ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 415 



MEASURE, HAY, Weight to be Esti- 

 mated. — Hay is sold by the ton, but on 

 account of ifs bulk it is often inconveni- 

 ent to weigh it. As general estimates, 

 these relations of weight to bulk are reli- 

 able. 



Cubic Yds. to the ton. 



New moan hay •••25 



Loaded and stored hay. 20 



Well settled hay 15 



Baled hay 10 



It remains to estimate the number of 

 cubic yards. If the stack or mow be 

 square or rectangular, multiply together 

 the length, breadth, and half the height 

 in yards. If the stack be long and tri- 

 angular, multiply together the length and 

 half the height in yards. If the stack be 

 circular, multiply together the square of 

 the circumference by .04 of the height in 

 yards. To calculate the price of a given 

 number of pounds of hay, multiply the 

 number of pounds by one-half the number 

 dollars per ton, and point off three places. 

 Thus at $30 per ton, 400 pounds are worth, 

 480X15=7-20. To estimate the num- 

 ber of acres in a certain field, remember 

 that an acre equals 160 rods, or 4,840 

 yards, or 43,560 feet. Hence measure 

 the length and breadth of the field in rods, 

 divide by 16, and point off one place; or 

 measure it in yards or paces, multiply 

 length by breadth, and divide success- 

 ively by 11, 11 and 4. 



MEASURE, LIVE CATTLE, to Estimate 

 Weight — The superficial feet of animals 

 are estimated by multiplying the feet of 

 girth just behind the shoulder-blade by 

 the feet of length of back from tail to fore 

 part of the shoulder-blade. Thus an ox, 

 whose girth is 8 feet 6 inches, and length 

 6 feet, would measure 8^X6=56 super- 

 ficial feet. This assumes the shape of the 

 body to be cylindrical, and is, of" course, 

 only an approximation. For ordinary 

 estimates, the following may be regarded 

 as the weight per superficial foot : 



Pounds. 



Girth less than 3 feet 11 



M from 3 to 5 feet. -.-- 16 



" from 5 to 7 feet 23 



" from 7 to 9 feet 31 



Thus, an ox alluded to would weigh 

 about, 51X31=1,581 pounds. 



MEASURING EXCAVATIONS.— This 



branch of work is measured by the cubic 

 yard or 27 cubic feet. 



If the ground is irregular, two, three or 



more dimensions are to be taken to ob- 

 tain the mean or average depth of dig- 

 ging, this multiplied by the length or 

 breadth of the superfices will be the cubic 

 contents in feet, the result divided by 27 

 will give the number of cubic yards. 



In loose, loamy or sandy soil, where 

 digging with the spade only is necessary, 

 a man may throw up a cubic yard in an 

 hour ; but in clay or gravel, where pick- 

 ing is necessary, it will require two men ; 

 and in very strong gravel three men will 

 be required to throw up the same quantity. 



Where wheeling oft on barrows is nec- 

 essary, three men will remove 30 cubic 

 yards in a day to the distance of 20 

 yards — that is, two filling and one wheel- 

 ing. 



When the stuff is to be carted away, a 

 man with a horse and cart can, with the 

 assistance of a man to fill, remove 12 

 loads per day to the distance of a mile. 



When earth is left to protect an adjoin- 

 ing wall, the same is to be charged extra 

 per cubic foot when required to be re- 

 moved. 



Note. — 24 cubic feet of sand, or 18 

 cubic feet of earth, or 17 cubic feet of 

 clay, make a ton. 



Digging wells and cisterns is valued at 

 so much per foot in depth. 



MEASURING MASON'S WORK — In 

 preparing the foundation for any building, 

 there are two sources of failure which 

 must be carefully guarded against — viz., 

 inequality of settlement, and lateral escape 

 of the supporting material ; and if these 

 radical defects can be guarded against, 

 there is scarcely any situation in which a 

 good foundation may not be obtained. 



The best foundations are rock, gravel 

 and very stiff, dry clay. Where the 

 ground in its natural state is too soft to 

 bear the weight of the proposed structure, 

 recourse must be had to artificial means 

 of support ; this is best obtained by a 

 thick layer of concrete, which is composed 

 of fresh burnt lime, brought directly from 

 the kiln, slaked with all possible speed 

 and immediately mixed up with clean, 

 coarse gravel, or broken rock, and let fall 

 into the bottom of the trenches to such 

 depth as may be deemed necessary. This 

 must be allowed to set (which may re- 

 quire two or three days) before the rub- 

 ble masonry is commenced thereon. As 

 this composition sets quickly, and, like 



