Farm Concrete by K. J. T. Ekblaw is an illustrated reference to concrete materials, working methods, and agricultural structures. Published in 1917, it brings together the principles of making concrete and the many ways farmers of the period used it around their properties.
The book moves from cement and aggregates to practical applications such as floors, fence posts, water tanks, troughs, cisterns, and silos. Photographs, construction drawings, tables, and worked discussions make it useful for readers studying the development of durable farm infrastructure and traditional building knowledge.
Book details
- Title: Farm Concrete
- Author: K. J. T. Ekblaw, M.S., M.E.
- Publisher: The Macmillan Company, New York
- Publication year: 1917
- Publication details: Copyright 1917; published June 1917
- Edition: No numbered edition is stated on the title page
- Language: English
- Format: Illustrated scanned PDF with searchable text
- Length: 356 PDF pages, including preliminary leaves and illustrations
- File size: 19.63 MB
Understanding the materials
Ekblaw begins with cement: its history, manufacture, storage, sampling, testing, and properties. This provides background for the larger discussion of concrete rather than treating the material as a single ready-made product. The author then distinguishes paste, mortar, and concrete and explains the role of the aggregate.
The concrete chapter considers proportioning, mixing, placing, forms, cold-weather work, cost estimating, waterproofing, and reinforcement. These subjects help readers see how the quality of the result depends on several connected decisions. The book’s organizing idea is that understanding the materials and processes should come before attempting particular structures.
Foundations, floors, and building components
Chapters on foundations and walls lead into pavements, floors, sidewalks, steps, and stairs. A separate section addresses concrete building blocks, including their materials, proportions, curing, types, and laying. The treatment combines discussion of the finished construction with the preparation needed to produce its components.
For a reader interested in rural building history, this range is valuable. It places a barn floor, a path, a foundation, and a manufactured block within the same material system. The photographs and drawings also offer a record of the equipment and construction arrangements used on early twentieth-century farms.
Fence posts and water-storage structures
Making and handling concrete posts
The fence-post chapter covers forms, materials, mixing and placing, reinforcement, curing, fasteners, and end or gate posts. It includes diagrams of reinforcing arrangements and discusses the difference between an ordinary line post and a post that must resist tension at the end of a fence.
The discussion goes beyond casting the shape. Ekblaw considers handling, storage, strength, and cost, illustrating how a manufactured item has to be planned as part of a larger farm task. Period prices and labor estimates are useful historical evidence, although they are not present-day quotations.
Tanks, troughs, and cisterns
Another chapter brings together square and circular tanks, small troughs, cisterns, hog wallows, and dipping vats. It examines the demands placed on water-containing structures and the need to plan materials, forms, and labor before work begins.
These subjects make the book relevant to the history of livestock infrastructure and farm water systems. Readers can compare the illustrated arrangements and follow the author’s reasoning about strength, joints, and water resistance without treating a century-old example as a current approved design.
Drainage, silos, and surface finishes
The later chapters extend the subject to drain tile, culverts, bridges, and concrete silos. The silo section considers several construction types, including block, stave, plastered, pit, and monolithic examples. This provides a broad picture of how one material was adapted to different storage and structural needs.
Surface texture, exposed aggregate, coloring, and stucco receive their own treatment. Concrete in residences follows, then approximate cement tests and an appendix of period specifications and testing procedures. The result is a substantial reference that connects material properties, workshop practice, and finished construction.
Who this book is for
This volume suits homesteading readers, students of agricultural engineering, building-history enthusiasts, and anyone collecting references on traditional farm infrastructure. It complements Ardbark’s homesteading books and self-sufficiency collection, especially where the interest is in understanding materials and planning durable equipment.
About this historical edition
The scan preserves the original text, illustrations, tables, and library markings. Its searchable text contains recognition errors, particularly in fractions and tables; consult the page images when checking details. Construction methods, costs, and specifications reflect 1917. Structural projects and water systems require current local requirements, suitable materials, and qualified design rather than reliance on historical dimensions or reinforcement examples.
Read Farm Concrete
Explore the illustrated reference in the 19.63 MB PDF below.
