424 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 



Basement Floors — The subgrade for cellar and bam floors should be 

 firm and solid. If the subgrade is wet or damp, the better practice 

 is to drain it with drain tile. If this is not necessary, the floor will 

 have to be thicker than if the subgrade is dry. If the subgrade be 

 dry, put down and tamp 3 or 4 inches of cinders, or other suitable 

 material, and cover this with 3 inches of 1-3-6 concrete. A coat of 

 % inch thick of 1 to 2 mortar will give a -smooth finish. 



Or if a smooth finish is not desired and the subgrade is dry, the 

 cinder foundation and the finishing course may be omitted and 4 

 inches of concrete layed directly on the soil. Expansion joints are a 

 safe provision against the appearance of unsightly cracks. They can 

 run in the direction of the drainage provisions. Figs. 13 and 14 is a 

 cross section for a floor. 



Floor for Mule or Horse Stable — The floor is layed and channeled 

 in the ordinary way. Give the floor a fall of 1 inch in 2 feet to the 

 main drain behind the stalls and a fall in the main drain of 1 inch 

 in 4 feet. Put two iron or wooden rails, or sleepers, across the floor 

 transversely with each stall, and a 3-inch wooden plank flooring on 

 these as a secondary floor on which the animal stands. This second- 

 ary floor should be fastened, but in some such manner that it can 

 easily be taken up and removed for cleaning and airing. The slope 



T 



N 



1/^ 



5 V 



>«// / 



■CO .'iL f.ff-(e-' ■ X 



jJ;:.^.-A ':^.^f- Ti^'*^y > 



,__ 4/^' ^/f^^ 4-/z' —^//z'-^ ^^^' ^ 



k— /6/^' ^ 



Figure 15. Cow barn floor. 



of 1 inch in 2 feet for the stall floor is too great for the hind flexor 

 tendons of the animal, but this is to be corrected with the secondary 

 plank flooring. Fig. 15. 



Ice House — There is none better than a concrete ice house if pro- 

 perly built with a double or hollow wall. The interval between the 

 walls must be closed tight at the top and bottom, and the walls, 



