Concrete on the Farm, 1900-1940, Introduction

In the early 1900s, the farmer who wanted to improve his farm by putting in a concrete floor had to do it himself. Farmers couldn't call the local ready mix producer or concrete contractor but had to come up with suitable sand and aggregate, proportion and mix a durable concrete, and get the material into place. In this five-part article, concrete historian and Emeritus Professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Luke Snell details how it was done and describes techniques that remain useful today in remote locations around the world and even in the U.S.