136 Thirh/scrrnfli Aintiial Meeting 



painted witli ten inch end wasliers built into the wall of cement. 

 This stilTens it and prevents either contraction when empty or 

 expansion when full of water. Next to this I huilt our battery 

 four tiers high with connections with the tanks all of cement, so 

 the house holds two double Clark-Williamson boxes, two picking 

 troughs, four receiving tanks and two batteries. In all the ce- 

 ment work I ran a Xo. 4 soft wire within two inches of to]j of 

 wall and around the ends so as to have a continuous wire all 

 around ; also, in the Clark-Williamson l)Oxes I ran a wire 

 througli the cross walls connection with the outer walls, binding 

 the whole in one solid mass. The mixture for the boxes 1 made 

 after experimenting out of clean, sharp sand three parts to one. 

 I have experimented with six to one, five to one, four to one and 

 two to one. I find the two to one too rich and liable to crack 

 but the three to one in my estimation is the ideal mixture, but 

 we must always Ije careful to have the cement and sand well 

 mixed and if care is taken there is no question about the dur- 

 ability of the boxes. 



All legs under the boxes are i)art of the boxes themselves and 

 built from the floor u]) of cenu-nt. I scra]ie all frames on inside, 

 which leaves the cement smooth when boards are removed. Then 

 1 thoroughly remove all fine cement dust, filling in any small 

 dents ; then give three coats of Elaterite water proof paint, being 

 careful to see that eacli coat is thoroughly dry before the next is 

 applied. 



Xow, I claim these troughs I have described are better than 

 can be made from any other nuiterial for the reason that wood 

 will decay and iron and steel rust, but cement will be better fifty 

 years from now than it is when first made. It is always clean, 

 never leaks, does not harbour any fungus growth and does not 

 have to be replaced. 



Now, as to the cost : The first cost is more than wood but 

 with clear white pine selling at from $3S.OO to $50.00 a thou- 

 sand the difierence is not so great, and is all in favor of the ce- 

 ment wlu'U the lasting qualities of the material are taken into 

 account. This year we got our Atlas Portland cement for $1.20 

 per barrel ; the sand and gTavel we had on our hatchery ground. 

 We did all the work with our own crew, with the exception of 

 two laborers ; but T want to be fair mid will suppose that every 



