Often the water from a flowing spring can be piped several hundred feet to the house, providing an excellent means of keeping the milk cool and sweet.
Foundation
To build such a milk house as shown, dig a trench for the foundation 3 feet deep and 12 inches wide. Fill the trench to the ground level with 1: 2½: 5 concrete. The foundation should be laid out in such a way as to extend 3 inches beyond the inside and 3 inches beyond the outside of the walls of the house.
Walls
As soon as the concrete foundation has become hard enough to support them, erect the wall forms. These forms consist of 1-inch siding nailed to 2 by 4-inch studding. The studs should be spaced 2 feet apart and the 1-inch sheathing is nailed to the sides of the studding toward the concrete. For small buildings it is often easier to build an entire wall form flat on the ground and then raise it into position. The bottoms of the studs rest on the concrete foundation and are held in position by strips nailed to them and extending to stakes driven firmly into the ground. The distance the inside and outside forms are spaced apart depends upon the thickness of wall desired. Sloping braces leading from the studs to the ground keep the side forms from bulging and cross-cleats nailed at the top keep the inside and outside forms the correct distance apart. Bulging of forms can also be prevented by wiring them together as shown on [page 23]. On [page 22] is a description of the general method of building forms. Especial care must be taken to hold the forms in position while placing the concrete. The studs in the side wall forms for this house should be cut off at the height of the walls. With the wall forms secured in position fill them with concrete.
Doors and Windows
A space must be left in the walls for the doors and windows. This is done by placing between the wall forms, frames or boxes without top or bottom made of 1-inch boards. When the wall form has been filled to the level of the bottom of the opening a frame, the size and shape of the opening desired is secured firmly in place and the concrete poured around it. After the wall reaches a level 2 inches above the frame lay in the fresh concrete two ½-inch iron bars. These pieces should be long enough to extend 8 inches beyond each side of the frame. A piece of old wagon tire can be used instead.
The sill shown in the sketch can be molded by building a small box extending out from the side form. The concrete should be placed for the sill at the same time that the wall is being built. For buildings such as we have mentioned a sill is unnecessary.
Finishing Top of Wall
When the side walls have been built to the top and before the concrete has set, shove ½-inch bolts 18 inches long down into it. Space these bolts 24 inches apart, 9 inches of the length being in the concrete. The end wall forms extend above the plates to the peak of the roof, and are filled to the top. While placing the concrete in the walls it should be continually spaded as described on [page 25].