Walls 49 



CONCRETE 



Concrete combines well with stone, brick, 

 wood or iron. Its simplest use is for the 

 posts of a wood or iron fence; we have 

 already spoken of the wire fence with con- 

 crete. To elaborate, the spaces between 

 the posts may be filled in with a solid con- 

 crete wall and furthermore brick and stone 

 may be employed with the concrete for 

 this purpose. 



One advantage of concrete is that the 

 average person may in a short time learn 

 to mix and set it. But don't persuade 

 yourself that concrete is an easy material 

 to handle. In the first place it is heavy, 

 weighing some 135 pounds per cubic foot; 

 it must be mixed thoroughly, which takes 

 hard manual labor, and besides it dirties 

 up, while wet, everything with which it 

 comes in contact. It would be wise be- 

 fore starting work to procure a good hand 

 book on concrete which gives careful di- 

 rections as to mixing, etc. As direc- 

 tions have been given in so many articles 

 and books concerning the methods of con- 



