market. The truck load of poultry is then run into a room with a temperature of about 38°. The birds are allowed to stand there for twenty-four to thirty-six hours or until all the animal heat has left the body. Then they are graded according to size and quality and are packed in boxes which hold one dozen each. (Fig. 11) shows a box of birds that weigh twenty pounds to the dozen. Not that each bird is wrapped in paper and that the head and feet are not exposed to view. You will observe that the birds fill the box snugly so that they do not bruise in transportation.

Fig. 12 shows a box of old fowls. These weigh about sixty pounds to the dozen. The feathers on the tip of the wings are left on the old fowls. Note that the box is lined with paper, but the birds are not wrapped as these in (Fig. 11). The packed birds are put into storage rooms and frozen. They are held in this way until they are sold on the market. Refrigerator cars are used in shipping these birds.

A great many feathers are collected in these killing establishments. The coarse feathers are kept separate from the body feathers. These are washed and dried and when they are put on the market, they bring from five to twenty-five cents per pound.

Fig. 13 shows a lot of dressed poultry that was exhibited at Williamsport, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh this year, by the Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pennsylvania. The birds used in this exhibit were bought from the farmers and were a mixture of Barred Rocks, White Wyandottes and Rhode Island Reds. The birds were divided into lots of ten each. The lots weighed practically the same at the start. Several lots were fed whole corn and wheat, which is the usual feed used to fatten poultry by the majority of people. The gains on these lots were one to two pounds in three weeks for ten birds and the cost per pound gain varied from thirty-three to sixty-six cents. Farmers will sell these birds at six cents to ten cents per pound-or for less than it cost them to produce a pound of chicken.

Similar lots of birds were confined in crates and fed a mixed ration of bolted cornmeal, low grade flour, wheat midds, buckwheat midds; all of which were moistened with buttermilk. In the same length of time these birds had gained ten pounds per lot of ten birds, and the cost per pound of gain was as low as five to seven cents. Birds that are fed in this way can be sold for a better price because there is quality and quantity to a milk-fed bird. This kind of feeding will be profitable to those who practice it.

A

There are two things necessary in the dry picking of poultry. One of these is to stick the bird in the right part of the brain, in order that the muscles which hold the feathers in the skin will relax and the feathers can be pulled out easily. The other is to cut the blood vessels in the neck in order to insure good bleeding. A knife suitable for this work is one with a narrow blade about two inches long. good knife can be made by grinding down an old silver case knife. The head is held in the left hand between the thumb and forefinger. The cut for bleeding is made just back of the bony part of the head. The knife is thrust into the bird's mouth to the left side of the neck and a diagonal cut is made which severs the two main blood vessels in the neck; this will cause the blood to flow freely.

The brain is pierced by starting the knife at the corner of the mouth on the left side of the head at such an angle that the point will pierce the brain about the center of the head and back of the

eyes. This will cause the muscles to relax and the feathers can be pulled out easily. When the brain is pierced the bird is made insensible.

In removing the feathers, take first, those from the breast, second, those from the back, and leaving the tail and wing feathers for the last.

The poultry producers of Pennsylvania must use better methods of finishing and dressing their poultry, if they receive the benefits of the good markets of the State.

FARM BUILDINGS BUILT OF CONCRETE

By E. S. FOWLER, Field Agent, Universal Portland Cement Co., Chicago, Il.

The several speakers this week have told you how to grow better fruit, how to raise better grain, how to breed better horses, how to improve the dairy herd and how to improve the soil. After these products have been grown it is a significant fact that buildings will be needed to store and house them.

In the past most of the farm buildings have been inadequate, illy arranged, ugly and inconvenient, instead of being money savers they have been money spenders. To some extent the same condition still exists but through the science of Agricultural Engineering we may expect the solution and correction of this building waste, which will add to the profits of the farmer. It is from the standpoint of an agricultural engineer that I wish to discuss the subject assigned me this evening-Farm Buildings Built of Concrete."

Permanent and fireproof structures are more and more demanded by farmers and why should they not demand these just as well as producers of other commodities demand them and find them economical. High prices, poorer quality, and the scarcity of lumber are compelling the prospective builder to turn to other materials.

Concrete is a comparatively new building material which few farmers have acquired the habit of using, mainly because they do not understand it and imagine that to construct all buildings, fences, walks, floors, tanks, troughs, etc., is impracticable. The progressive farmer of today, however, is beginning to realize that concrete is the natural building material adapted to farm buildings, and for this reason he is studying its characteristics and uses.

The success of any concrete building or structure depends firstly, upon the quality of the concrete that goes into it, and secondly, upon the workmanship. A great deal has been written on how to build with concrete, but very few practical instructions have been given to the farmer on how to manufacture it. With your permission I would like to digress from the subject of this evening for a few minutes, and call your attention to the essential points of good concrete.

Concrete may be defined as an artificial stone made by mixing together cement, water and inert materials consisting of large and small particles such as sand, gravel or crushed stone. In doing this it must be remembered that the used of cement in making cement is not only a builder, but a manufacturer, and as such he must understand the materials he is using, must exercise judgment in their se

lection and must handle them properly in order to obtain the best results economically.

PORTLAND CEMENT

Portland cement is a carefully manufactured compound which is sold in a condition to act immediately when mixed with water. is usually packed in cloth or paper bags weighing ninety-five pounds each, four such bags making a barrel of three hundred and eighty pounds. Portland cement is somewhat like lime, in that it attracts moisture, and for this reason must be carefully protected when stored. If it gets damp or wet it becomes lumpy and hard. If these lumps become so hard that it is impossible to crush them easily, it has become worthless so far as a cementing material is concerned. Crushing these hard lumps to powder will not restore life to the cement, for in changing from a powder to a solid state, the same change has taken place as when cement, water and gravel or stone are mixed together, forming concrete material. As this action of hardening of cement can take place but once, it can readily be seen that the cement must be properly protected until ready for use.

AGGREGATES

The inactive materials which are mixed with cement and water to form concrete are called aggregates. The aggregates are generally divided into two classes, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate. The fine aggregate is usually referred to as that part of the material which will pass a screen having inch meshes, and generally consists of sand but may also consist of gravel or stone screenings. The coarse aggregate consists of material larger than inch, and may be gravel, crushed stone, or in fact, any hard, durable material. The aggregate must be clean, coarse, hard, durable and well graded. Clean, because if the sand grains or pieces of gravel or stone are covered with a film or coating of clay or loam, the cement cannot perform its duty in cementing the particles together. The sand should be course and well graded that is, consisting of particles ranging in size from coarse to fine, the larger sizes predominating. Such a sand is usually solid and compact, and requires a minimum amount of cement to coat the particles, and fill the voids or air spaces between them. A fine sand is sometimes used by the operator who is not entirely familiar with the proper selection of aggregate, but it requires more cement for a given strength and more thorough mixing, and therefore is not economical to use.

The aggregate should be hard and durable, hard because the concrete cannot be any stronger than the strength of the sand and stone which goes into its make-up; durable, because the sand, gravel or stone should remain hard. The size of the coarse aggregate depends largely upon the character of the work in which the concrete is to be used. It should always be such as will enable the concrete to be readily placed in the form and leave a reasonable smooth surface.

For plain concrete work, one-half the thickness of the wall of the structure is often given as the maximum size of the coarse aggregate, but for the best concrete the coarse aggregate in no case should be larger than 1 inches.

PROPORTIONING

An ideal concrete mixture is one in which all the spaces (voids) between the pieces of gravel or crushed stone are filled with sand

grains, and all the spaces between the sand grains are filled with cement. As such a mixture is hard to obtain on account of the variation in amount of voids in each load of sand or gravel, it is always better to be on the safe side and use a little more cement than required to fill the voids. From the definition of concrete we find that it is composed of water, cement, fine and coarse aggregate. Before deciding upon the relative amounts of these several materials used in making concrete, we must first consider the kind of work we intend to do. For instance, such work as tanks, silos, troughs, cisterns, etc., where solid, dense and watertight concrete and considerable strength are required, we should use about twice as much gravel or crushed stone as sand, and about twice as much sand as cement. This would be called a 1:2:4 mixture, that is to say, one part cement, two parts sand and four parts gravel or crushed stone. For ordinary work, such as foundation walls, sidewalk bases, barns or feeding floor bases, a leaner mixture could be used, say (1:23:5), one part cement, 2 parts sand and 5 parts gravel or crushed stone. The materials used in making concrete should always be proportioned accurately by volume and in sack batches. As one sack of cement is usually considered as one cubic foot, it will be found convenient to proportion the aggregates in a measuring box of one cubic foot capacity.

NATURAL BANK GRAVEL

Sand and screened gravel or stone, as found in natural banks, are doubtless the most popular aggregate for concrete work, as they can be obtained in nearly every locality. They are, however, rarely suitable for concrete purposes as found in their natural condition. there being too great proportion of fine aggregate. As explained above, that the most economical concrete mixture was one that contains about twice as much screened gravel or stone as sand, it is therefore, advisable to examine or test natural gravel before using, and if the proportion of sand and stone are not approximately cor rect, the two materials should be separated by screening, and re mixed in proper proportions. In some cases it may be found cheaper to use a larger amount of cement with the material as it comes from the bank than to separate the sand and gravel, and remix in proper proportions.

MIXING

Mixing of materials for concrete work should always be done on a level, watertight platform. It will be found convenient to proportion and mix the materials in equal sized batches. This is usually taken in cement sack units, one bag of cement being considered as one cubic foot. The sand is first measured accurately by means of a measuring box, and spread in an even thin layer over the platform. The cement is added and the two materials mixed thoroughly dry until of a uniform color, spread out again and the screened gravel or crushed stone added and again all mixed dry until of a uniform color. The mass is then shoveled up in the form of a cone and the top made cup-shape. The water is then poured into this cup-like receptacle and allowed to settle down into the mass. The entire mass is then mixed thoroughly until of a uniform wetness or consistency. If the water is applied down the sides or the pile, it is very liable to flow off, washing the cement from the particles of sand and stone.

Concrete should be deposited in its final resting place within thirty minutes after the water is added, as at this time the action of hardening begins, and if the concrete is disturbed serious results are very liable to occur.

CONSISTENCY

The wetness or consistency of the concrete when deposited in forms will depend largely upon the character of the work being done. Whenever possible, it is advisable to mix the concrete to a medium wet consistency, or one that will permit puddling or churning with a pole, thereby working the concrete thoroughly into the form. It is impossible to get a satisfactory concrete if it is mixed so dry that excessive tamping is required in order to fill the forms properly. Concrete should not be mixed with so much water that when it is deposited in the forms the stone and gravel will have a tendency to settle to the bottom, as the water will have a tendency to rise to the top and carry with it a large amount of the cement and fine particles of sand. This causes a separation of materiais and if the forms are not watertight the water will flush out and carry with it the cement, and the result is a weak, lean concrete.

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

The tools and equipment used in the manufacture of concrete, as required by the farmer in ordinary work, are easily obtained and inexpensive. Aside from those that may be homemade the remainder are tools which are used on the farm for other purposes.

A mixing platform (Fig. 1): a sand screen (Fig. 2); measuring box (Fig. 3); a water barrel; several water buckets; wheelbarrows, at least two, and preferably of metal bodies; square shovels, one to each man.

Perhaps one of the most common ways of using cement on the farm is making concrete watering troughs. Fig. 4 shows a photograph of a concrete watering trough on the farm of Mr. John Stewart, Elburn, Ill. Mr. Stewart has his entire barnyard cemented over with concrete, thus saving the most valuable part of the fertilizer for his fields. An experiment performed by the Ohio Experiment Station and reported in Bulletin No. 183, proves that a concrete floor in a yard where cattle are fatted will pay for two-thirds its cost in six months time.

Another practical application of concrete construction about the farm is found in the use of concrete posts. This includes posts for line fences, gates and corners, clothes lines, mail boxes, lamps, signs, hitching posts and vine supports. The advantages of using concrete posts in reference to any other kind are so apparent that they need scarcely be mentioned. Probably the most important consideration is their permanency, and it is no exaggeration to say that a properly made concrete post with proper usage will last forever; it will neither rot, burn or corrode. Scarcely less important than durability is the matter of cost. Fortunately concrete posts can generally be made within the cost of wooden posts and in many localities at a considerable saving.

Figure 5 illustrates a simple home-made mold for making posts 7 feet long, 3 inches square at the top and 5 inches square at the bottom. This makes a tapering post which is to be greatly preferred for fastening wire fences. In fastening a wire fence to this kind of a post,