CENTS. 17 
nearest multiple is found to be 598.5 inches, or 49 feel and 10J inches, 
which is sufficiently close bo the desired width for practical purposes. 
The number o( strips in a tent 598.5 inches wide is 21. The middle 
section \\ (fig. L) is approximately two-fifths the entire width, or 
239.5 inches. Deducting this from 598.5 inches, the entire width, 
t In* remainder, 359, equals the sum of the widths of sections A and C. 
These sections being equal, the width of each is \7\K~) inches. The 
number oi' strips in each section can now be readily calculated. The 
21 strips should be numbered on the diagram from left to right. 
Section A requires six strips and 8.5 inches of the seventh. Simi- 
larly , section C requires six strips, beginning at the right (twenty-firsl 
to sixteenth, inclusive), and 8.5 inches of the fifteenth. Section B 
requires the remaining 20 inches of strip No. 7, 20 inches of strip 
No. 15, and seven entire widths, thus making the total of 21 strips 
required. 
The cutting of the cloth can bo done without waste if the details 
of construction arc well planned. In the above tent seven strips 50 
feet long (49 feet 1(U inches) should first be cut for section B. Strips 
Nos. 7 and 15 are next cut and the outside corners cut at an angle 
of 1") degrees, as indicated in the diagram. Each strip for sections 
A and C is cut shorter by its own width outside at each end than the 
strip preceding it. Thus the required lengths of the side strips are 
found by matching the inner edge of the new one to the outer edge 
of the one before it. It is desirable to have the central section, B, 
mad* 1 up entirely of full-length strips so that the stress will not be 
across seams. The stress is so slight, comparatively, in the side 
sections A and C, that this is not an important point. 
Shrinkage of the goods after being thoroughly wet is an impor- 
tant consideration in the economical construction of fumigating 
tents. In order that the tents approximate a regular octagon, after 
having been used for fumigating purposes, it is necessary either to 
have the goods thoroughly shrunk before cutting or to make allow- 
ance for subsequent shrinkage by cutting the strips longer. A test 
made with a brand of 8-ounce duck commonly used in California for 
fumigating tents showed that the shrinkage lengthwise of the goods 
amounted to 7.5 per cent, and, crosswise 0.9 per cent; this means 
that in a 50-foot tent the shrinkage would result in the full-length 
strips shortening 3 1 feet, while the tent would shrinkless than 6 inches 
crosswise o]' tin 1 strips. Such irregularities might be remedied by a 
skirt of ()',-ounce drill, but it is simpler to plan to have each strip 
cut longer by a given amount for each 1 per cent of difference in the 
lengthwise and crosswise shrinkage. In the case referred to above 
this difference is <'>.»; per cent, and each per cent represents an actual 
difference of 6 inches. A 50-foot t< v nt constructed in this manner 
