144 MAINE AGRICUI^TURAI, EXPERIxMENT STATION. I913. 



A general farmer also will find such an equipment for the 

 storage of all farm manure a paying investment. A portion of 

 this shed can be partitioned off for hen manure. 



A properly constructed cement building will not have to be 

 constantly repaired and frequently replaced like a wooden 

 structure, which rots out quickly when used for the storage of 

 manure. The cement building is water tight, preventing the 

 entrance of water from without and the escape of any unab- 

 sorbed liquid manure. It is, in fact, a perfect permanent shel- 

 ter. 



The New Maine Station Manure Sued. 



Last fall (October 1912) this Station built at its poultry plant 

 a manure shed large enough to accommodate the droppings 

 from one thousand adult birds, over a period of a year, and the 

 droppings collected from the range where about three thousand 

 chicks are annually reared. 



The inside measurements of this shed are 12x7 feet. It is 

 5 feet high at the eaves and 8 feet 2 inches to the peak of the 

 roof. It is illustrated in figures 58 and 59. 



The droppings are thrown into the shed through trap doors 

 in the roof, and taken out from one end, which is of removable 

 plank. The other three walls, and enough of this end wall to 

 form the grooves which hold the ends of the planks; the floor; 

 and the foundation are formed of one continuous cement mass 

 (monolithic construction). The gables are board. The gable 

 at the open (plank) end of the shed is removable to give more 

 head room, when shoveling the manure into carts. It is held 

 in place by hooks. 



It was necessary to place this building on a very heavy clay 

 soil which heaves badly with frost. For this reason it Avas 

 placed on a much deeper foundation than would be necessary in 

 a more favorable location. The foundation is a solid block of 

 cement and rock, the size of the outside measurements of the 

 shed and extending five feet below the surface of the ground. 

 It was made by using as many rocks and as little cement as 

 was consistent with the formation of a firm solid mass. For a 

 few inches near the top, however, clear cement was used and 

 this was smoothed off at ground level to form the floor. At the 

 edges of this foundation the cement was continued up into the 



