inches thick as also are the side and end walls at the top, but these walls slope on the inside to a thickness of 6 inches at the bottom. This extra thickness makes not only a stronger feeding trough, but also one more easily cleaned out. The entire trough is reinforced with heavy woven wire fencing laid within 1 inch of the bottom and the same distance from the inside face of the side walls. The trough is held 1 foot 4 inches above ground by concrete benches, 2 feet 2 inches wide, 1 foot thick, and extending 3 feet below the ground or feeding floor surface.

In locating troughs, follow the same principles laid down under FEEDING FLOORS. Dig the trenches for the concrete supports and carry the concrete (mixed 1: 2: 4) to the necessary height by means of open box forms similar to the one shown on page 36. Use a spirit level to get the tops of these supports even. Immediately set the outside trough form, previously made with openings in the bottom board, to match the concrete supports. Provide a 2-inch drain hole, corked with a greased, tapering wooden plug long enough to extend through the concrete. Place 1 inch of concrete over the bottom, lay the heavy woven wire fencing so that it will extend up into the side walls. Tamp in the bottom the remaining 3 inches of concrete. Finish this concrete with a steel trowel. At once set in the sloping inside mold, built as one piece and without a bottom. Fill the space between the inside and outside forms with wet concrete. After the concrete is hard enough to bear considerable pressure of the thumb (usually five to seven hours), carefully remove the inside mold. No painting with neat cement (cement mixed with water) or plastering will be needed if the inside form is smooth. Do not take down the outside forms for two weeks. To make this same trough of suitable height for small calves or sheep, place around it a fill of gravel of the necessary depth. Two men can build such a trough in less than a day.

=Materials Required=
Crushed rock or screened gravel 1 cubic yard at $1.10 $1.10
Sand ½ cubic yard at $1.00 .50
Portland cement 1½ barrels at $2.50 3.75
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$5.35

Feeding Troughs for Hogs

Feeding troughs for hogs are usually built as a part of the feeding floor, according to the plan shown, and similar to WATERING TROUGHS, page 74.

A Fire-protected Feed Cooker

Concrete is a first aid to the farmer in preventing fires.

The photographs shown here are of a wooden building in which a feed cooker for hogs and poultry is installed.

Discovery of a fire in the building a few years ago led this farmer to thoroughly protect his building by surrounding his cooker with that most fireproof material—concrete.

The old wooden floor was first torn out, a fill of coarse gravel tamped in, and a 5-inch floor of concrete laid on top, mixed 1: 2½: 5. Immediately under and around the cooker the floor was dropped down 8 inches to prevent chance sparks from blowing about.

At the back of the cooker, on the 2 by 4-inch studding, heavy woven wire was securely fastened, and by temporarily placing a wooden wall 4 inches in front, to act as a form, an 8-inch concrete wall was built. This wall was made 8 feet wide and 5 feet high. The foundation for the wall extends 3 feet below the floor level.

On the top of this wall rests the chimney. The chimney is 12 by 14 inches on the outside, with a single flue 8 inches round, and is 10 feet high. This height is sufficient to clear the roof. For the inside form 8-inch sewer pipe was used and left in place (stovepipe or drain tile could also be used). Ordinary box forms were used for the outside forms, made as described on page 36.

The chimney was reinforced with a ½-inch rod running from top to bottom in each corner, 1½ inches from the edge. The lower ends of these rods are firmly embedded in the concrete wall on which the chimney rests.

As this improvement was made by the farm hands, the cost of the floor was only 5 cents a square foot, while the wall and chimney cost $5.00.

Not only has that dread of fire which keeps many a man awake at night been overcome, but the whole feed cooker house can be kept in a most cleanly condition at all times.

Rats, the greatest pest known to the farmer, are driven away. These animals cannot nest in concrete.

Hog Wallows—Automatic Dipping Tanks

A wallow is as necessary for a hog as a bath-tub is for a human being. A clean bath benefits the health of a hog, especially if the wallow is filled with a dipping solution. This combination not only saves the lives of fat hogs on hot days, but also aids greatly in preventing cholera. See DIPPING TANKS, page 76.

Locate the wallow in a convenient place near the water supply. A level, well drained spot, where the mud will not wash into it, is best. (The wallow shown in the photograph is in the hog house, and is a large dish in the concrete floor.) Make the wallow 8 by 12-feet. Dig out the hole with straight sides to the depth of 2 feet 2 inches. Lay a drainage foundation 10 inches thick—see SIDEWALKS, page 29. Set a 10-inch board around the outside of the hole to keep the dirt from crumbling in on the concrete.

Mix the concrete 1: 2: 4 and place a 6-inch floor in the hole. As the concrete is laid, embed woven wire in it 1 inch from the bottom. Have the concrete for the side walls fairly dry and tamp it to the shape and dimensions—4 inches thick at the top and 10 inches at the floor line. The sloping sides make cleaning easy. Keep all animals away from the wallow for two weeks. Three men built this wallow easily in one day.

=Materials Required=
Screened gravel or crushed rock 2½ cubic yards @ $1.10 $2.75
Sand 1¼ cubic yards @ $1.00 1.25
Portland cement 4½ barrels @ $2.50 11.25
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$15.25

A Corn Crib Floor of Concrete

Rats love grain; and therefore the corn crib is usually the rat headquarters of the farm. By building corn cribs and granary floors of concrete the farmer takes a long step toward rat extermination.

Lay out the building: for the foundation wall, dig a trench 12 inches wide and from 2 to 3 feet below ground level. Set box forms, so as to bring the surface of the finished foundation and floor 1½ to 2 feet above ground level, according to the height of the “drag” conveyor used by local corn-shellers.

As the floor will only be 6 inches thick, fill in between the foundation walls with gravel to within a distance of 6 inches of top of forms. Soak this fill thoroughly, and tamp and roll it well, before placing concrete on top.

Mix concrete (1: 2: 4) and fill the foundation forms. Beginning at one end of the building, lay the concrete floor in sections 4 feet wide, and continue until the entire floor is placed.

In order to fasten the wooden sill for the granary uprights to the concrete floor, insert ¾-inch bolts heads down or strap irons bent like capital =Z=’s at the necessary points in the green concrete of foundation. The bolts are long enough to pass through holes in the sill and to receive nuts and washers. The straps are long enough to be spiked to the uprights.

Finish the surface of the floor with a steel trowel, so as to render scooping of the grain an easy matter.

Approximate cost per square foot of floor surface, 12 cents.

Concrete Barn Floors

Investigations of the Department of Agriculture have disclosed the fact that many cases of typhoid fever and malaria, often considered unaccountable in their origin, are the result of the germs being carried by the house-fly. Screens, flypaper, and poisons are all very well, in a small way, but to free the place of flies means getting rid of the conditions which produce them. Leaving out the manure pile (see MANURE PITS, page 45), the favorite breeding-place of flies is the foul floors of the cow and horse barns. The barn can be almost entirely rid of flies by building floors and manure pits of concrete.

The Advantages of Concrete Floors

There are no flies to make the horses stamp.

Rats have no hiding-place about concrete floors.

No other floor is as slick as a manure-soaked wooden floor. Concrete floors may be finished as rough or corrugated, as may be desired.

Concrete floors do not soak up water. The liquids run into the gutters and thence to the manure pits. The floor may be flushed with water and kept as clean and odorless as a kitchen floor.

All kinds of barn floors must be bedded down. Concrete floors are warmer and cleaner than any other kind, for they are always dry. Besides, heat and cold do not easily pass through concrete.

Concrete floors afford good fire protection. No fire can be started on concrete floors by a shiftless farm “hand” dropping cigarette stubs or matches on their surface.

Good farm “hands” prefer to work where there are concrete floors: they lighten the labor. Concrete floors have no uneven edges to catch the scoop and to ruffle the temper.

Concrete in the Cow Barn

With cleanly milk and butter producers, it is no longer a matter of floor or no floor; it is merely a question of which is the best floor for the cow barn. The best dairymen long ago decided in favor of concrete. On account of many epidemics of “catching” diseases, directly traceable to milk, city authorities are forcing the careless dairyman to decide—concrete floors are one of the requirements for certified milk.

The stalls of dairy barns are arranged with the cows in the opposite rows of stalls standing with their heads or their heels toward each other.

The stall plan depends entirely upon the arrangements for bringing in feed and removing manure. The plan below is for a barn with the cows’ heads toward each other. If the dairyman prefers the other arrangement, the same plan can easily be adapted to it. A width of 8 feet 6 inches provides sufficient room for a manure spreader.

How to Build Dairy Barn Floors

Consider a barn planned to have the two rows of cows facing each other.

Remove all manure and other foreign matter together with such humps of earth as may be necessary to give the floor a slight slope in the direction in which the manure will be taken out. Begin the construction of the floors at the two sides of the barn so that the middle and ends may be used as working space.

On the earthen floor, at a distance of 4½feet from the side walls of the barn, set on edge a line of 2 by 6-inch boards, extending the entire length of the building. Support these boards by stakes driven firmly in the ground on the side of the board away from the barn wall. By means of a carpenter’s spirit level and a grade line, see that the tops of these boards have an even slope (say ⅛-inch per foot) toward the manure pit. Allowing a clear intervening space of 10 inches, set up in a similar way a line of 2 by 8-inch boards with the supporting stakes inside of the 10-inch space and with the top of this board 2 inches higher than the 6-inch board. In this space the drop gutter will later be constructed.

The Alleyway

Between the wall and the 6-inch board tamp in sufficient gravel to even off all irregularities in the ground surface and to allow the building of a 5-inch thickness of floor, sloping ½ inch from the wall toward the gutter. Mix the concrete 1: 2½: 5, tamp into place, and finish the surface with a wooden float and a wire brush. The roughened surface thus produced gives the cows a good footing.

The Stall Floor

With the alley finished, begin the construction of the floor of the stalls proper. For the average sized cow, the usual length of stall is 4 feet 8 inches from stanchion to drop gutter and the width is 3 feet 6 inches. The stall floor should slope not less than ½ inch toward the drop gutter to provide for drainage. If an adjustable stanchion fastener is to be used, set it in the center of the 6-inch manger wall. The length of the stall is regulated by this device. For a stall 4 feet 8 inches long, set the outside board (2 by 12 inches) of the manger wall 5 feet 2 inches from the drop gutter. The top of this board will be 7 inches above the finished floor. This extra height provides a form for the manger wall. In this space, place the 5-inch floor in the same manner as the alleyway was laid. If gas pipe stall divisions are to be used later, make mortises in the floor at the proper points by tamping the concrete around a core of the right size, removing the core when the concrete has stiffened.

The Manger

As soon as the floor of three stalls has been concreted and while the concrete is yet green, build the concrete manger wall upon the new stall floor. The projecting 7 inches of the 2 by 12-inch board already in place serves as the outer wall form. “Toe nail” two 1 by 6-inch boards together at their edges, thus providing a 7-inch height for the other manger wall form and a bearing plate to rest on the green stall floor. Set this wall form so as to leave a 6-inch space for the manger wall. Cross-brace these wall forms upon each other and if necessary drive an occasional nail through the bearing plate into the new concrete. Fill the space between the forms with concrete, setting the stanchion fasteners at the same time. Continue in the same manner until the stall floors are finished. If desired, the back wall of the manger may be given a dish shape for a swinging stanchion.

Then commence the work on the other side of the barn, constructing the floor of the alleyway and stall in exactly the same manner.

The Feedway

With the alleys and stalls finished, begin work on the feedway. If possible, this should be at least 8 feet wide.

As the bottom of the manger should be on a level with the stall floor and since the top of the feedway floor must be at least 8 inches above the bottom of the manger, place sufficient gravel fill (well tamped) to bring about this result. To hold in place the 5-inch concrete of the feedway alley floor and to provide for sloping front walls of the mangers, set a 2 by 10-inch board, spaced (from the other wall of the manger) 1 foot 6 inches at the bottom and 1 foot 10 inches at the top. These sloping walls allow all feed to be swept back into the mangers and all trash to be easily removed from them. Build the 5-inch floor of the feedway, crowning it to 6 inches thick in the middle. See SIDEWALKS, page 31.