American Agriculturist, October IS, 1923 
251 
Concrete on the Farm 
Materials That Enter Into the Making of Concrete 
P ROBABLY one of the 
reasons why more farm 
Improvements are not 
made with concrete is because the average 
person is afraid his work will not be a suc¬ 
cess. The article on this page is the first 
of a series of four articles by Mr. Behrends 
on Concrete on the Farm. This article deals 
with those materials which enter into the 
mixing of concrete. Those following will 
cover in a practical manner the subject of 
concrete mixtures, mixing of concrete and 
placing concrete as applied to the very simplest 
of concrete jobs, such as concrete floors, walks 
or piers, requiring very crude forms. This 
series will be followed by articles covering 
more difficult concrete construction requiring 
more elaborate forms.— The Editors. 
The use of concrete about a farm 
increases the appearance of the place 
and, if properly handled, results in 
improvements of a permanent nature. 
Most of the farm jobs to be done with 
concrete are such that anyone can 
readily learn to do them. With the 
aid of such tools as are ordinarily 
found on the farm, a concrete walk, 
a cover for the well, or a concrete 
floor in the poultry house or stable can 
be built. Such work requires very lit¬ 
tle building of forms. Then there are 
the jobs such as building a new cistern, 
a foundation wall 
for a small build¬ 
ing or a feed or a 
watering trough. 
Although these 
require more 
elaborate forms, 
the actual con¬ 
crete work after 
the forms are 
constructed, is no 
more difficult than 
laying a concrete 
floor. Probably 
one of the reasons 
why more farm 
improvements are 
not made with 
concrete is be¬ 
cause some dislike 
to start for fear 
that their work 
may not turn out 
satisfactorily. 
The thing to do is to start in a small 
way. First build a short walk or a 
part of a cellar floor. Having made a 
start, and gained experience in propor¬ 
tioning, mixing and using concrete, it 
will be easy then to proceed to the more 
difficult jobs. 
Concrete is often called an artificial 
or cast stone, and is made up of defi¬ 
nite proportions of Portland cement, 
sand, and gravel or broken stone mixed 
with water and allowed to harden un¬ 
der proper conditions in forms or 
molds. The quality of this home-made 
stone will depend largely upon the kind 
of material from which it is made, the 
proper grading and mixing of these 
materials, the proper placing of the 
mixture and, last but not least, the 
proper curing of the mixture after it 
is placed. 
What Is Portland Cement ? 
Portland cement is primarily a mix¬ 
ture of limestone or blast furnace slag 
and clay or shale heated until they be¬ 
gin to melt and blend together. The 
resulting clinker is then ground to a 
fine powder. Gypsum is added to con¬ 
trol the rate of setting. Cement has 
the property of hardening when mixed 
with water and will hold together such 
substances as sand, gravel, crushed 
stone or cinders. This hardening 
process is called setting. Any of the 
standard brands are tested and guar¬ 
anteed by the manufacturers and will 
produce good concrete provided the 
cement has not deteriorated in shipment 
or storage. If the cement is not lumpy, 
it is probably in good condition.. This 
lumpy condition should not be mistaken 
for a caked condition caused from being 
piled up in a large pile. 
If the lumps can be broken in the 
hand or between the fingers, the forma¬ 
tion of'the lumps was due to pressure 
on the cement and not to the presence 
of moisture. Sacks containing lumps 
that will not crumble under gentle pres¬ 
sure should be discarded. 
Cement should always be stored in 
a dry place and be supported upon some 
type of platform so that the bags will 
not be in contact with the ground. 
Portland cement is packed and 
shipped in standard cloth sacks or in 
paper bags holding 94 
pounds net weight. For 
all practical purposes a sack of Port¬ 
land cement may be considered as one 
cubic foot. 
Cloth sacks are charged to the 
cement purchaser. When empty, they 
should be returned to the cement deal¬ 
er, who will buy them back if they are 
fit for further use as cement containers. 
Cement sacks which have been wet, 
torn or otherwise rendered unfit for 
use are not redeemable. Paper bags 
are not returnable. 
What is Meant by “Aggregates” 
Sand and pebbles or broken stone are 
usually spoken of as aggregates. Sand 
is called fine aggregate and pebbles 
or crushed stone coarse aggregate. 
Sand or other fine aggregate includes 
all particles from very fine (exclusive 
of dust) up to those which will just 
pass through a screen having meshes 
one-quarter inch square. 
Sand should be coarse, hard and 
clean, that is free from dust, loam, clay 
or vegetable matter. The quality of 
sand is largely de¬ 
pendent upon the 
relative coarse¬ 
ness of its grains. 
Coarse sand is 
usually considered 
as one made up of 
large and small 
grains 1 in which 
the larger sized 
grains, that is, 
one-sixth to one- 
eighth inch in 
diameter, pre¬ 
dominate. 
To determine 
whether a sand is 
hard the follow¬ 
ing test is sug¬ 
gested: Select an 
average sample of 
the larger parti¬ 
cles and strike 
them with an or¬ 
dinary hammer. If any large propor¬ 
tion of the materials pulverize easily, 
the sand in question should not be used. 
Shale sands are unsuitable for tanks, 
troughs, cisterns, and most concrete 
work subject to weathering. 
How may sand be tested for impuri¬ 
ties? It is desirable to test every sand 
to determine the approximate amount 
of clay or loam Or other foreign mate¬ 
rial in the sand. A very simple test 
is to fill a quart fruit jar to the depth 
of two inches with sand, fill the jar 
to within an inch of the top with clean 
water. Shake well and let set until the 
water clears up. The sand will sink 
to the bottom, while the mud, which 
is held in suspension longer, will set¬ 
tle on top of the sand. If the layer 
of mud is over three-sixteenths of an 
inch thick, the sand should not be used 
unless it is first washed. Concrete 
made from dirty sand or pebbles is not 
strong, hardens very slowly, and may 
never harden enough to permit the con¬ 
crete to be used for the purpose 
intended. 
Coarse aggregate includes all gravel, 
pebbles or broken stone ranging from 
one-quarter inch up to one and one-half 
or two inches. The maximum size of 
coarse aggregate to be used is governed 
by the nature of the work. In thin 
slabs or walls the largest pieces of ag¬ 
gregate should not exceed one-third the 
thickness of the section of concrete 
being placed, while for reinforced con¬ 
crete one and one-half inches in diam¬ 
eter is the maximum size which will 
work closely around the reinforcing. 
Pebbles or crushed stone to be used 
as coarse aggregate should be tough, 
fairly hard and free from any of the 
impurities that would be objectionable 
in sand. 
Cinders may be used for the coarse 
aggregate provided they are carefully 
screened so they contain no fine mate¬ 
rial. They should be made up of clean, 
hard clinkers and contain no unburned 
coal. 
Cinder concrete is not as strong 
as that made from gravel or crushed 
stone. When used, the mixture should 
be a little wetter than gravel concrete. 
Only clean water should be used for 
mixing concrete. 
By F. G. BEHRENDS 
A concrete well-cover, neat, durable 
and sanitary, requiring the simplest 
of forms 
We Help 
Farmers 
to Use 
Concrete 
That is what the Portland Cement Association is 
for—to tell people the best and easiest way to use 
Concrete,, and to show how it can save them money. 
No matter what permanent improvements you 
need around your farm, whether it is a feeding floor, 
manure pit, silo, storage cellar or foundation, we can 
give you simple, easy-to-follow instructions ior 
making it of Concrete. 
Just write us and tell us how you are thinking of 
using Concrete, and we will send you the informa¬ 
tion you need free of charge. 
You will be surprised to see how easily you can 
build permanence into your farm improvements 
with firesafe, weatherproof, economical Concrete 
construction. 
PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION 
10 High Street 
BOSTON 
Finance Building 
PHILADELPHIA 
347 Madison Avenue 
NEW YORK 
cA National Organization 
to Improve and Extend the Uses of Concrete 
Offices in 25 Other Cities 
A Wise Old Trapper 
In the state of Ohio there lived a bnnch of boys 
who had this trapping business down to a science. 
They each sent for separate price lists every year 
and then sent all their furs to the house giving the 
best quotations. After five years they decided 
they weren’t so dreadfully wise because they 
didn’t have enough profits to make their efforts 
worth while. 
One day they met Tom McMillan driving a new 
car to town. Tom said he made the price of his 
swell outfit shipping pelts. He told how he got 
wise to those funny prices and found it was better 
to deal with Ohas. Porter because he always knew 
in advance <ust what he was sure of getting. He 
said that Porter never offered $5 for a 13 pelt but 
he always paid the 13 which he promised and some¬ 
times just a little better. Ohas. Porter now has five 
wise trappers in that section instead of one. 
Don’t Take a 
Chance with your 
Send u8 ylour Your furs mean real dollars to 
name and address. you. Why sell them to some fellow 
Get our Price Bui - who offers you $1.26 when you know 
letins, Shipping blame well you are lucky to aret 
Tag 8, and full fifty cents. Ask the wise trapper 
particulars. Vo it who knows. Once a Chas. Porter 
right now. This shipper and you will always be one. 
means real dollars to You Know in advance that we snve 
you, so don't put it a square deal and every shipment 
off. Write today. brings sure money. 
CHARLES S. PORTER, Inc. 
117 West 27th Street New York 
ASQUARE 
O UR pricelists 
don’t show 
the highest 
prices, but our 
checks sent in ex¬ 
change for furs 
have more than 
satisfied hun¬ 
dreds in the last 
thirteen years. 
I Get up a sample shipment, send it in to 
I us, the check you’ll receive will make 
you another one of our d ependable regu- 
lars. If you are not satisfied return the 
I check and your furs will be ship] ed back 
I to you. A square deal is yours for the 
I trying — all to gain and nothing to lose. 
In the mean time FREE for the asking 
I —our price lists, shipping tags, instruc¬ 
tions, and a list of our satisfied trapper 
friends. Your name and address on a 
| postal card will do. 
SOL WAKEISOFF, Inc. 
1 
1 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
8 
I 
I 
167 West 25th St. 
New York 
TRAP FOR 
Headquarters 
tor North American Furs. 
Bfe Trapping Season Ahead. Get Read; Now! 
Big 56 Page 
fur book 
Free 
to Trappers 
Send postal for biff 
Catalog and Book of 
Information. Make 
money—Deal Direct. 
Write Today 
F.C. TAYLOR FUR CO. 
785 Fur Exchange 
St. Louis, Mo. 
Chewing, four pounds $1.40 
--fifteen $4.00. Smoking, four 
unds SLOO; fifteen $3.00. Pay when received. Pipe and 
UNITED TOBACCO GROWERS. PADUCAH, r 
EAF TOBACCO 
F^-Coodl^ffi/r 
you are goin^to 
..as the largest di¬ 
rect buyers of raw 
| furs in the world 
and as foremost 
outfitters to trap¬ 
pers we urge you 
I to sign and send 
lupon below for 
, _ REE HELPS TO 
TRAPPERS. 
I Fouke Fur Co., 
Saint Louis, Mo. 
trap or 
FURS 
* § ENp_T°- p AY 
FOUKE FUR COMPANY 
Fouke Building, St. Louis, Mo.; 
Send me new Fouke catalog i»f latest, best equip¬ 
ment; how to trap, how to grade, game laws, g"; 
Unexcelled price list service all season, all v Kc-c- 
Unexcelled price 
Name 
Town 
State 
r. F.n. 
Box 
