Show GOOD FARM BUILDINGS materials for cow houses stables and Pig Plu floor at of structure intended for accommodation commod atlon of live stock should B be impermeable Imper le and non ab as possible Poa elble dy by W n R GILBERT since tho introduction 0 of portland cement concrete as a floor laying material there has boon been no excuse tor for un i comfortable and inefficient floors at the homestead to be efficient the floor of 0 a house intended tor for the accommodation of live stock must to as great a degree alegree as possible be both impermeable and nonabsorbent non absorbent if it be neither it will be liable to become offensive itself and will lead to the same condition in the soil upon which it lies HOB as aa well flagstones Flag stones of good quality and finish and flooring tiles may reach a high standard in these re but unless they are very carefully jointed liquid matter will leak through the seams and the soil underneath it with such buch as these it Is difficult to keep the subsoil whole some it need never be attempted with irregularly finished slabs far less with small boulders as paving stones concrete can however bo be laid with Y 11 n C it J il P ji i 96 out joint or crack in the whole area covered it la Is impervious to water I 1 moisture cannot pass down through it nor can ground damp pass up it can be worked into forms required in such places find it wears well A further advantage Is its comparative cheapness another its 19 the effective resistance that it gives to rats these untiring suppers sappers and miners rn iners are non when faced by a well laid concrete floor open channels alone are permissible in the buildings we are dealing with covered drains can never be kept sanitary in these places not at any rate under the treatment it is found practicable to bestow upon them there here again concrete comes to the front aront on account of the regularity and smoothness of outline it is poss possible able to give them in that material A concrete channel can be effectively swept or scraped with ease and a bucket or two of water stilled swilled along its course will leave it comparatively sweet and clean limitations of concrete but while concrete to Is eminently well adapted for flooring the parts of farm buildings that are isabol to be soiled by the tied up animals it is not so well suited for their stalls or lairs it Is all right as regards smoothness but it seems to be too cold for both cows and pigs to lie ile upon unless abundance of bedding or utter litter is at the disposal of the attendants when heavy horses come it is hardly durable enough the pounding of their ironbound heels are too much for concrete the passages and channels of the three places we started with can cannava have ao better flooring medium than concrete but something a little warmer and less unyielding Is required for both cows and pigs to lie upon horses might bo be left to take advantage of its lt smoothness were it more durable against their heels because they usually have more bedding afforded them and they have less time to lie ito down brick pavement makes a very suitable floor tor for the cows stall and it answers equally well vell for the pigs bed well shaped building bricks laid on a bed of lime or cement serve the purpose admirably tho the cows cowa can never soil their stall floors provided the building la is arranged to meet their requirements neither do the biga mess mesa their sleeping alee place provided it is kept clear of the tha rest of tho the floor space at this rate there Is not much likelihood of tho soil beneath the brick pavement ever getting contaminated by matter even when the bricks are simply bedded on sand or ashes and are not grouted but when bedded on lime and grouted with cement a firm M 1 i i i 73 7 3 w s iii j I 1 ay I 1 I 1 sound job Is the result and a surface i of at this sort will respond to a swilling with water as readily as the parts ot at toe the floor in concrete do stable stalls something harder than brick Is IB of course required for the stable stall or paving blocks either ot of granite or say inch suit very well bedding thorn them in lime and grouting them in cement both as advised tor for the brick pavement make a strong job this pavement may bo be kept two feet or so BO back from the wall that the horses face against but it should be continued to the one side tar r other of the channel behind the horses o v able for tho the remainder ot of the floor the narrow strip in front it laid with it keeps rats at defiance hats fiats are al ways sure of something in the stable stalls but they will w III not venture there unless they are tree free to shelter la in the hoor floor beneath fig fie 1 Is a cross section of a floor a it shown such as we ar are a describing P building 18 feet wide inside it may it less legs la Is not safely be more to make advisable the stable oa as well as an the cow corhouse house and pigsty a should as we have already said be without covered drains inside As ai far na as practicable one should make an open chandel serve to carry away liquid matter from the stable there is never so sa much urine from horses as from the cows however but there la is usually moro more tall fall given in the stalls of the sta lies bles than in those of the cow corhouse house ind and the stances for the geldings have to bo be floored in such a way that the tha may be readily concentrated and led to the gutter it Is some come times necessary essory however to nuke make use of short lengths of at these fig 2 represents the cross section of a good double Cow corhouse house the cows faco face the walls their beds or lairs being 7 feet 3 inches long from the wall to tile the edge of at the grip the beds are a almost level in this direction they have more or less incline tho the other way in accordance with the general rake of the building but a as little Q tta as can caa be given A glazed are tire clay trough qa on the iho floor to la front of each cow the troughs aw ara kept back man from tho the wall about the tha broi breadth laii h of 0 i a balck W aut J the ant mals male when in the act d of UM ILIR han not damage their horns against the wall the grip la is 21 inches broad 6 inches deep at the side aide next to the cattle stances and from 8 3 inches to 4 inches alongside the central passage the bottom of at the grip has a dip at 0 1 inches from the one side to the th other and lengthwise as much tall fall as aa will quickly lead fluid matter to the outlet provided for its discharge I 1 it sometimes happens that the corhouse cow house may be too long to admit of the channels being run continuously or on the same grade the whole length ot of the building were the floor in general given a good rake or incline from cae end to the other there would be no na difficulty in giving a fairly long to the grip its confirma con forma ti on and smoothness enable it to clear itself quickly of liquid matter dut but as we have indicated it is not advisable ay give a building of the kind much of a hang bang lengthwise else the cows will have a tilt that way when lying their beds we have advised to be made as aa level as to Is practicable from wall to grip and Ts this holds good with regard to thear cross section too it will be botic noticed ad froin the fig figure U a that the bhe I 1 passage up the center of ahe he coah cow housa use la Is a little lower than the cow stands standa on each side aide this Is in order to give the cows a better position when arlt tea acs are about the ses or divisions between stalls are ot of con concrete craw and between three and four inches thick each stall we need hardly add holds two cows A corhouse cow house finished as I 1 have been describing and proper ly IY ventilated does not call tor for much improvement one would think the cross section of A double la Is represented in fig 3 concrete la again much in evidence as will be ba seen the beds are of brick however they are raised a few inches above the general floor level where this r i I 1 i 5 j J 14 J 4 3 5 method is adopted it will be found thal thai the pigs rarely mons these plat forms when feeding they void ex crement enough but then it falls on the concrete floor between the trough and the raised bed the liquid matter escapes either underneath or round the troughs into the channel along side aide the passage and the solid matter can easily her be removed from where it fell with shovel or scraper without leaving much trace behind it the feeding troughs are of a glazed fire clay they are low in front but have high sloping backs tending outwards ou into the passage over which projection the food can easily be tipped from bucket or ladle cross pieces from front to back keep each snout from boring from right to left in the trough the high back of the troughs help to make out the front barrier of each division or pon pen iron rods stretched above these as aa the section shows COM complete PIete it effectually while they ad nut mit of a clear view of the place it SIMPli simplifies fles matters when doors to the pen can be dispensed with at the tha passage aldo and bo be put in the tha back wall instead this affords increased creased Lu brou trou trough 9 ai space and is otherwise con veni vencent ven lent erit enough the semisolid semi solid excreta can be easily removed vy uy the back a concrete barrow being carried along one end of the platform to the doorway it if so BO wished but a narrower strip will serve A 41 run of water from one end of at tin house bouse ather will do the rest ot of the cleaning effectually the effluent will easily repay the cost of a tank placed where such can be conveniently intercepted the figures it loust be borne in mind are suitable only for smallish pigs for larger they must be increased proportionately light cd ad and ventilated as advised tor for the cow bouse a place such a the above merits tag name of at pig hoase in autv of 0 pigsty eL |