1438 
into their yard for a little exercise while their hay 
is being put into the bunks and the calves are given 
their noon meal. Mr. Rockwell insists upon taking a 
full hour for this midday “rest,” so he doesn’t get 
at the plowing again until after one. 
NIGHT CHORES.—At a quarter to six the day’s 
plowing is done and the tired team return to their 
stalls, where they are watered and given their hay. 
The master has worked much longer than the horses, 
but the night chores are still ahead of him. After 
caring for his team, he gets down the silage for the 
cattle and the bedding for the horses and other stock, 
and goes to supper. A half hour may be spent at 
the supper table before the bam is again visited and 
the milking begun.. Mrs. Rockwell again helps her 
husband with this and sees that the calves get their 
supper. Her day’s work in the house has probably 
been as strenuous as that of her husband in the 
held, but, without her help the chores would never 
be done. By eight o’clock in the evening the milking 
is done, the milk is cooling in the milk house, all 
the stock is fed and bedded down for the night, and 
the various odds and ends of chores that demand at¬ 
tention are looked after. It has not been a particu¬ 
larly hard day; the hours have been long and the 
greater part of the work has needed the strength 
and endurance of those still in the prime of life. As 
compared with work in the shop or at a desk, there 
has not been the monotony or nerve strain of those 
occupations; the w’ork has changed from hour to 
hour, and the horses, the cattle and the fields are 
companions to those who love them. m. b. n. 
A Concrete Block Machine 
I have a chance to buy a concrete block machine, 
single core. 8x10x16. What proportion bank gravel and 
cement should I use? Gravel contains a good deal of 
sand. How long does it take a block to set before it 
can be taken from machine? Cement costs 70c here; 
gravel, 50e a load (yard). What would be a fair price 
to charge for making blocks? A. ii. s. 
Roxbury, N. Y. 
N ARTIFICIAL STONE.—Concrete is an arti¬ 
ficial stone made up from a mixture of sand, 
stone and cement, with enough water added to make 
the mass plastic. The stone, w’hich forms the base of 
the mixture, contains voids or openings between the 
ineces which must be filled to secure the dense mass 
required in the fini.shed concrete. While the per¬ 
centage of these void spaces will vary in different 
batches of rock, depending upon the way in W’hich 
the rock is graded, they are roughly considered as 
occupying half the space, or 50 per cent of the total 
volume of the rock. The same is true of the sand, 
or fine aggregate, as it is called—it is usually con¬ 
sidered. in small jobs where no test is made, to have 
voids or pore space equal to one-half its volume. 
CONCRETE FORMULAS.—This fact forms the 
Itasis of most of the rough and ready concrete for¬ 
mulas so much in use, w’here the volume of the ce¬ 
ment used is made one-half that of the sand and the 
^•olume of sand one-half that of the stone, a 1:2:4 
mixture being a good example. Suppose a batch of 
concrete were mixed up, using one cubic foot (one 
bag) of cement, two cubic feet of sand and four 
cubic feet of stone, a total of seven cubic feet of 
material, plus a few gallons of water used in mix¬ 
ing. The result, however, is not seven cubic feet of 
concrete, as might be expected, but a little more than 
four, the excess depending upon the quality of the 
sand and stone largely. This example is given to 
show that the cement is used to surround the sand 
l)articles and to fill the space between them and the 
resulting mortar used to fill the voids in the stone, 
making the resulting volume of concrete, if the mass 
has been well proportioned, biit little more than the 
original volume of the stone. 
COMBINING FOR STRENGTH.—The chief qual¬ 
ities desired in a concrete building block are, a 
strength sufficient to resist the load placed on the 
wall and a texture dense enough to prevent them 
from soaking water. A mixture of one sack of ce¬ 
ment, 21^ cubic feet of clean, well-graded sand, and 
four cubic feet of small pebbles or broken stone, is 
recommended for this purpose by the cement com¬ 
panies, although when the aggregates are of the best 
quality, clean and well graded in size, the mixture 
may be leaner; that is, more sand and stone used. 
To secure better weather-resisting qualities, as well 
as a better finish, a face coat made up from a mix¬ 
ture of about one part cement to parts sand, is 
used for the face of the block, placing a layer of this 
raoi'tar about one inch thick into the mold before 
tamping in the remainder of the material. 
MOLDING THIE BLOCKS.—As usually made, 
blocks are constructed from a dry mixture, one in 
which only enough water is used to give the mass a 
consistency like moist earth. It .should be just wet 
enough to retain its form when a handful is squeezed 
up in the hand. When made in this manner the mold 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
is removed as soon as the block is formed, and the 
block taken out on a pallet; a block of wood of the 
right size placed in the mold before filling it with 
concrete. The blocks are then left on these pallets 
until they have set sufficiently to >ermit their re¬ 
moval. To secure a block at all dense wnth this dry 
mixture the material must be tamped in very thor- 
oughl.v. A wetter mixture makes a better block, but 
does not permit as quick removal from the mold. 
MIXING MATERIALS.—Intimate mixing of the 
sand, stone and cement while in the dry state, and 
slow curing of the finished blocks, are other aids in 
securing a good product. The materials should be 
carefully measured and mixed dry until of a uni¬ 
form color, showing no streaks, the water used for 
wetting being also measured. After a few experi¬ 
mental batches are made the correct amount of 
water can be determined, and by mea.suring the 
quantities of all ingredients thereafter, all the 
batches will be uniform in consistency. For best 
results the 'blocks must be prote(?ted from the sun 
and wind in drying, and kept wet so that the curing 
goes on slowly. 
COST OF BLOCKS.—As to cost, a local builder, 
who formerly W'orked a block machine in his build¬ 
ing operations, stated that in making blocks 8x10x20 
inches he figured on obtaining an average of nine 
blocks from each 500 pounds of gravel (about one- 
seventh of a cubic yard) and sack of cement used. 
Roughly speaking, you should get approximately 
111/4 blocks from the same amount of material, as 
your block is only about four-fifths as large as the 
one manufactured by him. Two men, using the ma¬ 
chine, averaged about 100 of these blocks per day, 
and he estimated that the blocks cost him in the 
neighborhood of 15 cents each. This man used a 
mixture of one part cement to five parts hank run 
gravel for the body of the block, with a one-inch 
face coat of 1 :3 mortar of cement and sand. The 
gravel used, however, was of exceptionally good 
quality, weighing about 3,300 lbs. per cubic yard, and 
containing sand and stone in about the correct pro¬ 
portions for a good mixture. As the gravel available 
for your work contains a large amount of sand, it 
would be advisable to screen it and then recombine 
it in the proper i>roportions. A (piarter-inch mesh 
.sci'cen, one having meshes i/4 inch square, should 
be used for this purpose, all the material that jKisses 
through the screen being used as sand, while that 
passing over the screen is used with the stone. 
Availability of suitable gravel is one of the factors 
that must be present in a successful cement block 
business. 
A Hopeful Poultryman Talks 
He Has Faith in the Future 
[Having called for a full discussion of the poultry 
business we naturally have all sides presented. We 
have heard from discouraged henmen and others who 
cannot see much light ahead. Now comes a New Eng¬ 
land man with figures that seem to show a good future. 
We print what he says without comment.] 
SEND a brief financial statement, covering on the 
one hand, receipts for eggs and poultry sold, and on 
the other, expenditures for grain and feed. This 
statement is for the last two poultry years. You 
will notice that in the year recently closed I made 
$1,661, as against $1,383 the year before. And yet 
this increase of nearly $300 was far from sufficient 
to cover the increased cost of living and operating 
expenses. The great drain this past Summer was 
the obligation of feeding so many head of young 
stock on exceedingly high-priced grain. The result is 
that I face the Winter with less to my credit than I 
did a year ago. Nevertheless, I cannot see any i-eason 
for discouragement on the part of the experienced 
poultryman. My way of looking at it is this: Lay¬ 
ing fiocks ai*e made up each Fall. La.st Fall (1916) 
the flocks were made up on the basis of high-priced 
wheat but moderately priced corn, and if corn had 
not taken the great bound it did in the late Spring 
and Summer, this last year would have been the 
best I ever had. At the end of June, 1917, I had 
made nearly $600 more for the year than I had by 
the end of June, 1916, with two of my (ordinarily) 
best months to run. If that ratio had held good, I 
should have made $2,284 instead of $1,661, by the 
end of August, the end of the poultry year. 
Now this Fall (1917) the laying flocks, it may be 
supposed, are adjusted not only to high-priced wheat 
products, but also to high-priced corn. With meat so 
high and with laying flocks smaller, the demand for 
eggs should counterbalance the higher price grain. 
Of course, all calculations may be up.set, ai ••'’in 
rise to yet more fabulous prices. In that Ci. 
will have to be a further readjustment of ia.ymj, 
flocks next Fall. It is a question how many read¬ 
justments (if neces.sary) a poultry farmer can stand. 
Nevertheless, one thing is sure. I’here are fev 
products more staple than eggs. They have to be 
December 2‘2, 1917 
had, and ordinary farm eggs are inadequate to meet 
the demands of the best class of trade in the large 
cities. So the poultry farmer, it seems to me, who 
has the pluck and the ability to hold out, is bound 
to have his compensation for so doing, in the end; 
if not next year, then in some other year; a compen¬ 
sation large enough to reward him for his losses. 
This is, of course, my own judgment. But in every 
busine.ss we must be as shrewd as we can, and not 
knuckle under too easily if our calculations are now 
and then upset. 
Poultry year runs from September to September. 
About 900 layers each year.. August, September 
and October are the great months for selling broilers 
and old hens. 
^1915-16.-, 
1916-17.-, 
September— 
Received . 
Paid . 
$366.69 
261.56 
Gain. 
$105.13 
$498.90 
212.65 
Gain. 
.$286.25 
October— 
Received . 
Paid. 
270.74 
1.34.90 
135.84 
368.35 
271.06 
97.29 
November— 
Received . 
Paid .. 
166.44 
141.66 
24.78 
429.80 
210..34 
219.46 
December— 
Received . 
Paid. 
195.29 
119.26 
76.0.3 
226.74 
205.09 
21.6.5 
January— 
Received . 
Paid . 
230.10 
201.66 
28.44 
189.21 
128.39 
60.82 
February— 
Received . 
Paid . 
181 ..53 
114.18 
67..35 
319.91 
268.65 
51.26 
March— 
Received . 
Paid. 
278.34 
102.00 
176.34 
448.99 
261.08 
187.91 
April— 
Received . 
Paid. 
257.68 
147.91 
109.77 
389.89 
2.56.99 
1.32.90 
May— 
Received . 
Paid . 
295.60 
183.89 
111.71 
481 ..52 
229.72 
251.80 
June— 
Rec-eived . 
Paid. 
.301.98 
235.04 
66.94 
480.84 
299.38 
181.46 
July— 
Received . 
Paid. 
286.10 
183.56 
102.54 
416.92 
.382.64 
34.28 
August— 
Received . 
Paid. 
594.24 
21.5..38 
378.86 
6.34.72 
498.24 
136.48 
$1,383.73 
$1,661..56 
In November, where item of $429.80 is given. 215 
pullets were sold. Receipts are i^eckoned only for 
eggs and poultry sold. Payments are reckoned only 
from grain and feed bought. Other expenses (laboi*, 
value of hatching eggs, cost of incubation, gasoline, 
etc.), are not reckoned in. On the other hand, the 
grain and feed suffice also for one hor.se and for 
raising the new chicks to maturity; 2,200 chicks 
hatched each year. 
Work of a Potato Fraud 
Enclosed clipping is from last night’s paper of this 
city. The question is, “Is it true?” You have a way of 
finding out and letting lots of farmers know if it is. 
Some farmers in this locality are holding their potatoe.s, 
although I bought 10 bushels for my own use at $1.50 
today. C. B. G. 
Vermont. 
This clipping tells a story much like others we 
have heard lately. It tells of a farmer who went to 
Pittsfield, Mass., with a load of potatoes. This farm¬ 
er had about 500 bushels. He was approached by a 
man who asked if he was Avilling to sell them. 
The farmer*, after telling of his 500 bushels, said he 
didn’t intend to sell yet, as he wanted to hold them for 
a higher price. The man asked him what he expected to 
get and was told by the farmer that potatoes would fetch 
$3.50 a bushel ere long. “What are they fetclnng now?” 
asked the prospective customer. “Prom $1,75 to $1.90 
a bushel,” answered the farmer. “And you will not ac¬ 
cept $1.75 for the whole lot?” asked the visitor. 
The farmer refu.sed and was surprised when the vis¬ 
itor took out a check book and made a check, payable 
to the War Department, i-equisitioning the farmer’s en¬ 
tire supply at $1.50 a bushel. The farmer was warned 
that the potatoes were sold and not to try to sell them 
to anyone else. It is reported that government agents 
are visiting the section trying to buy at market price, 
but if refused at that price, are requisitioning at $1.50 
a bushel for the soldiers at cantonments. 
It is said that tliis story started a panic among 
farmers, who rushed to sell at $1.50. The same thing 
with many variations comes to us from other quar¬ 
ters and Ave have spent some time investigating 
them. The Quarterma.ster General of the Army states 
that no potatoes are being commandeered. It seems 
that the whole thing was a trick worked by a potato 
buyer claiming to be a government agent. He took 
a dangerous chance of frightening farmers to sell 
their potatoes for less than the market price. Every 
story of this sort that we have riin down thus far 
has proved a fraud. Men are going about claiming 
to be government agents Avho demand food or fuel or 
wool at a low price. Sometimes they demand a 
''>’are of the canned good.s. Such fellows are hum- 
. • nd they take a big chance, for the govern¬ 
ment will quickly jail them if they are caught at it. 
It will be easy for true government agents to pi*ove 
their identity. If the frauds come near you, fire 
them or turn them over to the army officers. 
