Evening star., 1914-01-25
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT Is DOING

|
years time
| There are so many uses for cement to-
| day that it is almost impossible to list
| them. The popularity of cement as
| building material continues to increase,
and for certain paving purposes it per-
/ haps will always remain unrivaled. be-
| cause of its cheapness and durability.
| Cement today enters into the manufac-
| ture of everything from buildings and
| bridges to telegraph poles and sewer
! pipes, and has come to be recognized as
| a most sanitary and lasting material
| which can he manufactured at a reason
| able price
| Notwithstanding the rapid increase In
the demand for cement, as its uses have
| multiplied. this is the one material which
has played no part whatsoever IN the
hish-cost-of-living problem. AS the
| amount used in this country has been
doubled every few years, the cost had
| been gradually dropping. and the con-
| sumer today is paying approximately
| half of the price per barrel which was
| quoted for the same material in 1898.
| Although the price of cement has been
| cut in half during the last twenty years.
| the quality is perhaps better than it has
ever been.
| Engineers have developed the use of ce-
! ment in construction work to point
| where it is now possible to erect a prac-
| tically indestructible skyscraper of this
going up in large cities in all parts of the
| country. Brick and stone pavements are
| rapidly being displaced by those Of ce-
| ment. because the latter pavement Is
sanitary, cheaper and more durable. Ex-
| periments are being made in various
parts of the country In the construction
| of cement roads, and on the farm hun
! dreds of uses have been found for this
material.
| The cements used by the government In
| c "a
struction of the Panama canal and the
| large irrigation dams built by the United
States reclamation service in the west,
| are all tested carefully by the United
States bureau of standards.
| One of the most significant features
i about the increase in the use of cement
during the last ten or twelve years is its
increased use in sanitary engineering.
! From public health standpoint cement
| is one of the most important building
materials now in use. Not only does 1t
offer surface which is sanitary and
practically waterproof. but 1t has come to
| be one of the most valuable agents EN-
| ployed by municipal authorities under
the direction of public health officers in
the work of ratproofing cities.
| This work is most important for the
| interests of all large cities. but more
especially the large ports such as New
York, San Francisco. Philadelphia. Bos-
| ton and other places. The infection of
| the bubonic plague is known to be car
| ried by rats. and the most effective fea-
ture of a campaign against this dread
| disease is the construction of ratproof
| buildings of cement and other materials
: IN which the pests cannot live. Since the
| hre of 1895 most of the new buildings put
| up in San Francisco have been construct
ed along plans which have made them
+, thoroughly ratproof, and cement has
| perhaps played more important part in
| this work than any other material.
The fact that cement can be manufac-
| tured SO cheaply is unfortunate in one
respect. because the cheapness Of the
| product often makes manufacturers SO
careless that preventable waste often
| bankrupts plant. From to 10 per cent
| of the raw material, it is said is wasted
| in the form of tiue dust in many of the
| kilnS in which cement rock is prepared.
| In number of the European plants and
| in some of those in this country this dust
| is caught and saved. and thus the manu-
! facture of the product is made more prof
| liable than it otherwise would be.
The figures compiled by Ernest F.
| Burchard of the geological survey show
| that the leading cement-producing center
| is in what is Known as the Iehigh dis
| trict. which includes eastern Pennsylya-
/ mia and western New Jersey. where last
year more than o7.000Oo9 barrels of the
/ product were manufactured. Illinois and
northwest Indiana produced more than
| 100000 barrels; California and Wash
| ington, on the Pacific coast. nearly 9,OOO. =
| eo: Iowa and Missouri s.5O0.OOO: Ohio
and western Pennsylvania, 100000; the
great plains states, including Kansas
| Oklahoma and central Texas. more than
| G.20j0n0: New York more than 5.200.0tn
/ and Michigan and northeast Indiana.
| a.085.600 barrels. The remainder of the
cement supply comes from five or six
| smaller producing eenters.
| x :.
| Heavy losses from preventable diseases
in the cereal crops alone cost the people
of the country each year
i Diseases OF more than twice as much
r, as it takes to run the whole
| o' Department of Agriculture.
| This fact was brought out in hearings
before the House committee on Agricul-
! ture, when Carleton r. Ball. govern
| ment grain expert. told the members that
| the office of cereal investigations of the
! department had estimated the losses to
| the grain crop from preventable diseases
| each year to be approximately SO 600. 600.
Representative Heleesen of North Da-
| llota added that in his state alone the
| disease known as "black smut wiped
out from six to ten million dollars worth
of the farmers profits in two to three
| weeks time some years. The loss of
money by the farmers because of cereal
diseases is much more than s3o,WD,0O0
The sum named covers only the loss
| from disease if the farmers will make
use of the information which scientists
have already gathered in their various
! experiments.
| The disease known as smut is a
peculiar fungus growth on the surface
| of the grain which either reduces its
| value Il great deal. or destroys it alto
sether With the exception of corn. this
disease can be prevented in practically
all of the grain crops, according to gov
| ernment cereal experts. The best method
is to use seed from crop which is
| known to have had no smut IN it. and
the second method is to use hot water at
| varying temperatures in manner which
will kill the smut and yet leave the seed
uninjured Great care must be taken in
following out the hot water method, be-
! cause if the water is too low ip tenn
perature the smut will not be killed. and
Iif it is too high the grain is injured, and
termination is prevented.
Agricultural Department, the principal
duty of whose grain experts is to advise
the farmers of the use Of these methods
in preventing these diseases. and the
proper method to check the spreading of
smut through the wheat oats and barley
! crops. There are still some questions of
the smut problem which are yet unde-
| termined. and government scientists and
cereal experts under the direction of
Mark A. Carleton are working all the
time to devise methods by which prac-
tically all of the troublesome diseases
may be prevented.