1760 Report of Farmers' Institutes 



FORMS 



Tu placing foniis for concrete great care slionld be taken to 

 have tliem strong cnoiTgli to remain where wanted. In putting np 

 a solid wall with forms, it is well not to bnild too great a depth 

 without sufficient time for tlic Liwer coarse to harden as the great 

 weight makes many forms give way at the bottom. If the wall be 

 a high one, or the ribs used not very substantial, it is well to 

 ware across one or two places between the board or plank forms, 

 then it is simply a matter of clipping the wires at the surface 

 before putting on the finishing coat. 



RE-INFOKCEMENT 



Concrete, while having great resisting powers, has little tensile 

 strength, consequently, any construction requiring the latter must 

 bo rc-inforced with iron or steel. A roof, fence post, watering 

 trough, corners and partition walls, may thus be greatly strength- 

 ened at slight expense. Material required for ordinary farm 

 work nuiy easily be obtained from the junk men, or many times 

 from the farm machinery grave yard. Roofs may be most eco- 

 nomically re-inforced by the use of ordinary woven wire fencing; 

 if the span is more than ten feet, a reinforced rafter, having one 

 inch in M'idth and one in depth to each foot in width of roof, 

 shouhl be used. 



INSULATION 



One of the chief sources of dissatisfaction with concrete on the 

 farm has been lack of insulation. This problem has been solved 

 in building sidewalk by the use of a machine now on the market, 

 which not only makes an insulated building having an air-space 

 from bottom to top, but it also obviates the use of all forms; thus 

 greatly chea'pcning the cost of installation, making a building that 

 is warm in winter, cool in summer, and alwavs drv. 



The best method of insulatin<2: a floor was eiven ns several 

 years ago by Dean Took, wdiich is to bury tar-felt roofing in the 

 floor. A simple nutliod is to spread about one inch in depth of 

 concrete, smoothing it down with a iloat or hoe, laying on the 

 tar-felt roofing, then ])lacing the balance of the concrete on top 

 of the roofing. The firvst method was to paint this thoroughly 

 with coal-tar, but this has been found to be unnecessary. 



