710 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



The concrete materials should be thoroughly mixed and enough water 

 used so that the mixture Avill flow slowly. The smaller the forms into 

 which it is placed, the more liquid it should be. Where much work is to 

 be done, mechanical mixers facilitate the work and do it more thoroughly 

 than can be done by hand. In the absence of a mechanical mixer, a 

 strong, tight board platform, about 8 by 10 feet in dimension, is convenient 

 on which to do the mixing. A square-pointed shovel, a rake and two or 

 more hoes may be advantageously used in mixing the material. If run- 

 ning water is not available, water in barrels or a tank should be convenient 

 to the mixing board. The cement usually comes in bags of 100 pounds 

 each, equal to one cubic foot. Bottomless boxes for measuring sand and 

 gravel are most convenient. They should be constructed of a size suitable 

 for a bag or two-bag mixture of the proportions desired. 



One desiring to build should first estimate the cubic space to be 

 occupied by concrete. This known, the amounts of sand, gravel and 



cement can be easily esti- 

 mated. For a 1:2:4 for- 

 mula, the cement required 

 will equal .058 times the cubic 

 feet in the structure. For the 

 1 : 23^2 : 5 formula, it wall be 

 .048 times the cubic feet in 

 the structure. The amounts 

 of sand and gravel wall be 

 relatively as much more than 

 the cement as the formula 

 specifies. 



Plans and specifications 



for structures of different 



kinds may be obtained from 



any cement manufacturing company, as well as from bulletins of many 



of the state experiment stations and from the United States Department 



of Agriculture. 



Lightning Rods. — The larger buildings of the farm group should 

 be protected with lightning rods. The building most likely to be struck 

 by lightning is the barn. Observations show that many barns with entire 

 contents have been burned as the result of lightning. The greatest danger 

 occurs for one or two months immediately after filling the mows with ha} r . 

 This is due to the accumulation of moisture from the newly-made hay. 

 This moisture fills the peak of the loft, often escaping through the cupola, 

 and increases the conductivity of the air, and in case of a passing thunder- 

 storm attracts the lightning. 



Investigations during recent years by insurance companies show that 

 properly installed lightning rods are quite effective as protection against 



iFrom Farmers' Bulletin 367, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



A "T" Connection for Heavy Wire 

 Lightning Rods. 1 



