212 THE farmers' handbook. 



Mixing Platform and Gauge Boxes. 



Having selected the proper materials, the next step is to provide the 

 plant and tools for mixing, and these should be just as carefully attended to. 



For instance, it is of little use to have clean sand and water if the concrete 

 is to be mixed up on the bare ground, where it is certain that the earth will 

 be picked up with the shovels and mixed with the concrete. 



It is absolutely necessary to have a clean wooden floor or platform for 

 mixing on, and this may be of boards from 1£ inches thick and about 9 inches 

 wide, laid solid on a thin bed of sand, and close at the joints. If the boards 

 are a little open they should be filled up with a poor quality of mortar before 

 the mixing is started. On one side and end of the platform a board, say 

 6 inches wide, should be set up on edge to prevent the materials spreading 

 off the boards. 



A handy size for ordinary work would be 10 or 12 feet long by 8 feet 

 wide, and it should be laid level on the surface, and as handy to the work 

 as possible. To ensure the correct proportions of materials in each batch 

 gauge boxes should be made of the size to hold the quantities specified for 

 each mixing. These boxes should have sides and ends only so that they can 

 be lifted, and allow the contents to fall out on to the platform. 



A good water supply is absolutely essential, and where it cannot be laid 

 to a point near the mixing board by means of pipes from a storage tank, 

 it should be in an open-top tank sunk into the ground, so that the water can 

 be dipped out with buckets. 



Miscellaneous Tools. 



In addition to the mixing board and the measuring boxes, the following 

 tools are required for hand mixing: — 



Two No. 3 square-mouth shovels. 



One deep-bodied wheelbarrow. 



One garden rake. 



Two 2-gallon water buckets. 



One 4-gallon watering-can. 



Light rammers for packing the concrete. 



Where the water is laid on, a length of rubber hose is useful. 



Method of Mixing. 



The ashes should first be measured on the board, and the heap spread 

 out to about 3 or 4 inches thick. Then the sand and cement should be mixed 

 together separately, and afterwards spread over the whole area of the ashes. 

 The whole should then be turned over in shovelfuls, and as the shovel is 

 turned it should be dragged towards the feet of the mixer, which causes the 

 materials to be more properly mixed. It may be mentioned that concrete 

 cannot be too well mixed. Usually the materials are turned over twice 

 while dry and twice while being wetted. The watering is best done by means 

 of the watering-can, although this requires an extra hand on the board, and 

 to do the mixing properly three hands are required. There are a number 

 of different machines in use for mixing concrete, but it does not pay to use 

 tbem unless the job is a large one. 



When mixed the concrete should be loaded into the wheelbarrow, taken to 

 the work, and carefully placed in the moulds, or wherever it is to be used, 

 and lightly tamped in. 



