1909. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
430 
CONCRETE FLOOR IN COW STABLE. 
In constructing a concrete floor a 
person must know how he wants it be¬ 
fore he begins. I will tell how I would 
construct one, which with a few varia¬ 
tions, is like the one we put in last 
Summer. The word concrete in this 
article means a mixture of gravel or 
crushed stone, sand and Portland ce¬ 
ment. With our creek gravel contain¬ 
ing sand we took six shovels to one 
shovel of cement, using about 35 shov¬ 
els to a batch, five of crushed stone, 
2 l / 2 of coarse sand and one of cement 
is a good mixture. Shovel from one 
pile to another three times on a tight 
platform while dry, and shovel after 
wetting until thoroughly mixed, having 
it stiff enough so that it will not flatten 
out when shoveled on a pile. The tools 
needed besides a hammer, a level and 
a trowel are an edger, a tamp, and a 
large hammer to crush stones. 
Take out one-half of basement floor 
at a time, excavating to rock or very 
hard ground. Here is a cross section 
from one side to middle of driveway. 
A manger six inches deep slanting 
in front is convenient. No sweeping 
up of the grain is necessary and the 
feed does not get under the cows. I 
have allowed eight inches from top of 
bed-piece of stanchion to the bottom of 
cows’ fore feet. Mine is nine inches, 
and our cows are comfortable while ly¬ 
ing down. The one-inch drop 18 inches 
wide for their fore feet prevents the 
cows from slipping and helps hold the 
bedding. The remainder, 38 inches, of the 
cows’ platform has one-inch slant. The 
18 inches and 38 inches make four feet 
eight inches, which is the proper width 
of the cows’ platform for Holsteins. 
Three sheets of tar paper with two 
coats of tar paint between is used under 
the three- and four-inch upper layer 
of this platform to hold the warmth of 
the cows. We have a six-inch gutter 
14 inches wide and place horse manure 
in it to soak up the moisture. The 
bottom of the gutter being the lowest 
part of the stable should be our start¬ 
ing place of concrete work. To have 
good drainage and no trouble with frost 
T would advise excavating deep enough 
to have one foot of round stone on the 
bottom. Lay on these round stones 
two or three inches of flat stone and 
break up with a large hammer. Our 
cross section will give an idea how 
deep to excavate so as to have four 
inches concrete on these crushed stones 
for the bottom of the gutter. The deep¬ 
est excavation in our barn is under the 
driveway. It is deeper at one end, and 
at this deeper end of the driveway a 
drain of sewer tile is laid to carry 
drainage. Where it is impossible to 
excavate so deeply, stone under the 
driveway and alley might do. In such 
cases the stone under the driveway and 
the stone under the alley should be con¬ 
nected with tile, and if there should be 
danger of frost along the ends dig a 
ditch on the inside of each end of the 
barn, and fill in with round stone, 
eight inches from top of bed-piece to 
top of gutter, six inches for depth of 
gutter, four inches of concrete in the 
bottom of gutter, two inches broken 
stone, 12 inches round stone. In all 
two feet eight Inches from (he top of 
bed-piece of stanchion to the depth of 
the excavation under the gutter. 
Lay down two 3x4’s for sides of 
bottom of gutter 22 inches apart, four 
inches to spare on each side. For our 
four-foot eight-inch platform, one 2x4 
should be four feet two inches be¬ 
tween it and the bed-piece. Take a 
straight-edge and nail a strip on one 
end, having it project 14 inches from 
the bottom of the straight-edge. Rest 
one end on the bed-piece of stanchion 
and level the straight edge, naving the 
nearest 2x4 touch the bottom of the 
strip. Level the other 2x4 to this one 
and brace. Shovel in three inches of 
concrete and tamp. The remaining inch 
fill up with a finishing coat of V /2 fine 
sand to one cement. Level with a 
smooth-edged board, shaking it from 
right to left as you draw it. Sand, not 
too coarse, will make a surface smooth 
on which to shovel. As soon as the 
concrete is hard take up the scantlings 
and lay one flat, placing it just inside 
of the gutter to be built, which will 
be four inches from the edge of the 
bottom of the gutter, and brace it well. 
Place the other 2x4 by the bed-piece of 
stanchion, 1 y 2 inch higher than the 
one in the gutter. To cto this easily 
nail 1^2 inch on the bottom of one 
end of a straight edge and push along, 
leveling as you go. Fill in with con- 
create except next to the gutter scant- 
ling, which should be filled in with fin¬ 
ishing coat. Tamp even with top of 
scantlings. 
Immediately lay on this concrete one 
sheet of tar paper against the scantling 
in gutter and paint with tar paint. Lay 
another sheet on top of this and paint, 
then lay on another sheet. Drive in a 
few sharp wooden pegs, which are non¬ 
conductors. These pegs arc driven 
through the tar paper and into the con¬ 
crete below in order to prevent the 
upper layer of concrete from moving, 
leaving two inches of the pegs above 
the paper. By this time the scantling 
by bed-piece can be removed and the 
space filled in with concrete. Lay on 
three coats of paper and paint as be¬ 
fore, turning the paper up three inches 
by bed-piece to cut off any connection 
with the other concrete. The paper at 
the ends of platform should also be 
turned up even with the surface. It is 
easier for the cows to warm the con¬ 
crete under them than it is to warm it 
all over the barn. Remove the 2x4 
from the gutter and place a 2x6 in its 
place. A 4x6 will need less bracing. 
Also place a 2x4 16 inches from bed- 
piece, brace and fill in three inches 
concrete, plastering finishing coat 
against 2x6. Tamp and fill in the re¬ 
maining inch with finishing coat of two 
coarse sand to one of cement, and level 
with board, shaking from right to left 
as before. In a couple of hours run 
the edger along the 2x6 and 2x4 to 
round the edges. Take out 2x4 and 
put in its place a 2x3. Also place a 
2x3 against bed-piece and fill in with 
two inches of concrete and one inch of 
finishing coat. 
For the manger place a 2x4 next to 
the bed-piece, its top being six inches 
lower than the top of the bed-piece, 
and place another 2x4 two feet four 
inches from the bed-piece. Level and 
fill in three inches of concrete and one 
inch finishing coat of 1 '/ 2 fine sand to 
one cement, smoothing with a board 
and trowel. We use fine sand here to 
have a smooth surface for the manger. 
When hard remove scantlings and fill 
in next to the bed-piece, being careful 
in smoothing. For the remainder of 
the alley take a 2x6 and nail on it a oae- 
half-inch smooth board; brace it slant¬ 
ing so that the upper end will be six 
inches perpendicular in height. The 
bottom of the eight-inch board should 
be two feet from the bed-piece. Place 
a 2x4 against the outside and level 
it to the slanting board. Plaster 
against this slanting board and fill in 
with three inches concrete and one inch 
finishing coat. There may be a space 
under the stanchion to fill in. Brace 
a 2x4 against the bed-piece on the cows' 
side and fill in on the manger side, fit¬ 
ting a 2x4 against the bed-piece to hold 
the concrete pushed under. Plaster 
shut the openings left. If the openings 
are too large for the concrete to stay 
use small stone chinkers to help hold 
it. 
For the driveway take a 2x6 and 
place in the gutter, using 12-inch blocks 
to brace against the other side of the 
gutter, which will be 14 inches wide 
when clear. By having the stones 
higher in center of driveway it will 
take less concrete. Plaster against the 
forms, fill in concrete and finishing 
coat. Saw in the ends of a half-inch 
board, an inch. In about an hour press 
the board down between the forms 
every 10 inches. Where there are 
grades six inches apart is better. 
Steep grades should be avoided if pos¬ 
sible. These creases prevent horses 
and cows from slipping. At the end 
of the driveway where the tile drain 
starts I have a stove pipe reaching from 
the tile to within two inches of the sur¬ 
face of the driveway. Stones were laid 
around it halfway up, crushed stone to 
hold concrete was placed on the stones. 
A piece of two-inch plank about eight 
inches square was placed on pipe. We 
fastened a ring with a staple to the 
plank for a handle. We filled in 
around the upper half of pipe and 
plank with concrete. T worked the 
trowel around the plank and loosened 
it before it became fast. Yesterday I 
heard and saw water running from the 
stones under the driveway into the 
drain. Is not that good drainage? 
Answering C. M. W.’s question of 
“How many barrels of cement and of 
what quality would be necessary to 
make 1.400 square feet of permanent 
stable floor?” I figure out from a table 
before me it would take 50 barrels of 
Portland cement. My experience proves 
this estimate to be about correct. 
CEO. W. EVERSON. 
Montgomery Co., N. Y. 
“Thank you, son,” said old Tightfist 
to the boy who had run several blocks 
on an errand for him; “here’s a penny 
fur ye.” “Don’t tempt me, Guv’nor,” 
said the bright boy. “If T was ter 
take all dat money T might buy a 
auto wid it an’ git pinched for scorch- 
in’. ”—Catholic Standard and Times. 
The teacher was giving a geography 
lesson, and the class, having traveled 
from London to Labrador, and from 
Thessaly to Timbuctoo, was thoroughly 
worn out. “And now.” said the 
teacher, “we come to Germany, that 
important country governed by the 
Kaiser. Tommy Jones, what is a 
Kaiser?” “Please, ’m,” yawned Tommy 
Jones, “a stream o’ hot water springin’ 
up an’ disturbin’ the earth!”—Argonaut. 
When you write advertisers mention Thh 
I t. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and 
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