206 



THE HOUSE AND ITS EQUIPMENT. 





2_J2. STABLE?. 



weight of the building evenly over a large area. 

 Internal staircases have been built in reinforced con 

 crete, as well as flights of external concrete steps for 

 gardens and terraces. Reinforced concrete cow-houses, 

 piggeries and chicken-houses have been found of 

 advantage, as also fruit-houses, greenhouses and root 

 cellars. The roofs of such buildings are constructed 

 of slabs and beams of concrete with steei rods 

 embedded therein, such roofs being either sloping, 

 curved or flat. Reinforced concrete is useful for 

 greenhouses. The glass is sustained on sloping 

 beams butting into a ridge piece, all moulded in 

 concrete reinforced with steel. In fruit-houses, in 

 sheds, and often in wine-cellars, shelving may be con 

 structed in reinforced concrete, for it is impervious to 

 liquids, not subject to decay, clean, sanitary and lire 

 resisting. Dairies are required to be cool in summer, 

 warm in winter and scrupulously clean ; therefore the 

 material of which they are built should be one that is 

 easily cleansed, otherwise excessive labour will be 

 necessary in their management. Reinforced concrete 

 is just the material for such purposes; the whole of 

 the floors and walls can be of concrete, and the surfaces 

 when finished will be hard and durable. They can be 

 moulded so as to leave no room for the lodgment of 

 dirt, and to enable the interior to be washed out 

 frequently. Such appliances as washing troughs can 

 be built of the same material. In connection with the garden, concrete is used for laying out ponds, 

 waterfalls, steps, etc., and also for the building of rockeries. Safes and strong-rooms are often 

 constructed of reinforced concrete, the reinforcement effectively preventing both fire and burglars 

 from getting at their contents. 



On the farm modern science emphasises the immense importance of studying hygiene. Animals, 

 if they are to be kept fit and healthy, require as cleanly surroundings as human beings. A few instances 

 will show the hygienic value of concrete on the farm. On an estate in Ireland a dung-pit during the winter 

 months was nothing less than a swamp, in which cattle sank up to the body. The pit was covered over by- 

 erecting concrete pillars and a roof, and the floor concreted with a gradual fall to a concrete tank. The 

 liquid that ran into this tank was pumped out and used in the gardens and upon the farm. In summer 

 the shed served as a shelter for the cattle, and in rough weather the men were put in to turn the manure, 

 while the shed was also used for shearing sheep, for lambing ewes, and for young lambs in the early 



spring. The reconstruction work cost 

 two hundred and fifty pounds, and the 

 direct return on the money invested 

 was more than ten per cent. The 

 stone-paved floor in a boiler and mixing 

 house on another farm was always foul 

 owing to fragments of roots, etc., falling 

 between the stones and decaying there. 

 The cattle food left on the floor for 

 even a short time became tainted and 

 thus imperilled the health of the 

 animals, while it was difficult to shovel 

 up the food into the feeding baskets 

 and buckets ; the cost of repaving with 

 concrete was well repaid. In such 

 floors it is preferable in many cases to 

 employ reinforcing rods or meshwork, 

 so as to prevent cracking, due to 

 expansion and contraction, or to local 

 settlement at a soft point in the founda 

 tions. Another typical instance of the 

 233. RETAINING WALLS. value of reinforced concrete was the 



