58 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



suits. The way herein described is believed to be the one best cal- 

 culated to obtain good results with a minimum of labor. In this de- 

 scription a 2-bag batch of 1 :2 :4 concrete is taken as the basis of the 

 calculation. 



The Concrete Board. A concrete board for two men should 

 be 9 feet by 10 feet. It should be made of 1-inch boards, 10 feet 

 long, surfaced on one side, and should be held together by five 2- 

 inch by 4-inch by 9-foot cleats. If tongue and groove roofers 1 

 inch by 6 inches can be obtained, fairly free from knots, they serve 

 very well. The boards are surfaced in order to make the shoveling 

 easy. They are so laid as to permit the shoveling to be done in the 

 direction in which the cracks run, so that the shovel points will not 

 catch in the cracks. The boards must be nailed close together so 

 that no cement grout may run through them during the mixing. 

 Knot holes may be closed by nailing a strip- across them on the 

 underside of the board. It is a good precaution against losing ce- 

 ment grout to nail a piece of wood 2 by 2 inches or 2 by 4 inches 

 around the outer edge of the board. 



The concrete board is the manufacturing plant, and the ad- 

 vantages of its location should be carefully considered. Generally 

 it is best placed as close as possible to the forms in which the con- 

 crete is to be deposited, but local conditions must govern this point. 

 A place should be selected which affords plenty of room and is 

 near the storage piles of sand and stone or pebbles. The concrete 

 board should be raised on blocks so as to be level, in order that the 

 cement grout may not run off on one side and that the board may 

 not sag in the middle under the weight of the concrete. 



Runs. The boards for the wheelbarrow runs should be care- 

 fully selected. The run should be well built, smooth, and at least 

 20 inches wide, if much above the ground. It is surprising how 

 this one feature will lighten and quicken the work. (F. B. 461.) 



Method of Mixing. When the mixing board has been ar- 

 ranged and the "runs" are made, the concrete plant is ready. The 

 sand should be spread over the board in a layer 3 or 4 inches 

 thick. Two bags of cement should then be spread as evenly as 

 possible over the sand. Two men should then start mixing the 

 sand and cement in such a way that each man may turn over the half 

 on his side of a line dividing the board in half. Starting at his 

 feet and shoveling away from himself, each man should take a full 

 shovel load, and in turning the shovel, he should not simply dump 

 off the sand and cement, but should shake the materials off the 

 end and sides of the shovel, so that they may be mixed as they 

 fall. This is a means of great assistance in mixing these materials, 

 and in this way the material is shoveled from one side of the board 

 to the other. 



The sand and cement should now be well mixed and ready 

 for the stone and water. After the last turning, the sand and 

 cement should be spread out carefully, and the gravel or stone mea- 

 suring box should then be placed beside them and filled from the 

 gravel pile. The box should now be lifted off, the gravel shoveled 



