286 AROUND THE YEAR IN THE GARDEN 



As soon as the batch is mixed it should be placed at 

 once in the forms, using for the purpose a shovel or cheap 

 metal pails, if it has to be carried. It should be tamped 

 down into the form firmly enough to prevent air spaces be- 

 ing left. If a wall is being made, a thin paddle of wood 

 or iron passed along either side next to the form wiU leave 

 a smoother surface, as the larger particles of gravel or 

 stone are pushed back. After the form is filled it should be 

 left absolutely undisturbed until it has set hard — usually at 

 least twenty-four hours, though forty-eight is preferable. 

 The forms, if carefully handled, may then be removed, to 

 use again, although the concrete will still be "green" and 

 easily marred or broken. If made where it will be subject 

 to weight or stress when the forms are removed the con- 

 crete should be left to harden thoroughly with the forms in 

 place. If there is danger of frosty weather cover the con- 

 crete with old bags, blankets, or, for outside work, with 

 warm manure, to protect it from freezing. Be careful 

 to mix only what can be used at once for each batch; any 

 surplus must be thrown aAvay, as it is useless after it begins 

 to harden. Wash up clean at once aU shovels, hoes, trowels, 

 markers, pails, forms or mixing-bed, etc., which have been 

 in contact with the wet concrete; otherwise you will find 

 them ruined when you go to use them again. 



Concrete Pots and Vases 



By taking advantage of ready-made forms a great num- 

 ber of difficult-looking things may be moulded with prac- 

 tically no trouble. Large concrete pots or vases, for in- 

 stance, are easily made by getting lard-tubs or candy pails 

 of such size that one will fit inside the other, leaving a space 

 of an inch or two as a form, and imbedding a cork or wooden 

 plug in the concrete bottom (which is put in the large pail 

 before the smaller one is set inside), to be removed for a 

 drainage hole. An ordinary cracker-box, with the bottom 

 removed, makes a good form for a small stepping stone. 

 Cylindrical posts or supports of any size, or rounded cor- 



