October: Fifth Week 



CONCRETE: WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH IT; AND 

 HOW TO USE IT. IRON PIPE FOR MANY 

 PURPOSES 



Exceptional indeed is the place the owner of which cannot 

 think of some improvement, or some dozen improvements, 

 that he would like to see made. Walks, culverts, troughs, 

 hitching-posts, fence-posts, fountains, retaining walls, 

 hot-beds, vegetable pits, steps, foundations and supports 

 for buildings, floors, pergolas, summer-houses, hand-rails, to 

 say nothing of more elaborate things, such as ice-houses, 

 root-cellars, tanks, and so forth, are all within his reach 

 when he has at his disposal concrete and iron pipe. Such 

 jobs may be undertaken at any time of the year until 

 freezing weather. 



The use of concrete is simpHcity itself. The only in- 

 gredients required are Portland cement, clean, medium- 

 coarse sand, gravel, and water. In place of gravel, clean 

 cinders or crushed stone may be used. Sometimes it is 

 possible to get gravel that is mixed with sand in the proper 

 proportion as it comes from the bank. Ordinarily, however, 

 it should be screened, so that the sand and gravel may be 

 measured separately. Having the ingredients accurately 

 proportioned is one of the most important factors in achiev- 

 ing successful results with concrete, and requires some 

 attention. 



The mixture of the ingredients is based on the principle 

 of having the particles of sand of sufficient number to fill 

 the spaces in the gravel or crushed stone, and the particles 

 of cement — which is ground to a microscopic fineness — fill 

 the minute spaces between the grains of sand. After such a 

 mixture has "set" or hardened, the result is a monolithic 

 compound so strong that if it is broken with a hammer the 



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