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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chalk and
+Clay, by Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chalk and Clay
+       a Renaissance (2nd edition)
+
+Author: Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+Commentator: J. St. Loe Strachey
+
+Release Date: April 19, 2010 [EBook #32048]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COTTAGE BUILDING IN COB ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Louise Hope, David Clarke and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[This e-text comes in three forms: Unicode (UTF-8), Latin-1 and ASCII.
+Use the one that works best on your text reader.
+
+  --If “œ” displays as a single character, and apostrophes and
+  quotation marks are “curly” or angled, you have the UTF-8 version
+  (best). If any part of this paragraph displays as garbage, try
+  changing your text reader’s “character set” or “file encoding”.
+  If that doesn’t work, proceed to:
+  --In the Latin-1 version, “œ” is two letters, and apostrophes and
+  quotation marks will have the straight (“typewriter”) form. The word
+  “Pisé” still has its accent, “æ” is a single letter, and the
+  fractions ¼ ½ ¾ are one piece each. Again, if you see any garbage
+  in this paragraph and can’t get it to display properly, use:
+  --The ASCII-7 or rock-bottom version. All accents are now gone, and
+  fractions appear as “1/2”.
+
+In illustration captions, small capitals are shown as +text+; in the
+advertising, the +same symbols+ represent boldface.
+
+Headers of odd-numbered pages changed from page to page. These have been
+marked as [Headnote] and are added to the Table of Contents in brackets
+to aid in text searching.
+
+In the body text, _s._ and _d._ (shillings and pence) were always
+italicized; in the advertising, all prices were printed in boldface.
+Both have been left unmarked to reduce visual clutter.
+
+Errors and other problems are listed at the end of the e-text.]
+
+
+
+
+  COTTAGE BUILDING IN
+  COB, PISÉ, CHALK & CLAY
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: Publisher’s Device {COUNTRY LIFE}]
+
+  _First Edition, September 1919_
+  _Second Edition (Revised and Enlarged), July 1920_
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Cob House built by Mr. Ernest Gimson,
+  near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.+
+  _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+
+  COTTAGE BUILDING
+
+    in
+
+  COB, PISÉ, CHALK & CLAY
+
+  _A Renaissance_
+
+
+    By
+  CLOUGH WILLIAMS-ELLIS
+
+  _With An Introduction_
+    By
+  J. St. LOE STRACHEY
+
+
+  Second Edition
+  Revised And Enlarged
+
+
+    London
+  Published at the Offices of “Country Life,” 20,
+  Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2, and by
+  George Newnes, Ltd., 8-11, Southampton Street,
+  Strand, W.C.2. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons
+    MCMXX
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
+
+
+The exhaustion of the first edition of this book, within so short a time
+of its publication, makes it difficult to add much new matter for the
+reissue now called for, or, in the light of subsequent research and
+experience, to revise what had already been written.
+
+Any book that seemed to show a way of meeting the present building
+difficulties, however partially, was fairly assured of a welcome, but
+the somewhat unforeseen demand for my small contribution to the great
+volume of literature on cottage-building is, I think, to be attributed
+chiefly to its description of Pisé-building.
+
+Of the very large number of letters that reach me from readers of the
+book, quite ninety-nine out of every hundred are concerned with Pisé.
+
+The other methods of building have their advocates and exponents, but it
+is clearly Pisé that has caught the attention of the public as well as
+of the Press both at home and abroad, and it is to this method of
+construction that I have chiefly devoted my attention since the writing
+of the book as it first appeared.
+
+In our English climate Pisé-building is a summer craft, and the
+small-scale experiments of one person through a single summer cannot in
+the nature of things add very greatly to the sum of our knowledge of
+what is possible with Pisé and of what is not.
+
+Most of the new data have come through the building of Mr. Strachey’s
+demonstration house, an account of which is included in the present
+volume.
+
+At the time of writing, various tests are being carried out with the
+help of the National Physical Laboratory; but the results, though
+exceedingly encouraging, are not yet ready for publication.[1]
+
+The fact that Pisé-building is essentially a “Dry-earth method” makes
+necessary the creation of artificial summer conditions under which the
+experiments may be conducted during the past winter. As a result of
+these researches, a considerable mass of useful data has become
+available for the opening of the present building season.[2]
+
+Much helpful information is also likely to come to us from the Colonies,
+particularly from Rhodesia and British East Africa, where there is great
+activity in Pisé-building, and where there is no “close season” such as
+our winter imposes upon us here.
+
+It is instructive also to note that great interest in Pisé-building has
+been aroused in Canada and in Scandinavia, the two countries that we
+were wont to associate particularly with timber-building.
+
+From both I have received a number of letters complaining of “the lumber
+shortage,” and discussing the advantages of Pisé as compared with their
+traditional wood-construction.
+
+If these great timber countries are themselves feeling the pinch, the
+advocates of wooden houses for England may find that they are not merely
+barking up the wrong tree, but up a tree that is not even there.
+
+The timber famine is, in any case, a calamity to anyone dependent on
+building, that is to everyone, for even a Pisé house must still have a
+roof and floors and joinery.
+
+But to invoke the timber house as our salvation under existing
+conditions seems to be singularly perverse and unhelpful. Pisé, at all
+events, seems to offer us a more promising field for exploration than
+most of the other heterodox methods of construction that have been
+suggested, too often upon credentials that will not bear any but the
+most cursory scrutiny.
+
+Pisé, even now, is still in its experimental infancy.
+
+It has yet to prove itself in the fields of National Housing and of
+competitive commercial building schemes on a large scale.
+
+Lastly, Pisé does not claim to solve the housing problem. There is no
+solution unless, by some miracle, the present purchasing power of the
+sovereign appreciates by 200 per cent.
+
+    CLOUGH WILLIAMS-ELLIS.
+
+  22, South Eaton Place,
+  London, S.W.1.
+  _May 1920._
+
+
+    [Footnote 1: Certain of these have since been issued and will
+    be found in Appendix IV. at the end of the book.]
+
+    [Footnote 2: See Appendix IV.]
+
+
+
+
+  CONTENTS
+
+  [Text shown in brackets was taken from headnotes and added here
+  by the transcriber.]
+
+                                                            Page
+
+  INTRODUCTION                                                11
+    [The Search for Cheap Material -- Experiments with
+    “Pisé” -- Rammed Chalk, “Pisé de Craie” -- Pisé in
+    Moulds -- Cob and Chalk -- Pisé--a South African
+    Lead -- The Discovery of the Old]
+
+  GENERAL SURVEY                                              26
+    [The House Famine -- Local Materials]
+
+  I. COB                                                      33
+    [The Beauty of Cob -- Method of Building --
+    Implements -- Walls and Roofs -- Protection --
+    Raleigh’s House -- Mr. Baring-Gould -- Old Cob Lore
+    -- Mr. Fulford’s Evidence -- A Champion of Cob]
+
+  II. PISÉ DE TERRE                                           57
+    [Method of Building -- The Ramming -- Suitable Soils
+    -- Experiments -- Preparation of the Earth -- The
+    Strength of Pisé -- A Pisé Church -- Indian and
+    Colonial Practice -- Plastering -- The Right
+    Quantity of Water -- Pisé Buildings at Empandeni --
+    Pisé Buildings for Settlers -- Builders’ Aversions
+    -- Number of Men Required -- Pisé in New Zealand --
+    Pisé Shuttering -- If Reason Rule -- The Newlands
+    Specification -- A Swedish Contribution --
+    A Pisé-Builder’s School -- Alternative Shutterings
+    -- South Africa -- Soils]
+
+  III. CHALK                                                 107
+    [Winter Work Barred -- Garden Walls -- Cost of Three
+    Cottages -- Expensive Scaffolding Avoided -- Block
+    Chalk]
+
+  IV. UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS                         121
+    [Use for Unskilled Labour -- “Substantial and Cool”]
+
+  APPENDIX                                                   127
+    [Distempers and Limewashes -- Local Materials --
+    Cost per Foot Cube -- Pisé Tests]
+
+  INDEX                                                      139
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  COB HOUSE BUILT BY MR. ERNEST GIMSON,
+      NEAR BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON               _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                     Facing Page
+  PISÉ WAGGON-HOUSE AT NEWLANDS CORNER                        18
+  THE NEWLANDS WAGGON-HOUSE (INTERIOR)                        18
+  THE BEGINNING OF A PISÉ FRUIT-HOUSE                         19
+  THE FRUIT-HOUSE COMPLETED WITH ROOF OF PEAT BLOCKS
+      ON ROUGH BOARDING                                       19
+  MODEL OF A PISÉ DE TERRE HOUSE TO BE BUILT IN
+      THREE SUCCESSIVE STAGES                                 22
+  WAYSIDE STATION OF PISÉ AT SIMONDIUM, SOUTH AFRICA,
+      DESIGNED BY MR. HERBERT BAKER                           23
+  FRONT AND BACK ELEVATIONS OF COTTAGE DESIGNED BY
+      SIR EDWIN LUTYENS AND MR. ALBAN SCOTT                   28
+  PLAN OF COTTAGE DESIGNED BY SIR EDWIN LUTYENS
+      AND MR. ALBAN SCOTT                                     29
+  ANOTHER VIEW OF THE COB HOUSE BUILT BY MR.
+      ERNEST GIMSON, NEAR BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON           34
+  A FINE SPECIMEN OF A DEVONSHIRE COB HOUSE                   35
+  A DEVONSHIRE COB FARMHOUSE, PROBABLY BETWEEN
+      200 AND 300 YEARS OLD                                   36
+  A COB-BUILT VILLAGE                                         37
+  A DEVONSHIRE FARM, LOCAL MATERIAL (COB)                     42
+  DEVON COUNTRY HOUSE, BUILT OF DEVON COB                     43
+  COB HOUSE TEMP. ELIZABETH, LEWISHILL                        44
+  ANOTHER DEVONSHIRE (COB) FARMHOUSE, WEEKE BARTON            45
+  CEILINGS OF MODELLED PLASTER FROM OLD COB HOUSES IN DEVON   46
+  A COB GARDEN-WALL WITH THATCHED COPING                      47
+  PISÉ PLANT AND IMPLEMENTS                                   58
+  DIAGRAM OF MARK V PISÉ SHUTTERING                           88
+  MARK V SHUTTERING                                           89
+  A SIMPLE MOULD FOR PISÉ BLOCKS                              90
+  BLOCK-MOULDS, LARGE AND SMALL                               90
+  SKETCH OF A PISÉ HOUSE IN COURSE OF ERECTION                91
+  THE NEWLANDS CORNER BUILDING                                92
+  THE COTTAGE FROM THE SOUTH-EAST                             93
+  THE GARDEN COURT                                            93
+  THE BACKYARD                                                94
+  FRAMING THE ROOF                                            95
+  AN INTERIOR, SHOWING FIRE-BRICK HEARTH FIRE                 95
+  DETAILS OF CHALK CONSTRUCTION AT AMESBURY                  110
+  COTTAGES AT COLDHARBOUR, AMESBURY                          111
+  THREE CHALK COTTAGES AT HURSLEY PARK                       114
+  MARSH COURT, HAMPSHIRE                                     116
+  BRICK-AND-CHALK VAULTING AT THE DEANERY GARDEN, SONNING    117
+  ONCE CORN HALL, NOW COUNCIL SCHOOL                         122
+  A ROW OF CLAY-LUMP COTTAGES                                122
+  ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS                                      123
+
+
+
+
+CONSIDERATIONS
+
+
+  “IF ALL AVAILABLE BRICKWORKS WERE TO PRODUCE AT THEIR HIGHEST LIMIT
+  OF OUTPUT AND WITH ALL THE LABOUR THEY WANTED AT THEIR DISPOSAL THEY
+  COULD ONLY TURN OUT 4,000,000,000 BRICKS IN A YEAR AS AGAINST A
+  PRE-WAR AVERAGE OF 2,800,000,000.”--(_See Report by Committee
+  appointed by Ministry of Reconstruction to consider the post-war
+  position of building._)
+
+  The first year’s programme of working-class housing _alone_ calls
+  for at least 6,000,000,000 bricks. That is to say, unless wall
+  materials other than brick are freely used, we shall fall alarmingly
+  short of what the population of Great Britain needs in bare
+  accommodation, and all building and engineering projects whatsoever
+  other than housing must be postponed indefinitely.
+
+  “THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES ARE UNSURPASSED FOR
+  VARIETY AND BEAUTY OF CHARACTER, AND IT WOULD BE NOTHING LESS THAN A
+  NATIONAL MISFORTUNE IF THE INCREASED DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL HOLDINGS
+  WERE TO RESULT IN THE ERECTION OF BUILDINGS UNSUITED TO THEIR
+  ENVIRONMENT AND UGLY IN APPEARANCE.”--(_Extract from the report
+  submitted by the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire as to
+  Buildings for Small Holdings, 1913._)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+  I
+
+The country is faced by a dilemma probably greater and more poignant
+than any with which it has hitherto had to deal. It needs, and needs at
+once, a million new houses, and it has not only utterly inadequate
+stores of material with which to build them, but has not even the plant
+by which that material can be rapidly created. There is not merely a
+shortage, but an actual famine everywhere as regards the things out of
+which houses are made. Bricks are wanted by the ten thousand million,
+but there are practically no bricks in sight. All that the brickyards of
+the United Kingdom can do, working all day and every day, is to turn out
+something like four thousand million a year. But to those who want
+houses at once, what is the use of a promise of bricks in five years’
+time? To tell them to turn to the stone quarries is a mere derision. Let
+alone the cost of work and of transport, it is only in a few favoured
+places that the rocks will give us what we want. Needless to say we are
+short, too, of lime and cement, and probably shall be shorter. _No coal,
+no quicklime_, and _No coal, no cement_, and as things look now, it is
+going to be a case, if not of no coal, at any rate of much less coal.
+Even worse is the shortage in timber--the material hitherto deemed
+essential for the making of roofs, doors, windows and floors. Raw timber
+is hardly obtainable, and seasoned timber does not exist. The same story
+has to be told about tiles, slates, corrugated iron, and every other
+form of “legitimate” roofing substance. There are none to be had.
+
+In this dread predicament what are we to do as a nation? What we must
+not do is at any rate quite clear. We must not lie down in the high road
+of civilisation and cry out that we are ruined or betrayed, or that the
+world is too hard for us, and that we must give up the task of living in
+houses. Whether we like it or not we have got to do something about the
+housing question, and we have got to do it at once, and there is an end.
+Translated into terms of action, this means that as we have not got
+enough of the old forms of material we must turn to others and learn how
+to house ourselves with materials such as we have not used before. Once
+again necessity must be the mother of invention, or rather, of invention
+and revival, for in anything so old and universal as the housing problem
+it is too late to be ambitious. Here we always find that there has been
+an ancient Assyrian or Egyptian or a primitive man in front of us.
+
+It is the object of the present book to attack part of the problem of
+how to build without bricks, and indeed without mortar, and equally
+important, as far as possible without the vast cost of transporting the
+heavy material of the house from one quarter of England to another. That
+is my apology for introducing to the public a work dealing with what I
+can hear old-fashioned master-builders describing as the “bastard” forms
+of construction. One of these is Pisé de terre, the old system of
+building with walls formed of rammed or compressed earth: a system which
+was once known throughout Europe and of which the primitive tribesmen of
+Arizona and New Mexico knew the secret. Down to our own day it has been
+practised with wonderful success in the Valley of the Rhône. Then come
+our own cob, once the cottage material _par excellence_ of Devonshire
+and the West of England, our system of building with plain clay blocks,
+a plan indigenous in the Eastern counties, and again the use of chalk
+and chalk pisé.
+
+
+    [Headnote: The Search for Cheap Material]
+
+  PISÉ DE TERRE
+
+For me Pisé de terre, ever since I heard of it, has offered special
+attractions. It, and it alone provides, or if one must be cautious,
+appears to provide the way to turn an old dream of mine and of many
+other people into a reality. My connection with the problem of housing,
+and especially of rural housing, _i.e._ cottage housing, now nearly a
+quarter of a century old, has been on the side of cheap material.
+Rightly or wrongly (I know that many great experts in building matters
+think quite wrongly), I have had the simplicity to believe that if you
+are to get cheap housing you must get it by the use of cheap material.
+It has always seemed to me that there is no other way. What more natural
+than first to ask why building material was so dear, and then what was
+the cause of its dearness? I found it in the fact that bricks are very
+expensive things to make, that stones are very expensive things to
+quarry, that cements are very expensive things to manufacture, and worst
+of all, that all these things are very heavy and very expensive to drag
+about the country, and to “dump” on the site in some lonely situation
+where cottages or a small-holder’s house and outbuildings are, to use
+the conventional phrase, “urgently demanded.” Therefore, to the
+unfeigned amusement, nay, contempt of all my architectural friends,
+I spent a great deal of my leisure in the years before the war in
+racking my brains in the search for cheap material. My deep desire was
+to find something in the earth out of which walls could be made. My
+ideal was a man or group of men with spades and pickaxes coming upon the
+land and creating the walls of a house out of what they found there.
+I wanted my house, my cottage in “Cloud-Cuckoo Land,” to rise like the
+lark from the furrows. But I was at once dissuaded from my purpose by
+cautious and scientific persons. The chemists, if they did not scoff
+like the architects, were visibly perturbed. “Your dream is impossible,”
+they said. “Nature abhors it as much as she used to be supposed to abhor
+a vacuum. If your soil is clay, and you can afford the time and cost of
+erecting kilns, and bringing coal to the spot to make the bricks, you
+can no doubt turn the earth on the spot into a house, but even then you
+had far better buy them of those that sell. Your dream of having some
+chemical which will mix with the earth and turn it into a kind of stone,
+is the merest delusion. It is the nature of the earth to kill anything
+in the way of cement that is mixed with it. For example, even a little
+earth will kill concrete or mortar. Unless you wash your sand most
+carefully, and free it from all earth stain, you will ruin your concrete
+blocks.” I appeared to be literally “up against” a brick wall. It was
+that or nothing. And then, and when things seemed at their very worst,
+a kind correspondent of _The Spectator_ showed me a way of escape.
+I felt like a man lost in underground passages who suddenly sees a tiny
+square of light and knows that it means the way out. Somebody wrote,
+from South Africa I think, asking why I didn’t find the thing I wanted
+in Pisé de terre, much used in Australia, and occasionally in Cape
+Colony. Then came a rush of enlightenment. People who had seen and even
+lived in such houses wrote to _The Spectator_, and the world indeed for
+the moment seemed alive with Pisé de terre. I was even lent the
+“Farmer’s Handbook” of New South Wales, in which the State Government
+provides settlers with an elaborate description of how to build in Pisé,
+and how to make the necessary shuttering for doing so. It was then, too,
+that I began to hear of the seventeenth and eighteenth-century buildings
+of Pisé in the Rhone Valley. In fact, everybody but I seemed to know all
+there was to be known about Pisé de terre. For the moment indeed, the
+situation seemed like that described in _Punch’s_ famous picture of the
+young lady and the German professor. “_What is Volapuk?_” asks the young
+lady. “_Ze universal language_,” says the professor. “_Where is it
+spoken?_” “_No vairs._” Pisé de terre appeared to be the universal
+system of building, but as far as I could make out, it was practised “no
+vairs,” or at any rate not in Europe.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Experiments with “Pisé”]
+
+  II
+
+I had got as far as the position described above, when down swept the
+war upon Europe, and everything had to be postponed in favour of the
+immediate need of filling the ranks of the nation’s army and teaching
+the men how to fight our enemies. As the war went on, however, the
+demand for rapid, cheap, and temporary building became very great, and I
+felt I should be justified in trying some experiments with Pisé de
+terre, even in spite of the difficulty of obtaining labour.
+
+I think I can best illustrate the nature of Pisé and what it can do, and
+I believe will do, if I shortly recount in chronological order these
+humble pioneer efforts.
+
+In the summer of 1915 I found that it was necessary in the interests of
+the hospital established in my house to find a place in which to store
+apples, for the men in blue consumed them in incredible quantities.
+I thought I would try Pisé. Accordingly, I had some shuttering made on
+the Australian model--not splendid scientific shuttering such as is
+described in the body of this work, but still shuttering quite
+sufficient for the purpose. With great rapidity a little fruit-house was
+put up, roofed with boards, and covered with blocks of compressed peat
+in order to make a roof which would be both vermin-proof and also keep
+out the heat and the frost. In my ignorance and my hurry, I now find
+that I violated every sound rule of Pisé construction. I built the walls
+during a week of rain, when the earth was wet, which was a great
+mistake; and I did not clear out the stones, which was another error
+that prevented the walls from being homogeneous. Worst of all, as soon
+as the walls were built (and very pretty walls they were, looking
+something like soft brown marble), I painted them over with tar, which
+of course would not enter the wet wall, but only made a skin, which in a
+few months peeled off exactly like the bark off a plane tree. Yet in
+spite of this ignorant mishandling of my material, the little
+fruit-house is still standing and sheltered till January the few apples
+Nature allowed us to gather last autumn. It looks disreputable, but
+there has been no structural collapse, nor will there be.
+
+    [Headnote: Rammed Chalk, “Pisé de Craie”]
+
+No sooner was the fruit-house finished than I was met by the demand of
+my wife, the commandant of the hospital, to add to my house a patients’
+dining-room, which would be bright, dry, airy, warm, and comfortable,
+and be large enough for forty men to have their meals in, and to use as
+a sitting-room during the rest of the day. The local builder said that
+it was impossible to make a wooden addition, for there was no wood to be
+procured, or to build in bricks, since my house stands 600 ft. above the
+sea on an isolated chalk down. Crœsus would have found it difficult at
+that time to build on my site, and for the ordinary economic
+man--“L’homme à quarantes écus”--it was quite impossible. But the room
+had got to be built, for the men were there, and built at once, since
+the out-of-door life of July and August could not continue. There was
+nothing to do but to fall back upon Pisé. I decided to be ambitious and
+to experiment, not merely in Pisé de terre, but in what I then
+thought--and perhaps rightly--was a new form of Pisé, _i.e._ Pisé de
+craie or compressed chalk. My shuttering therefore was put up. A hole
+not very far off was dug in the earth, the chalk which was almost at the
+surface was quarried out, and we began to build the wall, candid and
+contemptuous friends telling us of course that the chalk wall would
+never stand the frosts in so exposed a position, and that the wall, if
+made, would certainly explode! Everyone worked at that wall; the nursing
+staff, the coachman, an occasional visitor, a schoolboy, a couple of boy
+scouts, members of the National Reserve who were guarding a “vulnerable
+point” close by, and even some of the patients. Patients as a rule will
+endure any toil with the utmost good temper if it is for the purposes of
+sport. If the task is useful it does not interest them. Still, a wall
+which might explode offered a certain attraction. We worked with more
+zeal than discretion, but happily I had it in my mind that homogeneity
+was the essential, and therefore the hard nuggets of chalk as they were
+thrown into the shuttering to be compressed by the rammers were first
+chopped up with spades, much as one minces meat. The wall had no
+foundations. In Pisé you can make your foundations, so to speak, as you
+go, through the simple process of ramming. Anyway, and to cut a long
+story short, the wall was made, was able to receive the roof, for which
+happily the local builder found some material, and not only did the wall
+stand, but showed a very creditable exterior. Its weight was of course
+enormous, for there were some twenty tons of chalk put into it. In spite
+of the irregularity of the labour it did not take more than ten or
+twelve days to build. To prevent the wet and frost getting into it,
+I painted the main front with a patent liquid material for rendering
+walls damp-proof. The Chalk Pisé wall not only served its purpose, but
+served it very well. The room proved extraordinarily warm and
+comfortable, largely owing no doubt to the fact of a solid, very dry,
+18-in. wall on the north-east side.
+
+
+  III
+
+My next venture was in response to an urgent appeal from a farm tenant
+to build him a waggon house. The result is seen in the accompanying
+illustration. This building, about 40 ft. by 30 ft., was made purely of
+earth, but some experiments were tried in the way of introducing hurdles
+into the shuttering in order to afford a surface to which plaster could
+easily cling. Suffice it to say that the plain earth, without plaster or
+any covering, more than justified itself. One part of the wall is very
+much exposed to the weather, but it has stood the rains and the frosts
+of three very bad winters without turning a hair. Lovers of the
+picturesque may like to know that it presents a pleasant face of light
+ochre, upon which a pale green efflorescence of lichen has appeared of
+late. Anyway, the frost has not touched it.
+
+
+  IV
+
+Next I made some experiments in chalk farmyard walls. Unfortunately,
+however, one of these, which was not made homogeneous by chalk mincing,
+_i.e._ in which the nuggets of chalk were not properly broken up, got
+the wet into it, and true to the candid friend’s prophecy did literally
+explode in the big frost of 1917-18. Another very pretty chalk wall is,
+however, standing to this day. But though Chalk Pisé will, I think, do
+well if properly made and properly protected, it is somewhat of a
+doubtful material for anything except a building with a good overlay of
+roof. Another structure put up by me was a largish gardener’s potting
+shed. This was built purely of earth, and in dry weather. When the walls
+were perfectly dry, the local road authorities kindly came with their
+tar spray and sprayed it with hot tar, with most excellent results. The
+hot tar really entered instead of merely making a skin, with the result
+that the external walls thus treated resembled a section of tarred road
+stood up on end.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Pisé Waggon-house at Newlands Corner.+
+  An experiment in rendering.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Newlands Waggon-house.+
+  Interior.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Beginning of a Pisé Fruit-house.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Fruit-house Completed With Roof of Peat Blocks
+  on Rough Boarding.+]
+
+I may add that I lent my Pisé shuttering to a Guildford Volunteer
+Battalion, who in a ten-hour day, or rather, two days of five hours
+each, built an excellent hut about 20 ft. square and 10 ft. high, and
+thus showed that a platoon might house themselves with Pisé in a day,
+provided they had roofing material ready. This building had subsequently
+to be destroyed, because the ground on which it stood was wanted for
+another purpose. When it was knocked down the house-breakers were
+astonished at the strength and tenacity of the walls. Yet the earth out
+of which they were made was particularly bad--as one of the volunteers
+expressed it, not earth, but merely leaf-mould and horse-manure. The
+site had, as a matter of fact, been a suburban garden for at least two
+hundred years.
+
+
+  V
+
+Before I leave the record of these terrestrial adventures I may note
+that in the early stages I received a great deal of help and
+encouragement from General Sir Robert Scott-Moncrieff. He was indeed so
+much struck by them that he drew up a series of instructions for walls
+of Pisé work which were issued to all engineer companies at the front in
+case they might have opportunities for experimenting. These instructions
+were based upon the Australian book and embodied the very simple form of
+shuttering there recommended. The diagram that accompanied them is
+reproduced in the Appendix to the present volume.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pisé in Moulds]
+
+  VI
+
+  PISÉ IN MOULDS
+
+There is one thing more to be said about Pisé. I believe that a useful
+development of the system may be found in the plan of ramming earth into
+moulds and making earth blocks, something like concrete blocks. Moulds
+of this kind are easy to make and are specially suitable when the soil
+is somewhat clayey in its nature. They have the advantage of being much
+cheaper than shuttering, and of being capable of being handled by one
+man without assistance. With a strong wooden mould and a good rammer a
+small-holder may easily build his own pigsty, his own chicken house, and
+all the small outbuildings he requires, if not indeed add an extra room
+to his house. I am at present experimenting with these blocks and only
+yesterday had the pleasure of seeing a sergeant (R.A.M.C), discharged
+through ill-health and now trying to turn himself into a small-holder,
+building a pigsty with the help of one of my moulds.
+
+
+  VII
+
+_Apropos_ of the elusive universality and yet non-existence of Pisé
+work, the following personal anecdote or footnote to compressed earth
+may amuse my readers. Happening to be sleeping in a bedroom at Brooks’s
+Club in 1916, I noticed a charming Regency bookcase full of old books.
+Among them was a copy of a _Cyclopædia_ of 1819. I thought it would be
+amusing to see whether there was any mention of Pisé de terre. What was
+my astonishment to find that what I thought was my own special and
+peculiar hobby and discovery was treated therein at very great length
+and with very great ability, but treated not in the least as anything
+new or wonderful, but instead as “this well-known and greatly
+appreciated system of building, etc., etc.” To complete the irony of the
+situation the fact was mentioned that a Mr. Holland had lately sent to
+the Board of Agriculture a memorandum as to how to put up houses and
+farm-buildings in this form of construction. My hair rose on my head,
+for I had just committed a similar official indiscretion myself, and had
+been bombarding appropriate authorities with what I thought must be a
+complete novelty. Truly one can never be first or do anything new. It is
+always “in the Files,” as Mr. Kipling says. Even in our most original
+moments we only keep on feebly imitating somebody else. The claim to
+originality is nothing but a muddy mixture of pride and ignorance. What
+did, however, somewhat amaze me was the calm statement of the
+_Cyclopædia_ that this system of building was now well known in the
+counties of--and then came the names of practically all the counties of
+Southern England. And yet I had been keenly on the look-out for such
+buildings for several years. The cynic will say that they had all fallen
+down. That only shows the weakness of the cynic’s point of view. The
+truth is they are often concealed under various disguises of plaster,
+paint, and weather tiles. Few people know what their own walls are
+really made of till they try to cut a new opening for a door or a window
+in them.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Cob and Chalk]
+
+  VIII
+
+  COB AND CHALK
+
+Of Cob I know little by actual experiment. It is fully dealt with in the
+body of this work, and readers will find that it is a kind of mud or
+clay concrete reinforced with straw. It is therefore totally and
+absolutely different from Pisé. One is wet, the other dry.
+
+All that need be said about chalk is said by the author of the present
+book.
+
+
+  IX
+
+  A POSTSCRIPT
+
+In the body of this work mention is made of a very successful experiment
+in Pisé de terre made by the officials of a Rhodesian mining company;
+the outcome, I am proud to think, of my pre-war advocacy of Pisé in _The
+Spectator_. No sooner had my introduction been finished than there came
+by way of postscript an exceedingly interesting series of photographs,
+sent to me by Mr. Pickstone, a gentleman very well known in South Africa
+for his fruit gardens, his peaches, and his apricots. On the strength of
+what he had read in _The Spectator_, Mr. Pickstone lately undertook to
+build a station building and station-master’s house for the railway
+station at Simondium in the Drakenstein Valley, a place which during the
+summer is noted for its great heat. In the January number of the _South
+African Railways and Harbours Magazine_, Mr. Pickstone gives a detailed
+account of his bold and successful experiment and illustrates it by a
+reproduction of some of his photographs. Here is his own account of what
+he did.
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: Pisé--a South African Lead]
+
+“It must have been about eighteen months ago that the railway
+administration decided to promote Simondium Siding to the dignity of a
+station. As a siding, it had always been a busy place in the fruit
+season, during which time a permanent checker had for some years been
+kept quite busy, his accommodation being a couple of small tin shanties,
+and he had been accustomed to board out where he could. Now we were to
+have a ‘pukka’ station-master and, presumably, suitable premises. The
+department quickly got to work and the station-master’s house arrived.
+It was what one might call a second-hand, or even a third- or
+fourth-hand one, consisting of the inevitable sheets of galvanised iron
+and the ever-essential Oregon and Swedish timber. Our new station-master
+also shortly afterwards arrived, and turned out to be a married man with
+a wife and four children. The station-master was not a grouser, but
+during the hot summer--and it is terribly hot in the Drakenstein Valley
+during that time of the year--he complained to me that it was almost
+impossible to hold on, owing to the conditions under which he and his
+family had to live. It was just about this time that I saw in _The
+Spectator_ a series of articles strongly advocating ‘Pisé de terre’
+construction for buildings of all kinds; especially was it recommended
+as a war-time expedient for rapid and economical construction for
+barracks and hospitals, and, indeed, it was strongly recommended by Mr.
+St. Loe Strachey, the editor, for all sorts of general building and
+military purposes. It is a curious fact, which many readers could
+verify, that frequently one lives one’s life under certain conditions,
+and in reality remains absolutely blind to their presence and
+potentialities. Here was I, living in a country where some of the most
+beautiful old homesteads are on the principle of the ‘Pisé de terre’
+construction, and a large proportion of the older farm buildings in this
+district also built of similar material, with the additional pleasing
+accompaniment of beautiful beams, ceilings and floors made of colonial
+pine--one may advisedly add, the _despised_ colonial pine. Some of these
+buildings have stood the wear and use of close on a century, and are
+still an object of joy to those privileged to have an eye to see. Here
+lived I, as I say, blind to its potentialities for to-day, although it
+had been clearly appreciated and carried out with the most charming and
+solid results by our great-grandfathers in the old slave-labour days.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Model of a Pisé de Terre House to be built in
+  Three Successive Stages.+
+  The right wing is planned to be built first as a complete
+  small cottage, eventually becoming service and servants’ quarters.
+  _Clough Williams-Ellis, Architect_.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Wayside Station of Pisé at Simondium, South Africa,
+  designed by Mr. Herbert Baker.+]
+
+The supervising architect, Mr. Kendall, who was responsible for carrying
+out the work to the admirable design of Mr. Herbert Baker, gives the
+following description of the way the work was actually executed, which
+contains several very useful hints:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+“The construction of walls determined upon was that known as ‘Pisé de
+terre,’ consisting of earth walls some 18 in. to 24 in. thick, which owe
+their solidity to a simple process of ramming between wooden casings
+previously placed in position on both sides. These walls are built in
+stages of some 3 ft. in height, the wood casing being raised at
+intervals as required. The frames for doors and windows are placed in
+position at the right time, and anchored into the walls by means of long
+hoop iron ties. These walls, when completed, give a surface almost as
+hard as burnt brick, but the external angles present a slight point of
+weakness, as from their exposure they would be naturally inclined to
+chip away in cases of rough usage. In order to overcome this it was
+arranged that irregular brick quoins should be embedded in the angles
+all the way up as the work proceeded. The walls, when completed, were
+then plastered and whitewashed, and present as good an appearance as
+more expensively plastered brickwork. As additional security the weather
+sides were given, prior to whitewashing, a coat of hot gas tar direct on
+the plaster, which in all exterior work was lime plus 10 per cent.
+cement. The roofs are of thatch with a fairly good overhang at the eaves
+in order to form a protection for the walls.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+On one point, however, we may reassure Mr. Kendall. I do not think he
+need be afraid of his walls being destroyed by the weather even if he
+has no overhang. Part of a Pisé wall in my cart-shed, built in a very
+exposed situation, has no overhang. Further, the wall is not covered by
+cement or any other protective covering. The compressed earth was left
+quite bare, and yet the three worst winters of alternating wet and frost
+known for many years have made no impression upon the wall. It seems to
+be both rain-proof and frost-proof.
+
+I may add that Mr. Pickstone informs me in a letter dated February 19th
+that the Pisé walls have proved an enormous success from the point of
+view of protection from the heat. Whereas in an iron building lined with
+wood the temperature in the hot weather went up to 104 degrees
+Fahrenheit, in the station-master’s Pisé de terre dining-room the
+thermometer registered only 86 degrees. Those who have ever lived where
+such temperatures prevail will note the immense advantage gained by the
+Pisé walls. Such temperatures try strong men and women, and for children
+they are positively death-dealing. With so successful an experiment as
+that at Simondium before my eyes, I am beginning to feel that I may live
+to correct my view that this universal system of building is practised
+“no vairs.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: The Discovery of the Old]
+
+  X
+
+  PLINY ON PISÉ DE TERRE
+
+Now for something which I have kept as the _bonne bouche_ of my earthy
+story. At the end of my researches and experiments I found that Pliny
+has got it all in his _Natural History_ in six lines! There is no need
+for more words.
+
+“_Have we not in Africa and in Spain walls of earth, known as
+‘formocean’ walls? From the fact that they are moulded, rather than
+built, by enclosing earth within a frame of boards, constructed on
+either side. These walls will last for centuries, are proof against
+rain, wind, and fire, and are superior in solidity to any cement. Even
+at this day Spain still holds watch-towers that were erected by
+Hannibal._” --_Pliny’s “Natural History,”_ Bk. XXXV, chapter xlviii.
+
+    J. ST. LOE STRACHEY.
+
+  Newlands Corner, Surrey.
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL SURVEY
+
+
+Always necessity has been the mother of invention. The war has proved
+her prolific indeed, and her teeming offspring are seen in the
+multiplicity of war contrivances and the bewildering array of
+substitutes for the once common things of our daily life. Where
+necessity has been most dire, there invention has unfailingly come to
+the rescue with the most amazing “Ersatz” products to replace the
+vanished originals.
+
+At any rate it pleases us to attribute the truly astonishing feats of
+the Germans in this direction to their greater need rather than to any
+superior ingenuity or enterprise on their part.
+
+That their success was often no more than moderate will be readily
+admitted by anyone who, for instance, has made trial of their “Ersatz”
+cigars or ration coffee.
+
+Still, need did at least awaken prodigious effort, ingenuity, and
+enterprise--all co-ordinated and concentrated on the business of making
+good a hundred paralysing deficiencies.
+
+    [Headnote: The House Famine]
+
+In this present matter of National Housing the shortage of all the
+generally recognised building materials as well as of actual houses is
+extreme and grave. Effort, ingenuity, and enterprise in overcoming these
+insufficiencies are as urgently and vitally necessary to England in
+Peace as ever they were to Germany in war. Little will be said here of
+the direct and intimate connection between good houses and good
+citizens.
+
+It is assumed that those who go to the pains of reading this book have
+at least glanced at the Housing Reports, and drawn certain disquieting
+conclusions from the criminal and vital statistics with which the case
+for reform is reinforced.
+
+In a recent speech the Registrar-General said: “War does not only fill
+the graves, it also empties the cradles.” This is no less true of bad
+and inadequate housing.
+
+Only the most reckless and thick-skinned of the poorer population will
+adventure on marriage and the bringing up of a family whilst the odds
+against decent and reasonable housing persist as at present.
+
+True, “Housing” is very properly being given considerable prominence in
+the press, and scarcely a day passes but there appears an article or
+letter dealing with this question.
+
+Usually we are left but little wiser than we were, whilst if we chance
+to know something about the subject, the general tone of vague
+cheerfulness that pervades them all fills us with misgiving.
+
+Nothing is easier or pleasanter or more popular than to make airy
+promises or predictions about the “Homes for Happy Human Beings” that,
+somehow, are to be prepared for our returned soldiers, and for all those
+others who are housed miserably or not at all. It is very easy to
+predict and promise, but without adequate materials performance is not
+merely difficult, it is impossible.
+
+There is a world-shortage of almost every manufactured or cultivated
+product; there is also a labour famine, a money famine, and a transport
+famine.
+
+In this country, closely connected with these deficiencies and looming
+ominously over them all, is, as we have said, our house-famine.
+
+To relieve the last in face of the others, and without further
+aggravating them, is one of the most grave and pressing of the many
+problems that confront us.
+
+Briefly the problem is this: To provide a maximum of new housing with a
+minimum expenditure of labour, money, transport, and manufactured
+materials.
+
+Broadly speaking, so far as rural housing is concerned, the solution
+must be sought through the use of natural materials already existing on
+the site, materials that can be worked straight into the fabric of the
+building, without any elaborate or costly conversion, and that by local
+labour.
+
+“Pisé de Terre,” “Chalk Compost,” and “Cob” are three alternative forms
+of construction, one of which will usually fulfil the above conditions
+in any given situation.
+
+Despite the somewhat outlandish and high-sounding name of the first, it
+is nothing more than a very old and very simple method of building,
+recently revived through stress of circumstances. The rude technique has
+happily been kept alive and preserved for us in out-of-the-way corners
+of the Continent and in our Colonies. Wherever there is a sufficiency of
+sunshine to effect the necessary drying, there have earth buildings
+arisen and prospered.
+
+“Cob” building needs less introduction, as it is still well understood
+and a living craft in several parts of Great Britain, notably in
+Devonshire and South Wales, where its merits and advantages have been
+recognised apparently from the earliest times.
+
+All those indeed who are familiar with this method of construction are
+fully alive to its virtues, and the same is true of Pisé-building, both
+in chalk and earth, and also of clay-lump.
+
+This book, however, is addressed to those who have in the past built
+only with stone, brick, concrete, timber and plaster, etc., and who are
+only now considering a reversion to the more primitive construction here
+described, through the shortage or absolute lack of their former
+materials.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Front and Back Elevations of Cottage designed by Sir Edwin
+  Lutyens and Mr. Alban Scott.+
+  This Cottage can be built in Cob, Pisé, Concrete, Stone, or Brick.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Plan of Cottage designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Mr. Alban Scott.+]
+
+It is not so much a question as to whether a Cob or Pisé house is
+preferable to one of brick or stone or concrete--though there are many
+who profess a lively preference for the former--but as to whether you
+will boldly revert to these old and well-tried methods of building, or,
+in the absence of the ordinary materials, feebly sit down and build
+nothing at all.
+
+For that will, inevitably, be the alternative for a great many private
+persons. National and Public-Utility Housing Schemes and public and
+industrial works of all sorts will naturally and properly claim priority
+in the matter of all building materials--and the private individual, so
+far as he can secure such materials at all, will only do so at a price
+that is the logical outcome of an unprecedented demand and an ominously
+inadequate supply.
+
+    [Headnote: Local Materials]
+
+Timber, tiles, slates, plaster, and ironmongery he must still purchase
+and transport as best he may--but the shell of his house, its outer
+walls at least, could and should be raised from the soil of the site
+itself by the employment of the simplest gear and a small amount of
+unskilled local labour.
+
+So acute indeed is the transport problem, and so small is the hope of
+any substantial improvement in the near future, that any expedient
+tending to ease matters in this respect is worthy of the most serious
+attention.
+
+The restrictions imposed by high freights will of themselves tend to
+check the often senseless and unnecessary importation of materials
+foreign to a district, which in the past was the despair of architects
+of the “traditional” school.
+
+It was a wasteful practice that had gone far to obliterate all but the
+most robust traits in the old and very diverse local building
+conventions of rural England.
+
+Formerly, he who wilfully carried bricks into Merioneth or the
+Cotswolds, or slates into Kent or ragstone-rubble into Middlesex, was
+guilty of no more than foolishness and an æsthetic solecism.
+
+Under present conditions such action should render him liable to
+prosecution and conviction on some such count as “Wasting the shrunken
+resources of his country in a time of great scarcity, . . . in that he
+did wantonly transport material for building the walls of a house by
+rail and road from A to B when suitable and sufficient material of
+another sort and at no higher cost existed, and was readily accessible
+hard by the site at B.”
+
+That indeed is our one chance of salvation, the existence and use of
+“the materials of another sort hard by the site.”
+
+These natural materials and their appropriate use in building will be
+considered in the following pages.
+
+   *   *   *
+
+The Lutyens-Scott cottage, of which illustrations are given, is designed
+with a special view to the use of such local materials as cob, chalk,
+and Pisé, though it could also be constructed without appreciable
+modification in stone or brick.
+
+It is thus a model of unusually universal application, providing, too,
+accommodation such as is certain to be demanded by the new and more
+educated generation that it is the aim of the country to produce.
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+_COB_
+
+
+§ I. GENERAL
+
+If ever the counties of England recover their bygone loyalty to their
+own materials and their old traditions, then cob-building will return to
+Devon and the West. Cheap bricks, cheap transport, and the ignoble rage
+for fashions from the town went far to oust provincial cob from the
+affections of those whom, with their forbears, it had housed so well for
+several centuries.
+
+Whether the new loyalty be from within, or be imposed from without by
+force of circumstances, matters little. What does matter is the fact of
+its revival.
+
+For with it will come again the building of cottages that are knit
+intimately to their sites and surroundings as of old, cottages
+consanguineous with the ground they stand on, be it brick-earth, rock,
+or common soil.
+
+The soil of Devonshire and of many parts of Wessex and of Wales serves
+excellently well for building in cob or “clom.”[3]
+
+    [Footnote 3: Probably, indeed, there is no county in the kingdom
+    that has not considerable areas where the soil would, if tried,
+    prove well adapted for cob-building.]
+
+The soil itself suggested the construction, and the men of Wessex were
+quick to take the hint and to act on it.
+
+The yeomen and small-holders of earlier days were commonly builders too,
+and often built their own homes in their own way, yet by the guiding
+light of local tradition.
+
+Thus the old Devonian countryman in need of a house would set to and
+build it himself--of stone if that were handy and easily worked, of cob
+if it were not.
+
+No doubt the doors and windows would be made and fitted by the village
+wheelwright; but the cottager himself would thatch or slate the roof as
+naturally and successfully as he built.
+
+The skill and care with which these versatile amateurs built their
+houses was not always of the highest, and careless construction, like
+other sins, is visited on the children--the worse the sooner.
+
+Thus it is that there are to-day plenty of old cob cottages that are
+both damp and insecure, but to condemn cob building in general because
+certain old builders were careless, ignorant, or incompetent is to
+condemn all materials from wattle and daub to ferro-concrete in the same
+breath.
+
+Cob, being a humble, amenable, and thoroughly accommodating substance,
+has reaped the inevitable reward of good nature in being “put upon” and
+in being asked to stand what is quite beyond its powers of endurance,
+and yet Devon cob houses of Elizabethan date are not uncommon.
+
+It is very reasonable in its demands, but two things it does
+require--dry foundations and a good protecting roof.
+
+To quote an old Devonshire saw on cob--“Giv’un a gude hat and pair of
+butes an’ ’er’l last for ever.”
+
+In many instances the Devonshire leaseholder, usually only a
+“life-lease” holder, built badly and on indifferent foundations. He
+neglected to repair his thatch, with the consequence that ruin followed
+sooner or later. He did not always use rough-cast, so that it often
+happened that by the time the lease expired the unfortunate landowner
+found that the cottage fell in--in the literal as well as in the legal
+sense. The lower portions of the walls were honey-combed with rat-holes,
+the walls bulged out or fissures resulted from subsidence, and the
+dwelling presented that appearance of squalor and meanness that has led
+so many to decry the mud buildings of Devon as relics of bygone
+barbarism. But if adequate care is bestowed on the construction, there
+is no reason why cob cottages should not prove at one and the same time
+comfortable to the inmates and pleasant to the eye, and endure for many
+generations.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Another view of the Cob House built by Mr. Ernest Gimson,
+  near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.+
+    _See Frontispiece_]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A fine Specimen of a Devonshire Cob House.+]
+
+    [Headnote: The Beauty of Cob]
+
+As to their comeliness and longevity, a day’s walk in Devon, or, failing
+that, a glance at the printed pictures will tell all that need be told.
+That the beauty of cob buildings is not due merely to the irregularities
+and weathering produced by the passage of time is sufficiently proved by
+the photographs of Mr. Gimson’s charming cob cottage, taken soon after
+he had finished it.
+
+The work was done a year or two before the war; this is Mr. Gimson’s own
+description of the manner of its building:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+“The cob was made of the stiff sand found on the site; this was mixed
+with water and a great quantity of long wheat straw trodden into it. The
+walls were built 3 ft. thick, pared down to 2 ft. 6 in., and were placed
+on a plinth standing 18 in. above the ground floor, and built of cobble
+stones found among the sand. The walls were given a coat of plaster and
+a coat of rough-cast, which was gently trowelled over to smooth the
+surface slightly. I believe eight men were engaged on the cobwork, some
+preparing the material, and others treading in on to the top of the
+walls. It took them about three months to reach the wall plate; the cost
+was 6s. a cubic yard, exclusive of the plastering. No centring was used.
+The joists rested on plates, and above them the walls were reduced to 2
+ft. 2 in. in thickness to leave the ends of the joists free. The beams
+also rested on wide plates and the ends were built round with stone,
+leaving space for ventilation. Tile or slate lintels were used over all
+openings. The cost of the whole house was 6½d. a cubic foot. Building
+with cob is soon learnt--of the eight men, only one of them had had any
+previous experience, and, I believe, he had not built with it for thirty
+years. This is the only house I have built of cob.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+What is most interesting in this narrative is the workmen’s lack of
+experience, which seems to have been no hindrance. Anyone who proposes
+to revive the use of cob may take courage from Mr. Gimson’s evidence.
+The time spent in building the walls was reasonable and the cost low. It
+may be guessed that the post-war rise in cost will be no greater in
+proportion, if as great, when compared with brickwork. The natural charm
+of the wall surface is enhanced by the crown of thatched roof, modelled
+with a skill which few can bring so certainly to their task as Mr.
+Gimson.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Method of Building]
+
+§ II. METHOD OF BUILDING
+
+_Composition._--Cob is a mixture of shale and clay, straw and water.
+Shale is a common and widely distributed stratified formation of a slaty
+nature, and there are few types of clay soil that would not serve for
+cob-making.
+
+The precise relative proportion of the first two ingredients varies,
+depending on their individual peculiarities.
+
+Local custom as to the composition and preparation of the mixture will
+generally be found to have adjusted itself to the peculiarities of the
+soil.
+
+The following extract is from an analyst’s report on a sample of typical
+old cob walling:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+“The material when placed in water fell to pieces. On analysis, it was
+found to consist of:
+
+                                                Per cent.
+  Stones (residue on 7 by 7 mesh sieve)            24·40
+  Sand, coarse (residue on 50 by 50 mesh sieve)    19·70
+  Fine sand (through 50 by 50 mesh sieve)          32·50
+  Clay                                             20·60
+  Straw                                             1·25
+  Water, etc.                                       1·55
+                                                  ------
+                                                  100·00
+                                                  ------
+
+“The material is a conglomerate of slaty gravel with a very sandy clay,
+to which mixture a small proportion of straw has been added.
+
+“The clay acts as an agglutinant, and the straw as a reinforcement.
+
+“Efficient protection from frost and rain would be necessary before such
+material could be considered weatherproof.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Devonshire Cob Farmhouse, probably between 200 and 300 years old.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Cob-built Village.+]
+
+(N.B.--Lime is occasionally added to the clay-shale, but this is not
+usual.)
+
+_Mixing._--The old method of mixing by hand is as follows: A “bed” of
+clay-shale is formed close to the wall where it is to be used,
+sufficient to do one perch. A perch is superficial measurement described
+as 16½ ft. long, 1 ft. high, and the amount of material will vary
+according to the thickness of wall required. Four men usually work
+together. The big stones are picked out. The material is arranged in a
+circular heap about 5 or 6 ft. in diameter.
+
+Starting at the edge the men turn over the material with cob picks,
+standing and treading on the material all the time. One man sprinkles on
+water, and another sprinkles on barley straw from a wisp held under his
+left arm. The heap is then turned over again in the other direction,
+treading continuing all the time. “Twice turning” is usually considered
+sufficient. Straw bands may be wrapped puttee-wise around the legs of
+the men to keep them clean, and these are removed at the end of the day.
+
+More rarely the mixing is done in a rough trough, whilst a power-driven
+“pan-mill” has also been tried with success; though one would think that
+the use of such a machine might tend to diminish the binding strength of
+the straw submitted to its grinding.
+
+    [Headnote: Implements]
+
+  [Illustration: COB PICK (Measured from example at Great Fulford).]
+
+_Building._--In building a man stands on the low base-wall, and lays the
+material handed up to him on the cob picks, treading it into position.
+Thorough treading is important, and the heels should be well used. The
+material is allowed to project each side an inch or so beyond the stone
+base to allow for paring down afterwards. The courses are usually about
+2 ft. high. The cob should be laid and trodden in diagonal layers, as
+shown in the diagram: this is to secure proper bonding. It takes from
+two to three weeks for a course to dry, according to the weather, and
+five or six men would be required to build the walls of an ordinary
+cottage. This would not keep them continuously employed, however, and
+they would require to have several buildings in hand at the same time,
+so as to be able to turn from one to the other while the courses were
+drying.
+
+  [Illustration: COB COURSE, OR SCAR, SHOWING DIAGONAL LAYERS.]
+
+At the completion of a course the corners are plumbed up from the stone
+base below, a line is stretched through and the wall is then pared down
+“plumb” with the “paring iron” by the man standing on the wall.
+Sometimes, however, the paring down is left until the wall is finished
+and dry. Four men will do about four perches per day of a wall 2 ft.
+thick, preparing and laying material.
+
+The material is rarely laid between timber shuttering as in Pisé work,
+as the retaining boards tend seriously to retard the drying out.
+
+  [Illustration: PARING IRON (Measured from example at Great Fulford)]
+
+_Drying._--If a course takes from two to three weeks to dry, it
+naturally takes a long time for a whole cottage to completely dry out.
+The walls can be built from about March to September. The internal
+fitting, plastering, etc., can be done in the winter, but the external
+rendering must not be done for at least a year, perhaps two years, to
+allow the walls to become perfectly dry.
+
+As unprotected cob is sensitive to frost, especially if not thoroughly
+dried out, it should be given a good external rendering as soon as it is
+really dry, and should in the meantime be protected from frost by some
+temporary covering, straw-matting or what not. Also all cob-work must be
+protected from the rain both whilst building and when built.
+
+No artificial methods of drying are at present usual, beyond good fires
+inside during the winter, though, as under such conditions a cob cottage
+is not usually considered fit to live in for several months after
+completion, some artificial means of drying might be worth considering.
+
+_Foundations and Base._--The depth of the excavations required for the
+foundations naturally depends upon the character of the site and soil,
+as also does the spread of the footings, if any.
+
+The base-course wall of brick, stone, or concrete should be carried up
+some 2 ft. or so above ground level. In old days this walling was not
+infrequently built “dry”--but good lias lime or cement should be used in
+all new work.
+
+The damp-course too was an unknown refinement to the by-gone builders,
+and the introduction of this one improvement alone makes the new cob
+cottage a very different dwelling from the old.
+
+The usual forms of damp-course serve well for cob walls, though slates
+laid butt and broken joint in cement are probably the best.
+
+    [Headnote: Walls and Roofs]
+
+_Thickness of Walls._--The thickness of walls may be anything you please
+from 18 in. upwards. There are old examples a full 3 ft. across, but for
+an ordinary two-storied cottage a thickness of about 2 ft. is general.
+Eighteen inches is certainly the minimum thickness, and would not
+ordinarily be adopted for any but one-storied buildings.
+
+The first-floor walls are made the same thickness as those below, for if
+they were reduced in width, as is usual in a stone building, the extra
+weight thus thrown on to one side of the ground floor walls would tend
+to make them bulge, unless quite dry and thoroughly set.
+
+There are old cob walls in existence fully 30 ft. in height, and there
+is no apparent limit in this direction provided they are thick enough.
+
+The upper layers compress the lower ones, and automatically render them
+more dense and stone-like and fit to bear the load imposed above.
+
+_Hipped Roofs._--As a general rule, however, it is found expedient to
+hip back the roof rather than carry it up in a tall gable, partly
+because cob-building at a great height above the ground in short and
+diminishing layers is a somewhat tedious process, partly because a
+hipped roof with good eaves is very welcome for the protection that its
+projection affords the walling.
+
+_Masonry and Carpentry._--The bonding of cob to stone and brick is
+sometimes liable to leave an open joint that will require filling when
+the cob dries and shrinks. Many of the chimneys in old cob houses are of
+brick or stone, and brick and stone jambs are sometimes to be seen in
+cob walls, but they are probably by way of repairs to damaged corners.
+It is considered better to have cob all round, so ensuring the uniform
+settlement of the building.
+
+The timber built into old cob does not seem to decay. The walls are
+usually so dry, especially when plastered, that the wood is well
+preserved. The straw in the interior of old cob walls is often as bright
+as when put in. The straw in cob performs a similar function to hair in
+plaster. Heather has sometimes been used instead of straw with good
+results.
+
+  [Illustration: WALL COPINGS.]
+
+The old practice was for beams, wall plates, joists, etc., to be just
+bedded on the cob, and for the cob to be filled in between the joists.
+In new work, particularly when the use of imperfectly seasoned timber is
+unavoidable, it would be wise to take the usual precautions as to the
+proper ventilation of all “built in” woodwork--especially the ends of
+joists and so forth. Roofs must of course be tied and exercise no thrust
+on walls. The roof plates are sometimes tied down by galvanised iron
+wire.
+
+  [Illustration: LINTEL-BEARING CROSS-PIECE]
+
+Door and window-frames are also fixed to wood blocks built into the
+jambs and to the wood lintels above. The frames are sometimes near the
+outer face of wall, sometimes near the inner-face. Where the door-frames
+are on the interior face of a 2 ft. thick wall, a convenient porch
+results.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Devonshire Farm, Local Material (Cob).+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Devon Country House, built of Devon Cob.+]
+
+Other joinery is fixed to wood pins driven into the cob where required.
+
+Corners are usually of cob, though stone quoins are occasionally met
+with.
+
+Lintels are usually of wood well tailed into the wall and resting on a
+wood pad placed crosswise.
+
+    [Headnote: Protection]
+
+_Protection._--Old buildings that have been neglected are often found to
+be somewhat eroded towards the bottom of their walls through the action
+of rain and frost.
+
+Protection is less here than higher up under the projecting eaves, and
+the Achilles’ heel of the cob wall is undoubtedly its base.
+
+This vulnerable part, exposed as it is to driven rain, back-splash, and
+the casual kicks, should be given special protection.
+
+Where the base is of cob and not of masonry, the traditional method is
+to provide a good deep skirting of pitch or tar, or a mixture of both,
+applied hot to the face of the rendering that should completely cover
+the exterior of all cob work.
+
+This rendering is usually composed of lime and hair mortar, though
+Portland cement has come into use to some extent recently.
+
+Cement, however, is apt to be rather too “short” and brittle, and it
+does not always hold to the cob walling very securely.
+
+A rendering consisting of an equal mixture of cement and lime with three
+parts of sand adheres well to cob, however, and is probably the best
+coating that can be given to it.
+
+This coating can be colour-washed or lime-whited in the usual way. The
+granular surface of rough rendering or of “slap-dash” on the slightly
+wavy surface of cob walling perhaps gives to whitewash its very highest
+opportunity and charm.
+
+Certain it is that the old cob cottages of Devon with the pearly gleam
+of their white walls, their heaving bulk of thatch and their trim black
+skirtings, are as gracious and as pleasant to the eye as any in all the
+length and breadth of England.
+
+Within, lime-and-hair mortar plastered straight on to the cob makes an
+excellent lining.
+
+_Chimneys._--Nowadays, chimneys are commonly built up in brick or stone,
+but numerous good examples survive of flues and stacks constructed in
+cob. The insides of these are pargeted with lime and cow-dung in the
+usual way, brickwork being only introduced immediately around the
+fireplaces.
+
+_Rats._--Where the surface rendering of cob-walls has been omitted or
+has been allowed to fall away, an enterprising rat will sometimes do
+considerable damage by his tunnelling.
+
+A little powdered glass mixed with the lower strata of a wall will
+discourage any such burrowing, but the best preservative for any cob
+building is a thoroughly good skin of rendering, especially if this be
+reinforced by fine-mesh wire-netting secured to the wall.
+
+_Strength._--The strength of cob walls is surprisingly great so long as
+they are vertical, and are not subjected to undue lateral thrust or
+tension.
+
+Beams as large as 12 in. by 12 in. may be seen supported by old cob
+walls, and there is nothing likely to be asked of the material in the
+way of strength to which it cannot easily respond.
+
+_Design._--Cob, like every other material, should have a certain say in
+the design of any building in which its use is intended.
+
+The chief desiderata are a plain straightforward plan and broadly
+treated elevations where voids and solids are carefully disposed with an
+eye to getting as large unbroken blocks of cob as possible.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Cob House temp. Elizabeth, Lewishill.+
+  Walls from 3 ft. to 4 ft. thick. A wing was added in 1618.
+  This farm has been occupied by the family of the present holder
+  between 300 and 400 years.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Another Devonshire (Cob) Farmhouse, Weeke Barton.+]
+
+The cracks that are sometimes found in old cob buildings are almost
+entirely attributable to unsuitable design in such respects, or to bad
+foundations.
+
+Cob walls built up in the ordinary way are not very suitable for
+internal partitions on account of their considerable width and the
+consequent waste of space, though in old work cob was sometimes used as
+a filling for stud and lath partitions which were finally plastered over
+in the usual way.
+
+The sun-dried clay-lumps so much used for walling in Suffolk would seem
+to be admirable for forming the partitions in a house of cob.
+
+Cob work is usually repaired with rubble, stone, or brick.
+
+New openings are easily cut through cob walls, and this fact has
+occasionally led to the collapse of an old building through the zeal for
+light and air of some new occupier exceeding his caution, and causing
+him to cut away the substance of his walls in cheerful disregard of the
+laws of gravity.
+
+
+§ III. CONCLUSION
+
+  AUTHORITIES--ANCIENT AND MODERN
+
+Not by any means was cob exclusively the poor man’s material, and
+several old homes of this sort still survive that are of some
+consideration.
+
+    [Headnote: Raleigh’s House]
+
+Amongst them is Hayes Barton, the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh.
+Writing of Raleigh and his home, Mr. Charles Bernard says:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Sir Walter Raleigh’s House._--“He had great affection for his boyhood’s
+home--the old manor-house at Hayes Barton where he was born, and did his
+best to secure it from its then owner. ‘I will,’ he wrote, ‘most
+willingly give you whatsoever in your conscience you shall deme it worth
+. . . for ye naturall disposition I have to that place, being borne in
+that house, I had rather see myself there than anywhere else.’ But alas!
+it was not to be, and the snug and friendly Tudor homestead passed into
+other hands. The house at Hayes Barton was probably not newly built when
+Raleigh’s parents lived there, and it says much for the character of cob
+that the house is as good to-day as ever it was; though for all that it
+has, to use Mr. Eden Phillpotts’ words, ‘been patched and tinkered
+through the centuries,’ it ‘still endures, complete and sturdy, in
+harmony of old design, with unspoiled dignity from a far past.’ Lady
+Rosalind Northcote gives the following description of the house in her
+_Devon_. She writes: “In front of the garden, a swirling stream crosses
+a strip of green; and in the garden, at the right time, one may see the
+bees busy among golden-powdered clusters of candytuft, and dark red
+gillyflowers, and a few flame rose-coloured tulips, proud and erect. The
+house is very picturesque; it has cob walls and a thatched roof, and is
+built in the shape of the letter +E+; a wing projects at either
+end, and in the middle the porch juts out slightly. The two wings are
+gabled; there is a small gable over the porch and two dormer ones over
+the windows at each side of it, the windows having lattice lights and
+narrow mullions. Dark carved beams above them show up well against the
+cream-coloured walls. The heavy door is closely studded with nails, and
+over it fall the delicate sprays and lilac “butterfly” blossoms of
+wistaria.’”
+
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Ceilings of Modelled Plaster from old Cob Houses in Devon.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Cob Garden-wall with Thatched Coping.+]
+
+_Reed Thatch._--In recent years slates or tiles have replaced thatch for
+the roofing of cob buildings and walls, owing to the cost of reed (the
+local name for the straw from which the grain has been hand-threshed by
+flail to prevent the straw being broken), and the difficulty of getting
+good thatchers. The opinion is held by many that the lasting quality of
+thatch has deteriorated since the practice of liming the cornland has
+unfortunately been given up.
+
+_Primitive Methods._--Formerly the ground floors of cob cottages were
+all cobbled, but these have, generally speaking, been replaced by lime,
+ash, or cement floors. The cob builders of past generations apparently
+made no use of the square, plumb-line, or level. No laths were used for
+the walls, which were plastered within; outside, rough-cast or
+“slap-dash” was laid on.
+
+    [Headnote: Mr. Baring-Gould]
+
+_Mr. Baring-Gould’s Testimony._--Mr. S. Baring-Gould, in his _Book of
+the West_, writing on the subject says: “No house can be considered more
+warm and cosy than that built of cob, especially when thatched. It is
+warm in winter and cool in summer, and I have known labourers bitterly
+bewail their fate in being transferred from an old fifteenth or
+sixteenth century cob cottage into a newly-built stone edifice of the
+most approved style, as they said it was like going out of warm life
+into a cold grave.”
+
+
+  DEVON COB
+
+The following paragraph, taken from C. B. Allen’s _Cottage-Building_, is
+of interest:
+
+“The cob walls of Devonshire have been known to last above a century
+without requiring the slightest repair, and the Rev. W. Elicombe, who
+has himself built several houses of two stories with cob walls, says
+that he was born in a cob-wall parsonage built in the reign of
+Elizabeth, or somewhat earlier, and that it had to be taken down to be
+rebuilt only in the year 1831.”
+
+_Fruit Walls._--Again quoting Mr. Baring-Gould: “Cob walls for garden
+fruit are incomparable. They retain the warmth of the sun and give it
+out through the night, and when protected on top by slates, tiles, or
+thatch, will last for centuries.” It will be seen that the disadvantages
+of cob buildings are solely due to faults of construction, and not to
+any inherent defect in properly made cob as a material, and that the
+construction of cottages, farm buildings, and garden walls is well
+within the compass of an averagely intelligent workman.
+
+It is not intended to argue that the cob cottage could be advantageously
+built in every county, but only that where it has been used and liked
+for centuries, a wise building policy would encourage its continuance.
+The materials are at hand, and the population ready to welcome this form
+of dwelling-place.
+
+    [Headnote: Old Cob Lore]
+
+_An Old Authority._--An old writer treating of cottage-building thus
+delivers himself:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+“A Bill for inclosing the waste lands of the kingdom having been
+introduced into the House of Commons, under the auspices of the Board of
+Agriculture, and as so beneficial a Bill cannot fail, sooner or later,
+to pass into a law, and as in consequence thereof, many small houses
+must necessarily be built, suited to small estates issuing out of
+allotments of such wastes, we have been induced to submit to the
+consideration of the Board three plans of such small houses to be built
+of different species of materials.
+
+“The first is with mud walls, composed of soft mire and straw,
+well trodden together, and which, by degrees, is laid on,
+stratum-super-stratum, to the height required; a species of building not
+uncommon for cottages, and even for better houses, barns, etc., in the
+western and some other parts of the kingdom. It is the cheapest
+habitation that we can construct and is also very dry and comfortable.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+And again:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+“Walls of mud, or of compressed earth, are still more economical than
+those of timber, and if they were raised on brick or stone foundations,
+the height of a foot or 18 in. above the ground, or above the highest
+point at which dung or moist straw was ever likely to be placed against
+them, their durability would be equal to that of marble, if properly
+constructed and kept perfectly dry. The cob walls of Devonshire, which
+are formed of clay and straw trodden together by oxen, have been known
+to last above a century without requiring the slightest repair; and we
+think that there are many farmers, especially in America and Australia,
+who if they knew how easily walls of this description could be built,
+would often avail themselves of them for various agricultural purposes.
+
+“The solidity of cob walls depends much upon their not being hurried in
+the process of making them, for if hurried, the walls will surely be
+crippled, that is, they will swag or swerve from the perpendicular. It
+is usual to pare down the sides of each successive rise before another
+is added to it. The instrument used for this purpose is like a baker’s
+peel (a kind of wooden shovel for taking the bread out of the oven), but
+the cob-parer is made of iron. The lintels of the doors and windows and
+of the cupboards and other recesses are put in as the work advances
+(allowance being made for their settling), bedding them on cross pieces,
+and the walls being carried up solid. The respective openings are cut
+out after the work is well settled. In Devonshire the builders of
+cob-wall houses like to begin their work when the birds begin to build
+their nests, in order that there may be time to cover in the shell of
+the building before winter. The outer walls are plastered the following
+spring. Should the work be overtaken by winter before the roof is on, it
+is usual to put a temporary covering of thatch upon the walls, to
+protect them from the frost.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: Mr. Fulford’s Evidence]
+
+_Mr. Fulford’s Evidence._--Mr. Fulford, of Great Fulford, near Exeter,
+whose own village and estate can show as many good examples of old cob
+work as any place in Devon, writes as follows:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Cost._--“It is not possible to give a close estimate of what would now
+be the comparative cost of a building in cob, stone, or brick, as this
+must depend upon the exact locality of the site. It may, however, be of
+assistance if I quote particulars of the relative cost of cob and stone
+building in Devon in the year 1808 when cob was in common use. The
+stonework referred to was rough rubble, and not with square or dressed
+blocks. It must be borne in mind that up to that date practically all
+material, stone, lime, etc., was carried on horses’ backs. Wheeled carts
+which began to creep in about the beginning of 1800, were not in general
+use until twenty or thirty years later. As a boy I knew a farmer who
+remembered the first wheeled cart coming to Dunsford. In 1838 the Rector
+of Bridford (the ‘Christowell’ of Blackmore’s novel) recorded the fact
+that in 1818 there was only one cart in the parish and it was scarcely
+used twice a year. In 1808 the price of building varied according to the
+district. In the northern part of the county the common price of
+stonework, including the value of three quarts of cider or beer daily,
+was from 22d. to 24d. the perch (16½ ft.), 22 in. in width and 1 ft. in
+height. Including all expenses of quarrying and carriage of materials,
+stonework worked out at from 5s. to 6s. per perch running measure, and
+cob estimated in like manner at about 3s. 6d. Masons when not employed
+by the piece received 2s. per day, and allowance of beer or cider. In
+the Dunstone district (the clay shales from which make the best cob)
+masonwork was 18d. per rope of 20 ft. in length, 18 in. thick, and 1 ft.
+high, stone and all materials found and placed on the spot; cob work of
+the same measure was 14d. In the South Hams district masonwork cost 2s.
+6d., and cob 2s. per perch of 18 ft. in length, 2 ft. thick, and 1 ft.
+high.”
+
+_Use of Shuttering._--“In those parts of the red land where Dunstone
+shillot or clay shale is not available, the red clay was mixed with
+small stones or gravel, and frequently the cob was laid and trodden down
+between side boards as used in building concrete walls. Three cartloads
+of clay built a perch and a half of wall 20 in. wide and 1 ft. deep.
+Eight bundles of barley straw, equal to one pack-horse load, were mixed
+and tempered with nine cartloads of clay.”
+
+_Roofing._--“Thatching in 1808 cost 8s. per square of 10 ft.; 100
+sheaves of wheat-straw reed, weighing 25 lb. each, were sufficient for
+one square. Thatching, however, is not, as many suppose, indispensable
+as a roofing for cob buildings; slate found in many parts of Devon was
+frequently used, and of late years Welsh and Delabole slates, tiles, and
+unfortunately, from the picturesque point of view, corrugated iron, have
+to a large extent supplanted thatch.”
+
+_A Protective Wash._--“Vancouver, in his report on the Survey of Devon
+for the Board of Agriculture in 1808, gave the following recipe, which
+he described as a preserving and highly ornamental wash for rough-cast
+that was then getting into common use: ‘Four parts of pounded lime,
+three of sand, two of pounded wood ashes, and one of scoria of iron,
+mixed well together and made sufficiently fluid to be applied with a
+brush. When dry it gives the appearance of new Portland stone, and
+affords an excellent protection against the penetrating force of the
+south-westerly storms.”
+
+_Rendering._--“For the rough-weather sides of cob buildings I have found
+cement and sand, finished with a rough surface, satisfactory, and far
+more durable than ordinary lime and gravel rough cast. For interior cob
+walls, laths are not necessary. The old plastering was frequently laid
+on too thick. Of late years I have used with excellent results granite
+silicon plaster for ceilings and walls. This requires no hair, and is
+easily applied.”
+
+_The Cob Tradition._--“Cob-making was, like many other local trades,
+carried on in some families from generation to generation and developed
+by them into an art, but apart from these specialists, practically every
+village mason and his labourers built as much with cob as they did with
+stone. There are men still left in various parts of the county who have
+made cob, and it would, in my opinion, be of advantage if demonstrations
+could be given by them to discharged sailors and soldiers who are
+anxious to take up work on the land.”
+
+_Training of ex-Soldiers._--“In cob-building, as in many other arts and
+crafts, a little showing is of far greater help to the novice than any
+amount of text-book instruction. The knowledge and experience that these
+men would gain from being shown, and better still, assisting an expert
+in making cob, would be of material advantage in the development of the
+county scheme promoted by the Central Land Association for the
+establishment of ex-Service men on the land. They could try their
+’prentice hands on walls, tool-sheds, cart linhays, etc., for their own
+use, and some no doubt would develop into expert builders capable of
+constructing walls for dwelling-houses from approved plans.”
+
+_1819 Conditions Returned._--“The depletion of our home-grown timber
+supply and the prohibitive cost of practically all building material has
+in effect brought about the conditions that led our forefathers to
+utilise suitable material that lay nearest to hand, and unless some
+endeavour is made to follow their methods and profit by their example,
+it will be impossible to provide sufficient buildings for the necessary
+equipment of the allotments and small holdings, let alone housing
+accommodation for the workers on the land.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: A Champion of Cob]
+
+There is probably no one who knows more about cob than does Mr.
+Fulford--certainly no one who has done more to promote the revival of
+cob-building both by precept and example.
+
+Cob is the traditional material of his native place, he has, as it were,
+been brought up on cob--he is familiar with both the ancient history and
+the modern practice of cob-building, and in short, he “knows.”
+
+When a revivalist has knowledge as well as enthusiasm, the grounds of
+his faith are usually worth serious attention.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+_PISÉ DE TERRE_
+
+
+§ I. GENERAL
+
+_What it is._--“Pisé de terre” is merely the French for rammed earth,
+and rammed earth is an exceedingly good material for the building of
+walls.
+
+The odd thing is that its very obvious merits should have secured it
+such small attention.
+
+It is no new-fangled war-time invention brought forth by our present
+necessity, but a very ancient system well proved by centuries of trial.
+
+_History._--Pliny gives an excellent account of Pisé-building in his
+_Natural History_, and Monsieur Gorffon, who published a treatise on
+this method of construction in 1772, states that it was first introduced
+into France by the Romans.
+
+The following extracts from an old book based on a French original will
+serve well as an introduction to the study of Pisé-building:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Capabilities._--“An account of a method of building strong and durable
+houses, with no other materials than earth; which has been practised for
+ages in the province of Lyons, though little known in the rest of
+France, or in any other part of Europe. It appeared to be attended with
+so many advantages, that many gentlemen in this country who employ their
+leisure in the study of rural economy were induced to make a trial of
+its efficiency; and the result of their experiments has been of such a
+nature as to make them desire, by all possible means, to extend the
+knowledge and practice of so beneficial an art.
+
+“The possibility of raising the walls of houses two or even three
+stories high, with earth only, which will sustain floors loaded with the
+heaviest weights, and of building the largest manufactories in this
+manner, may astonish every one who has not been an eye-witness of such
+things.”
+
+_Of Pisé and its Origin._--“Pisé is a very simple manual operation; it
+is merely by compressing earth in moulds or cases, that we may arrive at
+building houses of any size or height.”
+
+_Locale._--“This art, though at present confined to the single province
+of the Lyonese in France, was known and practised at a very early period
+of antiquity. The Abbé Rozier, in his _Journal de Physique_, says that
+he has discovered some traces of it (Pisé) in Catalonia; so that Spain,
+like France, has a single province in which this ancient manner of
+building has been preserved. The art, however, well deserves to be
+introduced into more general use. The cheapness of the materials which
+it requires, and the great saving of time and labour which it admits of,
+must recommend it in all places and on all occasions, but the French
+author says that it will be found particularly useful in hilly
+countries, where carriage is difficult, and sometimes impracticable; and
+for farm buildings, which, as they must be made of considerable extent,
+are usually very expensive, without yielding any return.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: Method of Building]
+
+§ II. METHOD OF BUILDING
+
+There is an exhaustive article on Pisé in Vol. XXVII of _The Cyclopædia
+or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature_, published in
+1819. The writer, Abraham Rees, D.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., draws chiefly on
+French authorities and his directions are most detailed and precise.
+
+  [Illustration: PISÉ.
+  _Implements for Pisé or Rammed Earth Buildings_
+  +Pisé Plant and Implements.+
+  (Reproduced from an old Encyclopædia.)]
+
+_Definition._--He introduces his subject thus:
+
+“Pisé-building, in Rural Economy, the name of a method of building with
+loamy or other earthy matters, which has long been practised with great
+success, and in a very cheap manner, in some departments of France, and
+which is now had recourse to with similar advantage in some parts of
+this country. It has been described, delineated, and recommended by Mr.
+H. Holland in the first volume of _Communications to the Board of
+Agriculture_, and is to be managed somewhat in the manner directed
+below.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+At great length and with immense detail, the plant, the preliminaries,
+and the process are each severally described.
+
+The pith of the matter is sufficiently given by the following extracts:
+
+_Shuttering._--“For the construction of the mould, take several planks,
+each 10 ft. long, of light wood, in order that the mould may be easy to
+handle; deal is the best as being least liable to warp. To prevent which
+the boards should be straight, sound, well seasoned, and with as few
+knots as possible. Let them be ploughed and tongued, and planed on both
+sides. Of these planks, fastened together with four strong ledges on
+each side, the mould must be made, 2 ft. 9 in. in height; and two
+handles should be fixed to each side.
+
+“All the boards and ledges here mentioned must be, after they are
+planed, something more than 1 in. thick.”
+
+_Rammer._--“The instrument with which the earth is rammed into the mould
+is a tool of the greatest consequence, on which the firmness and
+durability, in short the perfection, of the work depends. It is called a
+pisoir, or rammer; and though it may appear very easy to make it, more
+difficulty will be found in the execution than is at first apprehended.
+A better idea of its construction may be formed by examining the Plate,
+in which it is delineated, than any words can convey. It should be made
+of hard wood, either ash, oak, beech, walnut, etc., or what is
+preferable, the roots of either of them.”
+
+_Method of Working._--“Pisé contains all the best principles of masonry,
+together with some rules peculiar to itself, which are now to be
+explained.
+
+“To begin with the foundation; this may be made of any kind of masonry
+that is durable, and should be raised to the height of 2 ft. above the
+ground; which is necessary to secure the walls from the moisture of the
+earth, and the splashing of the rain, which will drop from the eaves of
+the roof.[4] When these foundation walls are made level, and 18 in.
+thick, mark upon them the distance at which the joists are to be set,
+for receiving the moulds; those distances should be 3 ft. each from
+centre to centre. Each side of the mould being 10 ft. long, will divide
+into three lengths of 3 ft. each, and leave 6 in. at each end, which
+serve to lengthen the mould at the angles of the house and are useful
+for many other purposes. After having set the joists in their places,
+the masonry must be raised between them 6 in. higher, that is, to a
+level with the joists; there will, therefore, altogether be a base of 2½
+ft., which in most cases will be found more than sufficient to prevent
+the rain, frost, snow, or damp from injuring the walls. Raise the mould
+immediately on this new masonry, placing it over one of the angles of
+the wall.
+
+    [Footnote 4: The introduction of a damp-course and the provision
+    of gutters at the eaves greatly reduce the function of the
+    masonry base in modern work.]
+
+    [Headnote: The Ramming]
+
+“A workman should be placed in each of the three divisions of the mould,
+the best workman being placed at the angle. He is to direct the work of
+the other two, and by occasionally applying a plumb-rule, to take care
+that the mould does not swerve from its upright position. The labourers
+who dig and prepare the earth must give it in small quantities to the
+workmen in the mould, who, after having spread it with their feet, begin
+to compress it with the rammer. They must only receive at a time so much
+as will cover the bottom of the mould to the thickness of 3 or 4 in. The
+first strokes of the rammer should be given close to the sides of the
+mould, but they must be afterwards applied to every other part of the
+surface; the men should then cross their strokes, so that the earth may
+be compressed in every direction. Those who stand next to one another in
+the mould should regulate their strokes so as to beat at the same time
+under the cord, because that part cannot be got at without difficulty,
+and must be struck obliquely; with this precaution, the whole will be
+equally compressed. The man at the angle of the wall should beat
+carefully against the head of the mould.
+
+“Care must be taken that no fresh earth is received into the mould till
+the first layer is well beaten, which may be ascertained by striking it
+with a rammer; the stroke should leave hardly any print on the place.
+They must proceed in this manner to ram in layer after layer, till the
+whole mould is full. When this is done, the machine may be taken to
+pieces, and the earth which is contained will remain firm and upright,
+about 9 ft. in length and 2½ ft. in height. The mould may then be
+replaced for another length, including 1 in. of that which has first
+been completed.
+
+“The first course being thus completed, we proceed to the second; and
+here it must be observed that in each successive course we must proceed
+in a direction contrary to that of the preceding. It may easily be
+conceived, that with this precaution the joints of the several lengths
+will be inclined in opposite directions, which will contribute very much
+to the firmness of the work. There is no reason to fear overcharging the
+first course with the second, though but just laid; for three courses
+may be laid without danger in one day.
+
+“This description of the first two courses is equally applicable to all
+the others, and will enable any person to build a house, with no other
+materials than earth, of whatever height and extent he pleases.
+
+“With respect to the gables, they may be made without any difficulty, by
+merely making their inclination in the mould and working the earth
+accordingly.”
+
+
+§ III. THE THEORY AND SCIENCE OF PISÉ
+
+_The Value of Ramming._--“Beating, or compression, is used in many
+different sorts of work; the ancients employed it in making their rough
+walls; the Italians employ it for the terraces which adorn their houses;
+the Moors for all their walls; the Spaniards, the French, and others for
+some of the floors of their apartments. The intent of the ancient
+architects, when they recommended the beating of cement and other
+compositions used in building, was to prevent them from shrinking and
+cracking; and it is employed for the same purpose in walls which are
+made of earth. The beater, by repeated strokes, forces out from the
+earth the superfluous water which is contained and closely unites all
+the particles together, by which means the natural attraction of these
+particles is made powerful to operate, as it is by other natural causes
+in the formation of stones. Hence arises the increasing strength and
+astonishing durability which houses of this kind are found to possess.”
+
+_An Experiment._--“Upon beating a small portion of earth, and weighing
+it immediately afterwards, it was found to weigh 39½ lb. Fifteen days
+after, it had lost 4¼ lb. In the space of another fifteen days it lost
+but 1 lb.; and in fifteen days after that its weight diminished only ½
+lb. In the space of about forty-five days the moisture was completely
+evaporated, and its weight was diminished about one-eighth; consequently
+only one-eighth of the whole mass was occupied by moisture, and this
+small proportion cannot at all affect the solidity and consistency of
+the earth so treated. This experiment is also sufficient to show the
+difference between this kind of building and that vulgar kind called in
+England ‘mud-walling.’”
+
+_Rate of Work._--“In one single day three courses of about 3 ft. each
+may be laid one over the other; so that a wall of earth of about 8 or 9
+ft., or one story high, may be safely raised in one day. Experience has
+proved that as soon as the builders have raised their walls to a proper
+height for flooring, the heaviest beams and rafters may without danger
+be placed on the walls thus newly made; and that the thickest timber of
+a roof may be laid on the gables of pisé the very instant they are
+completed.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: Suitable Soils]
+
+  ON EARTH PROPER FOR BUILDING
+
+_Suitable Soils._--“1st. All earths in general are fit for that use,
+when they have not the lightness of poor lands nor the stiffness of
+clay.
+
+“2ndly. All earths fit for vegetation.
+
+“3rdly. Brick-earths; but these, if they are used alone, are apt to
+crack, owing to the quantity of moisture which they contain. This,
+however, does not hinder persons who understand the business from using
+them to a good purpose.
+
+“4thly. Strong earths, with a mixture of small gravel, which for that
+reason cannot serve for making either bricks, tiles, or pottery. These
+gravelly earths are very useful, and the best pisé is made of them.”
+
+_Soil Tests._--“The following appearances indicate that the earth in
+which they are found is fit for building: when a pickaxe, spade, or
+plough brings up large lumps of earth at a time; when arable lands lies
+in clods or lumps; when field-mice have made themselves subterraneous
+passages in the earth; all these are favourable signs. When the roads of
+a village, having been worn away by the water continually running
+through them, are lower than the other lands, and the sides of those
+roads support themselves almost upright, it is a sure mark that pisé may
+be executed in that village. One may also discover the fitness of the
+soil by trying to break with one’s fingers the little clods of earth in
+the roads, and finding a difficulty in doing it; or by observing the
+ruts of the road, in which the cart-wheels make a sort of pisé by their
+pressure; whenever there are deep ruts on a road, one may be sure of
+finding abundance of proper earth.
+
+“Proper earth is found at the bottom of the slopes of low lands that are
+cultivated, because every year the rain brings down the fat or good
+earth. It is frequently found on the banks of the river, but above all,
+it is found at the foot of hills, and on all cultivated lands which have
+much slope. In digging trenches and cellars for building, it generally
+happens that what comes out of them is fit for the purpose.”
+
+
+  ON THE MIXTURE OF EARTHS
+
+_Soil Blending._--“As it may sometimes happen that earth of a proper
+quality is not to be found on the spot where it is intended to build, it
+becomes of importance to attend to the method of mixing earths; for
+though the earth which is near at hand may not of itself be proper, it
+is very probable that it may be rendered so by the mixture of a small
+quantity of another earth fetched from a distance. The principle on
+which a mixture must be made is very simple; strong earths must be
+tempered with light; those in which clay predominates, with others that
+are composed more of chalk and sand; and those of a rich, glutinous
+substance, with others of a poor and barren nature. The degree in which
+these qualities of the earths prevail must determine the proportions of
+the mixture; which it is impossible here to point out for every
+particular case, but which may be learnt by a little practice. Some easy
+methods will be described, by which any one may make a trial of the
+qualities of his earth.
+
+“It will not be amiss to mix with the earth some small pebbles, gravel,
+rubbish of mortar, or in short any small mineral substances; but none of
+the animal or vegetable kind must be admitted.[5] Such hard substances
+bind the earth firmly between them, and being pressed and pressing in
+all directions, contribute very much to the solidity of the whole; so
+that well-worked earth, in which there is a mixture of gravel, becomes
+so hard at the end of two years that a chisel must be used to break it,
+as if it was freestone.”
+
+    [Footnote 5: “The pisé does not admit any vegetable or animal
+    substances. In mud walls they put straw, chopped hay, hair,
+    flocks, wool, etc., to make the mud adhere to the wood, or laths;
+    whereas the workmen who build in pisé are careful to pick out the
+    least straw or the smallest bit of root which remains in the
+    earth: in short, the pisé is a mineral substance imitating stone,
+    consequently anything that can slake or rot must be excluded.”]
+
+
+    [Headnote: Experiments]
+
+  EXPERIMENTS TO ASCERTAIN THE QUALITIES OF ANY EARTH
+
+_Trial by Experiment._--“Take a small wooden tub or pail, without a
+bottom, dig a hole in the ground of a court or garden, and at the bottom
+of that hole fix a piece of stone, flat and level; place your tub upon
+the stone, fill around it the earth that has been dug out to make the
+hole, and ram it well, that the tub may be enclosed, to prevent its
+bursting. Then ram into the tub the earth you mean to try; putting in,
+at each time, about the thickness of three or four fingers’ breadths:
+when this is well rammed, add as much more, and ram it in the same
+manner, and so the third and fourth, etc., till the earth is raised
+above the brim. This superfluous earth must be scraped off extremely
+smooth, and rendered as even as the under-part will be, which lies on
+the stone. Loosen with a spade the earth around the tub, and you will
+then be able to take it out, and with it the compressed earth that it
+contains; then turn the tub upside down, and if it is wider at the top
+than at the bottom, as such vessels usually are, the pisé will easily
+come out, but if it should happen to stick, let it dry in the air about
+twenty-four hours, and you will then find that the earth is loose enough
+to fall out of itself. You must be careful to cover this lump of pisé
+with a little board; for though a shower of rain, falling in an oblique
+direction, will not injure it, yet it may be a little damaged if the
+rain falls perpendicularly, and especially if it remains upon it. Leave
+the lump exposed to the air, only covered with a board or flat stone,
+and if it continues without cracking or crumbling, and increases daily
+in density and compactness as its natural moisture decreases, you may be
+sure that the earth is fit for building. But you must remember that it
+is necessary that the earth employed should be taken from a little below
+the surface of the ground, in order that it may be neither too dry nor
+too wet; it must be observed also that if the earth is not well pressed
+around the outside of the tub before it is filled, though the hoops were
+of iron, they would burst, so great is the pressure of the beaten earth
+against the mould, of whatever size it may be.”
+
+_The Earth-ball Test--An Experiment which may be made at any
+time._--“Every person in walking on his ground may make little balls of
+earth and press them as tight as he can between his hands. If he brings
+them home and puts marks on them, he will by that means know the quality
+of every piece of land, and also be a judge of the mixture it will be
+necessary to make.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: Preparation of the Earth]
+
+  ON THE PREPARATION OF THE EARTH FOR BUILDING
+
+_Soil Preparation._--“All the operations of this art are very simple and
+easy; there is nothing to be done but to dig up the earth with a
+pickaxe, break the clods with a shovel, so as to divide it well, and
+then lay it in a heap, which is very necessary, because as the labourers
+throw it on that heap, the lumps of earth and large stones roll to the
+bottom, where another man may break them or draw them away with a rake.
+I must observe that there should be an interval of about an inch and a
+quarter between the teeth of the rake, that the stones and pebbles of
+the size of a walnut, or something more, may escape, and that it may
+draw off only the largest. If the earth that has been dug has not the
+proper quality, which is seldom the case, and it is necessary to fetch
+some better from a distance, then the mixture must be made in this
+manner: one man must throw one shovelful of the best sort, while the
+others throw five or six of the inferior sort on the heap, and so more
+or less according to the proportions which have been previously
+ascertained.”
+
+_Rain._--“No more earth should be prepared than the men can work in one
+day, or a little more, that they may not be in want; but if rain is
+expected, you must have at hand either planks, mats, or old cloths to
+lay over the heap of earth, so that the rain may not wet it; and then as
+soon as the rain is over, the men may resume their work, which, without
+this precaution, must be delayed; for it must be remembered that the
+earth cannot be used when it is either too dry or too wet, and therefore
+if the rain should wet it after it has been prepared, the men will be
+obliged to wait till it has recovered its proper consistency--a delay
+which would be equally disadvantageous to them and their employer. When
+the earth has been soaked by rain, instead of suffering compression, it
+becomes mud in the mould; even though it be but a little too moist, it
+cannot be worked; it swells under the blows of the rammer, and a stroke
+in one place makes it rise in another. When this is the case, it is
+better to stop the work, for the men find so much difficulty that it is
+not worth while to proceed. But there is not the same necessity of
+discontinuing the work when the earth is too dry, for it is easy to give
+it the necessary degree of moisture; in such a case it should be
+sprinkled with a watering-pot, and afterwards well mixed up together; it
+will then be fit for use.”
+
+_Organic Matter._--“It has already been observed that no vegetable
+substances should be left in the earth; therefore in digging, as well as
+in laying the earth in a heap, great care must be taken to pick out
+every bit of root, great and small, all sprigs and herbs, all bits of
+hay and straw, chips or shavings of woods, and in general everything
+that can rot or suffer a change in the earth.”
+
+
+  ON THE BOND TIMBER TO BE USED IN BUILDINGS OF PISÉ
+
+_Corners._--“To make good walls, it is not sufficient that the earth be
+well beaten, we must also learn to unite them well together. Here the
+binders cost very little; they consist only of thin pieces of wood,
+a few cramps and nails, and these are sufficient to give the greatest
+stability to buildings of pisé.”
+
+Having gone on to explain that the angles of the building are formed by
+the successive courses alternately crossing one another on the corner
+like the alternating “long and short” quoins in a stone building, our
+authority proceeds to describe how rough boards are laid between the
+courses of pisé so as to cross at the corner and so, entirely encased in
+tightly compressed earth, they form effective ties.
+
+“This board must be rough, as the sawyers have left it, 5 or 6 ft. long,
+something less than 1 in. thick, and in breadth about 8, 9 or 10 in., so
+that there may remain on each side 4 or 5 in. of earth, if the wall is
+18 in. thick; by this means the board will be entirely concealed in the
+body of the wall. When thus placed neither the air nor damp can reach
+it, and of course there is no danger of its rotting. This has been often
+proved by experience, as in taking down old houses of pisé such boards
+have always been found perfectly sound, and many that had not even lost
+the colour of new wood. It is easy to conceive how much this board, from
+the pressure of the work raised above it, will help to bind together the
+two lengths of wall and to strengthen the angle.”
+
+_Bonders._--“It is useful (particularly when the earth is not of a very
+good quality) to put ends of planks into the pisé after it has been
+rammed about half the height of the mould. These ends of planks should
+only be 10 or 11 in. long, to leave as before a few inches of earth on
+each side of the wall, if it is 18 in. thick; they should be laid
+crosswise (as the plank before mentioned is laid lengthwise) over the
+whole course, at the distance of about 2 ft. from one another, and will
+serve to equalise the pressure of the upper parts of the works on the
+lower course of the pisé.
+
+“The boards above mentioned need only be placed at the angles of the
+exterior wall, and in those parts where the courses of the partition
+walls join to those of the exterior wall, the same directions that have
+here been given for the second course must be observed at each
+succeeding course, up to the roof. By these means the reader will
+perceive that an innumerable quantity of holders or bondings will be
+formed, which sometimes draw to the right, sometimes to the left of the
+angles, and which powerfully unite the front walls with those of the
+partitions; the several parts deriving mutual support from one another,
+and the whole being rendered compact and solid.”
+
+    [Headnote: The Strength of Pisé]
+
+_Strength._--“Hence these houses, made of earth alone, are able to
+resist the violence of the highest winds, storms and tempests. The
+height that is intended to be given to each story being known, boards of
+3 or 4 ft. in length should be placed beforehand in the pisé, in those
+places where the beams are to be fixed, and as soon as the mould no
+longer occupies that place, the beams may be laid on, though the pisé be
+fresh made; little slips of wood, or boards, may be introduced under
+them, in order to fix them level. The beams thus fixed for each story,
+the pisé may be continued as high as the place on which you intend to
+erect the roof.”
+
+
+  ON THE TIME AND LABOUR NECESSARY IN BUILDING
+    A CERTAIN QUANTITY OF PISÉ
+
+_Speed of Building._--“Besides the advantages of strength and cheapness,
+this method of building possesses that of speed in the execution. That
+the reader may know the time that is required for building a house, or
+an enclosure, he need only be told that a mason used to the work can,
+with the help of his labourer, when the earth lies near, build in one
+day 6 ft. square of the pisé.”
+
+_Rendering._--“To prepare the walls for plastering, indent them with the
+point of the hammer, or hatchet, without being afraid of spoiling the
+surface left by the mould; all those little dents must be made as close
+as possible to each other, and cut in from top to bottom, so that every
+hole may have a little rest in the inferior part, which will serve to
+retain and support the plaster.
+
+“If you happen to lay the plaster over them before the dampness is
+entirely gone, you must expect that the sweat of the walls will cast off
+the plaster.”
+
+The wall surface having been duly hammer-chipped, the work must be
+scoured with a stiff brush to remove all loose earth and dust, and to
+finally prepare it for rough-casting. Rough-cast consists of a small
+quantity of mortar, diluted with water in a tub, to which a trowel of
+pure lime is added, so as to make it about the thickness of cream.
+
+One workman and his labourers are sufficient; the workman on the
+scaffold sprinkles with a brush the wall he has indented, swept, and
+prepared; after that he dips another brush, made of bits of reed, box,
+etc., into the tub which contains the rough-cast, and throws with this
+brush the rough-cast against the wall.
+
+“Rough-cast, which is attended with so little trouble and expense, is
+notwithstanding the best cover that can be made for pisé walls, and for
+all other constructions; it contributes to preserve the buildings. It is
+the peculiar advantage of these buildings that all the materials they
+require are cheap, and all the workmanship simple and easy.”
+
+_Local Testimony._--At the end of the article just summarised, an
+instructive letter from a former rector of St. John’s, La Rochelle, is
+quoted:
+
+  “SIR,--
+
+“My having been an inhabitant for some time of the town of Montbrison,
+capital of the Forets, enables me to give you some information
+concerning the mode of building houses with earth, etc.
+
+    [Headnote: A Pisé Church]
+
+_A Pisé Church._--“The church was the most remarkable in this style of
+building; it is about 80 ft. long, 40 ft. broad, and 50 ft. high; the
+walls built in pisé, 18 in. thick, and crépé, or rough-cast on the
+outside, with lime and sand. Soon after my arrival, the church, by some
+accident, was destroyed by fire, and remained unroofed for about a
+twelvemonth, exposed to rains and frost. As it was suspected that the
+walls had sustained much damage, either by fire or the inclemency of the
+season, and might fall down, it was determined to throw them down
+partially, and leave only the lower parts standing; but even this was
+not done without much difficulty, such was the firmness and hardness
+these walls had acquired, the church having stood above eighty years;
+and all the repairs required were only to give it on the outside, every
+twelve or fifteen years, a new coating of rough-cast.
+
+“A house for a single family is generally finished in about a fortnight.
+The following is the method I have seen them practise.”
+
+_Building Procedure._--“The earth is pounded as much as possible, in
+order to crumble any stones therein; clay is added thereto in a small
+quantity, about one-eighth part. It is all beaten and mixed up together
+by repeated blows with a mallet about 10 in. broad, and 10 or 15 in.
+long, and 2 in. thick. The earth being thus prepared, and slightly
+wetted, the foundation of the house is dug for; this is laid with stone,
+and when it is about 1 ft. high above the surface of the ground, planks
+are arranged on each side, which are filled with earth intended for the
+wall; this is called Pisé in the dialect of the country. It is strongly
+beaten; and this method is continued successively all round the
+building. The walls have more or less thickness according to the fancy
+of the owner; I have seen them 6 in. and 18 in. thick. If several
+stories are intended in such erections, they do not fail to place beams
+to support the floors before they build higher. Of such buildings I
+never saw any consisting of more than three floors at most; generally
+they have but two. When the building is thus finished, it is left for
+some months to dry; then such as wish to make the building more solid
+and durable, give it a rough-cast coating on the outside with lime and
+sand. This is what I have observed during a residence of three years in
+the town of Montbrison. I should be happy if this detail should afford
+the slightest information to the generous nation which has received us
+with so much goodness.
+
+  “I am, etc.,
+
+    “JAUCOUR.”
+
+
+_The Virtues of Pisé._--“Such is the method of building which has been
+practised in the Lyonnese for many centuries. Houses so built are
+strong, healthy, and very cheap, they will last a great length of time,
+for the French author says he had pulled down some of them which, from
+the title-deeds in the possession of the proprietors, appeared to be 165
+years old, though they had been ill kept in repair. The rich traders of
+Lyons have no other way of building their country-houses. An outside
+covering of painting in fresco, which is attended with very little
+expense, conceals from the eye of the spectator the nature of the
+building, and is a handsome ornament to the house. That method of
+painting has more freshness and brilliancy than any other, because water
+does not impair the colours. No size, oil, or expense is required,
+manual labour is almost all it costs, either to the rich or poor. Any
+person may make his house look as splendid as he pleases, for a few
+pence laid out in red or yellow ochre, or in other mineral colours.
+
+“Strangers who have sailed upon the Rhône probably never suspected that
+those beautiful houses, which they saw rising on the hills around them,
+were built of nothing but earth, nay, many persons have dwelt for a
+considerable time in such houses without ever being aware of their
+singular construction. Farmers in that country generally have them
+simply white-washed, but others, who have a greater taste for ornament,
+add pilasters, window-cases, panels, and decorations of various kinds.
+
+“There is every reason for introducing this method of building into all
+parts of the kingdom; whether we consider the honour of the nation as
+concerned in the neatness of its villages, the great saving of wood
+which it will occasion, and the consequent security from fire, or the
+health of the inhabitants, to which it will greatly contribute, as such
+houses are never liable to the extremes of heat or cold. It is attended
+with many other circumstances that are advantageous to the State as well
+as to individuals. It saves both time and labour in building, and the
+houses may be inhabited almost immediately after they are finished; for
+which latter purpose, the holes made for the joists should not be closed
+up directly, as the air, if suffered to circulate through them, will dry
+the walls more speedily.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: Indian and Colonial Practice]
+
+§ IV. INDIAN AND COLONIAL PRACTICE
+
+_A Manual on Earthwork_, edited by Colonel Maclagan, R.E., gives much
+interesting information as to Pisé-building and a number of valuable
+hints:
+
+_Shutter-ties._--“Cross pieces, as the work proceeds, become so firmly
+embedded in the wall, that there is great difficulty in extracting them,
+to remedy which iron bars have been substituted. Even these thin iron
+bars become so tightly jammed when surrounded by the compact pisé earth,
+that much labour and risk of injury to the work is incurred in
+extricating them, and the expedient of setting them in a bed of sand has
+been successfully resorted to. They are then drawn out with care, the
+sand also is removed, and the holes which they leave are subsequently
+filled with the same earth of which the wall is made, and rammed hard.
+
+“The heads of the opposite uprights are held together by ropes, but in
+practice in this country[6] it has been found that, under the immense
+pressure exerted upon the plank sides by the earth firmly rammed in the
+interior, the ropes are so liable to stretch, and to break, that it is
+advisable to use iron rods or bars in this position also. When ropes are
+used, the distance between the side planks is measured by gauge rods,
+and the ropes tightened when requisite to preserve the proper breadth of
+wall. The use of iron connecting rods renders this unnecessary.”
+
+    [Footnote 6: India.]
+
+_Soil._--“Soil of a medium quality, that is neither very stiff nor very
+sandy, is considered best adapted for pisé. It may be said that that
+which would make good bricks will answer well for this description of
+work.
+
+“When the earth is very dry, a sprinkling of water will be necessary.”
+
+_Foundations._--“It is usual to begin the work upon a foundation of
+brick or masonry; but there seems to be no reason why the pisé might not
+be used from the commencement, even for foundations under ground; being
+carefully guarded from all chance of injury by running water.”
+
+_The Building._--“The casing being prepared and erected, and the upper
+surface of the old work, when above the first stage, being sprinkled
+with water, the earth, well mixed and slightly moistened, is thrown in,
+and spread in thin layers of 4 or 5 in. These should, when rammed, be
+reduced to one-half their original thickness. The rammers should be of
+hard wood and very smooth. The successive layers are similarly treated,
+and thus the work proceeds until the top of the casing is reached. The
+ends of each portion should be finished with a slope, to which will be
+joined the portion next to be added longitudinally. These joinings
+should not, in the successive courses, be above those of the lower
+stage, but as in masonry and brickwork, should ‘break joint.’ The seams
+are all distinctly perceptible when the work is complete.”
+
+    [Headnote: Plastering]
+
+_Plastering._--“The wall may have a coating of plaster, or the surface
+may be simply smoothed and dressed with a shovel, or similar implement.
+When it is to be plastered, it is necessary that the wall should first
+be thoroughly dry. If dry only externally whilst damp within, it has
+been found that the moisture is apt subsequently to attack the plaster
+and cause it to fall off in flakes. Without plaster, good Pisé work is
+found successfully to withstand exposure to the weather, and after the
+lapse of many years to be so compact and hard as to be picked down with
+difficulty.”
+
+_Protection._--“Where the wall is not that of a roofed building, it
+should be provided with a coping, having a good projection to protect it
+from rain.”
+
+_Rods versus Bars._--“The substitution of iron connecting bars for the
+wooden ones has been mentioned above. The evils of the wooden
+arrangement were found to be: the starting of the wedges, the fracture
+of the tenons, the tight jamming of the bars in the wall, and the injury
+to the walls and to the bars themselves from the force requisite to be
+applied for extracting them. The lower iron connecting bars are made 3½
+in. by ½ in.; the upper, 1 in. by ⅓ or ¼ in. each, having holes ½ in.
+by ¼ in., with corresponding pins.
+
+“The mode of setting the bars and arranging the work on each successive
+elevation of the casing is to cut on the surface of the completed part
+of the wall a groove 1 in. wider than the bar, filling it in, after
+placing the bar, with sand, to the level of the wall’s surface. The side
+boarding being set up, the vacant space left along the bevelled edge of
+the previous course is filled up with moist clay to retain the first
+layer of the new course. The end pieces are secured by iron bars or
+rods, with screws and nuts.”[7]
+
+    [Footnote 7: “A convenient arrangement might be: to make the
+    lower and upper connecting bars alike, to raise the side boarding
+    a few inches above the upper bars, which, when embedded, might be
+    allowed to remain and become the lower ones of the next course;
+    the external apparatus being shifted by taking out the pins and
+    slipping off the stanchions and planks to be reapplied to the
+    upper bars already in position to receive them.”]
+
+_Ramming._--“Gentle and quick ramming has been found most effectual.”
+
+
+  _Report on the Pisé-work executed at the Etah Jail during 1867-8.
+  By Mr. H. Sprenger, Assistant Engineer_
+
+“The boxes in which the pisé-work at the Etah Jail is being executed
+consist of two wooden frames 10 ft. long and 2½ ft. broad, made of
+planks, which are nailed on to stout battens. They are held together by
+four pairs of posts 3 in. by 3 in., which are connected above and below
+with tie-bars of flat iron 1½ in. by ¼ in. The tie-bars have at each end
+a certain number of ½ in. holes punched in them to receive pins for the
+purpose of preventing the posts from slipping off. By changing the pins,
+walls of any given dimension can be obtained, wedges of hard wood, with
+longitudinal slots, are introduced between the posts and the pins, to
+adjust the breadth of the boxes to a standard gauge. After the boxes are
+fixed and adjusted, they are secured in their position by ropes passing
+over them, and tied to stakes on each side. Any deflection from the
+vertical should be corrected at the commencement of the work, as it is
+impossible to alter the position of a box after it is half full. Any
+earth which is suitable for brick-making will do for pisé-work. On being
+dug out it is passed through a screen with ½-in. meshes, and thrown into
+the boxes in even layers of 6 in. in depth.
+
+    [Headnote: The Right Quantity of Water]
+
+“Generally fresh earth contains sufficient moisture to ensure good
+consolidation; but if it is found that it jumps up under the rammers, it
+should, on being thrown into the boxes, be sprinkled with a little water
+out of a tin can with a rose. The watering should be as uniform as
+possible, as if it is applied unequally it will liquefy the earth, which
+will commence oozing out under the rammers. Pisé-work executed with too
+much water is worse than if done with dry earth, as, on account of the
+elasticity of the wet earth, the effect of the ramming is deadened, and
+the earth remains unconsolidated. The men should be prohibited to keep
+time in ramming, as it causes vibration, which is injurious to the
+stability of the wall. On working over a lower course, it is as well to
+let the lower tie-bars about 4 in. into the same to give the boxes a
+firm hold on the old work, thereby the joints become imperceptible, and
+the upper edge of the lower course is prevented from chipping off.
+
+“The implements used are three different kinds of rammers. The earth is
+first beaten down with a V-shaped rammer, and then surfaced with one
+with a flat bottom. The sides of the boxes are consolidated with a
+spade-shaped rammer. When commencing the pisé-work at Etah, considerable
+difficulty was experienced in extricating the lower tie-bars. These
+were, therefore, supplied with holes 3 in. apart throughout their whole
+length. A pin was inserted, against which a crow-bar with a long slot
+and well bent at the end was made to work. An equal pressure could
+thereby be exerted against the tie-bars; they were thus extracted with
+great facility without injuring them or the face of the wall, which was
+not the case formerly.”
+
+
+  _Supplementary Note by Mr. E. Battie, Executive Engineer,
+  5th Division, Grand Trunk Road_
+
+“The work at Etah has generally been concluded in the following manner:
+In the morning the boxes were taken down, and again put up and filled
+during the day; they were left during the night, so that the earth might
+detach itself from the sides. It is not advisable to allow a course to
+dry thoroughly, as the upper one will not bind well into it, but
+probably show a crack. If the earth is well rammed, and only the proper
+quantity of moisture admitted, a second course can be commenced
+immediately.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+The Report of the Rhodesia Munitions and Resources Committee issued in
+1918 contains an interesting paper by Mr. John Hynd on Pisé-building,
+from which the following is extracted:
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pisé Buildings at Empandeni]
+
+“_Pisé de Terre Buildings_
+
+“_The Spectator_ took this matter up some two years ago and wrote as
+follows:
+
+“‘Various schemes of land settlement are in the air. . . . All of them
+must, however, be concerned with cheap buildings. That is a _sine qua
+non_.’ . . .
+
+“The material used for the walls at Empandeni is one-third sand,
+one-third ant-heap, and one-third soil, all pulverised and put through a
+sieve. Water is then added. The mixture must be neither too wet nor too
+dry, just sufficiently damp to bind; a good indication of the correct
+consistency being that when squeezed hard by the hand it shows a
+tendency to bind. Sufficient of the loose mixture is thrown into the
+form to fill it to a depth of about 3 in., and this is thoroughly rammed
+before the next layer is put in. Most thorough ramming is essential.
+When the frame is rammed full, it is taken apart and shifted along to
+make another section and so on until the first layer is complete. The
+first layer is, as a rule, sufficiently dry to permit the starting of
+the next about three hours after laying. Door and window frames are put
+in as the work proceeds, and must be well braced while ramming. In the
+top layer hoop iron or fencing wire is let in for fastening down the
+wall plates. Arsenite of soda or Atlas Compound is used in the first
+layer or two to keep out white ants. The floor can be made of timber,
+cement concrete, or rammed earth, and the roof thatched or covered with
+corrugated iron as is most convenient.
+
+“The following Pisé de terre buildings have been erected at Empandeni:
+
+“A large schoolroom 75 ft. by 28 ft. by 12 ft. high, walls 14 in. thick;
+seven boys’ dormitories, each 30 ft. by 20 ft. by 12 ft.; twelve
+single-room houses, each 16 ft. by 12 ft.; six fowl houses, each 20 ft.
+by 10 ft.; a large fowl house 250 ft. long, front walls 7 ft. and back
+walls 5 ft. high. This building is divided into fifteen compartments.
+
+“From the foregoing description it is quite evident that cheap and
+efficient buildings of this nature can be erected at a very low cost.
+
+“On a farm it is not necessary to employ any skilled labour, as the
+doors and windows can be purchased ready-made, and the frame-work,
+clamps, etc., put together by the farmer himself. For a roof of thatch
+all the necessary material, except iron ridging, if this is used, can as
+a rule be procured on the farm.
+
+“Should a cement concrete floor, which is cheaper than a wood one, be
+desired, there would be an extra expenditure for cement, the amount
+required being about two bags per twelve square yards. Such a floor
+should be laid before the walls of the building are commenced, and it is
+essential that the site is thoroughly well rammed and consolidated,
+particularly below where walls will come, before laying the concrete, to
+prevent cracks developing through settlement. The concrete raft should
+be carried at least 6 in. beyond the outside walls of the building, and
+if the work is properly done, a special ant-course will be unnecessary.
+The concrete can be left rough below the walls to give a bond, and it
+might be advisable to lay some pieces of hoop iron in it which would be
+left projecting to be bedded into the walls.
+
+“Another good type of floor would probably be that suggested in _The
+Spectator_, viz. road material laid down and tarred in the same manner
+as roads are now made in many places.
+
+“A number of rooms and houses have been erected on the Globe and Phœnix
+Mine on much the same principle as Pisé de terre buildings, but the
+system developed there is different as regards the mixture, which
+consists of two parts ant-heap or ordinary dagga which must not be too
+sandy, and three parts ashes or clinker sieved free from fine dust.
+
+“A very full description of the method employed on this mine was
+forwarded by the courtesy of the Manager to the Committee, and it is
+interesting to note from this that the walls are made waterproof by
+first making them smooth with dagga plaster, then, when quite dry,
+giving one good coat of boiling hot tar. A coat of limewash is applied
+three days later. That this is effective is well evidenced by the fact
+that the buildings erected have successfully withstood our last
+abnormally heavy rainy season.
+
+“The Globe and Phœnix system is the result of a number of experiments
+carried out on that mine. Their mixture, which is stated to be
+ant-proof, contains more moisture than Pisé de terre, and each course is
+reinforced with old wire rope, or other suitable scrap. The material is
+left in a heap for one or two days before being used.
+
+“Circular huts have been built on the mine of the same material, the
+forms being made of two rings of corrugated iron in three or more
+sections joined up with cleats at the end laps and held in position with
+cross bolts and distance pieces. The inner ring is 9 in. less radius
+than the outer one.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pisé Buildings for Settlers]
+
+  _Extracts from a paper on Pisé in the “Farmers’ Handbook,”
+  issued by the Department of Agriculture, New South Wales, 1911_
+
+“Pisé is a material readily obtainable by the settler, of which cheap
+and durable buildings can be easily and substantially erected.
+
+“For the construction of pastoral or agricultural buildings, especially
+in districts remote from railways, or from towns in which other building
+materials are cheap or easily procurable, pisé is particularly well
+adapted. In the country earth is plentiful and readily obtainable; in
+the city or town such is not the case, and this fact, combined with the
+very bulky nature of the material, prohibits its use in such centres of
+population.
+
+“To the selector or settler, who, like many of our successful pioneers,
+is not burdened with a superfluity of hard cash, but who possesses an
+abundant capital of energy, combined with a certain amount of handiness,
+pisé has an additional advantage (which it shares with slabs, wattle and
+daub, etc.) over most other building materials, in that it affords him
+an opportunity of erecting his homesteading largely as the result of his
+own labour.
+
+“As a building material, pisé is infinitely superior and more durable
+than slabs, galvanised iron, or weather-boards. In fact it is
+questionable whether it is not more suitable for our climate, and
+therefore to be preferred to brickwork; for pisé buildings, properly
+protected and finished, are quite as durable and much cooler than
+buildings constructed with solid brick walls. This statement may be
+questioned by some whose knowledge of pisé is limited to buildings so
+badly planned that the very elementary principles of building
+construction have been neglected. This neglect, which is all too common,
+makes things bad enough, but when to it is added, as is sometimes the
+case, indifferent workmanship, combined with the use of unsuitable
+material, the result does not call for admiration, and it is not
+surprising that a bad impression is created. With no other knowledge of
+pisé it is only natural to condemn it because of such specimens, but
+under similar circumstances other better-known building materials of
+proved excellence would also be condemned. Brickwork would just as
+readily be condemned if its building qualities had to be estimated by
+the appearance presented by a brick building which had been constructed
+of badly-burnt bricks laid by unskilful tradesmen on an imperfectly
+thought-out plan. Just as with other building materials, the
+possibilities of this material can only be judged by an examination of
+properly planned and constructed examples of the pisé-builder’s art.
+Such are found here and there throughout the country, pleasing to look
+at, affording comfort and satisfaction to their owners. A properly
+constructed pisé building can be finished to suit the taste of the most
+fastidious. Even without plaster the walls can be ‘floated’ down and a
+‘skin’ obtained on them which, when limewashed, resembles stonework.
+When plastered inside and out they possess the advantages of a stone
+house, and are erected at a fraction of the cost.
+
+“Some idea may be formed of the durability of pisé by the fact that
+there is a stable built of pisé which has been in constant use for over
+sixty years, and which at the present time is in good order. The good
+condition of this stable is the more surprising because the external
+walls are unprotected from the weather, and it is generally recognised
+that pisé-work, especially if unplastered, should be protected from the
+direct action of rain. Pisé buildings are said to have a life of a
+century and a half.
+
+“The stability of pisé buildings is beyond question, as is proved by the
+following instance:--At Lambrigg, a second-story brick building, with
+14-in. walls, and containing ten rooms, is built upon a lower story of
+pisé. The bricklayer who had the contract for erecting the brick portion
+of the house refused, as it was built upon pisé, to guarantee his work.
+Some time after the completion of the house he visited it, and after a
+thorough examination of the building, declared that it was the most
+substantial brick house in the district, as it had not a crack in it,
+a feature which was somewhat unusual in that locality. Another case
+bearing on the same subject is that of a residence at Temora. When this
+building was being constructed the workmen omitted to leave holes for
+the bolts which were to secure the verandah plates to the walls, as it
+was thought these could readily be bored out afterwards with an auger.
+On attempting to bore out these holes on the completion of the building,
+and when the pisé-work had become drier, the operation of boring proved
+so difficult as to be practically impossible, and had to be abandoned.
+
+    [Headnote: Builders’ Aversions]
+
+“The merits of pisé-work have been recognised in France, India, Mexico,
+and California for years past, and seeing its equal suitability for our
+climate, it is surprising that these merits have not led to its being
+more extensively used. The principal reason for this seems to be because
+our builders are averse to undertaking this class of work, and in
+consequence the bulk of it is placed in the hands of untrained men, who,
+whilst quite fitted to carry out the pisé-work, are not competent to
+undertake the other constructive work of a building. However, they do
+not hesitate to do this, as well as to undertake the more important work
+(though unrecognised as being so) of planning out the building. The
+result is in most cases an improperly planned and defectively
+constructed building, which appeals to no one, but has a tendency to
+bring pisé into disrepute.
+
+“The reason for a builder’s unwillingness to undertake pisé-work is not
+far to seek. For the successful carrying out of his work a builder
+relies upon skilled tradesmen; our tradesmen are trained in cities and
+towns, and as pisé is not a suitable material for such places, tradesmen
+do not become familiar with it. A good builder with a reputation to lose
+shrinks from placing that reputation at the mercy of a pisé-builder, who
+is not recognised as a tradesman, and in whom, in consequence of this,
+a builder is likely to have little or no confidence.
+
+“The actual erection of pisé-work presents so little difficulty that it
+can be done by any one who has sufficient strength to shovel earth and
+wield a rammer, provided he will exercise care to see that the moulds or
+boxes into which the earth is shovelled are kept plumb and in straight
+lines. The average settler, even with no previous knowledge of pisé-work
+or building construction, need have no hesitation in undertaking the
+pisé-work of his own buildings if he works to a well-thought-out plan
+drawn up by somebody competent to do so.
+
+“The necessity of having a plan prepared by some one who understands the
+principles and requirements of simple building construction, before
+undertaking the erection of any building, cannot be too strongly
+emphasised. This great need, which is often overlooked by the settler,
+cannot be economically dispensed with. The securing of a properly
+prepared plan is of the greatest value towards obtaining a building of
+the maximum strength and durability, combined with the best appearance
+and greatest convenience, for the least cost. Even when a settler
+undertakes the pisé-work of his own building, it will only be in rare
+instances that he will not have the advantage of trained supervision
+during its erection. The services of a tradesman will invariably be
+found necessary to make doors and window-frames, construct the roof,
+etc. This workman can be engaged when the building is started, and
+whilst preparing the timbers of the roof, in readiness for the time when
+they will be required on the completion of the pisé-work, can supervise
+the fixing of the door and window frames, and see they are set
+correctly, and in their proper places.
+
+“Pisé walls are constructed in sections, the extent of which is
+regulated by the supply of casings available.
+
+“Into the moulds formed by the boxes the earth is shovelled in layers of
+4 or 5 in., and then rammed until thoroughly solid before another layer
+is put in. On the completion of the section, _i.e._ when the mould is
+full and well rammed, the keys or pins are knocked out of the ‘bolts,’
+and the ‘boxes’ taken apart and erected on another portion of the
+building. The top of that portion of the pisé-work on which it is
+proposed to erect another section should be well moistened and covered
+with wet bags some hours before the mould is formed. The bottom of the
+mould should overlap the top of the pisé-work by about 6 in. After the
+‘boxes’ are put together, the top layer of pisé should be loosened with
+a pick so as to form a bond with the section about to be built, and if
+this section adjoins one already built, the ends of the latter should be
+bevelled off so as not to form a straight joint.
+
+“Material which is too sandy will fret away, and one containing clay
+will crack when dry. Soils containing these defects should be avoided.
+There is, however, such a wide range of soils which are suitable that a
+holding of any size on which suitable soils cannot be found will be the
+exception. It is possible to remedy the defects found in one soil by
+mixing it with another soil, but very rarely will such a course be
+necessary.
+
+    [Headnote: Number of Men Required]
+
+“The plant required will depend upon the number of men to be employed.
+Three is the least number that can be economically employed--two
+attending to the boxes and ramming, and one carting earth from its
+location to the building and assisting generally. The plant required for
+this number of men is given below. If more are engaged, additional plant
+of the same character will be found advantageous.
+
+“The necessary plant will consist of--2 wooden rammers, 1 iron shod
+rammer, 2 straight boxes, 2 angle boxes, 3 casings for blocking up the
+ends of boxes, bolts and keys for same, 12 gauge rods, washers--a
+liberal supply of ¾-in. washers, 2 shovels, 1 spade, a horse and dray or
+other means for transporting the material to the building
+(if required).”
+
+The following detailed instructions are taken from the same authority:
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pisé in New Zealand]
+
+  SPECIFICATION CLAUSES FOR A PISÉ HOUSE (NEW ZEALAND)
+
+_Excavator._--Remove the turf to make footings, but not deeper at any
+place than 3 in. Step where required.
+
+  _Pisé-Builder_
+
+_Walls._--Erect the walls as shown on plan, external walls 18 in.,
+internal walls 15 in., carried up plumb and true, with all cross walls
+properly bonded by continuing the pisé-boxes around all angles; when
+necessary, the material for the walls is to be properly tempered with
+sufficient water. All sticks and vegetable matter are to be removed.
+
+_Suitable material_: to be a pipeclay loam, with a trace of small gravel
+evenly distributed through it.[8] The boxes to be filled in thin layers
+of 4 in. at a time, and well rammed until solid; the workmen are not to
+use their rammers in unison.
+
+    [Footnote 8: This was specified because it was the best material
+    near the site.]
+
+The whole of the internal angles, also door and window jambs, to be
+neatly splayed.
+
+_Floating._--Moisten well the outside and inside walls before the floors
+are laid, and float same to even smooth surface with wooden hand-float,
+using weak plaster, where required.
+
+_Bolts._--To hold down wall-plates, provide and build in ½ in. bolts,
+not less than 15 in. long, and spaced not more than 6 ft. apart.
+
+_Damp-course._--Below all walls lay a three-ply Ruberoid damp-course the
+full width of walls, to lap at ends at least 4 in.
+
+_Ventilators._--Insert below floors, where directed, four 9 in. by 6 in.
+galvanised iron air gratings, in wooden frames 1½ in. thick by full
+width of walls; also insert at about 18 in. below ceiling similar air
+gratings and frames.
+
+_Plugs._--Insert plugs 3 ft. apart for skirting, chair and picture-rail,
+at the heights directed.
+
+_Frames._--Set all frames plumb and true, and secured in wall before
+removing head. Lintels and heads must be well and solidly bedded in
+mortar, at proper heights. The whole of the work to be done in a proper
+workmanlike manner.
+
+_Fillet._--Finish against intersection of floor and wall with neat 1½
+in. quarter-round fillet, scribed to wall and floor and nailed to
+floors.
+
+The pisé-builder will require to build into wall at all window and door
+openings 3 in. by 3 in. shaped plugs, spaced not more than 3 ft. apart
+to secure architraves.
+
+_Lintels._--For all door and window openings provide 6 in. by 4 in.
+well-seasoned pine lintels, to extend 12 in. into pisé-work on each side
+of opening.
+
+_Skirting._--Provide and fix in all rooms, to plugs about 3 ft. apart,
+6-in. skirting, neatly scribed to floors, mitred at angles as required.
+
+_Picture-rail._--Provide 3 in. by 1 in. picture-rail to all rooms.
+
+_Plugs._--Prepare and tar for pisé-builder 3 in. by 1 in. well-seasoned
+softwood plugs, 15 in. long, as per detail, for skirtings, picture- and
+chair-rail, to be inserted 3 ft. apart.
+
+
+  STUDDING, WIRE-NETTING, AND PISÉ
+
+“This is a modification of Pisé, which provides a settler in a district
+where poles and saplings are available with a quick method of providing
+himself with a comfortable temporary residence without the expenditure
+of much cash. To construct buildings of this character, a framework of
+saplings or poles, at intervals of 3 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. apart, is first
+erected; this framework is covered on both sides with 1¼ in. mesh
+wire-netting. The two sections of netting are held together,
+strengthened, and prevented from stretching and bulging between the
+posts by means of wire hooks or loops, which are as long as the posts
+are wide. The spaces thus enclosed by the netting and the poles are then
+filled with earth, which is well rammed, thus making a solid wall 4 in.
+to 6 in. thick. This wall can be plastered, the plaster forming a key
+with the wire-netting, which holds securely. Buildings of this character
+can be made to look rather attractive, and, if neatly constructed, are
+very much superior, both in appearance and comfort, to slabs or wattle
+and daub.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pisé Shuttering]
+
+  PISÉ SHUTTERING
+
+  I
+
+That the plant now commonly in use for pisé-building is but a slight
+improvement on the anciently accepted model, may be seen by a comparison
+of modern examples with old engravings and descriptions. Pisé-building
+lay off the great main stream of constructional activity, and the
+enterprise and ingenuity lavished on the perfecting of other building
+materials and methods passed Pisé by, leaving it undisturbed in its
+quiet backwater, a primitive system still with its primitive tackle.
+
+Yet there were a number of very obvious and unnecessary shortcomings in
+the accepted shuttering that seemed to clamour for attention, defects,
+too, that were in no way inherent, but merely traditional infelicities
+reproduced in succeeding models that remained remarkably true to their
+primitive ancestral architype--the Pisé plant described by Pliny.
+
+Here seemed to be a very promising field for an ingenious inventor,
+a field that is still “To Let.”
+
+In the absence of any such inventive genius, the author has had certain
+ideas of his own embodied in the “Mark V” type of shuttering--a type
+that further experience and experiment will doubtless modify.
+
+The principle of the building-process remains unaffected. The
+improvements, such as they are, are merely improvements of mechanism.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  DIAGRAM OF MARK V PISÉ SHUTTERING]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Showing top cross-braces thrown back and free leg disengaged.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Showing screw-up securing tackle of exterior corner-piece
+  and its rounded interior. Also screw-cramp at interior angle
+  of shuttering.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Shuttering about to be removed from a first section of Pisé walling.
+  Top cross-braces have been thrown back and clamps to legs released.
+  It is now only necessary to detach the stays and lift away the
+  shutters. Where, as here, there is no masonry plinth, the
+  bearing-pins are only required for the succeeding courses of Pisé,
+  and need not be inserted for the first.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  The angle-iron stay with cross-brace raised, and the blocking-box
+  showing its internal clamping-gear.]
+
+Scientific research could doubtless, if it would, do much towards
+perfecting Pisé-building.
+
+We know very little about the behaviour of different earths under
+compression, or of their several reactions to chemical treatment.
+Meanwhile, a few trifling mechanical modifications are all that
+distinguish our modern plant from that devised by the ancients. That
+said, a short description of the “Mark V” model may be of some interest,
+pending the future developments that may now be hoped for.
+
+
+  II
+
+The chief desiderata in designing a satisfactory Pisé plant appear to be
+these:
+
+All constituent parts should be reasonably light and easy to handle. The
+shutters should be rigid and not liable to warp, without being
+expensively constructed. The shutters, when clamped in position, should
+be firmly and positively supported, without deviation from the vertical.
+
+The fairway between the shutters must be as little obstructed by the
+cross-braces as may be, leaving good room for the men on the wall to
+tread and ram.
+
+The through-pins by which the shuttering rests upon the base wall or on
+a completed course of Pisé, must be easily withdrawn without injury to
+the wall.
+
+The shuttering must be easily disengaged and removed from the wall, one
+side at a time.
+
+The special corner-piece must have some means of rigid attachment to the
+ordinary shutters on the two meeting walls.
+
+There must be some means of blocking off the shuttering at any desired
+point, for the forming of door or window openings at any level.
+
+The whole apparatus must be as simple and as fool-proof as possible, and
+built to stand rough usage and exposure to the weather.
+
+
+  III
+
+The author has attempted to construct a plant embodying these
+essentials, and the working drawing and photographs shown will give the
+reader a tolerable idea of his “Mark V” model.
+
+The thing has, at the moment of writing, only been experimentally tested
+in one of the London parks. These trials were, however, sufficiently
+satisfactory to encourage a belief that the new plant will prove a very
+considerable improvement on the old. It has now been despatched to a
+site in Surrey, there to undergo the searching and very practical test
+of being used for the building of a small-holder’s house and homestead.
+
+
+  IV
+
+To the second edition of this book a postscript must be added. Since the
+last paragraph was written, the small-holder’s house has come into
+actual being at Newlands Corner, near Guildford, and has attracted a
+good deal of attention from the Press, both at home and abroad. It has
+been inspected by multitudes of people, including a great number of
+Colonials and prospective Colonists, and by many distinguished persons
+directly or indirectly concerned with the problems of housing.
+
+That “Good wine needs no bush” may be a true saying, but a novel system
+of building assuredly needs demonstration, however great its merits. The
+success of the experiment at Newlands is admitted by all who have made
+the pilgrimage thither. Often would critics come to scoff and remain to
+pray. Specially prized amongst the converts is a foreman-bricklayer once
+openly scornful in his unbelief. Of enthusiasm, perhaps, there has been
+almost over much; and it has been difficult to restrain the zeal of
+would-be pisé-builders until the coming of spring, and the return of
+such weather conditions as the craft might reasonably demand.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Simple Mould for Pisé Blocks.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Block-Moulds, Large and Small. The Latter shown opened out.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Sketch of a Pisé House in Course of Erection.+
+  With acknowledgements to _The Sphere_.]
+
+For pisé is a “dry-earth” method of building, and, as at present
+practised, that means it is a summer job, so far, at any rate, as
+England is concerned.
+
+The author is the last person to claim that pisé-building may be
+successfully and economically carried out in all places, and at all
+seasons. He merely suggests that in a great many parts of the United
+Kingdom, pisé offers possibilities of cheap yet permanent building that
+are very well worth exploitation.
+
+A wide and thorough trial of the method now seems assured under a
+variety of conditions in a sufficient variety of places. Pisé is to be
+given its chance in Housing Schemes, in Government building
+demonstrations, on Ducal estates, and by ordinary private citizens in
+need of houses--by the rich (old and new), and by the poor.
+
+    [Headnote: If Reason Rule]
+
+If reason rule, pisé will make good and all will be well.
+
+If pisé-building is attempted where the conditions are unsuitable and in
+defiance of its physical limitations, the misguided enthusiasts
+responsible must blame only themselves. But it is not self-reproach
+alone that they will have to suffer, for the author and all true friends
+of pisé will view their troubles with as much anger as sorrow.
+
+Nothing could be so well calculated to bring discredit on a new movement
+as the failures of a few enthusiastic incompetents.
+
+
+  THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION PISÉ DE TERRE HOUSE AT NEWLANDS CORNER,
+  NEAR GUILDFORD
+
+  _With acknowledgments to the “Spectator”_
+
+_Description._--The house has six rooms arranged on one floor, of areas
+and cubical contents as laid down in their higher “schedules of
+accommodation” by the Ministry of Health and the Board of Agriculture.
+
+The plan is an adaptation of the first type illustrated in the Board’s
+new manual “designed for the guidance of County Councils and their
+architects” in the matter of buildings for small-holdings.
+
+The walls are of 18-in. solid pisé-work, the roof of red Bridgewater
+tiles, and the chimney breasts and stacks of brickwork.
+
+The floors are boarded save for the back kitchen, which is tiled. The
+inner partitions are of 2-in. breeze blocks, the ceilings are plastered,
+and the casement windows are of steel.
+
+There are two good lofts for storage, one entered from the barn, which
+is an extension of the house proper.
+
+The pillars of the barn and the partition wall between scullery and
+veranda are of 18 in. by 9 in. by 9 in. rammed earth blocks; the angle
+pillar to the veranda is of similar blocks made from soft chalk.
+
+The rest of the structure is of monolithic pisé, built up _in situ_
+without joints of any kind, either horizontally or vertically.
+
+_Cost._--The total cost of the whole of the outer walling of the house
+(in pisé) amounted to less than £20. Had the walls been built in
+brickwork the cost would, according to estimate, have been about £200.
+
+    [Headnote: The Newlands Specification]
+
+_Specification._--The following is an abridged extract from the
+specification so far as it affects the pisé-builder:
+
+(1) Excavate to a depth of 9 in. over the site, dumping the turf and
+surface humus where directed.
+
+This soil is not to be used for building.
+
+(2) Lay a 6-in. bed of cement and flint concrete 3 ft. wide under outer
+walls. Centrally on this, lay two courses of brickwork in cement, to a
+width of 18 in., or build up to the same extent in concrete.
+
+Lay on this an approved damp-proof course; if of slates, having a
+further course of brickwork or concrete above it to prevent fracture
+when ramming.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Newlands Corner Pisé Demonstration Building.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Cottage from the South-east.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Garden Court.+]
+
+(3) Erect the walls according to the plan on the bases thus formed,
+carrying them up plumb and true and properly bonded by working round the
+building course by course, using the special angle-pieces at the corners
+to keep the work continuous and homogeneous.
+
+(4) All stones and flints above a walnut size to be removed by riddling
+and reserved for concrete.
+
+All sticks, leaves, roots, and other vegetable matter to be eliminated.
+
+(5) The soil immediately on the site to be used without admixture of any
+sort and to be thrown direct into the shutterings.
+
+No water to be added without the express permission of the architect.
+
+(6) The boxes are to be filled in thin layers of not more than 4 in. at
+a time, and well rammed until solid. The workmen are not to use their
+rammers in unison.
+
+(7) Rammed earth at box ends to be shaved down to a 45 degrees slope so
+as to splice in with new span of pisé adjoining it.
+
+Where door and window openings occur, the special “stops” to be adjusted
+and firmly secured so as to withstand hard ramming. Two 4 in. by 2 in.
+by 9 in. plugs to be built in to each window jamb for the securing of
+the frames and three to each door jamb.
+
+Special care to be taken in the thorough ramming at the corners and
+along the box edges.
+
+(8) Insert below floor level, where directed, 24 3-in. field drainage
+pipes to act as ventilators through the thickness of the wall. Insert
+wire mesh stops to exclude vermin.
+
+(9) Set all frames square and plumb, and where in outer walls, flush
+with finished exterior plaster-face, the joint being covered by a 2-in.
+by ¾-in. fillet.
+
+Where lintels occur, they are to be tailed in at least 9 in. on each
+side the opening.
+
+Provide plain picture-rail round all rooms at window-head level,
+providing plugs for fixing where necessary.
+
+Secure to floor round all boarded rooms a 2-in. by 1½-in. angle fillet
+as skirting.
+
+(10) The smooth surface of the pisé walling to be hammer-chipped to give
+good key to the plaster.
+
+Before rendering or plastering walls, any loose earth or dust to be
+removed with a stiff brush and the wall surface evenly wetted.
+
+  [Illustration: NEWLANDS CORNER PISÉ HOUSE. THE PLAN.]
+
+The rendering to be carried evenly round the walls--the minor square
+angles being roughly chipped down first so as to obviate sharp corners.
+The main corners of the house are ready-rounded off to a 9-in. radius by
+the special corner mould.
+
+(11) Bond brick and slab work to pisé walls by driving iron spikes into
+the latter every few courses at joint level and bedding in.
+
+(12) Colour-wash walls with tallow lime-whiting tinted with ochre.
+Provide 2 ft. skirting of pitch, applied hot, to form base-course round
+exterior of building.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Backyard, showing Barn with Pisé Pillars.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. Framing the Roof.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. An Interior, showing Fire-brick Hearth Fire.+]
+
+N.B.--The exterior of the walls of the Newlands Corner house have been
+finished in several different ways with a view to determining the most
+durable and economical form of epidermis.
+
+A trial pisé-building adjoining has stood for four years without any
+external protection whatever. It has suffered no damage and grows
+continually harder. For the sake of appearances, however, and for the
+better preservation of the wall from chance injury whilst still “green,”
+a coating of some sort may be deemed necessary.
+
+
+    [Headnote: A Swedish Contribution]
+
+  THE THEORY OF PISÉ
+
+The Swedish scientist, Mr. Karl Ellington, of Nossebro, who is basing a
+book on pisé (in his own tongue) upon the frail foundation of the
+present volume, has, in the course of a letter to the author, made some
+exceedingly suggestive “guesses at the truth.”
+
+“I am very interested to hear that you are proposing to use an hydraulic
+rammer for making blocks. I have thought a good deal about this pressure
+business. I am trying to scrutinise the thing from ‘the inside,’ so to
+speak. I am trying to trace out how Nature makes rock. That helps us to
+understand pisé. Nature made all the stratified rocks out of what was
+once fine loose earth and mud. Rivers carried the mud out to sea. Waves
+pounded and gnawed the shores and got down some more stuff. The tides
+went forth and back and shovelled and levelled at the sea-bottom. Some
+more mud on top of that, and a few hundred or thousand feet of the heavy
+water on top of that--and Nature’s pisé was in its making. But why do
+these mud particles stick together for ever even after that stratum is
+raised up high above the sea and the pressure is discontinued? That is
+the counterpoint of the whole problem. What is gravitation? Is it some
+form of magnetic or electric energy? We don’t know. Do particles of mud
+grip and hold each other if they are forced together close enough to be
+united by some sort of magnetic or electric energy? Or do the particles
+only get a ‘mechanical’ grip on each other? However that may be, we seem
+to know now that we can make them grip by bringing them closely
+together. It would seem important, then, that we must bring as much of
+particle surfaces together within any given cubic space as we possibly
+can; that is, we must have as little of ‘holes,’ ‘empty spaces,’ pores
+and channels as possible in the mass, in the pressed wall. This, then,
+would in turn make it important that plenty of very fine (small)
+particles must be present in the mass--and so well distributed among the
+coarser particles as to be on hand close by wherever there can be one
+more chance for a small particle to fill a little chamber that the
+coarser particles would like to bridge over. We can think of how well
+Nature was fitted for this work of shuffling over all the particles at
+the sea-bottom and under great water pressure till she got every
+particle into the niche where it would exactly fit. She used waves,
+tides, and gulf streams as shovels and mixers and packers, and the water
+above as ‘hydraulic rammer.’ Looking at the pisé matter in this way, it
+would appear that both the _mixing_ and the _shuffling_ are of vital
+importance. And by ‘shuffling’ I mean in this connection only that the
+smaller and larger particles get a chance to shift over a little during
+the process of pressing the earth together to hardness, so that the
+pressure may not work only and exclusively in a straight downward
+direction, but in a sort of wavy zigzag direction as well--much as when
+a street-roller is working the macadam and gravel a little forth and
+back at the same time as downward. I have a great respect for old tools
+which are the outcome of long-time experience and handed-down wisdom.
+I suspect the presence of some of that sort of experience in the rammer
+described in your book, p. 59. That tool would do the necessary shifting
+while attending to its _main_ intention: hammering the mass solidly
+together downwards. Now for your hydraulic rammer--is it advisable to
+make it blow or press only in a straight line downward? Maybe there
+ought to be two or three kinds of strokes alternating--one stroke with a
+rifled or wavy surface under the rammer--and the next stroke with a
+_plane_ surface. . . . What sort of witchcraft enters into the effect of
+_high frequency blows_ as compared with blows with a little longer
+intervals between? Do the strokes create also some ‘magnetic’ effect in
+the pounded earth-mass which helps to fasten the particles to each
+other? And does this magnetic charge or friction heat, or whatever it
+is, act more promptly if one keeps on ‘striking the iron while hot,’
+instead of letting the charge ‘evaporate’ and sneak away between
+strokes? Two or three of my hairs are turning grey over these questions
+alone. You compliment me by insinuating that I might stumble across some
+fruitful idea for the forms or boxes if I speculate a little more on the
+key-problem. Well, the thing won’t leave me alone, so I have thought out
+several foolish variations and rejected them too. But the last one seems
+to have a little more vitality, so if it will live till I write my next
+letter I will tell you about it. One is so apt to follow the temptation
+of ‘perfecting’ an apparatus--at the cost of getting away from keeping
+it cheap, simple--and ‘fool-proof.’ By this time the idea has grown ripe
+in my mind, so that I ought to write out a little book on the pisé
+problem in Swedish and have it printed before springtime. Something
+ought to be done. . . . I have to ask you kindly to permit me to make
+use of the data contained in your book. To this I will have to add what
+special precautions we must observe as to foundations in a climate like
+ours. I intend to treat only the pisé method. Cob and chalk methods are
+not applicable here, as we have such materials only in a few unimportant
+spots.”
+
+Mr. Ellington has long been an admirer and a firm friend of England, and
+he is good enough to regard his country as indebted to ours for the
+introduction of pisé-building:
+
+“Let me tell you that the help you are giving me now--not me, but my
+nation--will work as an additional bond that draws us more closely
+towards each other. . . . Some of our people here have always looked too
+much towards the South and too little towards the West.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: A Pisé-Builder’s School]
+
+  PISÉ, PRACTICE AND PLANT
+
+Now that so many able architects and enterprising bodies are seriously
+taking up pisé-building, the improvement in plant and technique should
+be both rapid and considerable. The School of Pisé Building established
+at Hornchurch in Essex, by the Imperial Ex-service Association, should
+alone provide us with much new and valuable knowledge of a highly
+practical kind.
+
+It is there, for instance, that various types of shuttering and rammers
+are being experimentally tested side by side, and their relative
+efficiency under varying conditions ascertained. Under some conditions
+it is probable that the floor and roof timbers (destined for use in the
+house under construction) will be found the most economical and
+satisfactory form of temporary “shuttering” for the making of the earth
+walls.
+
+The pisé “Test-House,” built by Messrs. Alban Richards at their Ashstead
+works, was built in this way, and proved highly satisfactory.
+
+Another effective and more generally applicable form of shuttering
+(designed and manufactured by the same firm) is illustrated in the
+diagram reproduced below. It should be observed that wedges intervene
+between the movable shutters and the uprights.
+
+The method of employment of the “Mark V” shuttering is well illustrated
+by the bird’s-eye view showing the Newlands cottage under construction.
+
+    [Headnote: Alternative Shutterings]
+
+In this matter of shuttering there is still, however, great scope for
+improvement, and it may be hoped that soon ingenuity and experience will
+jointly produce a complete pisé plant perfectly fulfilling all the many
+conditions enumerated earlier in the book.
+
+Shuttering made by riveting plain galvanised sheet iron to one side of a
+corrugated sheet has the qualities of lightness, smoothness, cheapness,
+and rigidity, and the claims of the inventor and patentee are now being
+put to the test in actual building.
+
+  [Illustration: PATENT SHUTTERING FOR PISÉ DE TERRE
+  _By W. Alban Richards and Co._]
+
+There now seems little doubt but that pisé blocks will be largely used
+for partitions and chimney stacks where the soil is good enough, and
+experiments are being made with a view to discovering the best and
+cheapest way of making earth slabs similar to those of coke-breeze and
+concrete.
+
+The size aimed at is 18 in. by 18 in. by 3 in., the edges to be tongued
+and grooved.
+
+Certain “concrete” machines seem to lend themselves to adaptation for
+the making of earth blocks, but it is necessary to remember that sharp
+blows are required rather than a steady pressure, and also that we are
+working with a _dry_ material. The ordinary primitive way of making pisé
+blocks is indicated below.
+
+The hand-rammers are undoubtedly worth study and careful design. A set
+of three seems to meet all ordinary requirements, and those shown on p.
+101 may be taken as typical. They should be of hard-wood, smoothly
+finished, and provided with long handles. They should be 9 in. to 12 in.
+long, and about 5 in. by 4 in. at maximum cross section.
+
+In the sketch they are shown “narrow-ways-on.” No. 1 is used for
+preliminary pounding and final finishing, No. 2 for general
+consolidating, and No. 3 for working along the edges, against window
+stops, and under cross-ties.
+
+A South African correspondent, Major Baylay, makes interesting comment
+as regards rammers and local pisé practice:
+
+    [Headnote: South Africa]
+
+“My experience of all black labour is, that they won’t put any ‘guts’
+into it. They therefore want fairly heavy rammers, which they can lift
+and drop, say a foot, and which will do the rest for them. The heat of
+the sun and extreme dryness of atmosphere out here make it advisable to
+cover up completed courses at once with sacking, moist for choice,
+otherwise it is liable to dry out too quickly and crack. It dries out
+uncovered at night very well, when there is no rain.
+
+“The red loams of South Africa, where not too sandy, make excellent
+pisé. They or their equivalent are found almost everywhere. In the dry
+state they set so hard that moisture added just before ramming is
+useless. A large heap must be made, well damped and covered over with
+moist sacking, and left until the moisture is distributed throughout the
+mass. When about four or five days old, in ordinary weather, the earth
+is ready to use--viz., just wet enough to bind when gripped in the hand.
+It should be passed through a sieve. I use a sort of ‘chicken run,’
+8 ft. long, and throw the earth on to it before using. Six feet of it is
+½-in. mesh, and 2 ft. ¼-in. mesh; the reason for this is that, if the
+earth is a little too dry, it does not always bind well with the
+previous layer. Therefore, put a few petrol tins of the fine earth into
+the shuttering first in order to ensure good bond, and throw the coarser
+stuff in after.”
+
+  [Illustration: PISÉ HAND RAMMERS]
+
+
+  _Second Note by Major Baylay, Peter Maritzburg, Natal, South Africa_
+
+“I have completed a small building, and though weather conditions have
+been as bad as possible, it is sound and very satisfactory.
+
+“In my opinion, pisé-building should not be attempted in the rainy
+season in Africa. Earth contains too much moisture, and the power of the
+sun dries it out too quickly and causes cracks.
+
+“_Re_ plastering. I covered the outside and inside with a mixture of 6
+earth, 2 sand, 1 blue (Hyd.) lime, the earth being the red, rather ‘fat’
+earth found everywhere, and the same stuff the house is built of. It is
+put on thin with a trowel, after damping the wall. When it dries and
+cracks, rub all over with a sacking pad covered with the plaster
+mixture, but wetted to a thin cream consistency. It may sound an odd
+method, but the natives do this work well, and the result is as good as
+one can wish for. You can put tar or any wash (No. 6) on this.”
+
+
+    [Headnote: Soils]
+
+  SOILS
+
+Were it not for the fact (often somewhat embarrassing) that soil quite
+incapable of making good pisé will none the less produce enthusiastic
+pisé-builders, a warning as to the vital importance of the earth being
+really suitable might seem superfluous.
+
+The author has found some of the staunchest champions of pisé-building
+living on and valiantly struggling with stiff glutinous clay and almost
+pure sand.
+
+Even the most vigorous optimism can achieve little under such adverse
+conditions unless soil-blending be resorted to, and even so,
+pisé-building begins to lose points in the matter of economy directly
+complications of this sort are introduced.
+
+Fortunately, however, England is well off in the matter of pisé soils,
+the red marls being amongst the very best.
+
+A study of the country, or, failing that, of the geological maps, will
+reveal a great tract of this earth extending diagonally right across
+England, from Yorkshire down into Devonshire, where it ends
+conspicuously in the beautiful red cliffs about Torquay.
+
+There is a large area of the stuff in the Midlands, notably in
+Warwickshire, with lesser patches here and there about the country.
+
+Second only to the red marls come the brick earths, which, fortunately,
+are also widely distributed.
+
+“Brick earth” is merely clay that has been well weathered and
+disintegrated under the action of wind, rain, frost, and organic agents,
+the sulphides having become oxides, and what was a cold intractable
+slithery mass having become merely a “strong” and binding earth.
+
+It is probable that even stiff clay, if dug in the summer or autumn, and
+left exposed for a winter, would prove sufficiently reformed to be quite
+amenable for pisé building in the spring.
+
+After the marls and the brick earths there is an endless variety of
+soils that will serve well for pisé-building--some, of course, better
+than others, but all, save the extremes (the excessively light and the
+excessively clayey), capable of giving good results under proper
+treatment.
+
+Before putting pisé construction actually in hand, however, the
+intending builder will do well to submit samples of his earth to some
+competent authority, that they may receive his blessing.
+
+A fistful taken from a depth of 9 in., and another from say 2 ft. below
+the surface, should give sufficient evidence as to the soil’s
+suitability or the reverse.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+_CHALK_
+
+
+§ I. GENERAL
+
+Chalk, as a source of lime, has always been of high importance to
+builders, and, until improved transport brought alien materials into its
+old preserves, chalk was in general use for walling in the form of
+roughly squared blocks.
+
+Chalk again forms the basis of a compost that, used in the form of a
+stiff paste, has been largely employed for building from the earliest
+times down to the present.
+
+“Pisé de Craie,” or chalk consolidated by ramming within a casing, is a
+form of building that has been long held in high repute in France and
+elsewhere, but which has only recently been given a serious trial in
+England.
+
+Chalk in all these forms, if fairly dealt with and reasonably protected
+from the weather, is a most amenable and satisfactory material to build
+with.
+
+The last-named method particularly seems to promise results that should
+satisfy the most exacting critics of the unconventional, as it assuredly
+does those who inhabit the cottages so constructed.
+
+The several systems of chalk construction are fully dealt with in the
+pages that follow.
+
+_Chalk Compost: Historical._--At the Ancient British village on West
+Down, Chilbolton, some five miles south of Andover, delving
+archæologists have brought to light undeniable fragments of chalk
+“Daub,” with the wattle marks still clearly showing upon them.
+
+This discovery is chiefly of academic interest, though it is a pretty
+refutation to those who regard any building material save brick and
+stone as “new-fangled,” and it should also serve to hearten the doubters
+and the timid amongst us who seek historic sanction for any departure
+from current building practice.
+
+_Composition and Uses._--In the Andover district Chalk Compost or “Chalk
+Mud,” as it is called locally, is prepared and used as follows:
+
+The chalk is dug out in the autumn, and the frost allowed to play on it
+during the winter. In the spring building starts, and the weathered
+chalk is spread all around the outside of the walls. Straw is sprinkled
+on it and it is then well trodden, usually by the workers, but sometimes
+by horses. Sometimes chopped straw is added, sometimes unchopped straw
+is sprinkled on. The quality of the walls depends very largely on the
+preparation--that is, in getting the mud to the right consistency--and
+the old hands know by experience when it is ready.
+
+The compost is lifted on the wall by a fork and another man stands on
+the wall and treads it in. It is then chopped down straight with a
+spade. Some of the naked walls at Andover show traces of the courses,
+which are usually something under 2 ft. in height.
+
+Where a course has to be left unfinished it should be ended with a
+diagonal ramp so as to splice in with the work that follows.
+
+Some of the old builders seem to have been somewhat catholic in their
+conceptions as to what constituted “chalk,” and vague patches of earth,
+loose flints and other stray substances not infrequently mar their work
+and sometimes seriously reduce its strength.
+
+As a general rule, the finer the chalk the stronger and more durable is
+the walling.
+
+What is aimed at is a conglomerate of small chalk knobs cemented
+together by a matrix of plastic chalk and straw, the whole forming as
+dense a mass as possible.
+
+Grinding in a mortar-mill would probably reduce all the chalk to an
+amorphous powder, which would not be desirable, and in any case such
+mechanical mixing is quite unnecessary.
+
+Building by ramming the moist compost between timber shutterings does
+not appear to have been practised in the past, though there is nothing
+against the method except its tendency to delay the drying out.
+
+The drying of each course takes several days, depending on the weather.
+A course is usually laid right round the building. It must be covered up
+at night in case of rain, and when it is hard another course is laid on,
+and so on till completion. The aim is to build during the summer and
+autumn, and when the moisture has dried out, to render the exterior.
+
+Where brickwork is used with chalk compost it is generally bonded in in
+the ordinary way, but block-bonding the depth of a chalk course is a
+better way of doing it.
+
+The exterior corners of chalk buildings are the vulnerable points, and
+these should therefore be well rounded off.
+
+_Timber._--In the old work nothing seems to have been done to prevent
+woodwork built in to the compost from decaying, though in many cases it
+has survived surprisingly. In any new work, however, proper ventilated
+air-spaces should be contrived or the timber ends treated with some
+preservative.
+
+The door and window frames are fixed to fairly large pieces of wood
+built in across the thickness of wall, and other woodwork is fixed to
+wood blocks built in in a similar way.
+
+Picture-rails should be provided in all rooms, as chalk walls are apt to
+flake and chip if nails are driven into them.
+
+Lintels are usually of wood, and when plastering is carried down over
+these some form of key must of course be provided to hold it.
+
+    [Headnote: Winter Work Barred]
+
+_Frost._--New work must not be exposed to frost or there will be danger
+of collapse, and winter work is barred out for this reason.
+
+_Repairs._--Chalk compost walls are not easily repaired in that
+material, and bricks are generally used, well bonded in.
+
+_Chimneys._--Chimneys, too, are usually of brick, though there would
+seem no reason against the flues being carried up in chalk, especially
+if clay pipe linings were used.
+
+The chimney-stacks above the roof might well be built in flint, the
+corners being rounded off in deference to the peculiarities of the
+material.
+
+_External Rendering._--It is of the first importance that a good
+weather-tight skin be maintained, and many old buildings have suffered
+through neglect of this precaution.
+
+The rendering was often of the poorest quality, more mud than lime, and
+the constant repairs that the indifferent materials necessitated has
+resulted in many of the old cottages becoming patchworks of variegated
+plaster blotches, when not whitewashed over, which give an impression of
+dilapidation by no means warranted by the facts.
+
+_Rendering._--Given a good skin, however, of cement or cement and lime,
+a chalk conglomerate wall will last indefinitely. So vital is the skin
+that it is as well to put it on in two good coats--rounding off all the
+corners and finishing it either with slap-dash or rough from the wooden
+float.
+
+Also, to ensure its proper adhesion throughout, wire-netting may be used
+as reinforcement--being secured to the face of the chalk wall by means
+of cross netting or wires laid on the wall as the building rises.
+
+If the netting be of a fine mesh it also serves as an absolute barrier
+to vermin, though pounded glass incorporated in the base of the wall is
+equally effective.
+
+_Strength._--Provided the wall has dried out thoroughly, any of the
+ordinary loads occurring in a two-storied house can be borne with ease.
+
+Chalk conglomerate walling, however, has no great lateral strength, and
+it should not be asked to stand up to thrusts.
+
+The roof, therefore, must be well tied, and should sit on the building
+merely as a lid.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Details of Chalk Construction at Amesbury.+
+  (From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of
+  the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Chalk Construction at Amesbury, Wilts.+
+  (From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of
+  the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)]
+
+_Roof._--Though thatch is the traditional roofing material of chalk
+cottages, any other will serve that is permanent and good of its kind.
+
+The only special demand that chalk walls make is that the eaves shall be
+generously overhung for their better protection from the weather.
+
+Where, in later years, the boldly projecting thatch has been
+thoughtlessly replaced by a slate roof with meagre eaves, or with none
+at all, the walls have suffered accordingly.
+
+    [Headnote: Garden Walls]
+
+_Garden Walls._--A chalk garden wall must be afforded just as much
+protection as the wall of a house and on both sides.
+
+The hat with which it is provided is of the highest importance to the
+health and longevity of the walling.
+
+Examples of garden wall copings are given in the sketches shown below.
+
+  [Illustration: WALL COPINGS.]
+
+_House Walls._--Chalk conglomerate walls rarely exceed 18 in. in
+thickness, and are usually the same upstairs as down.
+
+A plinth of the same thickness as the chalk wall it supports is usually
+carried up 6 in. to 18 in. above the ground level in rubble-work, flint,
+or brick, being known as the “Underpin Course.” Any of the stock
+damp-courses are suitable, but they must be well and truly laid, as damp
+feet are nearly as deleterious to a chalk wall as a leaky or inadequate
+hat.
+
+No special tools are required for this method of building, an ordinary
+farm fork for lifting and a spade for the final chopping down of the
+wall faces being all that are necessary.
+
+A house built during the summer is usually fit for occupation the same
+autumn.
+
+_Old Examples._--Those who may wish to see buildings in chalk
+conglomerate, both old and new, would do well to visit some such typical
+chalk district as that lying about Andover in Wiltshire.
+
+It should, however, be constantly borne in mind that most of the old
+cottages were somewhat unscientifically erected by their original
+jack-of-all-trades occupiers, that damp-courses and Portland cement were
+unknown, and that the advantages of proper ventilation and the causes of
+dry-rot were discoveries yet to be made.
+
+Secondly, a large number of these cottages have been sadly neglected
+either recently or in the past, and they bear the disfiguring marks of
+their ill-treatment upon them now.
+
+But a chalk cottage that is well found in the beginning, and that is
+reasonably well cared for subsequently, has nothing to fear from
+comparison with cottages built in the most approved manner of the more
+fashionable materials.
+
+Mr. James Thorold gives the following particulars of a block of three
+chalk cottages recently built for Sir George Cooper on his estate at
+Hursley, near Winchester:
+
+“The chalk walling was done by Messrs. A. Annett and Son, of Winterslow,
+near Salisbury, where this method of building has been kept alive from
+olden days. It consists of working up the soft upper strata of the chalk
+by putting a bed of it 4 ft. 6 in. thick on the ground, watering and
+treading it to a sticky consistency with the feet, working in shortish
+straw at the same time. When thoroughly mixed by the builder’s mate, he
+lifts up a forkful to the builder working on the wall immediately above
+him, the latter catches the chalk, dumps it down on the top of the wall,
+building an 18 in. course all round. As soon as the weather has dried
+this sufficiently he goes round with a sharp spade squaring up both
+sides of the wall. As this work is greatly dependent on the weather it
+is well if the men have other work to fall back on, and that building
+operations should be commenced in the spring or early summer. The wall
+is built 18 in. thick to the first floor joists and 14 in. above. Chalk
+in itself being very absorbent of moisture, the usual plan is to render
+the outside of the wall with a lime mortar, which, however, requires
+renewal every few years. To obviate this we fixed with long staples 1¼
+in. mesh wire-netting over the outside surface of the wall to give a
+reinforcement for a rendering of hair mortar and cement gauged in
+proportion of 1 to 2 respectively, and left rough from the trowel. This
+rendering was done at a cost of 3s. 3½d. per square yard, which is a
+substantial addition to the cost of the walling, but so far there is no
+sign of a crack or hollow place behind it, and the cottages have kept
+very dry. The walls were finished off with a limewash containing Russian
+tallow and copperas.[9]
+
+    [Footnote 9: See recipes for Whitewash in Appendix (I).]
+
+    [Headnote: Cost of Three Cottages]
+
+“As regards the cost of this block of three cottages, the result is
+obscured by the fact that tall chimney-stacks with ornamental bricks and
+appropriate foundations were built and reinforced leaded lights were
+used in the windows to keep the building in character with the other
+cottages on the estate, but at the time we estimated that the chalk
+walling saved a sum of £54 as against the amount we should have had to
+have spent in carrying out the building with bricks made on the estate,
+and this had to include lodging money and profit, the builders being
+independent men. The ornamental chimney-stacks were put in for the sake
+of appearance, flues built up in the chalk being entirely satisfactory
+and fireproof. The foundations are either flint or brick with a slate
+damp-course.
+
+“I consider that for a chalk country this method of building has many
+advantages.
+
+  “(1) It saves cartage.
+
+  “(2) It can be carried out by a skilled labourer who can be
+    otherwise employed during unsuitable weather.
+
+  “(3) No fuel is required as in burning bricks.
+
+  “(4) If a suitable rendering is employed to keep it weatherproof,
+    and a good damp-course on the foundations, the cottages are nice
+    and dry and keep an equable temperature, chalk being a good
+    non-conductor.
+
+“Sir George wonders if any method could be devised by chemical means to
+harden the chalk and make it weatherproof; if this could be done it
+might save the expense of the cement rendering.”
+
+
+  CHALK CONGLOMERATE
+
+  From _Country Life_, February 23rd, 1901:
+
+“Soft chalk is practically mud, yet Dr. Poore, one leading authority on
+rural hygiene, had his model hygienic cottage built with it at Andover,
+just outside the boundaries, in order to escape the tyranny of the
+bye-laws. In several other places this material has been used time out
+of mind.
+
+“The white cottages on the Wiltshire Downs are as good as any in
+England.”
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Three Chalk Cottages at Hursley Park+]
+
+
+  THE WINTERSLOW COTTAGES
+
+  From _Country Life_, April 6th, 1901:
+
+“The white chalk cottages of the scattered straggling village are found
+in every sort of position. They must not be confounded with the cottages
+of rock chalk at Medmenham. You might almost call them mud cottages.
+
+“The house is generally both planned and constructed by the owner.
+
+“. . . The soil is only a few inches deep, soft chalk lies close to the
+surface and can be dug out with a spade. This is a very suitable
+material in the district and costs nothing but the labour of
+digging. . . .
+
+“On the downs there is a constant lack of water; that which falls in the
+shape of rain is therefore very precious, and in some cases is indeed
+the only kind available. But a large tank or artificial well is needed
+to contain it, and the pit from which the chalk is dug out can be made
+to serve the purpose. . . . One was made watertight by means of a lining
+of concrete, and held enough water to keep the family going through all
+the dry season.
+
+“In another house . . . the chalk-pit had been utilised to form a large
+and convenient cellar. . . .
+
+“Most of them (the cottages) . . . are on two floors, with parlour,
+kitchen, back kitchen and so forth on one, and the bedrooms on the
+other. In the preparation of the chalk, the method followed is that of
+treading it into a kind of rubble, and adding a proportion of straw and
+a small quantity of lime.
+
+    [Headnote: Expensive Scaffolding Avoided]
+
+“There is a local builder who will run up the shell of a house for a
+matter of £100, more or less, according to its size. . . . Most of the
+cottages are literally hand-made. A skilful architect who visited the
+Winterslow cottages felt sure that boards must be used to keep the walls
+straight, but he was wrong. The chalk is shovelled up and the walls are
+kept straight without line or plummet. No expensive scaffolding or
+machinery is employed. Yet the walls come out beautifully in the end,
+the colour being an exquisite soft white. They are about 18 in. thick,
+and the slowness of their construction has one good effect, it gives
+them time to dry. No point is of more importance than this. It is
+advisable not to put on any rough-cast, plaster, or paper for at least
+twelve months, as doing so will prevent the moisture from exuding. One
+or two of the little cottages were slightly damp, but the majority were
+as dry as tinder. The thickness of the walls helps to render the cottage
+more comfortable, to make it cool in summer and dry in winter.
+
+“One word should be added in regard to soft chalk as a building
+material. Where it can be obtained in the garden at a few inches depth,
+and especially where the cottager is his own architect and builder, it
+can be most heartily recommended, but there are obvious objections to
+its transportation to districts where it is foreign.
+
+“The village itself is a very homely and irregular one without a single
+dwelling of any pretence. The country lying adjacent to Salisbury Plain
+consists of broken, sparsely peopled downland, and very ornate or
+finished cottages would be out of keeping, but they would not look so
+well copied in a very rich, heavily timbered country.”
+
+
+  RATS AND CHALK
+
+_Note._--Conglomerate chalk is, like cob, vulnerable to the attacks of a
+really determined rat.
+
+The outer defences provided by the exterior rendering can be backed up
+by the mixing in of broken glass or sharp flints with the substance of
+the wall, where such attacks are likely.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Marsh Court, Hampshire.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Brick-and-chalk Vaulting at the Deanery Garden, Sonning+]
+
+
+    [Headnote: Block Chalk]
+
+  BLOCK CHALK
+
+“Chalk” is a term somewhat loosely used to denote the soft white
+limestone--the “_Creta Scriptoria_”--that is cousin to Marl on one side
+and to Ragstone on the other.
+
+In its purest form chalk consists of over 95 per cent. of carbonate of
+lime in the form of fine granular particles held together by a
+calcareous cement, its organic origin being clearly traced in the
+remains of the minute sea creatures with which it abounds.
+
+Hewn blocks of chalk have been used for walling and vaulting from
+immemorial times, and, where not exposed to direct erosion by the
+weather, remain to this day as clean-cut as when they were first
+quarried and a very great deal harder.
+
+The filling in of the great vaults at Salisbury Cathedral and in the
+Bishop’s Palace are of chalk, whilst innumerable lesser buildings of
+more or less antiquity still remain to us as monuments to the excellence
+and durability of this stone.
+
+Chalk, too, was often used in combination with flint or brick to build
+the engaging chequer-work walls that embellish so many downland
+villages.
+
+At Medmenham there are cottages both old and new of hewn rock chalk, and
+both the Berks and Bucks banks of the Thames have many buildings to show
+of this beautiful material.
+
+Amongst present-day architects Sir Edwin Lutyens was the first to give
+hewn chalk an opportunity of showing its quality in serious
+architecture, Marsh Court in Hampshire being an instance of more than
+local celebrity.
+
+In the great walls at the Bishop of Winchester’s palace, Farnham Castle
+in Surrey, the old builders appear to have used bricks, limestone and
+chalk proper, according as the several materials were delivered, quite
+indifferently, and with results altogether delightful.
+
+Not all chalk is suitable for building, that near the surface being
+often far gone in decay and much too friable for such a purpose.
+
+Even when apparently sound blocks have been gotten they are not
+infrequently found to be crossed in all directions by planes of weakness
+along which they are apt to fall to pieces in the handling.
+
+From this cause the “waste” is sometimes considerable.
+
+The well-known building “stones” from the quarries of Beer, Sutton, and
+Tottenhoe in Devonshire are really chalk, but in a form not readily
+distinguishable from ordinary free-stone.
+
+The longer that chalk blocks are kept to dry before building-in the
+better, and the sun and wind of at least a year should be allowed free
+play upon them to dry out their natural sap and render them
+“frost-proof.”
+
+During the drying-out process the chalk should, if possible, be
+protected from the rain.
+
+For years after being built into the walls of a house, chalk will
+continue to dry and harden.
+
+But it is essentially a somewhat porous material, and will quickly
+revenge itself on those neglecting its just demands for a sound roof and
+a proper damp-course.
+
+In exposed situations new chalk walling is liable to allow the
+penetration of moisture under the pressure of the wind unless a cavity
+is provided or unless the surface is treated with a silicate or other
+“vitrifying” fluid.
+
+Chalk, however, has one shining virtue in common with its great
+antithesis--it improves mightily with keeping.
+
+Chalk walls sometimes have youthful vices in the way of porosity that
+entirely disappear with advancing years through the closing up of the
+surface pores, which eventually makes a cavity and inner lining
+superfluous.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+_UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS_
+
+
+  SUN-DRIED BRICKS
+
+The use of sun-dried bricks in this country, is, for no very apparent
+reason, almost entirely restricted to East Anglia. There it has been
+used for generations with entirely satisfactory results.
+
+Mr. Skipper of Norwich writes of the material as follows:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+“Who, travelling from Norfolk to London, whether by the Ipswich or
+Cambridge line, has not noticed the numerous colour-washed or black
+(tarred) cottage, farmhouse and agricultural buildings scattered
+practically all along the countryside? Some of these are of studwork and
+plaster, some of wattle and daub, but many are built of clay made up
+into lumps, sun-dried, and built into the walls with a soft clay-mixture
+as mortar. No lime _need_ be used, though sometimes it is mixed with the
+clay mortar. The preparation, digging, exposure and mixing with short
+straw are similar to the Devonshire ‘cob’ work, but in these parts the
+worked clay is thrown into moulds, and lumps are formed of, say, 18 in.
+by 12 in. by 6 in., or 18 in. by 9 in. by 6 in. for large sizes, and for
+inside walling or backing to brick-faced walls, 18 in. by 6 in. by 6 in.
+The walls, naturally, are rough in texture and the joints are generally
+stopped up and besmeared with a thin coating or almost a wash of clay.
+This coating sometimes has lime mixed with it, but it is not necessary.
+This is all that is needed to complete the walling, and there is a
+building--a malting, that any one can see at Tivetshall Station on the
+Ipswich line, about 200 ft. long, 45 ft. or 50 ft. wide and three floors
+high, built of lumps 18 in. by 12 in. by 6 in.--that has stood the
+weather and weight of its roof for forty years built in this way; 12 in.
+is the thickness of its walls. A further stage in finish is to give the
+walls two or three coats of coal tar, but it is not essential, though
+desirable where stock are kept, as cattle are rather fond of licking the
+clay, and they do not use their horns much when walls are tarred. The
+highest finish in this work is to cast sand on the last coating of tar
+before it is quite dry, and then to colour or whitewash on this. This
+accounts for the variety of colourings seen in these buildings, some
+even of a kind of pink or red; while some yellow or buff, beside the
+white and the black or tarred buildings, and all huddled together or
+standing apart, whether covered with thatch or red pan or flat tiles,
+look remarkably in harmony with their surroundings. These lump walls
+are, of course, built on a base of brickwork, about 18 in. or 2 ft.
+high, to keep them free from damp. This kind of walling can be built for
+_at least_ 15 per cent. or 20 per cent. cheaper than ordinary 9 in.
+brickwork. Thin as these walls are compared with those of ‘cob’ houses,
+they are noted for being warm in winter and cool in summer. When
+suitable clay is procurable a local builder almost invariably uses clay
+lumps when building a house for himself, though to gratify a whim
+perhaps, he will case the outside walls--especially the front next the
+street or road--with brickwork. But clay lumps he carefully reserves for
+inside walls and weight-carrying linings to the outside walls, bonding
+the two together very much in the same way as two 4½ in. ‘cavity walls’
+are bonded. I am not suggesting that this walling is as interesting
+artistically as ‘cob,’ but I do suggest it is a practical, sensible and
+_dry_ walling, and if properly done it will ‘last for ever,’ as a local
+builder repeatedly said to me when speaking of it. One can easily see
+why the cost is light--the sun and the winds do the drying in the spring
+months, and no coals are required, and also the clay is often found on
+the building site, hence no cartage. Actual building work naturally goes
+quickly, as the lumps are large. There is another important point to
+notice. One may see a building complete with its roof on and occupied by
+its tenant while still awaiting an outside casing of brickwork to be
+built round it, either with a view to greater protection or for the mere
+vanity of the owner, for while thus left unprotected the lump walls take
+no harm from even winter exposure. Now to be quite practical in these
+extremely practical days, I venture to suggest that the use of clay
+lumps at least for inside walls and linings of outside walls would be an
+immense boon to the numerous cottage-building schemes now being
+projected. We must not forget that comparatively few bricks will be
+available this year, while the cottages are wanted at once. Can these
+few bricks be better used than by forming foundations and chimneys for
+the clay-lump walls of these cottages? I think not. The cottages could,
+of course, be occupied in the late summer or autumn of this year, and
+next year when bricks will be more plentiful perhaps the brick casings
+could be added, if brickwork _must_ complete them. I make this strictly
+utilitarian suggestion solely to meet a very urgent and deep national
+need. Personally, I prefer the sight of a cottage built and finished in
+the old-established method of the locality. Unskilled labour only is
+required, working under intelligent supervision, hence immediate
+employment for a great number of men would be provided.”
+
+    [Headnote: Use for Unskilled Labour]
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Once Corn Hall, now Council School.+
+  Built about a hundred years ago. Still in sound condition
+  and quite dry.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Row of Clay-lump Cottages.+
+  The front has been plastered and panelled out. In the upper part
+  of the stable building, seen in the foreground, the clay-lumps
+  are shown exposed.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Engineering Workshops.+
+  Built twenty years ago. The walls are thoroughly sound, despite
+  constant vibration, and are perfectly dry, except the brick face,
+  which was added for effect.]
+
+The use of sun-dried bricks for the interior partitions of cob and pisé
+cottages is worth consideration, as the nature of these materials
+demands a thickness of wall which is too wasteful of space to be
+acceptable in mere partitioning.
+
+Of the strength of clay-lump walls, there is no question. It was
+recently necessary to cut a new doorway in the old clay-lump wall of a
+large traction-engine garage, and the blocks removed were thrown into a
+heap upon the ground.
+
+The clay happened to be needed for other purposes, for which it had
+first to be broken up.
+
+Ordinary hammers proved entirely ineffective, and it was not until heavy
+sledges were used that the lumps could be smashed.
+
+The tractor-house in question is a large building some 25 ft. by 100
+ft., carrying a heavy roof and constantly subjected to vibration by the
+coming and going of the tractors.
+
+The walls are only 12 in. thick, without piers or reinforcements of any
+kind, and yet the whole building, which is 26 ft, high at the gables, is
+as perfect to-day as when first erected some twenty years ago.
+
+In the same town as this tractor-house, East Harling in Norfolk, is a
+council school built of clay lump (converted from the old Corn Hall),
+apparently not a pin the worse for a century of hard wear.
+
+Near by there are a number of private houses built of the same material,
+some of them reputed to be upwards of 200 years old and certain of them
+having considerable architectural merit.
+
+
+    [Headnote: “Substantial and Cool”]
+
+(_Extract from “The Farmers’ Handbook,” issued by the Department of
+Agriculture, New South Wales, 1911_)
+
++“Adobe,” or Sun-dried Bricks+
+
+“As their name implies, these buildings are constructed of sun-dried,
+but unburnt bricks. For buildings of this character, material like clay,
+which is unsuitable for pisé-work, can be used. The bricks are made in a
+wooden mould, and are 16 in. long, 8 in. wide, and 6 in. thick. A man
+can mould about 100 per day. They are laid in a similar manner to other
+bricks, the mortar used being wet loam, or even the material of which
+the bricks are made. The cost of making and laying is estimated at about
+15s. per 100. Buildings constructed of these bricks are substantial and
+cool, and very similar in character to pisé buildings.
+
+“A school-house built of these bricks eighteen years ago by Mr. Nixon,
+of Reefton, is still in an excellent state of preservation; in fact,
+little, if any, the worse for wear, despite the fact that walls are
+unprotected by verandahs or overhanging eaves. During its existence it
+has had, first one coat of oil-paint, and later a coat of coloured
+limewash.”
+
+   *   *   *
+
+“Clay lump,” then, is one of the many good old building methods that
+needs no proving, but only revival and perhaps improvement.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+  I
+
+  WHITEWASH
+
+Whitewashing has been frequently referred to in the foregoing pages as
+the most suitable treatment for the exterior of chalk and earth
+buildings.
+
+There is, however, a certain prejudice against lime-whiting amongst both
+owners and occupiers, owing to the frequent renewal that its adoption
+usually implies.
+
+With a view to removing this drawback from a treatment otherwise so
+effective, the following recipes are suggested as improvements on the
+usual practice.
+
+Ordinary whitewash is made by slaking about 10 lbs. of quicklime with
+two gallons of water.
+
+The following recipes are taken from “_White Paints and Painting_”
+(Scott), and are reliable:
+
+(1) “_Factory” Whitewash (interiors), for Walls, Ceilings, Posts, etc._:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1 bushel) quicklime, slake with 15 gallons water.
+    Keep barrel covered till steam ceases to arise. Stir occasionally
+    to prevent scorching.
+
+  (_b_) 2½ lbs. rye-flour, beat up in ½ gallon of cold water, then
+    add 2 gallons boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 2½ lbs. of common rock-salt, dissolve in 2½ gallons of hot
+    water.
+
+Mix (_b_) and (_c_), then pour into (_a_), and stir until all is well
+mixed. This is the whitewash used in the large implement factories, and
+recommended by the insurance companies. The above formula gives a
+product of perfect brush consistency.
+
+(2) _“Weatherproof” Whitewash (exteriors), for Buildings, Fences, etc._:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1 bushel) quicklime, slake with 12 gallons of hot
+    water.
+
+  (_b_) 2 lbs. common table salt, 1 lb. sulphate of zinc, dissolved
+    in a gallon of boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 2 gallons skimmed milk.
+
+Pour (_b_) into (_a_), then add the milk (_c_), and mix thoroughly.
+
+(3) _“Light House” Whitewash_:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1 bushel) quicklime, slake with 12 gallons of
+    hot water.
+
+  (_b_) 12 gallons rock-salt, dissolve in 6 gallons of boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 6 lbs. of Portland cement.
+
+Pour (_b_) into (_a_), and then add (_c_).
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Note._--Alum added to a lime whitewash prevents it rubbing off. An
+ounce to the gallon is sufficient.
+
+Flour paste answers the same purpose, but needs zinc sulphate as a
+preservative.
+
+The following are from “_1,000 More Paint Questions Answered_”:
+
+(4) _Durable Whitewash for Outside Use._--A whitewash that will not rub
+off or wash off in rainy weather can be made by mixing one half-pint of
+flour to a batter with cold water, then stirring into this boiling water
+until it becomes a thick paste.
+
+While still hot it is poured into a pailful of ready-made lime whitewash
+and well stirred in.
+
+(5) Another simple method is to add to 2 gallons of ready-made lime
+whitewash one half-pint each of molasses and table salt. Must be stirred
+frequently while being used.
+
+_Whitewash for Exterior Surfaces._--A formula for a durable whitewash
+for out-buildings of rough lumber. The following is reprinted from
+“_Popular Mechanics_”:
+
+(6) Place 1 bushel good fresh lime in a barrel with 20 lbs. beef tallow;
+slake with hot water and cover with sackcloth to keep in steam. When the
+lime is slaked, the tallow will have disappeared, having formed a
+chemical compound with the lime. Dry colours may be added to produce any
+tint desired.[10]
+
+    [Footnote 10: Experiments and tests carried out for the author
+    by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research place
+    this receipt at the head of the list.]
+
+It is better to add colour before slaking the lime, but if this is not
+feasible mix the colour with alcohol and add it to the strained
+whitewash. Thin to easy flowing consistency with clear water.
+
+    [Headnote: Distempers and Limewashes]
+
+_Cold Water Paint that will stand the Weather._--A formula for making a
+white outside coating that will resist the action of the weather and
+remain hard even under the influence of moisture and rain. Experiments
+with different brands of cold water paints have proved failures.
+
+A really effective cold water paint, in order to resist the elements and
+remain white, should contain a white pigment of good body and some oil
+in addition to the water, and with this purpose in view the following is
+suggested:
+
+(7) To make 100 lbs. of such paint, mix 10 lbs. white, pure in oil, with
+10 lbs. bolted whiting, 8 lbs. raw linseed oil, 6 lbs. soft soap (made
+with potash), and 26 lbs. soft water.
+
+One quart of pale copal varnish will improve the preparation. The
+formula given is of the right consistency to apply on dressed lumber
+with the brush. For application on rough lumber or with the spraying
+machine it requires more thinning with water and varnish.
+
+The following is taken from Pearce’s “_Painting and Decorating_”:
+
+(8) A London recipe for distemper has the following proportions:
+4 “balls” whiting, 2 lbs. Young’s patent size, and sufficient water to
+cover the whiting.
+
+(9) A Scotch distemper is described as: 12 lbs. whiting, size as given
+previously, 2 ozs. alum, 2 ozs. soft soap. It is very fast, for
+passages, schools, etc. Tinting colours for limewash should be
+restricted to ochres, umbers, lime blue, lime greens, charcoal or lamp
+black, and earthy reds (as Venetian).
+
+(10) External limewash for farm buildings, etc., may be made as follows:
+Lime, ½ bushel, slaked with 1 gallon of milk and remainder of water,
+1 lb. salt and ½ lb. sulphate of zinc to make it withstand the weather.
+
+Experiments with and practical tests of these and other kinds of
+whitewash are being carried out, and the author hopes that he may find
+opportunity at some later date of announcing the results obtained.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Local Materials]
+
+  II
+
+  THE IMPORTANCE OF USING LOCAL MATERIALS
+
+  (_Extract from “Country Life,” November 9th, 1918_)
+
+  300,000 COTTAGES WOULD ENTAIL THE TRANSPORT OF 60,000,000 TONS
+  OF MATERIAL
+
+In carrying out any considerable scheme of house building two
+difficulties will have to be met. The first arises from the scarcity of
+building material; the other from the cost and difficulty of transport.
+These, to some extent, can be obviated by the use of local material,
+which is to be commended on other grounds as well. Local material fits
+into the character of the neighbourhood in which it is found and
+maintains its traditions.
+
+Very few people realise the bulk of materials, and in order to help them
+the following statement has been prepared to show the materials needed
+for each cottage and the total for 300,000 cottages:
+
+  Materials.                                        Weight.
+                                         Per One Cottage. Per 300,000.
+                                         Tons. Cwts. Qrs.   (Tons.)
+  Ballast, sand, gravel                       78 17  0     23,655,000
+  Lime                                         5 18  0      1,770,000
+  Cement                                      12  8  0      3,720,000
+  Bricks                                      85  0  0     25,500,000
+  Slates for D.P.C                             0 10  2        157,500
+  Chimney-pots                                 0  0  3         11,250
+  Tiles                                        7  2  2      2,137,500
+  Carcassing timber                            7  0  0      2,100,000
+  Complete joinery timber                      1 12  0        480,000
+  Cast-iron rain-water goods and sundries      0  9  0        135,000
+  Stoves, copper, ash-bin, etc.                0  5  2         82,500
+  Nails, screws, etc.                          0  1  2         22,500
+  Hair for plaster                             0  1  0         15,000
+  Lead flashings, etc.                         0  2  1         33,750
+  Sink, waste pipes, draining boards, etc.     0  2  1         33,750
+  Sanitary goods                               0  1  0         15,000
+  Whitening, distemper and paint               0  3  1         48,750
+                                             ---------     ----------
+      Total                                  199 14  2     59,917,500
+                                             ---------     ----------
+
+It will be seen that to carry out the scheme for 300,000 cottages a
+total of close on 60,000,000 tons of material will have to be shifted.
+In addition to that, it must be remembered that the cost of material is
+very small in comparison with that of building. This will be apparent
+from an analysis of the items employed for actual cost and the
+percentage which that cost bears to the total cost.
+
+Cottages erected 1912 (semi-detached): total interior area of cottage,
+772 ft. super, (parlour, kitchen, scullery and three bedrooms, coal and
+W.C.):
+
+                                                 Per House.
+ No.          Item.                   Actual Cost.     Per cent. of
+                                                         Total Cost.
+  1. Sundries                                  8              2·66
+  2. Foundations                              16              5·28
+  3. External and party walls (_a_)           77             25·41
+            Windows and doors (_b_)           23              7·59
+  4. Internal partitions                      36             11·88
+  5. Ground floor                             18              5·94
+  6. Upper floor                              22              7·26
+  7. Roof and rain-water goods                34              1·22
+  8. Chimney and fireplaces                   30              9·90
+  9. Sanitary fittings, water supply and
+         drainage                             19              6·27
+ 10. Staircases                               11              3·63
+ 11. Fittings                                  6              1·98
+                                            ----
+      Total                                 £300
+
+These facts help to clarify the problem. The weight of the building
+materials required for an ordinary cottage with living-room, parlour,
+scullery, three bedrooms, etc., the house containing cubic contents of
+about 11,500 ft., would come approximately to 200 tons per cottage; and
+even assuming that there is only an average transport of fifty miles,
+this would give 10,000 ton-miles per rural cottage, which is taking it
+at a very low average. In each cottage the weight of the brickwork
+represents about 42 per cent. of the total weight. It is, therefore,
+apparent that every effort should be made to lessen the transit of
+materials required for the external walling. If, on the other hand,
+local materials are employed, this carriage would be saved and a great
+economy effected. Even if this utilitarian consideration were not so
+important as it is, the desirability of making all possible use of local
+materials is very great from other points of view. It would stimulate
+local interest in building and, in addition to retaining the traditions
+of the district, give greater hope of retaining and maintaining the
+proper architectural aspect of our villages.
+
+It is scarcely necessary to summarise the advantages that may fairly be
+expected to flow from this endeavour to make a real start at finding a
+solution for the housing difficulty. First and foremost must be placed
+the saving in transport. A casual reader may easily imagine that the
+difficulties of carriage will vanish with the end of the war, but that
+is not so in reality. Any one who has travelled in France must have
+noticed engines bearing such names as Liverpool Street, King’s Cross,
+Euston, Birmingham, and so on. The meaning of that is that a great deal
+of our rolling stock was sent over to France, and at the best will not
+be available here for a long time to come. Even the ordinary work of
+upkeep and repair has necessarily been neglected owing to the scarcity
+of men and other causes incidental to war-time. Transport difficulties
+are bound to last for a very considerable period after the peace
+settlement, and it would not be at all advisable to delay the
+construction of houses so long. The returned soldiers will make us
+vividly conscious of the shortage. Nothing could be imagined more likely
+to make them look for chances of going abroad than to learn that there
+is not sufficient housing accommodation for them in the village in which
+they lived before the war, and to which they hoped to return on its
+conclusion.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Cost per Foot Cube]
+
+  III
+
+  EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF _COUNTRY LIFE_,
+  JULY 27th, 1918
+
+“Shortly before the war I had occasion to demolish some very old
+cottages at Clovelly for the reconstruction of the New Inn. I was so
+much struck with the stability of these (although by no means
+first-class samples of cob work) that I collected some facts and notes
+on the subject from different parts of the county of Devon. Where
+bye-laws have been adopted, cob is no longer being used. It is
+difficult, therefore, to give an accurate comparison of costs, but after
+careful investigation I did arrive at the following results for North
+Devon and Scotland. The prices were in 1913, and in both cases for a
+five-roomed cottage (assuming four to be built at the same time,
+including internal water supply, but omitting any special work necessary
+to procure supply, and omitting fencing).
+
+                    Cost per foot cube    Cost per foot cube
+                    cob at 2 ft. 6 in.    11 in. hollow brick.
+                    thick.
+  North Devon         6½d.                  5⅞d.
+  Scotland            6d.                   6d.
+
+These prices assumed suitable material on or near site, and allowed
+something for the difficulty of getting at least one experienced
+cob-worker to instruct the unskilled men. Since 1913 the cost of brick
+has risen so much that cob would now be much cheaper, probably as much
+as 1d. or 1¼d. foot cube in both cases, and this is likely to be the
+case for many years. Suitable material exists in many parts of the
+country. If reed straw cannot be had, other reinforcements can be used.
+I have seen various materials in use, of which heather was perhaps the
+best and most easily procured. I can endorse from experience the comfort
+of these old buildings, and the affection of Devon people for them. The
+thick walls give all that a house should--protection from heat in summer
+and cold in winter. For the contrast, visit the new Garden City at
+Rosyth. Many of the houses are attractive, but their thin brick walls,
+tile and slate hanging are not suitable to the north and east coasts.
+Ask the opinion of the occupants of these new houses. Many of them are
+Devon born and bred, and imported from the dockyards of the three towns.
+They nearly all complain of the cold, and their views form an
+interesting comment on modern construction.”
+
+
+  IV
+
+  PISÉ TESTS
+
+  (_With acknowledgements to “The Spectator”_)
+
+Through the courtesy of Messrs. Alban Richards & Co. we are able to
+publish the results of certain very instructive tests that have been
+carried out on Pisé during the past winter. Messrs. Richard’s experience
+and Report bring out two points with especial clearness, (1) That Pisé
+work, though not impossible under winter conditions, is not ordinarily
+desirable unless some means of artificially drying the earth be resorted
+to. (2) That the strength of Pisé increases with surprising rapidity as
+the work dries out. It should be remarked that none of the samples
+tested were made from really good Pisé soil, such for instance as the
+red marls or brick earths. With such materials or anything approaching
+them, the results would have been even better, as the Report points
+out:--
+
+“In conjunction with Mr. Williams-Ellis, we have made certain tests with
+a view to satisfying ourselves as to the practicability of _pisé de
+terre_ for house construction. In order to obtain what we might term the
+minimum or ‘worst’ tests, we decided to erect walls for this purpose in
+the winter. This we have done for the last three months, which has been
+a very wet period, and the following is a short description of the tests
+we have made:--
+
+  “1. Two walls were erected measuring 14 ft. long, 9 ft. high and 18
+  in. thick, spaced 20 ft. apart, with short return ends to each wall.
+  Wall plates were placed centrally along the top of each wall, on
+  which were placed 9 in. by 3 in. wood joists, at 16 in. centres,
+  across the 20 ft span. In order to obtain the minimum results we
+  allowed the shutters to remain until the test was ready to be
+  applied, so that walls did not have an opportunity of drying or
+  hardening. This condition was thought necessary, as it is quite
+  reasonable to expect that if _pisé de terre_ cottages are erected,
+  considerable weight might be placed on the walls immediately the
+  shuttering is struck. We then proceeded to test the walls to
+  destruction. The floor space provided for by the joists referred to
+  above measure 220 super. feet, the load was then applied gradually.
+  The load applied totalled 16½ tons, which is equivalent of 168 lbs.
+  per super. foot of floor space, under which the wall collapsed,
+  which, in our opinion, provides a factor of safety of three to the
+  normal load which a cottage floor would have to bear.
+
+“We are convinced that very much better results can be obtained in this
+method of construction with walls which were first dried before the load
+was applied. Further experiments are to be made to procure further data
+on this subject. In addition to the above tests, we have submitted to
+the National Physical Laboratory, blocks made of _pisé de terre_, from
+poor to medium soil, for testing purposes, and the following are the
+results which have been obtained:--
+
+“The following Report shows results of Tests made by the National
+Physical Laboratory.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pisé Tests]
+
+  “REPORT ON TESTS OF BUILDING BLOCKS OF PISÉ DE TERRE SENT FOR TEST
+  BY MESSRS. W. ALBAN RICHARDS & CO., LTD.
+
+“_Tests made on January 14, 1920._
+
+“First set of three blocks sent in November 1919.
+
+“These blocks were composed of a fine gravel containing very few and
+very small stones. The material was said to be similar to that used at
+Merrow Down, near Guildford, Surrey. It appeared to be very similar to
+Farnham gravel.
+
+“The blocks were tested in compression, one within twenty-four hours of
+arrival at the laboratory, and the others after drying for a time in the
+laboratory. For results of tests see Table I.
+
+  TABLE I
+
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+      |      |              |    |    |       |   LOAD.     |
+      |      |              |Age |Area|Density+-----+-------+
+      |      |              | in | in | lbs.  |     |in tons|
+      |      | Dimensions   |days|sq. | per   | in  |  per  |
+  No. |Marks.|  in inches.  | *  |ft. |c. ft. |tons |sq. ft.| REMARKS.
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+  UT1 |  3   |    9×9×9     | 1  |·562| 131   |0·70 |  1·66 |Cracked
+      |      |              |    |    |       |1·04 |  2·47 |Collapsed
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       |
+  UT2 |  1   | 8·9×8·9×8·9  | 9  |·550| 125   |4·27 | 10·50 |Collapsed
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       |
+  UT3 |  2   |8·95×8·95×8·95|16  |·556| 117   |2·31 |  5·57 |Small
+      |      |              |    |    |       |4·23 | 10·20 | cracks
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       | appeared
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+
+    [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+
+“Second set of blocks sent in December 1919.
+
+“This set consisted of six blocks in three pairs, each pair having been
+rammed with a different quantity of water.
+
+“One of each pair was tested within twenty-four hours of arrival at the
+laboratory, and the others after drying in the laboratory for twenty-six
+days.
+
+“The material used was not homogeneous, and the mixture consisted of a
+very clayey loam, a fibrous loam, sand and large stones. The clayey
+material gave rise to surface cracks as the blocks dried.
+
+“For results of tests see Table II.
+
+  TABLE II
+
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+      |      |            |    |    |       |   LOAD.     |
+      |      |            |Age |Area|Density+-----+-------+
+      |      |            | in | in | lbs.  |     |in tons|
+      |      |Dimensions  |days|sq. | per   | in  |  per  |
+  No. |Marks.| in inches. | *  |ft. |c. ft. |tons |sq. ft.| REMARKS.
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+  VW1 |  1   | 8·9×9×8·5  | 1  |·555| 106   |0·45 |0·81   |Cracked at
+      | dry  |            |    |    |       |     |       | one corner
+      |      |            |    |    |       |0·51 |0·92   |Collapsed
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW2 |  2   |   9×9×9    |26  |·562| 105   |2·15 |3·84   |Collapsed.
+      | dry  |            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | quite dry
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | in interior
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW3 |  3   |9·1×9·1×8·9 | 1  |·570| 134   |0·55 |0·96   |Collapsed
+      | wet  |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW4 |  4   |8·8×8·8×8·9 |26  |·546| 110   |3·20 |5·86   |Collapsed.
+      | wet  |            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | quite dry
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | in interior
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW5 |  5   |  9×8·9×9   | 1  |·558| 126   |0·60 |1·08   |Bulged and
+      |medium|            |    |    |       |     |       | cracked
+      |      |            |    |    |       |0·69 |1·24   |Collapsed
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW6 |  6   | 8·8×8·8×7  |26  |·546| 109   |3·33 |6·10   |Collapsed.
+      |medium|            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | slightly
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | damp in
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | the interior
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+
+    [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+
+    Seal of
+  NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY _Signature of Director_
+
+“From the second set of blocks it would appear that it is better to ram
+with too much moisture than with too little. It will be noted that the
+density of the wet block was 30 per cent. more than that of the dry
+block, so that a wall could be carried higher with the dry material than
+with the wet, although such a wall would never gain the strength which a
+wet one would upon drying.
+
+
+  CONCLUSIONS
+
+“We are of opinion, having regard to the fact that the house at Newlands
+Corner (Guildford four miles) has weathered the winter, without showing
+any signs of dampness, that _pisé de terre_ will make a thoroughly dry
+house.
+
+“We consider that the tests made are satisfactory, and prove that this
+form of construction is of a sufficiently sound nature to be employed in
+the building of houses. With really suitable material, such as a light
+brick-earth or marl, it is considered that the results already obtained
+might well be 100 per cent. better.”
+
+We are informed that additional tests are now proceeding with regard to
+the water-proof and weather-resisting qualities of Pisé, the results of
+which will be duly published.
+
+
+
+
+_INDEX_
+
+
+INTRODUCTION:
+
+  Chalk walls, 18
+  Cheap materials, the search for, 13
+  Pisé de craie, 16, 17, 107
+  Pisé, experiments with, 15
+    in moulds, 19, 20
+    in South Africa, 22, 23
+  Pliny on Pisé de terre, 25
+  Rammed chalk, 16, 17, 107
+
+GENERAL SURVEY:
+
+  Building materials, shortage of, 26
+  “Ersatz” products introduced during the War, 26
+  House famine, the, 27
+  Local materials, use of, to avoid transport, 29
+  Lutyens, Sir Edwin, and Mr. Alban Scott, cottage by, 30
+  Rural housing, suitability of cob and pisé for, 28
+
+I--COB:
+
+  Allen, Mr. C. B., his reference to Devon cob, quoted, 47
+  Baring-Gould, Rev. S., on cob, quoted, 47
+  Beauty of cob, 35
+  Bernard, Mr. Charles, his account of Sir Walter Raleigh’s cob house,
+      45, 46
+  _Book of the West, The_, by Rev. S. Baring-Gould, reference to cob
+      in, quoted, 47
+  Building, 37, 38, 39
+  Carpentry and joinery, 41, 42
+  Chimneys, 44
+  Cob tradition, 52
+  Composition, 36
+  Cost, 35, 50
+  _Cottage-Building_, reference to cob in, quoted, 47
+  _Country Life_, letter to, relating to cob work, quoted, 115, 116
+  Design, 44, 45
+  Devon cob, 47
+  Drying, 39
+  Elizabethan cob houses still existing, 34
+  Former conditions returned, 52
+  Foundations and base, 40; result of bad, 34
+  Fruit walls, of cob, 47, 48
+  Fulford, Mr., of Great Fulford, on cob, 50-52
+  Gimson, Mr., his description of building cob, quoted, 35
+  Hayes Barton, Sir Walter Raleigh’s house at, 45, 46
+  Hipped roofs, 41
+  Joinery, 41, 42, 43
+  Masonry and carpentry, 41, 42
+  Method of building, 36-45
+  Mixing, 37
+  Northcote, Lady Rosalind, her description of Sir Walter Raleigh’s
+      house, 46
+  Primitive methods, 47
+  Protection, 43
+  Protective wash, 51
+  Raleigh, Sir Walter, his cob house at Hayes Barton, 45, 46
+  Rats, 44
+  Reed thatch, 46
+  Rendering, 51
+  Roofing, 51
+  Shuttering, 51
+  Strength, 44
+  Thickness of walls, 40
+  Traditional building material in Devon and Wessex, 33
+  Training of ex-soldiers, 52
+
+  II--PISÉ:
+
+  Bolts, 86
+  Bonders, 69
+  Building procedure, 71, 72, 74, 75
+  Capabilities, 57, 58
+  Corners, 68
+  _Cyclopædia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and
+      Literature_, on pisé, quoted, 59-71
+  Damp-course, 86
+  Definition of Pisé de terre, 57, 59
+  Durability, 82
+  _Earthwork, A Manual on_, quoted, 73-76
+  Empandeni, pisé work executed at, 78, 79, 80
+  Excavation, 86
+  Etah Jail, pisé work executed at, 76, 77, 78
+  Fillet, 87
+  Floating, 86
+  Foundations, 74
+  Frames, 87
+  France, introduction of pisé into, 57
+  Gorffon, Monsieur, reference to his treatise on pisé, 57
+  History, 57
+  Indian and Colonial practice, 73-88
+  Introduced into France by the Romans, 57
+  _Journal de Physique_, by the Abbé Rozier, quoted, 58
+  Lintels, 87
+  Locale, 58
+  Method of building, 58-62
+  Method of working, 60, 61, 62
+  New South Wales, pisé work in, 81-88
+  Origin, 58
+  Picture-rail, 87
+  Plant required, 85, 89, 90
+  Plastering, 75
+  Pliny, references to his account of pisé, 25, 57
+  Plugs, 86, 87
+  Protection, 75
+  Rain, 67
+  Rammer, the, 59, 60
+  Ramming, 62, 76
+  Rate of work, 63
+  Rendering, 70
+  Rods _versus_ bars, 75, 76
+  Rozier, the Abbé, his _Journal de Physique_, quoted, 58
+  Shuttering, 59, 88, 89
+  Shutter ties, 73
+  Skirting, 87
+  Soil blending, 64
+    preparation of, 66, 67
+    suitable, 63, 74, 86
+    tests, 63
+    to ascertain quality of, 65
+  Speed of building, 70
+  Stability, 82
+  Strength, 69
+  Studding, 87, 88
+  Theory and science of pisé, the, 62-73
+  Ventilators, 86
+  Virtues of pisé, 72
+  Wire netting, use of, 87, 88
+
+III--CHALK:
+
+  Block chalk, 117, 118
+  Chalk compost, historical, 107
+    composition and uses, 108, 109
+  Chalk conglomerate, 114
+  Chimneys, 110
+  External rendering, 110
+  Frost, 109
+  Garden walls, 111
+  House walls, 112
+  Old and modern examples, 112-115
+  Rats and chalk, 116
+  Rendering, 110
+  Repairs, 110
+  Roof, 111
+  Strength, 110
+  Timber, 109
+  Winterslow cottages, the, 115, 116
+
+IV--UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS:
+
+  “Adobe,” use of, in New South Wales, 124
+  Age of clay-lump buildings, 124
+  East Anglia, use of sun-dried bricks in, 121
+  Method of making, 121
+  New South Wales, use of sun-dried bricks in, 124
+  Skipper, Mr., on sun-dried bricks, quoted, 121
+  Strength of clay-lump walls, 124
+  Thickness of clay-lump walls, 122-124
+
+APPENDIX:
+
+  Cold-water paint, recipe for, 129
+  Cost, an analysis of building, 131
+  _Country Life_, letter to, relating to cob work, quoted, 132, 133
+  Distempers, recipes for, 129
+  Local materials, importance of using, 130, 131
+  Weight of building materials, table of, 130
+  Whitewash, recipes for, 127, 128
+
+
+
+
+  Printed by
+  Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ld.,
+  London and Aylesbury.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+           *       *       *       *
+
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+  “COUNTRY LIFE LIBRARY.”
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+
+By LAWRENCE WEAVER. Nearly 300 pages and over 300 illustrations. 9/6
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+
+By LAWRENCE WEAVER. Forty examples chosen from five centuries. 300
+illustrations. Large quarto, 18/9 net; by post, 19/6.
+
+  “Anyone who wishes to adapt an old house for modern use will find
+  much to learn from Mr. Weaver’s pages.” --_Scotsman_.
+
+
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+
+(_Second Series_.) By LAWRENCE WEAVER. Over 300 illustrations and plans.
+Large quarto, 25/- net; by post, 26/-.
+
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+
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+19/6.
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+
+Described and criticised by LAWRENCE WEAVER. 400 folio pages, and 600
+magnificent illustrations. 2nd Edition, quarter buckram, 31/3 net; half
+morocco, 43/9 net; postage 10d. extra.
+
+  “It is only when we see such a publication as this, that we realise
+  what quality characterises some of the building of to-day.
+  Abundantly and splendidly illustrated, this book shows the work of
+  a great master.” --_Manchester Guardian_.
+
+
++Grinling Gibbons and the Woodwork of His Age (1648-1720).+
+
+By H. AVRAY TIPPING, M.A., F.S.A. Large folio, quarter buckram, 31/3
+net; half morocco, 43/9 net; postage 10d. extra. Nearly 250
+illustrations.
+
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+
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+
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+  as enlightenment, concerning a treasury of domestic art and
+  archæology, which to a large extent is kept closed from the common
+  eye.” --_Scotsman_.
+
+
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+
+Edited by H. AVRAY TIPPING, M.A., F.S.A. Vols. I. and III., beautifully
+illustrated, each 52/6 net. These volumes illustrate the relationship
+between house and garden in a way never before attempted.
+
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+  should be reflected in both. The accounts of lovely garden after
+  lovely garden are most agreeable reading.” --_Daily Chronicle_.
+
+
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+
+By SIR THEODORE ANDREA COOK, M.A., F.S.A., with an Introductory Chapter,
+outlining the Development of French Domestic Architecture, by W. H.
+WARD, M.A., F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A., and illustrations by FREDERICK H. EVANS.
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+
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+  architecture.” --_Glasgow Herald_.
+
+
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+
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+gilt edges, 63/- net; postage 1/- extra.
+
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+  examples, styles and method in the decoration of gardens,
+  a compendium of the history and taste in English Horticulture and
+  a revelation of the treasures of beauty which our country holds.”
+  --_Times_.
+
+
++Windsor Castle.+
+
+An Architectural History. Collected and written by command of Their
+Majesties QUEEN VICTORIA, KING EDWARD VII. and King GEORGE V. By SIR
+WILLIAM H. ST. JOHN HOPE, Litt.D., D.C.L. Imperial quarto, in Two
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+whole sheepskin, £10 10s. net; full morocco, £13 2s. 6d. Carriage extra.
+
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+Illustrated prospectuses of these invaluable books and a complete
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+LIFE, LTD., 20, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+           *       *       *       *
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+Pliny, _Natural History_, Bk. XXXV, chapter xlviii, quoted at end of
+Introduction:
+
+  “_Have we not in Africa and in Spain ... erected by Hannibal._”
+
+The standard numbering of this passage is XXXV.lxi. With punctuation and
+capitalization adjusted by transcriber to match translation:
+
+  Quid non in Africa Hispaniaque e terra parietes, quos appellant
+  ‘formaceos’, quoniam in forma circumdatis ii utrimque tabulis
+  inferciuntur verius quam struuntur? Aevis durant, incorrupti
+  imbribus, ventis, ignibus omnique caemento firmiores. Spectat etiam
+  nunc speculas Hannibalis Hispania terrenasque turres iugis montium
+  inpositas.
+
+
+Illustration reproduced from 1819 Encyclopædia:
+
+Immediately below the picture is the almost illegible text:
+
+  J. F. delin. / Lowry / Published as the Act directs 1817
+  by Longman Hurst Rees, Orme & Brown Paternoster Row.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+           *       *       *       *
+
+Errors and Inconsistencies (noted by transcriber):
+
+  [Headnotes]
+  Pisé--a South African Lead
+  The Discovery of the Old
+    [_these two notes were transposed to fit the text_]
+
+  [Illustration: / +The Newlands Waggon-house.+ / Interior.]
+    [final . missing]
+  force of the south-westerly storms.”  [single for double quote]
+  This requires no hair, and is easily applied.”  [close quote missing]
+  have always been found perfectly sound  [“prefectly”]
+  “Strangers who have sailed upon the Rhône  [open quote missing]
+  “There is every reason for introducing  [open quote missing]
+  “Pisé is a material readily obtainable  [single for double quote]
+  merely improvements of mechanism.  [. missing]
+  the misguided enthusiasts responsible
+    [line-end hyphen in “mis-/guided” invisible]
+  it is generally bonded in in the ordinary way  [not an error]
+  Chapter III. _CHALK_ / § I. GENERAL
+    [there are no sections II, III...]
+  fixed to wood blocks built in in a similar way  [not an error]
+  [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+    [duplicate footnote added by transcriber:
+    tables were printed on a single page]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chal
+ and Clay, by Clough Williams-Ellis
+
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diff --git a/32048-0.zip b/32048-0.zip
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cottage Building in Cob, Pis�, Chalk and
+Clay, by Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Cottage Building in Cob, Pis�, Chalk and Clay
+       a Renaissance (2nd edition)
+
+Author: Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+Commentator: J. St. Loe Strachey
+
+Release Date: April 19, 2010 [EBook #32048]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COTTAGE BUILDING IN COB ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Louise Hope, David Clarke and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[This e-text comes in three forms: Unicode (UTF-8), Latin-1 and ASCII.
+Use the one that works best on your text reader.
+
+  --If "oe" displays as a single character, and apostrophes and
+  quotation marks are "curly" or angled, you have the UTF-8 version
+  (best). If any part of this paragraph displays as garbage, try
+  changing your text reader's "character set" or "file encoding".
+  If that doesn't work, proceed to:
+  --In the Latin-1 version, "oe" is two letters, and apostrophes and
+  quotation marks will have the straight ("typewriter") form. The word
+  "Pis�" still has its accent, "�" is a single letter, and the
+  fractions � � � are one piece each. Again, if you see any garbage
+  in this paragraph and can't get it to display properly, use:
+  --The ASCII-7 or rock-bottom version. All accents are now gone, and
+  fractions appear as "1/2".
+
+In illustration captions, small capitals are shown as +text+; in the
+advertising, the +same symbols+ represent boldface.
+
+Headers of odd-numbered pages changed from page to page. These have been
+marked as [Headnote] and are added to the Table of Contents in brackets
+to aid in text searching.
+
+In the body text, _s._ and _d._ (shillings and pence) were always
+italicized; in the advertising, all prices were printed in boldface.
+Both have been left unmarked to reduce visual clutter.
+
+Errors and other problems are listed at the end of the e-text.]
+
+
+
+
+  COTTAGE BUILDING IN
+  COB, PIS�, CHALK & CLAY
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: Publisher's Device {COUNTRY LIFE}]
+
+  _First Edition, September 1919_
+  _Second Edition (Revised and Enlarged), July 1920_
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Cob House built by Mr. Ernest Gimson,
+  near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.+
+  _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+
+  COTTAGE BUILDING
+
+    in
+
+  COB, PIS�, CHALK & CLAY
+
+  _A Renaissance_
+
+
+    By
+  CLOUGH WILLIAMS-ELLIS
+
+  _With An Introduction_
+    By
+  J. St. LOE STRACHEY
+
+
+  Second Edition
+  Revised And Enlarged
+
+
+    London
+  Published at the Offices of "Country Life,"�20,
+  Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2, and�by
+  George Newnes, Ltd., 8-11, Southampton Street,
+  Strand, W.C.2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
+    MCMXX
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
+
+
+The exhaustion of the first edition of this book, within so short a time
+of its publication, makes it difficult to add much new matter for the
+reissue now called for, or, in the light of subsequent research and
+experience, to revise what had already been written.
+
+Any book that seemed to show a way of meeting the present building
+difficulties, however partially, was fairly assured of a welcome, but
+the somewhat unforeseen demand for my small contribution to the great
+volume of literature on cottage-building is, I�think, to be attributed
+chiefly to its description of Pis�-building.
+
+Of the very large number of letters that reach me from readers of the
+book, quite ninety-nine out of every hundred are concerned with Pis�.
+
+The other methods of building have their advocates and exponents, but it
+is clearly Pis� that has caught the attention of the public as well as
+of the Press both at home and abroad, and it is to this method of
+construction that I have chiefly devoted my attention since the writing
+of the book as it first appeared.
+
+In our English climate Pis�-building is a summer craft, and the
+small-scale experiments of one person through a single summer cannot in
+the nature of things add very greatly to the sum of our knowledge of
+what is possible with Pis� and of what is not.
+
+Most of the new data have come through the building of Mr. Strachey's
+demonstration house, an account of which is included in the present
+volume.
+
+At the time of writing, various tests are being carried out with the
+help of the National Physical Laboratory; but the results, though
+exceedingly encouraging, are not yet ready for publication.[1]
+
+The fact that Pis�-building is essentially a "Dry-earth method" makes
+necessary the creation of artificial summer conditions under which the
+experiments may be conducted during the past winter. As a result of
+these researches, a�considerable mass of useful data has become
+available for the opening of the present building season.[2]
+
+Much helpful information is also likely to come to us from the Colonies,
+particularly from Rhodesia and British East Africa, where there is great
+activity in Pis�-building, and where there is no "close season" such as
+our winter imposes upon us here.
+
+It is instructive also to note that great interest in Pis�-building has
+been aroused in Canada and in Scandinavia, the two countries that we
+were wont to associate particularly with timber-building.
+
+From both I have received a number of letters complaining of "the lumber
+shortage," and discussing the advantages of Pis� as compared with their
+traditional wood-construction.
+
+If these great timber countries are themselves feeling the pinch, the
+advocates of wooden houses for England may find that they are not merely
+barking up the wrong tree, but up a tree that is not even there.
+
+The timber famine is, in any case, a calamity to anyone dependent on
+building, that is to everyone, for even a Pis� house must still have a
+roof and floors and joinery.
+
+But to invoke the timber house as our salvation under existing
+conditions seems to be singularly perverse and unhelpful. Pis�, at all
+events, seems to offer us a more promising field for exploration than
+most of the other heterodox methods of construction that have been
+suggested, too often upon credentials that will not bear any but the
+most cursory scrutiny.
+
+Pis�, even now, is still in its experimental infancy.
+
+It has yet to prove itself in the fields of National Housing and of
+competitive commercial building schemes on a large scale.
+
+Lastly, Pis� does not claim to solve the housing problem. There is no
+solution unless, by some miracle, the present purchasing power of the
+sovereign appreciates by 200 per cent.
+
+    CLOUGH WILLIAMS-ELLIS.
+
+  22, South Eaton Place,
+  London, S.W.1.
+  _May 1920._
+
+
+    [Footnote 1: Certain of these have since been issued and will
+    be found in Appendix IV. at the end of the book.]
+
+    [Footnote 2: See Appendix IV.]
+
+
+
+
+  CONTENTS
+
+  [Text shown in brackets was taken from headnotes and added here
+  by the transcriber.]
+
+                                                            Page
+
+  INTRODUCTION                                                11
+    [The Search for Cheap Material -- Experiments with
+    "Pis�" -- Rammed Chalk, "Pis� de Craie" -- Pis� in
+    Moulds -- Cob and Chalk -- Pis�--a South African
+    Lead -- The Discovery of the Old]
+
+  GENERAL SURVEY                                              26
+    [The House Famine -- Local Materials]
+
+  I. COB                                                      33
+    [The Beauty of Cob -- Method of Building --
+    Implements -- Walls and Roofs -- Protection --
+    Raleigh's House -- Mr. Baring-Gould -- Old Cob Lore
+    -- Mr. Fulford's Evidence -- A Champion of Cob]
+
+  II. PIS� DE TERRE                                           57
+    [Method of Building -- The Ramming -- Suitable Soils
+    -- Experiments -- Preparation of the Earth -- The
+    Strength of Pis� -- A Pis� Church -- Indian and
+    Colonial Practice -- Plastering -- The Right
+    Quantity of Water -- Pis� Buildings at Empandeni --
+    Pis� Buildings for Settlers -- Builders' Aversions
+    -- Number of Men Required -- Pis� in New Zealand --
+    Pis� Shuttering -- If Reason Rule -- The Newlands
+    Specification -- A Swedish Contribution --
+    A Pis�-Builder's School -- Alternative Shutterings
+    -- South Africa -- Soils]
+
+  III. CHALK                                                 107
+    [Winter Work Barred -- Garden Walls -- Cost of Three
+    Cottages -- Expensive Scaffolding Avoided -- Block
+    Chalk]
+
+  IV. UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS                         121
+    [Use for Unskilled Labour -- "Substantial and Cool"]
+
+  APPENDIX                                                   127
+    [Distempers and Limewashes -- Local Materials --
+    Cost per Foot Cube -- Pis� Tests]
+
+  INDEX                                                      139
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  COB HOUSE BUILT BY MR. ERNEST GIMSON,
+      NEAR BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON               _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                     Facing Page
+  PIS� WAGGON-HOUSE AT NEWLANDS CORNER                        18
+  THE NEWLANDS WAGGON-HOUSE (INTERIOR)                        18
+  THE BEGINNING OF A PIS� FRUIT-HOUSE                         19
+  THE FRUIT-HOUSE COMPLETED WITH ROOF OF PEAT BLOCKS
+      ON ROUGH BOARDING                                       19
+  MODEL OF A PIS� DE TERRE HOUSE TO BE BUILT IN
+      THREE SUCCESSIVE STAGES                                 22
+  WAYSIDE STATION OF PIS� AT SIMONDIUM, SOUTH AFRICA,
+      DESIGNED BY MR. HERBERT BAKER                           23
+  FRONT AND BACK ELEVATIONS OF COTTAGE DESIGNED BY
+      SIR EDWIN LUTYENS AND MR. ALBAN SCOTT                   28
+  PLAN OF COTTAGE DESIGNED BY SIR EDWIN LUTYENS
+      AND MR. ALBAN SCOTT                                     29
+  ANOTHER VIEW OF THE COB HOUSE BUILT BY MR.
+      ERNEST GIMSON, NEAR BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON           34
+  A FINE SPECIMEN OF A DEVONSHIRE COB HOUSE                   35
+  A DEVONSHIRE COB FARMHOUSE, PROBABLY BETWEEN
+      200 AND 300 YEARS OLD                                   36
+  A COB-BUILT VILLAGE                                         37
+  A DEVONSHIRE FARM, LOCAL MATERIAL (COB)                     42
+  DEVON COUNTRY HOUSE, BUILT OF DEVON COB                     43
+  COB HOUSE TEMP. ELIZABETH, LEWISHILL                        44
+  ANOTHER DEVONSHIRE (COB) FARMHOUSE, WEEKE BARTON            45
+  CEILINGS OF MODELLED PLASTER FROM OLD COB HOUSES IN DEVON   46
+  A COB GARDEN-WALL WITH THATCHED COPING                      47
+  PIS� PLANT AND IMPLEMENTS                                   58
+  DIAGRAM OF MARK V PIS� SHUTTERING                           88
+  MARK V SHUTTERING                                           89
+  A SIMPLE MOULD FOR PIS� BLOCKS                              90
+  BLOCK-MOULDS, LARGE AND SMALL                               90
+  SKETCH OF A PIS� HOUSE IN COURSE OF ERECTION                91
+  THE NEWLANDS CORNER BUILDING                                92
+  THE COTTAGE FROM THE SOUTH-EAST                             93
+  THE GARDEN COURT                                            93
+  THE BACKYARD                                                94
+  FRAMING THE ROOF                                            95
+  AN INTERIOR, SHOWING FIRE-BRICK HEARTH FIRE                 95
+  DETAILS OF CHALK CONSTRUCTION AT AMESBURY                  110
+  COTTAGES AT COLDHARBOUR, AMESBURY                          111
+  THREE CHALK COTTAGES AT HURSLEY PARK                       114
+  MARSH COURT, HAMPSHIRE                                     116
+  BRICK-AND-CHALK VAULTING AT THE DEANERY GARDEN, SONNING    117
+  ONCE CORN HALL, NOW COUNCIL SCHOOL                         122
+  A ROW OF CLAY-LUMP COTTAGES                                122
+  ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS                                      123
+
+
+
+
+CONSIDERATIONS
+
+
+  "IF ALL AVAILABLE BRICKWORKS WERE TO PRODUCE AT THEIR HIGHEST LIMIT
+  OF OUTPUT AND WITH ALL THE LABOUR THEY WANTED AT THEIR DISPOSAL THEY
+  COULD ONLY TURN OUT 4,000,000,000 BRICKS IN A YEAR AS AGAINST A
+  PRE-WAR AVERAGE OF 2,800,000,000."--(_See Report by Committee
+  appointed by Ministry of Reconstruction to consider the post-war
+  position of building._)
+
+  The first year's programme of working-class housing _alone_ calls
+  for at least 6,000,000,000 bricks. That is to say, unless wall
+  materials other than brick are freely used, we shall fall alarmingly
+  short of what the population of Great Britain needs in bare
+  accommodation, and all building and engineering projects whatsoever
+  other than housing must be postponed indefinitely.
+
+  "THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES ARE UNSURPASSED FOR
+  VARIETY AND BEAUTY OF CHARACTER, AND IT WOULD BE NOTHING LESS THAN A
+  NATIONAL MISFORTUNE IF THE INCREASED DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL HOLDINGS
+  WERE TO RESULT IN THE ERECTION OF BUILDINGS UNSUITED TO THEIR
+  ENVIRONMENT AND UGLY IN APPEARANCE."--(_Extract from the report
+  submitted by the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire as to
+  Buildings for Small Holdings, 1913._)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+  I
+
+The country is faced by a dilemma probably greater and more poignant
+than any with which it has hitherto had to deal. It needs, and needs at
+once, a�million new houses, and it has not only utterly inadequate
+stores of material with which to build them, but has not even the plant
+by which that material can be rapidly created. There is not merely a
+shortage, but an actual famine everywhere as regards the things out of
+which houses are made. Bricks are wanted by the ten thousand million,
+but there are practically no bricks in sight. All that the brickyards of
+the United Kingdom can do, working all day and every day, is to turn out
+something like four thousand million a year. But to those who want
+houses at once, what is the use of a promise of bricks in five years'
+time? To tell them to turn to the stone quarries is a mere derision. Let
+alone the cost of work and of transport, it is only in a few favoured
+places that the rocks will give us what we want. Needless to say we are
+short, too, of lime and cement, and probably shall be shorter. _No coal,
+no quicklime_, and _No coal, no cement_, and as things look now, it is
+going to be a case, if not of no coal, at any rate of much less coal.
+Even worse is the shortage in timber--the material hitherto deemed
+essential for the making of roofs, doors, windows and floors. Raw timber
+is hardly obtainable, and seasoned timber does not exist. The same story
+has to be told about tiles, slates, corrugated iron, and every other
+form of "legitimate" roofing substance. There are none to be had.
+
+In this dread predicament what are we to do as a nation? What we must
+not do is at any rate quite clear. We must not lie down in the high road
+of civilisation and cry out that we are ruined or betrayed, or that the
+world is too hard for us, and that we must give up the task of living in
+houses. Whether we like it or not we have got to do something about the
+housing question, and we have got to do it at once, and there is an end.
+Translated into terms of action, this means that as we have not got
+enough of the old forms of material we must turn to others and learn how
+to house ourselves with materials such as we have not used before. Once
+again necessity must be the mother of invention, or rather, of invention
+and revival, for in anything so old and universal as the housing problem
+it is too late to be ambitious. Here we always find that there has been
+an ancient Assyrian or Egyptian or a primitive man in front of�us.
+
+It is the object of the present book to attack part of the problem of
+how to build without bricks, and indeed without mortar, and equally
+important, as far as possible without the vast cost of transporting the
+heavy material of the house from one quarter of England to another. That
+is my apology for introducing to the public a work dealing with what I
+can hear old-fashioned master-builders describing as the "bastard" forms
+of construction. One of these is Pis� de terre, the old system of
+building with walls formed of rammed or compressed earth: a�system which
+was once known throughout Europe and of which the primitive tribesmen of
+Arizona and New Mexico knew the secret. Down to our own day it has been
+practised with wonderful success in the Valley of the Rh�ne. Then come
+our own cob, once the cottage material _par excellence_ of Devonshire
+and the West of England, our system of building with plain clay blocks,
+a�plan indigenous in the Eastern counties, and again the use of chalk
+and chalk pis�.
+
+
+    [Headnote: The Search for Cheap Material]
+
+  PIS� DE TERRE
+
+For me Pis� de terre, ever since I heard of it, has offered special
+attractions. It, and it alone provides, or if one must be cautious,
+appears to provide the way to turn an old dream of mine and of many
+other people into a reality. My connection with the problem of housing,
+and especially of rural housing, _i.e._ cottage housing, now nearly a
+quarter of a century old, has been on the side of cheap material.
+Rightly or wrongly (I�know that many great experts in building matters
+think quite wrongly), I�have had the simplicity to believe that if you
+are to get cheap housing you must get it by the use of cheap material.
+It has always seemed to me that there is no other way. What more natural
+than first to ask why building material was so dear, and then what was
+the cause of its dearness? I�found it in the fact that bricks are very
+expensive things to make, that stones are very expensive things to
+quarry, that cements are very expensive things to manufacture, and worst
+of all, that all these things are very heavy and very expensive to drag
+about the country, and to "dump" on the site in some lonely situation
+where cottages or a small-holder's house and outbuildings are, to use
+the conventional phrase, "urgently demanded." Therefore, to the
+unfeigned amusement, nay, contempt of all my architectural friends,
+I�spent a great deal of my leisure in the years before the war in
+racking my brains in the search for cheap material. My deep desire was
+to find something in the earth out of which walls could be made. My
+ideal was a man or group of men with spades and pickaxes coming upon the
+land and creating the walls of a house out of what they found there.
+I�wanted my house, my cottage in "Cloud-Cuckoo Land," to rise like the
+lark from the furrows. But I was at once dissuaded from my purpose by
+cautious and scientific persons. The chemists, if they did not scoff
+like the architects, were visibly perturbed. "Your dream is impossible,"
+they said. "Nature abhors it as much as she used to be supposed to abhor
+a vacuum. If your soil is clay, and you can afford the time and cost of
+erecting kilns, and bringing coal to the spot to make the bricks, you
+can no doubt turn the earth on the spot into a house, but even then you
+had far better buy them of those that sell. Your dream of having some
+chemical which will mix with the earth and turn it into a kind of stone,
+is the merest delusion. It is the nature of the earth to kill anything
+in the way of cement that is mixed with it. For example, even a little
+earth will kill concrete or mortar. Unless you wash your sand most
+carefully, and free it from all earth stain, you will ruin your concrete
+blocks." I�appeared to be literally "up against" a�brick wall. It was
+that or nothing. And then, and when things seemed at their very worst,
+a�kind correspondent of _The Spectator_ showed me a way of escape.
+I�felt like a man lost in underground passages who suddenly sees a tiny
+square of light and knows that it means the way out. Somebody wrote,
+from South Africa I think, asking why I didn't find the thing I wanted
+in Pis� de terre, much used in Australia, and occasionally in Cape
+Colony. Then came a rush of enlightenment. People who had seen and even
+lived in such houses wrote to _The Spectator_, and the world indeed for
+the moment seemed alive with Pis� de terre. I�was even lent the
+"Farmer's Handbook" of New South Wales, in which the State Government
+provides settlers with an elaborate description of how to build in Pis�,
+and how to make the necessary shuttering for doing so. It was then, too,
+that I began to hear of the seventeenth and eighteenth-century buildings
+of Pis� in the Rhone Valley. In fact, everybody but I seemed to know all
+there was to be known about Pis� de terre. For the moment indeed, the
+situation seemed like that described in _Punch's_ famous picture of the
+young lady and the German professor. "_What is Volapuk?_" asks the young
+lady. "_Ze universal language_," says the professor. "_Where is it
+spoken?_" "_No vairs._" Pis� de terre appeared to be the universal
+system of building, but as far as I could make out, it was practised "no
+vairs," or at any rate not in Europe.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Experiments with "Pis�"]
+
+  II
+
+I had got as far as the position described above, when down swept the
+war upon Europe, and everything had to be postponed in favour of the
+immediate need of filling the ranks of the nation's army and teaching
+the men how to fight our enemies. As the war went on, however, the
+demand for rapid, cheap, and temporary building became very great, and I
+felt I should be justified in trying some experiments with Pis� de
+terre, even in spite of the difficulty of obtaining labour.
+
+I think I can best illustrate the nature of Pis� and what it can do, and
+I believe will do, if I shortly recount in chronological order these
+humble pioneer efforts.
+
+In the summer of 1915 I found that it was necessary in the interests of
+the hospital established in my house to find a place in which to store
+apples, for the men in blue consumed them in incredible quantities.
+I�thought I would try Pis�. Accordingly, I�had some shuttering made on
+the Australian model--not splendid scientific shuttering such as is
+described in the body of this work, but still shuttering quite
+sufficient for the purpose. With great rapidity a little fruit-house was
+put up, roofed with boards, and covered with blocks of compressed peat
+in order to make a roof which would be both vermin-proof and also keep
+out the heat and the frost. In my ignorance and my hurry, I�now find
+that I violated every sound rule of Pis� construction. I�built the walls
+during a week of rain, when the earth was wet, which was a great
+mistake; and I did not clear out the stones, which was another error
+that prevented the walls from being homogeneous. Worst of all, as soon
+as the walls were built (and very pretty walls they were, looking
+something like soft brown marble), I�painted them over with tar, which
+of course would not enter the wet wall, but only made a skin, which in a
+few months peeled off exactly like the bark off a plane tree. Yet in
+spite of this ignorant mishandling of my material, the little
+fruit-house is still standing and sheltered till January the few apples
+Nature allowed us to gather last autumn. It looks disreputable, but
+there has been no structural collapse, nor will there�be.
+
+    [Headnote: Rammed Chalk, "Pis� de Craie"]
+
+No sooner was the fruit-house finished than I was met by the demand of
+my wife, the commandant of the hospital, to add to my house a patients'
+dining-room, which would be bright, dry, airy, warm, and comfortable,
+and be large enough for forty men to have their meals in, and to use as
+a sitting-room during the rest of the day. The local builder said that
+it was impossible to make a wooden addition, for there was no wood to be
+procured, or to build in bricks, since my house stands 600 ft. above the
+sea on an isolated chalk down. Croesus would have found it difficult at
+that time to build on my site, and for the ordinary economic
+man--"L'homme � quarantes �cus"--it was quite impossible. But the room
+had got to be built, for the men were there, and built at once, since
+the out-of-door life of July and August could not continue. There was
+nothing to do but to fall back upon Pis�. I�decided to be ambitious and
+to experiment, not merely in Pis� de terre, but in what I then
+thought--and perhaps rightly--was a new form of Pis�, _i.e._ Pis� de
+craie or compressed chalk. My shuttering therefore was put up. A�hole
+not very far off was dug in the earth, the chalk which was almost at the
+surface was quarried out, and we began to build the wall, candid and
+contemptuous friends telling us of course that the chalk wall would
+never stand the frosts in so exposed a position, and that the wall, if
+made, would certainly explode! Everyone worked at that wall; the nursing
+staff, the coachman, an occasional visitor, a�schoolboy, a�couple of boy
+scouts, members of the National Reserve who were guarding a "vulnerable
+point" close by, and even some of the patients. Patients as a rule will
+endure any toil with the utmost good temper if it is for the purposes of
+sport. If the task is useful it does not interest them. Still, a�wall
+which might explode offered a certain attraction. We worked with more
+zeal than discretion, but happily I had it in my mind that homogeneity
+was the essential, and therefore the hard nuggets of chalk as they were
+thrown into the shuttering to be compressed by the rammers were first
+chopped up with spades, much as one minces meat. The wall had no
+foundations. In Pis� you can make your foundations, so to speak, as you
+go, through the simple process of ramming. Anyway, and to cut a long
+story short, the wall was made, was able to receive the roof, for which
+happily the local builder found some material, and not only did the wall
+stand, but showed a very creditable exterior. Its weight was of course
+enormous, for there were some twenty tons of chalk put into it. In spite
+of the irregularity of the labour it did not take more than ten or
+twelve days to build. To prevent the wet and frost getting into it,
+I�painted the main front with a patent liquid material for rendering
+walls damp-proof. The Chalk Pis� wall not only served its purpose, but
+served it very well. The room proved extraordinarily warm and
+comfortable, largely owing no doubt to the fact of a solid, very dry,
+18-in. wall on the north-east side.
+
+
+  III
+
+My next venture was in response to an urgent appeal from a farm tenant
+to build him a waggon house. The result is seen in the accompanying
+illustration. This building, about 40 ft. by 30 ft., was made purely of
+earth, but some experiments were tried in the way of introducing hurdles
+into the shuttering in order to afford a surface to which plaster could
+easily cling. Suffice it to say that the plain earth, without plaster or
+any covering, more than justified itself. One part of the wall is very
+much exposed to the weather, but it has stood the rains and the frosts
+of three very bad winters without turning a hair. Lovers of the
+picturesque may like to know that it presents a pleasant face of light
+ochre, upon which a pale green efflorescence of lichen has appeared of
+late. Anyway, the frost has not touched�it.
+
+
+  IV
+
+Next I made some experiments in chalk farmyard walls. Unfortunately,
+however, one of these, which was not made homogeneous by chalk mincing,
+_i.e._ in which the nuggets of chalk were not properly broken up, got
+the wet into it, and true to the candid friend's prophecy did literally
+explode in the big frost of 1917-18. Another very pretty chalk wall is,
+however, standing to this day. But though Chalk Pis� will, I�think, do
+well if properly made and properly protected, it is somewhat of a
+doubtful material for anything except a building with a good overlay of
+roof. Another structure put up by me was a largish gardener's potting
+shed. This was built purely of earth, and in dry weather. When the walls
+were perfectly dry, the local road authorities kindly came with their
+tar spray and sprayed it with hot tar, with most excellent results. The
+hot tar really entered instead of merely making a skin, with the result
+that the external walls thus treated resembled a section of tarred road
+stood up on end.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Pis� Waggon-house at Newlands Corner.+
+  An experiment in rendering.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Newlands Waggon-house.+
+  Interior.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Beginning of a Pis� Fruit-house.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Fruit-house Completed With Roof of Peat Blocks
+  on Rough Boarding.+]
+
+I may add that I lent my Pis� shuttering to a Guildford Volunteer
+Battalion, who in a ten-hour day, or rather, two days of five hours
+each, built an excellent hut about 20 ft. square and 10 ft. high, and
+thus showed that a platoon might house themselves with Pis� in a day,
+provided they had roofing material ready. This building had subsequently
+to be destroyed, because the ground on which it stood was wanted for
+another purpose. When it was knocked down the house-breakers were
+astonished at the strength and tenacity of the walls. Yet the earth out
+of which they were made was particularly bad--as one of the volunteers
+expressed it, not earth, but merely leaf-mould and horse-manure. The
+site had, as a matter of fact, been a suburban garden for at least two
+hundred years.
+
+
+  V
+
+Before I leave the record of these terrestrial adventures I may note
+that in the early stages I received a great deal of help and
+encouragement from General Sir Robert Scott-Moncrieff. He was indeed so
+much struck by them that he drew up a series of instructions for walls
+of Pis� work which were issued to all engineer companies at the front in
+case they might have opportunities for experimenting. These instructions
+were based upon the Australian book and embodied the very simple form of
+shuttering there recommended. The diagram that accompanied them is
+reproduced in the Appendix to the present volume.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pis� in Moulds]
+
+  VI
+
+  PIS� IN MOULDS
+
+There is one thing more to be said about Pis�. I�believe that a useful
+development of the system may be found in the plan of ramming earth into
+moulds and making earth blocks, something like concrete blocks. Moulds
+of this kind are easy to make and are specially suitable when the soil
+is somewhat clayey in its nature. They have the advantage of being much
+cheaper than shuttering, and of being capable of being handled by one
+man without assistance. With a strong wooden mould and a good rammer a
+small-holder may easily build his own pigsty, his own chicken house, and
+all the small outbuildings he requires, if not indeed add an extra room
+to his house. I�am at present experimenting with these blocks and only
+yesterday had the pleasure of seeing a sergeant (R.A.M.C), discharged
+through ill-health and now trying to turn himself into a small-holder,
+building a pigsty with the help of one of my moulds.
+
+
+  VII
+
+_Apropos_ of the elusive universality and yet non-existence of Pis�
+work, the following personal anecdote or footnote to compressed earth
+may amuse my readers. Happening to be sleeping in a bedroom at Brooks's
+Club in 1916, I�noticed a charming Regency bookcase full of old books.
+Among them was a copy of a _Cyclop�dia_ of 1819. I�thought it would be
+amusing to see whether there was any mention of Pis� de terre. What was
+my astonishment to find that what I thought was my own special and
+peculiar hobby and discovery was treated therein at very great length
+and with very great ability, but treated not in the least as anything
+new or wonderful, but instead as "this well-known and greatly
+appreciated system of building, etc., etc." To complete the irony of the
+situation the fact was mentioned that a Mr. Holland had lately sent to
+the Board of Agriculture a memorandum as to how to put up houses and
+farm-buildings in this form of construction. My hair rose on my head,
+for I had just committed a similar official indiscretion myself, and had
+been bombarding appropriate authorities with what I thought must be a
+complete novelty. Truly one can never be first or do anything new. It is
+always "in the Files," as Mr. Kipling says. Even in our most original
+moments we only keep on feebly imitating somebody else. The claim to
+originality is nothing but a muddy mixture of pride and ignorance. What
+did, however, somewhat amaze me was the calm statement of the
+_Cyclop�dia_ that this system of building was now well known in the
+counties of--and then came the names of practically all the counties of
+Southern England. And yet I had been keenly on the look-out for such
+buildings for several years. The cynic will say that they had all fallen
+down. That only shows the weakness of the cynic's point of view. The
+truth is they are often concealed under various disguises of plaster,
+paint, and weather tiles. Few people know what their own walls are
+really made of till they try to cut a new opening for a door or a window
+in them.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Cob and Chalk]
+
+  VIII
+
+  COB AND CHALK
+
+Of Cob I know little by actual experiment. It is fully dealt with in the
+body of this work, and readers will find that it is a kind of mud or
+clay concrete reinforced with straw. It is therefore totally and
+absolutely different from Pis�. One is wet, the other dry.
+
+All that need be said about chalk is said by the author of the present
+book.
+
+
+  IX
+
+  A POSTSCRIPT
+
+In the body of this work mention is made of a very successful experiment
+in Pis� de terre made by the officials of a Rhodesian mining company;
+the outcome, I�am proud to think, of my pre-war advocacy of Pis� in _The
+Spectator_. No sooner had my introduction been finished than there came
+by way of postscript an exceedingly interesting series of photographs,
+sent to me by Mr. Pickstone, a�gentleman very well known in South Africa
+for his fruit gardens, his peaches, and his apricots. On the strength of
+what he had read in _The Spectator_, Mr. Pickstone lately undertook to
+build a station building and station-master's house for the railway
+station at Simondium in the Drakenstein Valley, a�place which during the
+summer is noted for its great heat. In the January number of the _South
+African Railways and Harbours Magazine_, Mr. Pickstone gives a detailed
+account of his bold and successful experiment and illustrates it by a
+reproduction of some of his photographs. Here is his own account of what
+he did.
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: Pis�--a South African Lead]
+
+"It must have been about eighteen months ago that the railway
+administration decided to promote Simondium Siding to the dignity of a
+station. As a siding, it had always been a busy place in the fruit
+season, during which time a permanent checker had for some years been
+kept quite busy, his accommodation being a couple of small tin shanties,
+and he had been accustomed to board out where he could. Now we were to
+have a 'pukka' station-master and, presumably, suitable premises. The
+department quickly got to work and the station-master's house arrived.
+It was what one might call a second-hand, or even a third- or
+fourth-hand one, consisting of the inevitable sheets of galvanised iron
+and the ever-essential Oregon and Swedish timber. Our new station-master
+also shortly afterwards arrived, and turned out to be a married man with
+a wife and four children. The station-master was not a grouser, but
+during the hot summer--and it is terribly hot in the Drakenstein Valley
+during that time of the year--he complained to me that it was almost
+impossible to hold on, owing to the conditions under which he and his
+family had to live. It was just about this time that I saw in _The
+Spectator_ a series of articles strongly advocating 'Pis� de terre'
+construction for buildings of all kinds; especially was it recommended
+as a war-time expedient for rapid and economical construction for
+barracks and hospitals, and, indeed, it was strongly recommended by Mr.
+St. Loe Strachey, the editor, for all sorts of general building and
+military purposes. It is a curious fact, which many readers could
+verify, that frequently one lives one's life under certain conditions,
+and in reality remains absolutely blind to their presence and
+potentialities. Here was I, living in a country where some of the most
+beautiful old homesteads are on the principle of the 'Pis� de terre'
+construction, and a large proportion of the older farm buildings in this
+district also built of similar material, with the additional pleasing
+accompaniment of beautiful beams, ceilings and floors made of colonial
+pine--one may advisedly add, the _despised_ colonial pine. Some of these
+buildings have stood the wear and use of close on a century, and are
+still an object of joy to those privileged to have an eye to see. Here
+lived I, as I say, blind to its potentialities for to-day, although it
+had been clearly appreciated and carried out with the most charming and
+solid results by our great-grandfathers in the old slave-labour days."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Model of a Pis� de Terre House to be built in
+  Three Successive Stages.+
+  The right wing is planned to be built first as a complete
+  small cottage, eventually becoming service and servants' quarters.
+  _Clough Williams-Ellis, Architect_.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Wayside Station of Pis� at Simondium, South Africa,
+  designed by Mr. Herbert Baker.+]
+
+The supervising architect, Mr. Kendall, who was responsible for carrying
+out the work to the admirable design of Mr. Herbert Baker, gives the
+following description of the way the work was actually executed, which
+contains several very useful hints:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"The construction of walls determined upon was that known as 'Pis� de
+terre,' consisting of earth walls some 18 in. to 24 in. thick, which owe
+their solidity to a simple process of ramming between wooden casings
+previously placed in position on both sides. These walls are built in
+stages of some 3 ft. in height, the wood casing being raised at
+intervals as required. The frames for doors and windows are placed in
+position at the right time, and anchored into the walls by means of long
+hoop iron ties. These walls, when completed, give a surface almost as
+hard as burnt brick, but the external angles present a slight point of
+weakness, as from their exposure they would be naturally inclined to
+chip away in cases of rough usage. In order to overcome this it was
+arranged that irregular brick quoins should be embedded in the angles
+all the way up as the work proceeded. The walls, when completed, were
+then plastered and whitewashed, and present as good an appearance as
+more expensively plastered brickwork. As additional security the weather
+sides were given, prior to whitewashing, a�coat of hot gas tar direct on
+the plaster, which in all exterior work was lime plus 10 per cent.
+cement. The roofs are of thatch with a fairly good overhang at the eaves
+in order to form a protection for the walls."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+On one point, however, we may reassure Mr. Kendall. I�do not think he
+need be afraid of his walls being destroyed by the weather even if he
+has no overhang. Part of a Pis� wall in my cart-shed, built in a very
+exposed situation, has no overhang. Further, the wall is not covered by
+cement or any other protective covering. The compressed earth was left
+quite bare, and yet the three worst winters of alternating wet and frost
+known for many years have made no impression upon the wall. It seems to
+be both rain-proof and frost-proof.
+
+I may add that Mr. Pickstone informs me in a letter dated February 19th
+that the Pis� walls have proved an enormous success from the point of
+view of protection from the heat. Whereas in an iron building lined with
+wood the temperature in the hot weather went up to 104 degrees
+Fahrenheit, in the station-master's Pis� de terre dining-room the
+thermometer registered only 86 degrees. Those who have ever lived where
+such temperatures prevail will note the immense advantage gained by the
+Pis� walls. Such temperatures try strong men and women, and for children
+they are positively death-dealing. With so successful an experiment as
+that at Simondium before my eyes, I�am beginning to feel that I may live
+to correct my view that this universal system of building is practised
+"no vairs."
+
+
+    [Headnote: The Discovery of the Old]
+
+  X
+
+  PLINY ON PIS� DE TERRE
+
+Now for something which I have kept as the _bonne bouche_ of my earthy
+story. At the end of my researches and experiments I found that Pliny
+has got it all in his _Natural History_ in six lines! There is no need
+for more words.
+
+"_Have we not in Africa and in Spain walls of earth, known as
+'formocean' walls? From the fact that they are moulded, rather than
+built, by enclosing earth within a frame of boards, constructed on
+either side. These walls will last for centuries, are proof against
+rain, wind, and fire, and are superior in solidity to any cement. Even
+at this day Spain still holds watch-towers that were erected by
+Hannibal._" --_Pliny's "Natural History,"_ Bk. XXXV, chapter xlviii.
+
+    J. ST. LOE STRACHEY.
+
+  Newlands Corner, Surrey.
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL SURVEY
+
+
+Always necessity has been the mother of invention. The war has proved
+her prolific indeed, and her teeming offspring are seen in the
+multiplicity of war contrivances and the bewildering array of
+substitutes for the once common things of our daily life. Where
+necessity has been most dire, there invention has unfailingly come to
+the rescue with the most amazing "Ersatz" products to replace the
+vanished originals.
+
+At any rate it pleases us to attribute the truly astonishing feats of
+the Germans in this direction to their greater need rather than to any
+superior ingenuity or enterprise on their part.
+
+That their success was often no more than moderate will be readily
+admitted by anyone who, for instance, has made trial of their "Ersatz"
+cigars or ration coffee.
+
+Still, need did at least awaken prodigious effort, ingenuity, and
+enterprise--all co-ordinated and concentrated on the business of making
+good a hundred paralysing deficiencies.
+
+    [Headnote: The House Famine]
+
+In this present matter of National Housing the shortage of all the
+generally recognised building materials as well as of actual houses is
+extreme and grave. Effort, ingenuity, and enterprise in overcoming these
+insufficiencies are as urgently and vitally necessary to England in
+Peace as ever they were to Germany in war. Little will be said here of
+the direct and intimate connection between good houses and good
+citizens.
+
+It is assumed that those who go to the pains of reading this book have
+at least glanced at the Housing Reports, and drawn certain disquieting
+conclusions from the criminal and vital statistics with which the case
+for reform is reinforced.
+
+In a recent speech the Registrar-General said: "War does not only fill
+the graves, it also empties the cradles." This is no less true of bad
+and inadequate housing.
+
+Only the most reckless and thick-skinned of the poorer population will
+adventure on marriage and the bringing up of a family whilst the odds
+against decent and reasonable housing persist as at present.
+
+True, "Housing" is very properly being given considerable prominence in
+the press, and scarcely a day passes but there appears an article or
+letter dealing with this question.
+
+Usually we are left but little wiser than we were, whilst if we chance
+to know something about the subject, the general tone of vague
+cheerfulness that pervades them all fills us with misgiving.
+
+Nothing is easier or pleasanter or more popular than to make airy
+promises or predictions about the "Homes for Happy Human Beings" that,
+somehow, are to be prepared for our returned soldiers, and for all those
+others who are housed miserably or not at all. It is very easy to
+predict and promise, but without adequate materials performance is not
+merely difficult, it is impossible.
+
+There is a world-shortage of almost every manufactured or cultivated
+product; there is also a labour famine, a�money famine, and a transport
+famine.
+
+In this country, closely connected with these deficiencies and looming
+ominously over them all, is, as we have said, our house-famine.
+
+To relieve the last in face of the others, and without further
+aggravating them, is one of the most grave and pressing of the many
+problems that confront�us.
+
+Briefly the problem is this: To provide a maximum of new housing with a
+minimum expenditure of labour, money, transport, and manufactured
+materials.
+
+Broadly speaking, so far as rural housing is concerned, the solution
+must be sought through the use of natural materials already existing on
+the site, materials that can be worked straight into the fabric of the
+building, without any elaborate or costly conversion, and that by local
+labour.
+
+"Pis� de Terre," "Chalk Compost," and "Cob" are three alternative forms
+of construction, one of which will usually fulfil the above conditions
+in any given situation.
+
+Despite the somewhat outlandish and high-sounding name of the first, it
+is nothing more than a very old and very simple method of building,
+recently revived through stress of circumstances. The rude technique has
+happily been kept alive and preserved for us in out-of-the-way corners
+of the Continent and in our Colonies. Wherever there is a sufficiency of
+sunshine to effect the necessary drying, there have earth buildings
+arisen and prospered.
+
+"Cob" building needs less introduction, as it is still well understood
+and a living craft in several parts of Great Britain, notably in
+Devonshire and South Wales, where its merits and advantages have been
+recognised apparently from the earliest times.
+
+All those indeed who are familiar with this method of construction are
+fully alive to its virtues, and the same is true of Pis�-building, both
+in chalk and earth, and also of clay-lump.
+
+This book, however, is addressed to those who have in the past built
+only with stone, brick, concrete, timber and plaster, etc., and who are
+only now considering a reversion to the more primitive construction here
+described, through the shortage or absolute lack of their former
+materials.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Front and Back Elevations of Cottage designed by Sir Edwin
+  Lutyens and Mr. Alban Scott.+
+  This Cottage can be built in Cob, Pis�, Concrete, Stone, or Brick.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Plan of Cottage designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Mr. Alban Scott.+]
+
+It is not so much a question as to whether a Cob or Pis� house is
+preferable to one of brick or stone or concrete--though there are many
+who profess a lively preference for the former--but as to whether you
+will boldly revert to these old and well-tried methods of building, or,
+in the absence of the ordinary materials, feebly sit down and build
+nothing at all.
+
+For that will, inevitably, be the alternative for a great many private
+persons. National and Public-Utility Housing Schemes and public and
+industrial works of all sorts will naturally and properly claim priority
+in the matter of all building materials--and the private individual, so
+far as he can secure such materials at all, will only do so at a price
+that is the logical outcome of an unprecedented demand and an ominously
+inadequate supply.
+
+    [Headnote: Local Materials]
+
+Timber, tiles, slates, plaster, and ironmongery he must still purchase
+and transport as best he may--but the shell of his house, its outer
+walls at least, could and should be raised from the soil of the site
+itself by the employment of the simplest gear and a small amount of
+unskilled local labour.
+
+So acute indeed is the transport problem, and so small is the hope of
+any substantial improvement in the near future, that any expedient
+tending to ease matters in this respect is worthy of the most serious
+attention.
+
+The restrictions imposed by high freights will of themselves tend to
+check the often senseless and unnecessary importation of materials
+foreign to a district, which in the past was the despair of architects
+of the "traditional" school.
+
+It was a wasteful practice that had gone far to obliterate all but the
+most robust traits in the old and very diverse local building
+conventions of rural England.
+
+Formerly, he who wilfully carried bricks into Merioneth or the
+Cotswolds, or slates into Kent or ragstone-rubble into Middlesex, was
+guilty of no more than foolishness and an �sthetic solecism.
+
+Under present conditions such action should render him liable to
+prosecution and conviction on some such count as "Wasting the shrunken
+resources of his country in a time of great scarcity, .�.�. in that he
+did wantonly transport material for building the walls of a house by
+rail and road from A to B when suitable and sufficient material of
+another sort and at no higher cost existed, and was readily accessible
+hard by the site at�B."
+
+That indeed is our one chance of salvation, the existence and use of
+"the materials of another sort hard by the site."
+
+These natural materials and their appropriate use in building will be
+considered in the following pages.
+
+   *   *   *
+
+The Lutyens-Scott cottage, of which illustrations are given, is designed
+with a special view to the use of such local materials as cob, chalk,
+and Pis�, though it could also be constructed without appreciable
+modification in stone or brick.
+
+It is thus a model of unusually universal application, providing, too,
+accommodation such as is certain to be demanded by the new and more
+educated generation that it is the aim of the country to produce.
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+_COB_
+
+
+� I. GENERAL
+
+If ever the counties of England recover their bygone loyalty to their
+own materials and their old traditions, then cob-building will return to
+Devon and the West. Cheap bricks, cheap transport, and the ignoble rage
+for fashions from the town went far to oust provincial cob from the
+affections of those whom, with their forbears, it had housed so well for
+several centuries.
+
+Whether the new loyalty be from within, or be imposed from without by
+force of circumstances, matters little. What does matter is the fact of
+its revival.
+
+For with it will come again the building of cottages that are knit
+intimately to their sites and surroundings as of old, cottages
+consanguineous with the ground they stand on, be it brick-earth, rock,
+or common soil.
+
+The soil of Devonshire and of many parts of Wessex and of Wales serves
+excellently well for building in cob or "clom."[3]
+
+    [Footnote 3: Probably, indeed, there is no county in the kingdom
+    that has not considerable areas where the soil would, if tried,
+    prove well adapted for cob-building.]
+
+The soil itself suggested the construction, and the men of Wessex were
+quick to take the hint and to act on�it.
+
+The yeomen and small-holders of earlier days were commonly builders too,
+and often built their own homes in their own way, yet by the guiding
+light of local tradition.
+
+Thus the old Devonian countryman in need of a house would set to and
+build it himself--of stone if that were handy and easily worked, of cob
+if it were not.
+
+No doubt the doors and windows would be made and fitted by the village
+wheelwright; but the cottager himself would thatch or slate the roof as
+naturally and successfully as he built.
+
+The skill and care with which these versatile amateurs built their
+houses was not always of the highest, and careless construction, like
+other sins, is visited on the children--the worse the sooner.
+
+Thus it is that there are to-day plenty of old cob cottages that are
+both damp and insecure, but to condemn cob building in general because
+certain old builders were careless, ignorant, or incompetent is to
+condemn all materials from wattle and daub to ferro-concrete in the same
+breath.
+
+Cob, being a humble, amenable, and thoroughly accommodating substance,
+has reaped the inevitable reward of good nature in being "put upon" and
+in being asked to stand what is quite beyond its powers of endurance,
+and yet Devon cob houses of Elizabethan date are not uncommon.
+
+It is very reasonable in its demands, but two things it does
+require--dry foundations and a good protecting roof.
+
+To quote an old Devonshire saw on cob--"Giv'un a gude hat and pair of
+butes an' 'er'l last for ever."
+
+In many instances the Devonshire leaseholder, usually only a
+"life-lease" holder, built badly and on indifferent foundations. He
+neglected to repair his thatch, with the consequence that ruin followed
+sooner or later. He did not always use rough-cast, so that it often
+happened that by the time the lease expired the unfortunate landowner
+found that the cottage fell in--in the literal as well as in the legal
+sense. The lower portions of the walls were honey-combed with rat-holes,
+the walls bulged out or fissures resulted from subsidence, and the
+dwelling presented that appearance of squalor and meanness that has led
+so many to decry the mud buildings of Devon as relics of bygone
+barbarism. But if adequate care is bestowed on the construction, there
+is no reason why cob cottages should not prove at one and the same time
+comfortable to the inmates and pleasant to the eye, and endure for many
+generations.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Another view of the Cob House built by Mr. Ernest Gimson,
+  near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.+
+    _See Frontispiece_]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A�fine Specimen of a Devonshire Cob House.+]
+
+    [Headnote: The Beauty of Cob]
+
+As to their comeliness and longevity, a day's walk in Devon, or, failing
+that, a�glance at the printed pictures will tell all that need be told.
+That the beauty of cob buildings is not due merely to the irregularities
+and weathering produced by the passage of time is sufficiently proved by
+the photographs of Mr. Gimson's charming cob cottage, taken soon after
+he had finished�it.
+
+The work was done a year or two before the war; this is Mr. Gimson's own
+description of the manner of its building:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"The cob was made of the stiff sand found on the site; this was mixed
+with water and a great quantity of long wheat straw trodden into it. The
+walls were built 3 ft. thick, pared down to 2 ft. 6�in., and were placed
+on a plinth standing 18 in. above the ground floor, and built of cobble
+stones found among the sand. The walls were given a coat of plaster and
+a coat of rough-cast, which was gently trowelled over to smooth the
+surface slightly. I�believe eight men were engaged on the cobwork, some
+preparing the material, and others treading in on to the top of the
+walls. It took them about three months to reach the wall plate; the cost
+was 6s. a cubic yard, exclusive of the plastering. No centring was used.
+The joists rested on plates, and above them the walls were reduced to 2
+ft. 2�in. in thickness to leave the ends of the joists free. The beams
+also rested on wide plates and the ends were built round with stone,
+leaving space for ventilation. Tile or slate lintels were used over all
+openings. The cost of the whole house was 6�d. a cubic foot. Building
+with cob is soon learnt--of the eight men, only one of them had had any
+previous experience, and, I�believe, he had not built with it for thirty
+years. This is the only house I have built of cob."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+What is most interesting in this narrative is the workmen's lack of
+experience, which seems to have been no hindrance. Anyone who proposes
+to revive the use of cob may take courage from Mr. Gimson's evidence.
+The time spent in building the walls was reasonable and the cost low. It
+may be guessed that the post-war rise in cost will be no greater in
+proportion, if as great, when compared with brickwork. The natural charm
+of the wall surface is enhanced by the crown of thatched roof, modelled
+with a skill which few can bring so certainly to their task as Mr.
+Gimson.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Method of Building]
+
+� II. METHOD OF BUILDING
+
+_Composition._--Cob is a mixture of shale and clay, straw and water.
+Shale is a common and widely distributed stratified formation of a slaty
+nature, and there are few types of clay soil that would not serve for
+cob-making.
+
+The precise relative proportion of the first two ingredients varies,
+depending on their individual peculiarities.
+
+Local custom as to the composition and preparation of the mixture will
+generally be found to have adjusted itself to the peculiarities of the
+soil.
+
+The following extract is from an analyst's report on a sample of typical
+old cob walling:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"The material when placed in water fell to pieces. On analysis, it was
+found to consist�of:
+
+                                                Per cent.
+  Stones (residue on 7 by 7 mesh sieve)            24�40
+  Sand, coarse (residue on 50 by 50 mesh sieve)    19�70
+  Fine sand (through 50 by 50 mesh sieve)          32�50
+  Clay                                             20�60
+  Straw                                             1�25
+  Water, etc.                                       1�55
+                                                  ------
+                                                  100�00
+                                                  ------
+
+"The material is a conglomerate of slaty gravel with a very sandy clay,
+to which mixture a small proportion of straw has been added.
+
+"The clay acts as an agglutinant, and the straw as a reinforcement.
+
+"Efficient protection from frost and rain would be necessary before such
+material could be considered weatherproof."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A�Devonshire Cob Farmhouse, probably between 200 and 300 years old.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A�Cob-built Village.+]
+
+(N.B.--Lime is occasionally added to the clay-shale, but this is not
+usual.)
+
+_Mixing._--The old method of mixing by hand is as follows: A�"bed" of
+clay-shale is formed close to the wall where it is to be used,
+sufficient to do one perch. A�perch is superficial measurement described
+as 16� ft. long, 1�ft. high, and the amount of material will vary
+according to the thickness of wall required. Four men usually work
+together. The big stones are picked out. The material is arranged in a
+circular heap about 5 or 6 ft. in diameter.
+
+Starting at the edge the men turn over the material with cob picks,
+standing and treading on the material all the time. One man sprinkles on
+water, and another sprinkles on barley straw from a wisp held under his
+left arm. The heap is then turned over again in the other direction,
+treading continuing all the time. "Twice turning" is usually considered
+sufficient. Straw bands may be wrapped puttee-wise around the legs of
+the men to keep them clean, and these are removed at the end of the day.
+
+More rarely the mixing is done in a rough trough, whilst a power-driven
+"pan-mill" has also been tried with success; though one would think that
+the use of such a machine might tend to diminish the binding strength of
+the straw submitted to its grinding.
+
+    [Headnote: Implements]
+
+  [Illustration: COB PICK (Measured from example at Great Fulford).]
+
+_Building._--In building a man stands on the low base-wall, and lays the
+material handed up to him on the cob picks, treading it into position.
+Thorough treading is important, and the heels should be well used. The
+material is allowed to project each side an inch or so beyond the stone
+base to allow for paring down afterwards. The courses are usually about
+2 ft. high. The cob should�be laid and trodden in diagonal layers, as
+shown in the diagram: this is to secure proper bonding. It takes from
+two to three weeks for a course to dry, according to the weather, and
+five or six men would be required to build the walls of an ordinary
+cottage. This would not keep them continuously employed, however, and
+they would require to have several buildings in hand at the same time,
+so as to be able to turn from one to the other while the courses were
+drying.
+
+  [Illustration: COB COURSE, OR SCAR, SHOWING DIAGONAL LAYERS.]
+
+At the completion of a course the corners are plumbed up from the stone
+base below, a�line is stretched through and the wall is then pared down
+"plumb" with the "paring iron" by the man standing on the wall.
+Sometimes, however, the paring down is left until the wall is finished
+and dry. Four men will do about four perches per day of a wall 2 ft.
+thick, preparing and laying material.
+
+The material is rarely laid between timber shuttering as in Pis� work,
+as the retaining boards tend seriously to retard the drying out.
+
+  [Illustration: PARING IRON (Measured from example at Great Fulford)]
+
+_Drying._--If a course takes from two to three weeks to dry, it
+naturally takes a long time for a whole cottage to completely dry out.
+The walls can be built from about March to September. The internal
+fitting, plastering, etc., can be done in the winter, but the external
+rendering must not be done for at least a year, perhaps two years, to
+allow the walls to become perfectly dry.
+
+As unprotected cob is sensitive to frost, especially if not thoroughly
+dried out, it should be given a good external rendering as soon as it is
+really dry, and should in the meantime be protected from frost by some
+temporary covering, straw-matting or what not. Also all cob-work must be
+protected from the rain both whilst building and when built.
+
+No artificial methods of drying are at present usual, beyond good fires
+inside during the winter, though, as under such conditions a cob cottage
+is not usually considered fit to live in for several months after
+completion, some artificial means of drying might be worth considering.
+
+_Foundations and Base._--The depth of the excavations required for the
+foundations naturally depends upon the character of the site and soil,
+as also does the spread of the footings, if any.
+
+The base-course wall of brick, stone, or concrete should be carried up
+some 2 ft. or so above ground level. In old days this walling was not
+infrequently built "dry"--but good lias lime or cement should be used in
+all new work.
+
+The damp-course too was an unknown refinement to the by-gone builders,
+and the introduction of this one improvement alone makes the new cob
+cottage a very different dwelling from the old.
+
+The usual forms of damp-course serve well for cob walls, though slates
+laid butt and broken joint in cement are probably the best.
+
+    [Headnote: Walls and Roofs]
+
+_Thickness of Walls._--The thickness of walls may be anything you please
+from 18 in. upwards. There are old examples a full 3 ft. across, but for
+an ordinary two-storied cottage a thickness of about 2 ft. is general.
+Eighteen inches is certainly the minimum thickness, and would not
+ordinarily be adopted for any but one-storied buildings.
+
+The first-floor walls are made the same thickness as those below, for if
+they were reduced in width, as is usual in a stone building, the extra
+weight thus thrown on to one side of the ground floor walls would tend
+to make them bulge, unless quite dry and thoroughly set.
+
+There are old cob walls in existence fully 30 ft. in height, and there
+is no apparent limit in this direction provided they are thick enough.
+
+The upper layers compress the lower ones, and automatically render them
+more dense and stone-like and fit to bear the load imposed above.
+
+_Hipped Roofs._--As a general rule, however, it is found expedient to
+hip back the roof rather than carry it up in a tall gable, partly
+because cob-building at a great height above the ground in short and
+diminishing layers is a somewhat tedious process, partly because a
+hipped roof with good eaves is very welcome for the protection that its
+projection affords the walling.
+
+_Masonry and Carpentry._--The bonding of cob to stone and brick is
+sometimes liable to leave an open joint that will require filling when
+the cob dries and shrinks. Many of the chimneys in old cob houses are of
+brick or stone, and brick and stone jambs are sometimes to be seen in
+cob walls, but they are probably by way of repairs to damaged corners.
+It is considered better to have cob all round, so ensuring the uniform
+settlement of the building.
+
+The timber built into old cob does not seem to decay. The walls are
+usually so dry, especially when plastered, that the wood is well
+preserved. The straw in the interior of old cob walls is often as bright
+as when put in. The straw in cob performs a similar function to hair in
+plaster. Heather has sometimes been used instead of straw with good
+results.
+
+  [Illustration: WALL COPINGS.]
+
+The old practice was for beams, wall plates, joists, etc., to be just
+bedded on the cob, and for the cob to be filled in between the joists.
+In new work, particularly when the use of imperfectly seasoned timber is
+unavoidable, it would be wise to take the usual precautions as to the
+proper ventilation of all "built in" woodwork--especially the ends of
+joists and so forth. Roofs must of course be tied and exercise no thrust
+on walls. The roof plates are sometimes tied down by galvanised iron
+wire.
+
+  [Illustration: LINTEL-BEARING CROSS-PIECE]
+
+Door and window-frames are also fixed to wood blocks built into the
+jambs and to the wood lintels above. The frames are sometimes near the
+outer face of wall, sometimes near the inner-face. Where the door-frames
+are on the interior face of a 2 ft. thick wall, a�convenient porch
+results.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A�Devonshire Farm, Local Material (Cob).+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Devon Country House, built of Devon Cob.+]
+
+Other joinery is fixed to wood pins driven into the cob where required.
+
+Corners are usually of cob, though stone quoins are occasionally met
+with.
+
+Lintels are usually of wood well tailed into the wall and resting on a
+wood pad placed crosswise.
+
+    [Headnote: Protection]
+
+_Protection._--Old buildings that have been neglected are often found to
+be somewhat eroded towards the bottom of their walls through the action
+of rain and frost.
+
+Protection is less here than higher up under the projecting eaves, and
+the Achilles' heel of the cob wall is undoubtedly its base.
+
+This vulnerable part, exposed as it is to driven rain, back-splash, and
+the casual kicks, should be given special protection.
+
+Where the base is of cob and not of masonry, the traditional method is
+to provide a good deep skirting of pitch or tar, or a mixture of both,
+applied hot to the face of the rendering that should completely cover
+the exterior of all cob work.
+
+This rendering is usually composed of lime and hair mortar, though
+Portland cement has come into use to some extent recently.
+
+Cement, however, is apt to be rather too "short" and brittle, and it
+does not always hold to the cob walling very securely.
+
+A rendering consisting of an equal mixture of cement and lime with three
+parts of sand adheres well to cob, however, and is probably the best
+coating that can be given to�it.
+
+This coating can be colour-washed or lime-whited in the usual way. The
+granular surface of rough rendering or of "slap-dash" on the slightly
+wavy surface of cob walling perhaps gives to whitewash its very highest
+opportunity and charm.
+
+Certain it is that the old cob cottages of Devon with the pearly gleam
+of their white walls, their heaving bulk of thatch and their trim black
+skirtings, are as gracious and as pleasant to the eye as any in all the
+length and breadth of England.
+
+Within, lime-and-hair mortar plastered straight on to the cob makes an
+excellent lining.
+
+_Chimneys._--Nowadays, chimneys are commonly built up in brick or stone,
+but numerous good examples survive of flues and stacks constructed in
+cob. The insides of these are pargeted with lime and cow-dung in the
+usual way, brickwork being only introduced immediately around the
+fireplaces.
+
+_Rats._--Where the surface rendering of cob-walls has been omitted or
+has been allowed to fall away, an enterprising rat will sometimes do
+considerable damage by his tunnelling.
+
+A little powdered glass mixed with the lower strata of a wall will
+discourage any such burrowing, but the best preservative for any cob
+building is a thoroughly good skin of rendering, especially if this be
+reinforced by fine-mesh wire-netting secured to the wall.
+
+_Strength._--The strength of cob walls is surprisingly great so long as
+they are vertical, and are not subjected to undue lateral thrust or
+tension.
+
+Beams as large as 12 in. by 12 in. may be seen supported by old cob
+walls, and there is nothing likely to be asked of the material in the
+way of strength to which it cannot easily respond.
+
+_Design._--Cob, like every other material, should have a certain say in
+the design of any building in which its use is intended.
+
+The chief desiderata are a plain straightforward plan and broadly
+treated elevations where voids and solids are carefully disposed with an
+eye to getting as large unbroken blocks of cob as possible.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Cob House temp. Elizabeth, Lewishill.+
+  Walls from 3 ft. to 4 ft. thick. A wing was added in 1618.
+  This farm has been occupied by the family of the present holder
+  between 300 and 400 years.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Another Devonshire (Cob) Farmhouse, Weeke Barton.+]
+
+The cracks that are sometimes found in old cob buildings are almost
+entirely attributable to unsuitable design in such respects, or to bad
+foundations.
+
+Cob walls built up in the ordinary way are not very suitable for
+internal partitions on account of their considerable width and the
+consequent waste of space, though in old work cob was sometimes used as
+a filling for stud and lath partitions which were finally plastered over
+in the usual way.
+
+The sun-dried clay-lumps so much used for walling in Suffolk would seem
+to be admirable for forming the partitions in a house of cob.
+
+Cob work is usually repaired with rubble, stone, or brick.
+
+New openings are easily cut through cob walls, and this fact has
+occasionally led to the collapse of an old building through the zeal for
+light and air of some new occupier exceeding his caution, and causing
+him to cut away the substance of his walls in cheerful disregard of the
+laws of gravity.
+
+
+� III. CONCLUSION
+
+  AUTHORITIES--ANCIENT AND MODERN
+
+Not by any means was cob exclusively the poor man's material, and
+several old homes of this sort still survive that are of some
+consideration.
+
+    [Headnote: Raleigh's House]
+
+Amongst them is Hayes Barton, the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh.
+Writing of Raleigh and his home, Mr. Charles Bernard says:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Sir Walter Raleigh's House._--"He had great affection for his boyhood's
+home--the old manor-house at Hayes Barton where he was born, and did his
+best to secure it from its then owner. 'I�will,' he wrote, 'most
+willingly give you whatsoever in your conscience you shall deme it worth
+.�.�. for ye naturall disposition I have to that place, being borne in
+that house, I�had rather see myself there than anywhere else.' But alas!
+it was not to be, and the snug and friendly Tudor homestead passed into
+other hands. The house at Hayes Barton was probably not newly built when
+Raleigh's parents lived there, and it says much for the character of cob
+that the house is as good to-day as ever it was; though for all that it
+has, to use Mr. Eden Phillpotts' words, 'been patched and tinkered
+through the centuries,' it 'still endures, complete and sturdy, in
+harmony of old design, with unspoiled dignity from a far past.' Lady
+Rosalind Northcote gives the following description of the house in her
+_Devon_. She writes: "In front of the garden, a�swirling stream crosses
+a strip of green; and in the garden, at the right time, one may see the
+bees busy among golden-powdered clusters of candytuft, and dark red
+gillyflowers, and a few flame rose-coloured tulips, proud and erect. The
+house is very picturesque; it has cob walls and a thatched roof, and is
+built in the shape of the letter +E+; a wing projects at either
+end, and in the middle the porch juts out slightly. The two wings are
+gabled; there is a small gable over the porch and two dormer ones over
+the windows at each side of it, the windows having lattice lights and
+narrow mullions. Dark carved beams above them show up well against the
+cream-coloured walls. The heavy door is closely studded with nails, and
+over it fall the delicate sprays and lilac "butterfly" blossoms of
+wistaria.'"
+
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Ceilings of Modelled Plaster from old Cob Houses in Devon.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A�Cob Garden-wall with Thatched Coping.+]
+
+_Reed Thatch._--In recent years slates or tiles have replaced thatch for
+the roofing of cob buildings and walls, owing to the cost of reed (the
+local name for the straw from which the grain has been hand-threshed by
+flail to prevent the straw being broken), and the difficulty of getting
+good thatchers. The opinion is held by many that the lasting quality of
+thatch has deteriorated since the practice of liming the cornland has
+unfortunately been given�up.
+
+_Primitive Methods._--Formerly the ground floors of cob cottages were
+all cobbled, but these have, generally speaking, been replaced by lime,
+ash, or cement floors. The cob builders of past generations apparently
+made no use of the square, plumb-line, or level. No laths were used for
+the walls, which were plastered within; outside, rough-cast or
+"slap-dash" was laid�on.
+
+    [Headnote: Mr. Baring-Gould]
+
+_Mr. Baring-Gould's Testimony._--Mr. S. Baring-Gould, in his _Book of
+the West_, writing on the subject says: "No house can be considered more
+warm and cosy than that built of cob, especially when thatched. It is
+warm in winter and cool in summer, and I have known labourers bitterly
+bewail their fate in being transferred from an old fifteenth or
+sixteenth century cob cottage into a newly-built stone edifice of the
+most approved style, as they said it was like going out of warm life
+into a cold grave."
+
+
+  DEVON COB
+
+The following paragraph, taken from C. B. Allen's _Cottage-Building_, is
+of interest:
+
+"The cob walls of Devonshire have been known to last above a century
+without requiring the slightest repair, and the Rev. W. Elicombe, who
+has himself built several houses of two stories with cob walls, says
+that he was born in a cob-wall parsonage built in the reign of
+Elizabeth, or somewhat earlier, and that it had to be taken down to be
+rebuilt only in the year 1831."
+
+_Fruit Walls._--Again quoting Mr. Baring-Gould: "Cob walls for garden
+fruit are incomparable. They retain the warmth of the sun and give it
+out through the night, and when protected on top by slates, tiles, or
+thatch, will last for centuries." It will be seen that the disadvantages
+of cob buildings are solely due to faults of construction, and not to
+any inherent defect in properly made cob as a material, and that the
+construction of cottages, farm buildings, and garden walls is well
+within the compass of an averagely intelligent workman.
+
+It is not intended to argue that the cob cottage could be advantageously
+built in every county, but only that where it has been used and liked
+for centuries, a�wise building policy would encourage its continuance.
+The materials are at hand, and the population ready to welcome this form
+of dwelling-place.
+
+    [Headnote: Old Cob Lore]
+
+_An Old Authority._--An old writer treating of cottage-building thus
+delivers himself:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"A Bill for inclosing the waste lands of the kingdom having been
+introduced into the House of Commons, under the auspices of the Board of
+Agriculture, and as so beneficial a Bill cannot fail, sooner or later,
+to pass into a law, and as in consequence thereof, many small houses
+must necessarily be built, suited to small estates issuing out of
+allotments of such wastes, we have been induced to submit to the
+consideration of the Board three plans of such small houses to be built
+of different species of materials.
+
+"The first is with mud walls, composed of soft mire and straw,
+well trodden together, and which, by degrees, is laid on,
+stratum-super-stratum, to the height required; a�species of building not
+uncommon for cottages, and even for better houses, barns, etc., in the
+western and some other parts of the kingdom. It is the cheapest
+habitation that we can construct and is also very dry and comfortable."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+And again:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"Walls of mud, or of compressed earth, are still more economical than
+those of timber, and if they were raised on brick or stone foundations,
+the height of a foot or 18 in. above the ground, or above the highest
+point at which dung or moist straw was ever likely to be placed against
+them, their durability would be equal to that of marble, if properly
+constructed and kept perfectly dry. The cob walls of Devonshire, which
+are formed of clay and straw trodden together by oxen, have been known
+to last above a century without requiring the slightest repair; and we
+think that there are many farmers, especially in America and Australia,
+who if they knew how easily walls of this description could be built,
+would often avail themselves of them for various agricultural purposes.
+
+"The solidity of cob walls depends much upon their not being hurried in
+the process of making them, for if hurried, the walls will surely be
+crippled, that is, they will swag or swerve from the perpendicular. It
+is usual to pare down the sides of each successive rise before another
+is added to it. The instrument used for this purpose is like a baker's
+peel (a�kind of wooden shovel for taking the bread out of the oven), but
+the cob-parer is made of iron. The lintels of the doors and windows and
+of the cupboards and other recesses are put in as the work advances
+(allowance being made for their settling), bedding them on cross pieces,
+and the walls being carried up solid. The respective openings are cut
+out after the work is well settled. In Devonshire the builders of
+cob-wall houses like to begin their work when the birds begin to build
+their nests, in order that there may be time to cover in the shell of
+the building before winter. The outer walls are plastered the following
+spring. Should the work be overtaken by winter before the roof is on, it
+is usual to put a temporary covering of thatch upon the walls, to
+protect them from the frost."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: Mr. Fulford's Evidence]
+
+_Mr. Fulford's Evidence._--Mr. Fulford, of Great Fulford, near Exeter,
+whose own village and estate can show as many good examples of old cob
+work as any place in Devon, writes as follows:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Cost._--"It is not possible to give a close estimate of what would now
+be the comparative cost of a building in cob, stone, or brick, as this
+must depend upon the exact locality of the site. It may, however, be of
+assistance if I quote particulars of the relative cost of cob and stone
+building in Devon in the year 1808 when cob was in common use. The
+stonework referred to was rough rubble, and not with square or dressed
+blocks. It must be borne in mind that up to that date practically all
+material, stone, lime, etc., was carried on horses' backs. Wheeled carts
+which began to creep in about the beginning of 1800, were not in general
+use until twenty or thirty years later. As a boy I knew a farmer who
+remembered the first wheeled cart coming to Dunsford. In 1838 the Rector
+of Bridford (the 'Christowell' of Blackmore's novel) recorded the fact
+that in 1818 there was only one cart in the parish and it was scarcely
+used twice a year. In 1808 the price of building varied according to the
+district. In the northern part of the county the common price of
+stonework, including the value of three quarts of cider or beer daily,
+was from 22d. to 24d. the perch (16��ft.), 22 in. in width and 1 ft. in
+height. Including all expenses of quarrying and carriage of materials,
+stonework worked out at from 5s. to 6s. per perch running measure, and
+cob estimated in like manner at about 3s. 6d. Masons when not employed
+by the piece received 2s. per day, and allowance of beer or cider. In
+the Dunstone district (the clay shales from which make the best cob)
+masonwork was 18d. per rope of 20 ft. in length, 18 in. thick, and 1 ft.
+high, stone and all materials found and placed on the spot; cob work of
+the same measure was 14d. In the South Hams district masonwork cost 2s.
+6d., and cob 2s. per perch of 18 ft. in length, 2�ft. thick, and 1 ft.
+high."
+
+_Use of Shuttering._--"In those parts of the red land where Dunstone
+shillot or clay shale is not available, the red clay was mixed with
+small stones or gravel, and frequently the cob was laid and trodden down
+between side boards as used in building concrete walls. Three cartloads
+of clay built a perch and a half of wall 20 in. wide and 1 ft. deep.
+Eight bundles of barley straw, equal to one pack-horse load, were mixed
+and tempered with nine cartloads of clay."
+
+_Roofing._--"Thatching in 1808 cost 8s. per square of 10 ft.; 100
+sheaves of wheat-straw reed, weighing 25 lb. each, were sufficient for
+one square. Thatching, however, is not, as many suppose, indispensable
+as a roofing for cob buildings; slate found in many parts of Devon was
+frequently used, and of late years Welsh and Delabole slates, tiles, and
+unfortunately, from the picturesque point of view, corrugated iron, have
+to a large extent supplanted thatch."
+
+_A Protective Wash._--"Vancouver, in his report on the Survey of Devon
+for the Board of Agriculture in 1808, gave the following recipe, which
+he described as a preserving and highly ornamental wash for rough-cast
+that was then getting into common use: 'Four parts of pounded lime,
+three of sand, two of pounded wood ashes, and one of scoria of iron,
+mixed well together and made sufficiently fluid to be applied with a
+brush. When dry it gives the appearance of new Portland stone, and
+affords an excellent protection against the penetrating force of the
+south-westerly storms."
+
+_Rendering._--"For the rough-weather sides of cob buildings I have found
+cement and sand, finished with a rough surface, satisfactory, and far
+more durable than ordinary lime and gravel rough cast. For interior cob
+walls, laths are not necessary. The old plastering was frequently laid
+on too thick. Of late years I have used with excellent results granite
+silicon plaster for ceilings and walls. This requires no hair, and is
+easily applied."
+
+_The Cob Tradition._--"Cob-making was, like many other local trades,
+carried on in some families from generation to generation and developed
+by them into an art, but apart from these specialists, practically every
+village mason and his labourers built as much with cob as they did with
+stone. There are men still left in various parts of the county who have
+made cob, and it would, in my opinion, be of advantage if demonstrations
+could be given by them to discharged sailors and soldiers who are
+anxious to take up work on the land."
+
+_Training of ex-Soldiers._--"In cob-building, as in many other arts and
+crafts, a�little showing is of far greater help to the novice than any
+amount of text-book instruction. The knowledge and experience that these
+men would gain from being shown, and better still, assisting an expert
+in making cob, would be of material advantage in the development of the
+county scheme promoted by the Central Land Association for the
+establishment of ex-Service men on the land. They could try their
+'prentice hands on walls, tool-sheds, cart linhays, etc., for their own
+use, and some no doubt would develop into expert builders capable of
+constructing walls for dwelling-houses from approved plans."
+
+_1819 Conditions Returned._--"The depletion of our home-grown timber
+supply and the prohibitive cost of practically all building material has
+in effect brought about the conditions that led our forefathers to
+utilise suitable material that lay nearest to hand, and unless some
+endeavour is made to follow their methods and profit by their example,
+it will be impossible to provide sufficient buildings for the necessary
+equipment of the allotments and small holdings, let alone housing
+accommodation for the workers on the land."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: A Champion of Cob]
+
+There is probably no one who knows more about cob than does Mr.
+Fulford--certainly no one who has done more to promote the revival of
+cob-building both by precept and example.
+
+Cob is the traditional material of his native place, he has, as it were,
+been brought up on cob--he is familiar with both the ancient history and
+the modern practice of cob-building, and in short, he "knows."
+
+When a revivalist has knowledge as well as enthusiasm, the grounds of
+his faith are usually worth serious attention.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+_PIS� DE TERRE_
+
+
+� I. GENERAL
+
+_What it is._--"Pis� de terre" is merely the French for rammed earth,
+and rammed earth is an exceedingly good material for the building of
+walls.
+
+The odd thing is that its very obvious merits should have secured it
+such small attention.
+
+It is no new-fangled war-time invention brought forth by our present
+necessity, but a very ancient system well proved by centuries of trial.
+
+_History._--Pliny gives an excellent account of Pis�-building in his
+_Natural History_, and Monsieur Gorffon, who published a treatise on
+this method of construction in 1772, states that it was first introduced
+into France by the Romans.
+
+The following extracts from an old book based on a French original will
+serve well as an introduction to the study of Pis�-building:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Capabilities._--"An account of a method of building strong and durable
+houses, with no other materials than earth; which has been practised for
+ages in the province of Lyons, though little known in the rest of
+France, or in any other part of Europe. It appeared to be attended with
+so many advantages, that many gentlemen in this country who employ their
+leisure in the study of rural economy were induced to make a trial of
+its efficiency; and the result of their experiments has been of such a
+nature as to make them desire, by all possible means, to extend the
+knowledge and practice of so beneficial an art.
+
+"The possibility of raising the walls of houses two or even three
+stories high, with earth only, which will sustain floors loaded with the
+heaviest weights, and of building the largest manufactories in this
+manner, may astonish every one who has not been an eye-witness of such
+things."
+
+_Of Pis� and its Origin._--"Pis� is a very simple manual operation; it
+is merely by compressing earth in moulds or cases, that we may arrive at
+building houses of any size or height."
+
+_Locale._--"This art, though at present confined to the single province
+of the Lyonese in France, was known and practised at a very early period
+of antiquity. The Abb� Rozier, in his _Journal de Physique_, says that
+he has discovered some traces of it (Pis�) in Catalonia; so that Spain,
+like France, has a single province in which this ancient manner of
+building has been preserved. The art, however, well deserves to be
+introduced into more general use. The cheapness of the materials which
+it requires, and the great saving of time and labour which it admits of,
+must recommend it in all places and on all occasions, but the French
+author says that it will be found particularly useful in hilly
+countries, where carriage is difficult, and sometimes impracticable; and
+for farm buildings, which, as they must be made of considerable extent,
+are usually very expensive, without yielding any return."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Method of Building]
+
+� II. METHOD OF BUILDING
+
+There is an exhaustive article on Pis� in Vol. XXVII of _The Cyclop�dia
+or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature_, published in
+1819. The writer, Abraham Rees, D.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., draws chiefly on
+French authorities and his directions are most detailed and precise.
+
+  [Illustration: PIS�.
+  _Implements for Pis� or Rammed Earth Buildings_
+  +Pis� Plant and Implements.+
+  (Reproduced from an old Encyclop�dia.)]
+
+_Definition._--He introduces his subject thus:
+
+"Pis�-building, in Rural Economy, the name of a method of building with
+loamy or other earthy matters, which has long been practised with great
+success, and in a very cheap manner, in some departments of France, and
+which is now had recourse to with similar advantage in some parts of
+this country. It has been described, delineated, and recommended by Mr.
+H. Holland in the first volume of _Communications to the Board of
+Agriculture_, and is to be managed somewhat in the manner directed
+below."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+At great length and with immense detail, the plant, the preliminaries,
+and the process are each severally described.
+
+The pith of the matter is sufficiently given by the following extracts:
+
+_Shuttering._--"For the construction of the mould, take several planks,
+each 10 ft. long, of light wood, in order that the mould may be easy to
+handle; deal is the best as being least liable to warp. To prevent which
+the boards should be straight, sound, well seasoned, and with as few
+knots as possible. Let them be ploughed and tongued, and planed on both
+sides. Of these planks, fastened together with four strong ledges on
+each side, the mould must be made, 2�ft. 9�in. in height; and two
+handles should be fixed to each side.
+
+"All the boards and ledges here mentioned must be, after they are
+planed, something more than 1 in. thick."
+
+_Rammer._--"The instrument with which the earth is rammed into the mould
+is a tool of the greatest consequence, on which the firmness and
+durability, in short the perfection, of the work depends. It is called a
+pisoir, or rammer; and though it may appear very easy to make it, more
+difficulty will be found in the execution than is at first apprehended.
+A�better idea of its construction may be formed by examining the Plate,
+in which it is delineated, than any words can convey. It should be made
+of hard wood, either ash, oak, beech, walnut, etc., or what is
+preferable, the roots of either of them."
+
+_Method of Working._--"Pis� contains all the best principles of masonry,
+together with some rules peculiar to itself, which are now to be
+explained.
+
+"To begin with the foundation; this may be made of any kind of masonry
+that is durable, and should be raised to the height of 2 ft. above the
+ground; which is necessary to secure the walls from the moisture of the
+earth, and the splashing of the rain, which will drop from the eaves of
+the roof.[4] When these foundation walls are made level, and 18 in.
+thick, mark upon them the distance at which the joists are to be set,
+for receiving the moulds; those distances should be 3 ft. each from
+centre to centre. Each side of the mould being 10 ft. long, will divide
+into three lengths of 3 ft. each, and leave 6 in. at each end, which
+serve to lengthen the mould at the angles of the house and are useful
+for many other purposes. After having set the joists in their places,
+the masonry must be raised between them 6 in. higher, that is, to a
+level with the joists; there will, therefore, altogether be a base of 2�
+ft., which in most cases will be found more than sufficient to prevent
+the rain, frost, snow, or damp from injuring the walls. Raise the mould
+immediately on this new masonry, placing it over one of the angles of
+the wall.
+
+    [Footnote 4: The introduction of a damp-course and the provision
+    of gutters at the eaves greatly reduce the function of the
+    masonry base in modern work.]
+
+    [Headnote: The Ramming]
+
+"A workman should be placed in each of the three divisions of the mould,
+the best workman being placed at the angle. He is to direct the work of
+the other two, and by occasionally applying a plumb-rule, to take care
+that the mould does not swerve from its upright position. The labourers
+who dig and prepare the earth must give it in small quantities to the
+workmen in the mould, who, after having spread it with their feet, begin
+to compress it with the rammer. They must only receive at a time so much
+as will cover the bottom of the mould to the thickness of 3 or 4 in. The
+first strokes of the rammer should be given close to the sides of the
+mould, but they must be afterwards applied to every other part of the
+surface; the men should then cross their strokes, so that the earth may
+be compressed in every direction. Those who stand next to one another in
+the mould should regulate their strokes so as to beat at the same time
+under the cord, because that part cannot be got at without difficulty,
+and must be struck obliquely; with this precaution, the whole will be
+equally compressed. The man at the angle of the wall should beat
+carefully against the head of the mould.
+
+"Care must be taken that no fresh earth is received into the mould till
+the first layer is well beaten, which may be ascertained by striking it
+with a rammer; the stroke should leave hardly any print on the place.
+They must proceed in this manner to ram in layer after layer, till the
+whole mould is full. When this is done, the machine may be taken to
+pieces, and the earth which is contained will remain firm and upright,
+about 9 ft. in length and 2� ft. in height. The mould may then be
+replaced for another length, including 1 in. of that which has first
+been completed.
+
+"The first course being thus completed, we proceed to the second; and
+here it must be observed that in each successive course we must proceed
+in a direction contrary to that of the preceding. It may easily be
+conceived, that with this precaution the joints of the several lengths
+will be inclined in opposite directions, which will contribute very much
+to the firmness of the work. There is no reason to fear overcharging the
+first course with the second, though but just laid; for three courses
+may be laid without danger in one day.
+
+"This description of the first two courses is equally applicable to all
+the others, and will enable any person to build a house, with no other
+materials than earth, of whatever height and extent he pleases.
+
+"With respect to the gables, they may be made without any difficulty, by
+merely making their inclination in the mould and working the earth
+accordingly."
+
+
+� III. THE THEORY AND SCIENCE OF PIS�
+
+_The Value of Ramming._--"Beating, or compression, is used in many
+different sorts of work; the ancients employed it in making their rough
+walls; the Italians employ it for the terraces which adorn their houses;
+the Moors for all their walls; the Spaniards, the French, and others for
+some of the floors of their apartments. The intent of the ancient
+architects, when they recommended the beating of cement and other
+compositions used in building, was to prevent them from shrinking and
+cracking; and it is employed for the same purpose in walls which are
+made of earth. The beater, by repeated strokes, forces out from the
+earth the superfluous water which is contained and closely unites all
+the particles together, by which means the natural attraction of these
+particles is made powerful to operate, as it is by other natural causes
+in the formation of stones. Hence arises the increasing strength and
+astonishing durability which houses of this kind are found to possess."
+
+_An Experiment._--"Upon beating a small portion of earth, and weighing
+it immediately afterwards, it was found to weigh 39� lb. Fifteen days
+after, it had lost 4� lb. In the space of another fifteen days it lost
+but 1 lb.; and in fifteen days after that its weight diminished only �
+lb. In the space of about forty-five days the moisture was completely
+evaporated, and its weight was diminished about one-eighth; consequently
+only one-eighth of the whole mass was occupied by moisture, and this
+small proportion cannot at all affect the solidity and consistency of
+the earth so treated. This experiment is also sufficient to show the
+difference between this kind of building and that vulgar kind called in
+England 'mud-walling.'"
+
+_Rate of Work._--"In one single day three courses of about 3 ft. each
+may be laid one over the other; so that a wall of earth of about 8 or 9
+ft., or one story high, may be safely raised in one day. Experience has
+proved that as soon as the builders have raised their walls to a proper
+height for flooring, the heaviest beams and rafters may without danger
+be placed on the walls thus newly made; and that the thickest timber of
+a roof may be laid on the gables of pis� the very instant they are
+completed."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Suitable Soils]
+
+  ON EARTH PROPER FOR BUILDING
+
+_Suitable Soils._--"1st. All earths in general are fit for that use,
+when they have not the lightness of poor lands nor the stiffness of
+clay.
+
+"2ndly. All earths fit for vegetation.
+
+"3rdly. Brick-earths; but these, if they are used alone, are apt to
+crack, owing to the quantity of moisture which they contain. This,
+however, does not hinder persons who understand the business from using
+them to a good purpose.
+
+"4thly. Strong earths, with a mixture of small gravel, which for that
+reason cannot serve for making either bricks, tiles, or pottery. These
+gravelly earths are very useful, and the best pis� is made of them."
+
+_Soil Tests._--"The following appearances indicate that the earth in
+which they are found is fit for building: when a pickaxe, spade, or
+plough brings up large lumps of earth at a time; when arable lands lies
+in clods or lumps; when field-mice have made themselves subterraneous
+passages in the earth; all these are favourable signs. When the roads of
+a village, having been worn away by the water continually running
+through them, are lower than the other lands, and the sides of those
+roads support themselves almost upright, it is a sure mark that pis� may
+be executed in that village. One may also discover the fitness of the
+soil by trying to break with one's fingers the little clods of earth in
+the roads, and finding a difficulty in doing it; or by observing the
+ruts of the road, in which the cart-wheels make a sort of pis� by their
+pressure; whenever there are deep ruts on a road, one may be sure of
+finding abundance of proper earth.
+
+"Proper earth is found at the bottom of the slopes of low lands that are
+cultivated, because every year the rain brings down the fat or good
+earth. It is frequently found on the banks of the river, but above all,
+it is found at the foot of hills, and on all cultivated lands which have
+much slope. In digging trenches and cellars for building, it generally
+happens that what comes out of them is fit for the purpose."
+
+
+  ON THE MIXTURE OF EARTHS
+
+_Soil Blending._--"As it may sometimes happen that earth of a proper
+quality is not to be found on the spot where it is intended to build, it
+becomes of importance to attend to the method of mixing earths; for
+though the earth which is near at hand may not of itself be proper, it
+is very probable that it may be rendered so by the mixture of a small
+quantity of another earth fetched from a distance. The principle on
+which a mixture must be made is very simple; strong earths must be
+tempered with light; those in which clay predominates, with others that
+are composed more of chalk and sand; and those of a rich, glutinous
+substance, with others of a poor and barren nature. The degree in which
+these qualities of the earths prevail must determine the proportions of
+the mixture; which it is impossible here to point out for every
+particular case, but which may be learnt by a little practice. Some easy
+methods will be described, by which any one may make a trial of the
+qualities of his earth.
+
+"It will not be amiss to mix with the earth some small pebbles, gravel,
+rubbish of mortar, or in short any small mineral substances; but none of
+the animal or vegetable kind must be admitted.[5] Such hard substances
+bind the earth firmly between them, and being pressed and pressing in
+all directions, contribute very much to the solidity of the whole; so
+that well-worked earth, in which there is a mixture of gravel, becomes
+so hard at the end of two years that a chisel must be used to break it,
+as if it was freestone."
+
+    [Footnote 5: "The pis� does not admit any vegetable or animal
+    substances. In mud walls they put straw, chopped hay, hair,
+    flocks, wool, etc., to make the mud adhere to the wood, or laths;
+    whereas the workmen who build in pis� are careful to pick out the
+    least straw or the smallest bit of root which remains in the
+    earth: in short, the pis� is a mineral substance imitating stone,
+    consequently anything that can slake or rot must be excluded."]
+
+
+    [Headnote: Experiments]
+
+  EXPERIMENTS TO ASCERTAIN THE QUALITIES OF ANY EARTH
+
+_Trial by Experiment._--"Take a small wooden tub or pail, without a
+bottom, dig a hole in the ground of a court or garden, and at the bottom
+of that hole fix a piece of stone, flat and level; place your tub upon
+the stone, fill around it the earth that has been dug out to make the
+hole, and ram it well, that the tub may be enclosed, to prevent its
+bursting. Then ram into the tub the earth you mean to try; putting in,
+at each time, about the thickness of three or four fingers' breadths:
+when this is well rammed, add as much more, and ram it in the same
+manner, and so the third and fourth, etc., till the earth is raised
+above the brim. This superfluous earth must be scraped off extremely
+smooth, and rendered as even as the under-part will be, which lies on
+the stone. Loosen with a spade the earth around the tub, and you will
+then be able to take it out, and with it the compressed earth that it
+contains; then turn the tub upside down, and if it is wider at the top
+than at the bottom, as such vessels usually are, the pis� will easily
+come out, but if it should happen to stick, let it dry in the air about
+twenty-four hours, and you will then find that the earth is loose enough
+to fall out of itself. You must be careful to cover this lump of pis�
+with a little board; for though a shower of rain, falling in an oblique
+direction, will not injure it, yet it may be a little damaged if the
+rain falls perpendicularly, and especially if it remains upon it. Leave
+the lump exposed to the air, only covered with a board or flat stone,
+and if it continues without cracking or crumbling, and increases daily
+in density and compactness as its natural moisture decreases, you may be
+sure that the earth is fit for building. But you must remember that it
+is necessary that the earth employed should be taken from a little below
+the surface of the ground, in order that it may be neither too dry nor
+too wet; it must be observed also that if the earth is not well pressed
+around the outside of the tub before it is filled, though the hoops were
+of iron, they would burst, so great is the pressure of the beaten earth
+against the mould, of whatever size it may�be."
+
+_The Earth-ball Test--An Experiment which may be made at any
+time._--"Every person in walking on his ground may make little balls of
+earth and press them as tight as he can between his hands. If he brings
+them home and puts marks on them, he will by that means know the quality
+of every piece of land, and also be a judge of the mixture it will be
+necessary to make."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Preparation of the Earth]
+
+  ON THE PREPARATION OF THE EARTH FOR BUILDING
+
+_Soil Preparation._--"All the operations of this art are very simple and
+easy; there is nothing to be done but to dig up the earth with a
+pickaxe, break the clods with a shovel, so as to divide it well, and
+then lay it in a heap, which is very necessary, because as the labourers
+throw it on that heap, the lumps of earth and large stones roll to the
+bottom, where another man may break them or draw them away with a rake.
+I�must observe that there should be an interval of about an inch and a
+quarter between the teeth of the rake, that the stones and pebbles of
+the size of a walnut, or something more, may escape, and that it may
+draw off only the largest. If the earth that has been dug has not the
+proper quality, which is seldom the case, and it is necessary to fetch
+some better from a distance, then the mixture must be made in this
+manner: one man must throw one shovelful of the best sort, while the
+others throw five or six of the inferior sort on the heap, and so more
+or less according to the proportions which have been previously
+ascertained."
+
+_Rain._--"No more earth should be prepared than the men can work in one
+day, or a little more, that they may not be in want; but if rain is
+expected, you must have at hand either planks, mats, or old cloths to
+lay over the heap of earth, so that the rain may not wet it; and then as
+soon as the rain is over, the men may resume their work, which, without
+this precaution, must be delayed; for it must be remembered that the
+earth cannot be used when it is either too dry or too wet, and therefore
+if the rain should wet it after it has been prepared, the men will be
+obliged to wait till it has recovered its proper consistency--a delay
+which would be equally disadvantageous to them and their employer. When
+the earth has been soaked by rain, instead of suffering compression, it
+becomes mud in the mould; even though it be but a little too moist, it
+cannot be worked; it swells under the blows of the rammer, and a stroke
+in one place makes it rise in another. When this is the case, it is
+better to stop the work, for the men find so much difficulty that it is
+not worth while to proceed. But there is not the same necessity of
+discontinuing the work when the earth is too dry, for it is easy to give
+it the necessary degree of moisture; in such a case it should be
+sprinkled with a watering-pot, and afterwards well mixed up together; it
+will then be fit for use."
+
+_Organic Matter._--"It has already been observed that no vegetable
+substances should be left in the earth; therefore in digging, as well as
+in laying the earth in a heap, great care must be taken to pick out
+every bit of root, great and small, all sprigs and herbs, all bits of
+hay and straw, chips or shavings of woods, and in general everything
+that can rot or suffer a change in the earth."
+
+
+  ON THE BOND TIMBER TO BE USED IN BUILDINGS OF PIS�
+
+_Corners._--"To make good walls, it is not sufficient that the earth be
+well beaten, we must also learn to unite them well together. Here the
+binders cost very little; they consist only of thin pieces of wood,
+a�few cramps and nails, and these are sufficient to give the greatest
+stability to buildings of pis�."
+
+Having gone on to explain that the angles of the building are formed by
+the successive courses alternately crossing one another on the corner
+like the alternating "long and short" quoins in a stone building, our
+authority proceeds to describe how rough boards are laid between the
+courses of pis� so as to cross at the corner and so, entirely encased in
+tightly compressed earth, they form effective ties.
+
+"This board must be rough, as the sawyers have left it, 5�or 6 ft. long,
+something less than 1 in. thick, and in breadth about 8, 9�or 10 in., so
+that there may remain on each side 4 or 5 in. of earth, if the wall is
+18 in. thick; by this means the board will be entirely concealed in the
+body of the wall. When thus placed neither the air nor damp can reach
+it, and of course there is no danger of its rotting. This has been often
+proved by experience, as in taking down old houses of pis� such boards
+have always been found perfectly sound, and many that had not even lost
+the colour of new wood. It is easy to conceive how much this board, from
+the pressure of the work raised above it, will help to bind together the
+two lengths of wall and to strengthen the angle."
+
+_Bonders._--"It is useful (particularly when the earth is not of a very
+good quality) to put ends of planks into the pis� after it has been
+rammed about half the height of the mould. These ends of planks should
+only be 10 or 11 in. long, to leave as before a few inches of earth on
+each side of the wall, if it is 18 in. thick; they should be laid
+crosswise (as�the plank before mentioned is laid lengthwise) over the
+whole course, at the distance of about 2 ft. from one another, and will
+serve to equalise the pressure of the upper parts of the works on the
+lower course of the pis�.
+
+"The boards above mentioned need only be placed at the angles of the
+exterior wall, and in those parts where the courses of the partition
+walls join to those of the exterior wall, the same directions that have
+here been given for the second course must be observed at each
+succeeding course, up to the roof. By these means the reader will
+perceive that an innumerable quantity of holders or bondings will be
+formed, which sometimes draw to the right, sometimes to the left of the
+angles, and which powerfully unite the front walls with those of the
+partitions; the several parts deriving mutual support from one another,
+and the whole being rendered compact and solid."
+
+    [Headnote: The Strength of Pis�]
+
+_Strength._--"Hence these houses, made of earth alone, are able to
+resist the violence of the highest winds, storms and tempests. The
+height that is intended to be given to each story being known, boards of
+3 or 4 ft. in length should be placed beforehand in the pis�, in those
+places where the beams are to be fixed, and as soon as the mould no
+longer occupies that place, the beams may be laid on, though the pis� be
+fresh made; little slips of wood, or boards, may be introduced under
+them, in order to fix them level. The beams thus fixed for each story,
+the pis� may be continued as high as the place on which you intend to
+erect the roof."
+
+
+  ON THE TIME AND LABOUR NECESSARY IN BUILDING
+    A CERTAIN QUANTITY OF PIS�
+
+_Speed of Building._--"Besides the advantages of strength and cheapness,
+this method of building possesses that of speed in the execution. That
+the reader may know the time that is required for building a house, or
+an enclosure, he need only be told that a mason used to the work can,
+with the help of his labourer, when the earth lies near, build in one
+day 6 ft. square of the pis�."
+
+_Rendering._--"To prepare the walls for plastering, indent them with the
+point of the hammer, or hatchet, without being afraid of spoiling the
+surface left by the mould; all those little dents must be made as close
+as possible to each other, and cut in from top to bottom, so that every
+hole may have a little rest in the inferior part, which will serve to
+retain and support the plaster.
+
+"If you happen to lay the plaster over them before the dampness is
+entirely gone, you must expect that the sweat of the walls will cast off
+the plaster."
+
+The wall surface having been duly hammer-chipped, the work must be
+scoured with a stiff brush to remove all loose earth and dust, and to
+finally prepare it for rough-casting. Rough-cast consists of a small
+quantity of mortar, diluted with water in a tub, to which a trowel of
+pure lime is added, so as to make it about the thickness of cream.
+
+One workman and his labourers are sufficient; the workman on the
+scaffold sprinkles with a brush the wall he has indented, swept, and
+prepared; after that he dips another brush, made of bits of reed, box,
+etc., into the tub which contains the rough-cast, and throws with this
+brush the rough-cast against the wall.
+
+"Rough-cast, which is attended with so little trouble and expense, is
+notwithstanding the best cover that can be made for pis� walls, and for
+all other constructions; it contributes to preserve the buildings. It is
+the peculiar advantage of these buildings that all the materials they
+require are cheap, and all the workmanship simple and easy."
+
+_Local Testimony._--At the end of the article just summarised, an
+instructive letter from a former rector of St. John's, La Rochelle, is
+quoted:
+
+  "SIR,--
+
+"My having been an inhabitant for some time of the town of Montbrison,
+capital of the Forets, enables me to give you some information
+concerning the mode of building houses with earth, etc.
+
+    [Headnote: A Pis� Church]
+
+_A Pis� Church._--"The church was the most remarkable in this style of
+building; it is about 80 ft. long, 40 ft. broad, and 50 ft. high; the
+walls built in pis�, 18 in. thick, and cr�p�, or rough-cast on the
+outside, with lime and sand. Soon after my arrival, the church, by some
+accident, was destroyed by fire, and remained unroofed for about a
+twelvemonth, exposed to rains and frost. As it was suspected that the
+walls had sustained much damage, either by fire or the inclemency of the
+season, and might fall down, it was determined to throw them down
+partially, and leave only the lower parts standing; but even this was
+not done without much difficulty, such was the firmness and hardness
+these walls had acquired, the church having stood above eighty years;
+and all the repairs required were only to give it on the outside, every
+twelve or fifteen years, a�new coating of rough-cast.
+
+"A house for a single family is generally finished in about a fortnight.
+The following is the method I have seen them practise."
+
+_Building Procedure._--"The earth is pounded as much as possible, in
+order to crumble any stones therein; clay is added thereto in a small
+quantity, about one-eighth part. It is all beaten and mixed up together
+by repeated blows with a mallet about 10 in. broad, and 10 or 15 in.
+long, and 2 in. thick. The earth being thus prepared, and slightly
+wetted, the foundation of the house is dug for; this is laid with stone,
+and when it is about 1 ft. high above the surface of the ground, planks
+are arranged on each side, which are filled with earth intended for the
+wall; this is called Pis� in the dialect of the country. It is strongly
+beaten; and this method is continued successively all round the
+building. The walls have more or less thickness according to the fancy
+of the owner; I�have seen them 6 in. and 18 in. thick. If several
+stories are intended in such erections, they do not fail to place beams
+to support the floors before they build higher. Of such buildings I
+never saw any consisting of more than three floors at most; generally
+they have but two. When the building is thus finished, it is left for
+some months to dry; then such as wish to make the building more solid
+and durable, give it a rough-cast coating on the outside with lime and
+sand. This is what I have observed during a residence of three years in
+the town of Montbrison. I�should be happy if this detail should afford
+the slightest information to the generous nation which has received us
+with so much goodness.
+
+  "I am, etc.,
+
+    "JAUCOUR."
+
+
+_The Virtues of Pis�._--"Such is the method of building which has been
+practised in the Lyonnese for many centuries. Houses so built are
+strong, healthy, and very cheap, they will last a great length of time,
+for the French author says he had pulled down some of them which, from
+the title-deeds in the possession of the proprietors, appeared to be 165
+years old, though they had been ill kept in repair. The rich traders of
+Lyons have no other way of building their country-houses. An outside
+covering of painting in fresco, which is attended with very little
+expense, conceals from the eye of the spectator the nature of the
+building, and is a handsome ornament to the house. That method of
+painting has more freshness and brilliancy than any other, because water
+does not impair the colours. No size, oil, or expense is required,
+manual labour is almost all it costs, either to the rich or poor. Any
+person may make his house look as splendid as he pleases, for a few
+pence laid out in red or yellow ochre, or in other mineral colours.
+
+"Strangers who have sailed upon the Rh�ne probably never suspected that
+those beautiful houses, which they saw rising on the hills around them,
+were built of nothing but earth, nay, many persons have dwelt for a
+considerable time in such houses without ever being aware of their
+singular construction. Farmers in that country generally have them
+simply white-washed, but others, who have a greater taste for ornament,
+add pilasters, window-cases, panels, and decorations of various kinds.
+
+"There is every reason for introducing this method of building into all
+parts of the kingdom; whether we consider the honour of the nation as
+concerned in the neatness of its villages, the great saving of wood
+which it will occasion, and the consequent security from fire, or the
+health of the inhabitants, to which it will greatly contribute, as such
+houses are never liable to the extremes of heat or cold. It is attended
+with many other circumstances that are advantageous to the State as well
+as to individuals. It saves both time and labour in building, and the
+houses may be inhabited almost immediately after they are finished; for
+which latter purpose, the holes made for the joists should not be closed
+up directly, as the air, if suffered to circulate through them, will dry
+the walls more speedily."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Indian and Colonial Practice]
+
+� IV. INDIAN AND COLONIAL PRACTICE
+
+_A Manual on Earthwork_, edited by Colonel Maclagan, R.E., gives much
+interesting information as to Pis�-building and a number of valuable
+hints:
+
+_Shutter-ties._--"Cross pieces, as the work proceeds, become so firmly
+embedded in the wall, that there is great difficulty in extracting them,
+to remedy which iron bars have been substituted. Even these thin iron
+bars become so tightly jammed when surrounded by the compact pis� earth,
+that much labour and risk of injury to the work is incurred in
+extricating them, and the expedient of setting them in a bed of sand has
+been successfully resorted to. They are then drawn out with care, the
+sand also is removed, and the holes which they leave are subsequently
+filled with the same earth of which the wall is made, and rammed hard.
+
+"The heads of the opposite uprights are held together by ropes, but in
+practice in this country[6] it has been found that, under the immense
+pressure exerted upon the plank sides by the earth firmly rammed in the
+interior, the ropes are so liable to stretch, and to break, that it is
+advisable to use iron rods or bars in this position also. When ropes are
+used, the distance between the side planks is measured by gauge rods,
+and the ropes tightened when requisite to preserve the proper breadth of
+wall. The use of iron connecting rods renders this unnecessary."
+
+    [Footnote 6: India.]
+
+_Soil._--"Soil of a medium quality, that is neither very stiff nor very
+sandy, is considered best adapted for pis�. It may be said that that
+which would make good bricks will answer well for this description of
+work.
+
+"When the earth is very dry, a sprinkling of water will be necessary."
+
+_Foundations._--"It is usual to begin the work upon a foundation of
+brick or masonry; but there seems to be no reason why the pis� might not
+be used from the commencement, even for foundations under ground; being
+carefully guarded from all chance of injury by running water."
+
+_The Building._--"The casing being prepared and erected, and the upper
+surface of the old work, when above the first stage, being sprinkled
+with water, the earth, well mixed and slightly moistened, is thrown in,
+and spread in thin layers of 4 or 5 in. These should, when rammed, be
+reduced to one-half their original thickness. The rammers should be of
+hard wood and very smooth. The successive layers are similarly treated,
+and thus the work proceeds until the top of the casing is reached. The
+ends of each portion should be finished with a slope, to which will be
+joined the portion next to be added longitudinally. These joinings
+should not, in the successive courses, be above those of the lower
+stage, but as in masonry and brickwork, should 'break joint.' The seams
+are all distinctly perceptible when the work is complete."
+
+    [Headnote: Plastering]
+
+_Plastering._--"The wall may have a coating of plaster, or the surface
+may be simply smoothed and dressed with a shovel, or similar implement.
+When it is to be plastered, it is necessary that the wall should first
+be thoroughly dry. If dry only externally whilst damp within, it has
+been found that the moisture is apt subsequently to attack the plaster
+and cause it to fall off in flakes. Without plaster, good Pis� work is
+found successfully to withstand exposure to the weather, and after the
+lapse of many years to be so compact and hard as to be picked down with
+difficulty."
+
+_Protection._--"Where the wall is not that of a roofed building, it
+should be provided with a coping, having a good projection to protect it
+from rain."
+
+_Rods versus Bars._--"The substitution of iron connecting bars for the
+wooden ones has been mentioned above. The evils of the wooden
+arrangement were found to be: the starting of the wedges, the fracture
+of the tenons, the tight jamming of the bars in the wall, and the injury
+to the walls and to the bars themselves from the force requisite to be
+applied for extracting them. The lower iron connecting bars are made 3�
+in. by � in.; the upper, 1�in. by 1/3 or � in. each, having holes � in.
+by � in., with corresponding pins.
+
+"The mode of setting the bars and arranging the work on each successive
+elevation of the casing is to cut on the surface of the completed part
+of the wall a groove 1 in. wider than the bar, filling it in, after
+placing the bar, with sand, to the level of the wall's surface. The side
+boarding being set up, the vacant space left along the bevelled edge of
+the previous course is filled up with moist clay to retain the first
+layer of the new course. The end pieces are secured by iron bars or
+rods, with screws and nuts."[7]
+
+    [Footnote 7: "A convenient arrangement might be: to make the
+    lower and upper connecting bars alike, to raise the side boarding
+    a few inches above the upper bars, which, when embedded, might be
+    allowed to remain and become the lower ones of the next course;
+    the external apparatus being shifted by taking out the pins and
+    slipping off the stanchions and planks to be reapplied to the
+    upper bars already in position to receive them."]
+
+_Ramming._--"Gentle and quick ramming has been found most effectual."
+
+
+  _Report on the Pis�-work executed at the Etah Jail during 1867-8.
+  By Mr. H. Sprenger, Assistant Engineer_
+
+"The boxes in which the pis�-work at the Etah Jail is being executed
+consist of two wooden frames 10 ft. long and 2� ft. broad, made of
+planks, which are nailed on to stout battens. They are held together by
+four pairs of posts 3 in. by 3 in., which are connected above and below
+with tie-bars of flat iron 1� in. by � in. The tie-bars have at each end
+a certain number of � in. holes punched in them to receive pins for the
+purpose of preventing the posts from slipping off. By changing the pins,
+walls of any given dimension can be obtained, wedges of hard wood, with
+longitudinal slots, are introduced between the posts and the pins, to
+adjust the breadth of the boxes to a standard gauge. After the boxes are
+fixed and adjusted, they are secured in their position by ropes passing
+over them, and tied to stakes on each side. Any deflection from the
+vertical should be corrected at the commencement of the work, as it is
+impossible to alter the position of a box after it is half full. Any
+earth which is suitable for brick-making will do for pis�-work. On being
+dug out it is passed through a screen with �-in. meshes, and thrown into
+the boxes in even layers of 6 in. in depth.
+
+    [Headnote: The Right Quantity of Water]
+
+"Generally fresh earth contains sufficient moisture to ensure good
+consolidation; but if it is found that it jumps up under the rammers, it
+should, on being thrown into the boxes, be sprinkled with a little water
+out of a tin can with a rose. The watering should be as uniform as
+possible, as if it is applied unequally it will liquefy the earth, which
+will commence oozing out under the rammers. Pis�-work executed with too
+much water is worse than if done with dry earth, as, on account of the
+elasticity of the wet earth, the effect of the ramming is deadened, and
+the earth remains unconsolidated. The men should be prohibited to keep
+time in ramming, as it causes vibration, which is injurious to the
+stability of the wall. On working over a lower course, it is as well to
+let the lower tie-bars about 4 in. into the same to give the boxes a
+firm hold on the old work, thereby the joints become imperceptible, and
+the upper edge of the lower course is prevented from chipping off.
+
+"The implements used are three different kinds of rammers. The earth is
+first beaten down with a V-shaped rammer, and then surfaced with one
+with a flat bottom. The sides of the boxes are consolidated with a
+spade-shaped rammer. When commencing the pis�-work at Etah, considerable
+difficulty was experienced in extricating the lower tie-bars. These
+were, therefore, supplied with holes 3 in. apart throughout their whole
+length. A�pin was inserted, against which a crow-bar with a long slot
+and well bent at the end was made to work. An equal pressure could
+thereby be exerted against the tie-bars; they were thus extracted with
+great facility without injuring them or the face of the wall, which was
+not the case formerly."
+
+
+  _Supplementary Note by Mr. E. Battie, Executive Engineer,
+  5th Division, Grand Trunk Road_
+
+"The work at Etah has generally been concluded in the following manner:
+In the morning the boxes were taken down, and again put up and filled
+during the day; they were left during the night, so that the earth might
+detach itself from the sides. It is not advisable to allow a course to
+dry thoroughly, as the upper one will not bind well into it, but
+probably show a crack. If the earth is well rammed, and only the proper
+quantity of moisture admitted, a�second course can be commenced
+immediately."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+The Report of the Rhodesia Munitions and Resources Committee issued in
+1918 contains an interesting paper by Mr. John Hynd on Pis�-building,
+from which the following is extracted:
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pis� Buildings at Empandeni]
+
+"_Pis� de Terre Buildings_
+
+"_The Spectator_ took this matter up some two years ago and wrote as
+follows:
+
+"'Various schemes of land settlement are in the air.�.�.�. All of them
+must, however, be concerned with cheap buildings. That is a _sine qua
+non_.'�.�.�.
+
+"The material used for the walls at Empandeni is one-third sand,
+one-third ant-heap, and one-third soil, all pulverised and put through a
+sieve. Water is then added. The mixture must be neither too wet nor too
+dry, just sufficiently damp to bind; a�good indication of the correct
+consistency being that when squeezed hard by the hand it shows a
+tendency to bind. Sufficient of the loose mixture is thrown into the
+form to fill it to a depth of about 3 in., and this is thoroughly rammed
+before the next layer is put in. Most thorough ramming is essential.
+When the frame is rammed full, it is taken apart and shifted along to
+make another section and so on until the first layer is complete. The
+first layer is, as a rule, sufficiently dry to permit the starting of
+the next about three hours after laying. Door and window frames are put
+in as the work proceeds, and must be well braced while ramming. In the
+top layer hoop iron or fencing wire is let in for fastening down the
+wall plates. Arsenite of soda or Atlas Compound is used in the first
+layer or two to keep out white ants. The floor can be made of timber,
+cement concrete, or rammed earth, and the roof thatched or covered with
+corrugated iron as is most convenient.
+
+"The following Pis� de terre buildings have been erected at Empandeni:
+
+"A large schoolroom 75 ft. by 28 ft. by 12 ft. high, walls 14 in. thick;
+seven boys' dormitories, each 30 ft. by 20 ft. by 12 ft.; twelve
+single-room houses, each 16 ft. by 12 ft.; six fowl houses, each 20 ft.
+by 10 ft.; a�large fowl house 250 ft. long, front walls 7 ft. and back
+walls 5 ft. high. This building is divided into fifteen compartments.
+
+"From the foregoing description it is quite evident that cheap and
+efficient buildings of this nature can be erected at a very low cost.
+
+"On a farm it is not necessary to employ any skilled labour, as the
+doors and windows can be purchased ready-made, and the frame-work,
+clamps, etc., put together by the farmer himself. For a roof of thatch
+all the necessary material, except iron ridging, if this is used, can as
+a rule be procured on the farm.
+
+"Should a cement concrete floor, which is cheaper than a wood one, be
+desired, there would be an extra expenditure for cement, the amount
+required being about two bags per twelve square yards. Such a floor
+should be laid before the walls of the building are commenced, and it is
+essential that the site is thoroughly well rammed and consolidated,
+particularly below where walls will come, before laying the concrete, to
+prevent cracks developing through settlement. The concrete raft should
+be carried at least 6 in. beyond the outside walls of the building, and
+if the work is properly done, a�special ant-course will be unnecessary.
+The concrete can be left rough below the walls to give a bond, and it
+might be advisable to lay some pieces of hoop iron in it which would be
+left projecting to be bedded into the walls.
+
+"Another good type of floor would probably be that suggested in _The
+Spectator_, viz. road material laid down and tarred in the same manner
+as roads are now made in many places.
+
+"A number of rooms and houses have been erected on the Globe and Phoenix
+Mine on much the same principle as Pis� de terre buildings, but the
+system developed there is different as regards the mixture, which
+consists of two parts ant-heap or ordinary dagga which must not be too
+sandy, and three parts ashes or clinker sieved free from fine dust.
+
+"A very full description of the method employed on this mine was
+forwarded by the courtesy of the Manager to the Committee, and it is
+interesting to note from this that the walls are made waterproof by
+first making them smooth with dagga plaster, then, when quite dry,
+giving one good coat of boiling hot tar. A�coat of limewash is applied
+three days later. That this is effective is well evidenced by the fact
+that the buildings erected have successfully withstood our last
+abnormally heavy rainy season.
+
+"The Globe and Phoenix system is the result of a number of experiments
+carried out on that mine. Their mixture, which is stated to be
+ant-proof, contains more moisture than Pis� de terre, and each course is
+reinforced with old wire rope, or other suitable scrap. The material is
+left in a heap for one or two days before being used.
+
+"Circular huts have been built on the mine of the same material, the
+forms being made of two rings of corrugated iron in three or more
+sections joined up with cleats at the end laps and held in position with
+cross bolts and distance pieces. The inner ring is 9 in. less radius
+than the outer one."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pis� Buildings for Settlers]
+
+  _Extracts from a paper on Pis� in the "Farmers' Handbook,"
+  issued by the Department of Agriculture, New South Wales, 1911_
+
+"Pis� is a material readily obtainable by the settler, of which cheap
+and durable buildings can be easily and substantially erected.
+
+"For the construction of pastoral or agricultural buildings, especially
+in districts remote from railways, or from towns in which other building
+materials are cheap or easily procurable, pis� is particularly well
+adapted. In the country earth is plentiful and readily obtainable; in
+the city or town such is not the case, and this fact, combined with the
+very bulky nature of the material, prohibits its use in such centres of
+population.
+
+"To the selector or settler, who, like many of our successful pioneers,
+is not burdened with a superfluity of hard cash, but who possesses an
+abundant capital of energy, combined with a certain amount of handiness,
+pis� has an additional advantage (which it shares with slabs, wattle and
+daub, etc.) over most other building materials, in that it affords him
+an opportunity of erecting his homesteading largely as the result of his
+own labour.
+
+"As a building material, pis� is infinitely superior and more durable
+than slabs, galvanised iron, or weather-boards. In fact it is
+questionable whether it is not more suitable for our climate, and
+therefore to be preferred to brickwork; for pis� buildings, properly
+protected and finished, are quite as durable and much cooler than
+buildings constructed with solid brick walls. This statement may be
+questioned by some whose knowledge of pis� is limited to buildings so
+badly planned that the very elementary principles of building
+construction have been neglected. This neglect, which is all too common,
+makes things bad enough, but when to it is added, as is sometimes the
+case, indifferent workmanship, combined with the use of unsuitable
+material, the result does not call for admiration, and it is not
+surprising that a bad impression is created. With no other knowledge of
+pis� it is only natural to condemn it because of such specimens, but
+under similar circumstances other better-known building materials of
+proved excellence would also be condemned. Brickwork would just as
+readily be condemned if its building qualities had to be estimated by
+the appearance presented by a brick building which had been constructed
+of badly-burnt bricks laid by unskilful tradesmen on an imperfectly
+thought-out plan. Just as with other building materials, the
+possibilities of this material can only be judged by an examination of
+properly planned and constructed examples of the pis�-builder's art.
+Such are found here and there throughout the country, pleasing to look
+at, affording comfort and satisfaction to their owners. A�properly
+constructed pis� building can be finished to suit the taste of the most
+fastidious. Even without plaster the walls can be 'floated' down and a
+'skin' obtained on them which, when limewashed, resembles stonework.
+When plastered inside and out they possess the advantages of a stone
+house, and are erected at a fraction of the cost.
+
+"Some idea may be formed of the durability of pis� by the fact that
+there is a stable built of pis� which has been in constant use for over
+sixty years, and which at the present time is in good order. The good
+condition of this stable is the more surprising because the external
+walls are unprotected from the weather, and it is generally recognised
+that pis�-work, especially if unplastered, should be protected from the
+direct action of rain. Pis� buildings are said to have a life of a
+century and a half.
+
+"The stability of pis� buildings is beyond question, as is proved by the
+following instance:--At Lambrigg, a�second-story brick building, with
+14-in. walls, and containing ten rooms, is built upon a lower story of
+pis�. The bricklayer who had the contract for erecting the brick portion
+of the house refused, as it was built upon pis�, to guarantee his work.
+Some time after the completion of the house he visited it, and after a
+thorough examination of the building, declared that it was the most
+substantial brick house in the district, as it had not a crack in it,
+a�feature which was somewhat unusual in that locality. Another case
+bearing on the same subject is that of a residence at Temora. When this
+building was being constructed the workmen omitted to leave holes for
+the bolts which were to secure the verandah plates to the walls, as it
+was thought these could readily be bored out afterwards with an auger.
+On attempting to bore out these holes on the completion of the building,
+and when the pis�-work had become drier, the operation of boring proved
+so difficult as to be practically impossible, and had to be abandoned.
+
+    [Headnote: Builders' Aversions]
+
+"The merits of pis�-work have been recognised in France, India, Mexico,
+and California for years past, and seeing its equal suitability for our
+climate, it is surprising that these merits have not led to its being
+more extensively used. The principal reason for this seems to be because
+our builders are averse to undertaking this class of work, and in
+consequence the bulk of it is placed in the hands of untrained men, who,
+whilst quite fitted to carry out the pis�-work, are not competent to
+undertake the other constructive work of a building. However, they do
+not hesitate to do this, as well as to undertake the more important work
+(though unrecognised as being�so) of planning out the building. The
+result is in most cases an improperly planned and defectively
+constructed building, which appeals to no one, but has a tendency to
+bring pis� into disrepute.
+
+"The reason for a builder's unwillingness to undertake pis�-work is not
+far to seek. For the successful carrying out of his work a builder
+relies upon skilled tradesmen; our tradesmen are trained in cities and
+towns, and as pis� is not a suitable material for such places, tradesmen
+do not become familiar with it. A�good builder with a reputation to lose
+shrinks from placing that reputation at the mercy of a pis�-builder, who
+is not recognised as a tradesman, and in whom, in consequence of this,
+a�builder is likely to have little or no confidence.
+
+"The actual erection of pis�-work presents so little difficulty that it
+can be done by any one who has sufficient strength to shovel earth and
+wield a rammer, provided he will exercise care to see that the moulds or
+boxes into which the earth is shovelled are kept plumb and in straight
+lines. The average settler, even with no previous knowledge of pis�-work
+or building construction, need have no hesitation in undertaking the
+pis�-work of his own buildings if he works to a well-thought-out plan
+drawn up by somebody competent to do�so.
+
+"The necessity of having a plan prepared by some one who understands the
+principles and requirements of simple building construction, before
+undertaking the erection of any building, cannot be too strongly
+emphasised. This great need, which is often overlooked by the settler,
+cannot be economically dispensed with. The securing of a properly
+prepared plan is of the greatest value towards obtaining a building of
+the maximum strength and durability, combined with the best appearance
+and greatest convenience, for the least cost. Even when a settler
+undertakes the pis�-work of his own building, it will only be in rare
+instances that he will not have the advantage of trained supervision
+during its erection. The services of a tradesman will invariably be
+found necessary to make doors and window-frames, construct the roof,
+etc. This workman can be engaged when the building is started, and
+whilst preparing the timbers of the roof, in readiness for the time when
+they will be required on the completion of the pis�-work, can supervise
+the fixing of the door and window frames, and see they are set
+correctly, and in their proper places.
+
+"Pis� walls are constructed in sections, the extent of which is
+regulated by the supply of casings available.
+
+"Into the moulds formed by the boxes the earth is shovelled in layers of
+4 or 5 in., and then rammed until thoroughly solid before another layer
+is put in. On the completion of the section, _i.e._ when the mould is
+full and well rammed, the keys or pins are knocked out of the 'bolts,'
+and the 'boxes' taken apart and erected on another portion of the
+building. The top of that portion of the pis�-work on which it is
+proposed to erect another section should be well moistened and covered
+with wet bags some hours before the mould is formed. The bottom of the
+mould should overlap the top of the pis�-work by about 6 in. After the
+'boxes' are put together, the top layer of pis� should be loosened with
+a pick so as to form a bond with the section about to be built, and if
+this section adjoins one already built, the ends of the latter should be
+bevelled off so as not to form a straight joint.
+
+"Material which is too sandy will fret away, and one containing clay
+will crack when dry. Soils containing these defects should be avoided.
+There is, however, such a wide range of soils which are suitable that a
+holding of any size on which suitable soils cannot be found will be the
+exception. It is possible to remedy the defects found in one soil by
+mixing it with another soil, but very rarely will such a course be
+necessary.
+
+    [Headnote: Number of Men Required]
+
+"The plant required will depend upon the number of men to be employed.
+Three is the least number that can be economically employed--two
+attending to the boxes and ramming, and one carting earth from its
+location to the building and assisting generally. The plant required for
+this number of men is given below. If more are engaged, additional plant
+of the same character will be found advantageous.
+
+"The necessary plant will consist of--2 wooden rammers, 1�iron shod
+rammer, 2�straight boxes, 2�angle boxes, 3�casings for blocking up the
+ends of boxes, bolts and keys for same, 12 gauge rods, washers--a
+liberal supply of �-in. washers, 2�shovels, 1�spade, a�horse and dray or
+other means for transporting the material to the building
+(if�required)."
+
+The following detailed instructions are taken from the same authority:
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pis� in New Zealand]
+
+  SPECIFICATION CLAUSES FOR A PIS� HOUSE (NEW ZEALAND)
+
+_Excavator._--Remove the turf to make footings, but not deeper at any
+place than 3 in. Step where required.
+
+  _Pis�-Builder_
+
+_Walls._--Erect the walls as shown on plan, external walls 18 in.,
+internal walls 15 in., carried up plumb and true, with all cross walls
+properly bonded by continuing the pis�-boxes around all angles; when
+necessary, the material for the walls is to be properly tempered with
+sufficient water. All sticks and vegetable matter are to be removed.
+
+_Suitable material_: to be a pipeclay loam, with a trace of small gravel
+evenly distributed through it.[8] The boxes to be filled in thin layers
+of 4 in. at a time, and well rammed until solid; the workmen are not to
+use their rammers in unison.
+
+    [Footnote 8: This was specified because it was the best material
+    near the site.]
+
+The whole of the internal angles, also door and window jambs, to be
+neatly splayed.
+
+_Floating._--Moisten well the outside and inside walls before the floors
+are laid, and float same to even smooth surface with wooden hand-float,
+using weak plaster, where required.
+
+_Bolts._--To hold down wall-plates, provide and build in � in. bolts,
+not less than 15 in. long, and spaced not more than 6 ft. apart.
+
+_Damp-course._--Below all walls lay a three-ply Ruberoid damp-course the
+full width of walls, to lap at ends at least 4�in.
+
+_Ventilators._--Insert below floors, where directed, four 9 in. by 6 in.
+galvanised iron air gratings, in wooden frames 1� in. thick by full
+width of walls; also insert at about 18 in. below ceiling similar air
+gratings and frames.
+
+_Plugs._--Insert plugs 3 ft. apart for skirting, chair and picture-rail,
+at the heights directed.
+
+_Frames._--Set all frames plumb and true, and secured in wall before
+removing head. Lintels and heads must be well and solidly bedded in
+mortar, at proper heights. The whole of the work to be done in a proper
+workmanlike manner.
+
+_Fillet._--Finish against intersection of floor and wall with neat 1�
+in. quarter-round fillet, scribed to wall and floor and nailed to
+floors.
+
+The pis�-builder will require to build into wall at all window and door
+openings 3 in. by 3 in. shaped plugs, spaced not more than 3 ft. apart
+to secure architraves.
+
+_Lintels._--For all door and window openings provide 6 in. by 4 in.
+well-seasoned pine lintels, to extend 12 in. into pis�-work on each side
+of opening.
+
+_Skirting._--Provide and fix in all rooms, to plugs about 3 ft. apart,
+6-in. skirting, neatly scribed to floors, mitred at angles as required.
+
+_Picture-rail._--Provide 3 in. by 1 in. picture-rail to all rooms.
+
+_Plugs._--Prepare and tar for pis�-builder 3 in. by 1 in. well-seasoned
+softwood plugs, 15 in. long, as per detail, for skirtings, picture- and
+chair-rail, to be inserted 3 ft. apart.
+
+
+  STUDDING, WIRE-NETTING, AND PIS�
+
+"This is a modification of Pis�, which provides a settler in a district
+where poles and saplings are available with a quick method of providing
+himself with a comfortable temporary residence without the expenditure
+of much cash. To construct buildings of this character, a�framework of
+saplings or poles, at intervals of 3 ft. 6�in. to 3 ft. apart, is first
+erected; this framework is covered on both sides with 1� in. mesh
+wire-netting. The two sections of netting are held together,
+strengthened, and prevented from stretching and bulging between the
+posts by means of wire hooks or loops, which are as long as the posts
+are wide. The spaces thus enclosed by the netting and the poles are then
+filled with earth, which is well rammed, thus making a solid wall 4 in.
+to 6 in. thick. This wall can be plastered, the plaster forming a key
+with the wire-netting, which holds securely. Buildings of this character
+can be made to look rather attractive, and, if neatly constructed, are
+very much superior, both in appearance and comfort, to slabs or wattle
+and daub."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pis� Shuttering]
+
+  PIS� SHUTTERING
+
+  I
+
+That the plant now commonly in use for pis�-building is but a slight
+improvement on the anciently accepted model, may be seen by a comparison
+of modern examples with old engravings and descriptions. Pis�-building
+lay off the great main stream of constructional activity, and the
+enterprise and ingenuity lavished on the perfecting of other building
+materials and methods passed Pis� by, leaving it undisturbed in its
+quiet backwater, a�primitive system still with its primitive tackle.
+
+Yet there were a number of very obvious and unnecessary shortcomings in
+the accepted shuttering that seemed to clamour for attention, defects,
+too, that were in no way inherent, but merely traditional infelicities
+reproduced in succeeding models that remained remarkably true to their
+primitive ancestral architype--the Pis� plant described by Pliny.
+
+Here seemed to be a very promising field for an ingenious inventor,
+a�field that is still "To Let."
+
+In the absence of any such inventive genius, the author has had certain
+ideas of his own embodied in the "Mark V" type of shuttering--a type
+that further experience and experiment will doubtless modify.
+
+The principle of the building-process remains unaffected. The
+improvements, such as they are, are merely improvements of mechanism.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  DIAGRAM OF MARK V PIS� SHUTTERING]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Showing top cross-braces thrown back and free leg disengaged.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Showing screw-up securing tackle of exterior corner-piece
+  and its rounded interior. Also screw-cramp at interior angle
+  of shuttering.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Shuttering about to be removed from a first section of Pis� walling.
+  Top cross-braces have been thrown back and clamps to legs released.
+  It is now only necessary to detach the stays and lift away the
+  shutters. Where, as here, there is no masonry plinth, the
+  bearing-pins are only required for the succeeding courses of Pis�,
+  and need not be inserted for the first.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  The angle-iron stay with cross-brace raised, and the blocking-box
+  showing its internal clamping-gear.]
+
+Scientific research could doubtless, if it would, do much towards
+perfecting Pis�-building.
+
+We know very little about the behaviour of different earths under
+compression, or of their several reactions to chemical treatment.
+Meanwhile, a�few trifling mechanical modifications are all that
+distinguish our modern plant from that devised by the ancients. That
+said, a�short description of the "Mark V" model may be of some interest,
+pending the future developments that may now be hoped for.
+
+
+  II
+
+The chief desiderata in designing a satisfactory Pis� plant appear to be
+these:
+
+All constituent parts should be reasonably light and easy to handle. The
+shutters should be rigid and not liable to warp, without being
+expensively constructed. The shutters, when clamped in position, should
+be firmly and positively supported, without deviation from the vertical.
+
+The fairway between the shutters must be as little obstructed by the
+cross-braces as may be, leaving good room for the men on the wall to
+tread and ram.
+
+The through-pins by which the shuttering rests upon the base wall or on
+a completed course of Pis�, must be easily withdrawn without injury to
+the wall.
+
+The shuttering must be easily disengaged and removed from the wall, one
+side at a time.
+
+The special corner-piece must have some means of rigid attachment to the
+ordinary shutters on the two meeting walls.
+
+There must be some means of blocking off the shuttering at any desired
+point, for the forming of door or window openings at any level.
+
+The whole apparatus must be as simple and as fool-proof as possible, and
+built to stand rough usage and exposure to the weather.
+
+
+  III
+
+The author has attempted to construct a plant embodying these
+essentials, and the working drawing and photographs shown will give the
+reader a tolerable idea of his "Mark V" model.
+
+The thing has, at the moment of writing, only been experimentally tested
+in one of the London parks. These trials were, however, sufficiently
+satisfactory to encourage a belief that the new plant will prove a very
+considerable improvement on the old. It has now been despatched to a
+site in Surrey, there to undergo the searching and very practical test
+of being used for the building of a small-holder's house and homestead.
+
+
+  IV
+
+To the second edition of this book a postscript must be added. Since the
+last paragraph was written, the small-holder's house has come into
+actual being at Newlands Corner, near Guildford, and has attracted a
+good deal of attention from the Press, both at home and abroad. It has
+been inspected by multitudes of people, including a great number of
+Colonials and prospective Colonists, and by many distinguished persons
+directly or indirectly concerned with the problems of housing.
+
+That "Good wine needs no bush" may be a true saying, but a novel system
+of building assuredly needs demonstration, however great its merits. The
+success of the experiment at Newlands is admitted by all who have made
+the pilgrimage thither. Often would critics come to scoff and remain to
+pray. Specially prized amongst the converts is a foreman-bricklayer once
+openly scornful in his unbelief. Of enthusiasm, perhaps, there has been
+almost over much; and it has been difficult to restrain the zeal of
+would-be pis�-builders until the coming of spring, and the return of
+such weather conditions as the craft might reasonably demand.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Simple Mould for Pis� Blocks.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Block-Moulds, Large and Small. The Latter shown opened out.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Sketch of a Pis� House in Course of Erection.+
+  With acknowledgements to _The Sphere_.]
+
+For pis� is a "dry-earth" method of building, and, as at present
+practised, that means it is a summer job, so far, at any rate, as
+England is concerned.
+
+The author is the last person to claim that pis�-building may be
+successfully and economically carried out in all places, and at all
+seasons. He merely suggests that in a great many parts of the United
+Kingdom, pis� offers possibilities of cheap yet permanent building that
+are very well worth exploitation.
+
+A wide and thorough trial of the method now seems assured under a
+variety of conditions in a sufficient variety of places. Pis� is to be
+given its chance in Housing Schemes, in Government building
+demonstrations, on Ducal estates, and by ordinary private citizens in
+need of houses--by the rich (old and new), and by the poor.
+
+    [Headnote: If Reason Rule]
+
+If reason rule, pis� will make good and all will be well.
+
+If pis�-building is attempted where the conditions are unsuitable and in
+defiance of its physical limitations, the misguided enthusiasts
+responsible must blame only themselves. But it is not self-reproach
+alone that they will have to suffer, for the author and all true friends
+of pis� will view their troubles with as much anger as sorrow.
+
+Nothing could be so well calculated to bring discredit on a new movement
+as the failures of a few enthusiastic incompetents.
+
+
+  THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION PIS� DE TERRE HOUSE AT NEWLANDS CORNER,
+  NEAR GUILDFORD
+
+  _With acknowledgments to the "Spectator"_
+
+_Description._--The house has six rooms arranged on one floor, of areas
+and cubical contents as laid down in their higher "schedules of
+accommodation" by the Ministry of Health and the Board of Agriculture.
+
+The plan is an adaptation of the first type illustrated in the Board's
+new manual "designed for the guidance of County Councils and their
+architects" in the matter of buildings for small-holdings.
+
+The walls are of 18-in. solid pis�-work, the roof of red Bridgewater
+tiles, and the chimney breasts and stacks of brickwork.
+
+The floors are boarded save for the back kitchen, which is tiled. The
+inner partitions are of 2-in. breeze blocks, the ceilings are plastered,
+and the casement windows are of steel.
+
+There are two good lofts for storage, one entered from the barn, which
+is an extension of the house proper.
+
+The pillars of the barn and the partition wall between scullery and
+veranda are of 18 in. by 9 in. by 9 in. rammed earth blocks; the angle
+pillar to the veranda is of similar blocks made from soft chalk.
+
+The rest of the structure is of monolithic pis�, built up _in situ_
+without joints of any kind, either horizontally or vertically.
+
+_Cost._--The total cost of the whole of the outer walling of the house
+(in�pis�) amounted to less than �20. Had the walls been built in
+brickwork the cost would, according to estimate, have been about �200.
+
+    [Headnote: The Newlands Specification]
+
+_Specification._--The following is an abridged extract from the
+specification so far as it affects the pis�-builder:
+
+(1) Excavate to a depth of 9 in. over the site, dumping the turf and
+surface humus where directed.
+
+This soil is not to be used for building.
+
+(2) Lay a 6-in. bed of cement and flint concrete 3 ft. wide under outer
+walls. Centrally on this, lay two courses of brickwork in cement, to a
+width of 18 in., or build up to the same extent in concrete.
+
+Lay on this an approved damp-proof course; if of slates, having a
+further course of brickwork or concrete above it to prevent fracture
+when ramming.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Newlands Corner Pis� Demonstration Building.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Cottage from the South-east.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Garden Court.+]
+
+(3) Erect the walls according to the plan on the bases thus formed,
+carrying them up plumb and true and properly bonded by working round the
+building course by course, using the special angle-pieces at the corners
+to keep the work continuous and homogeneous.
+
+(4) All stones and flints above a walnut size to be removed by riddling
+and reserved for concrete.
+
+All sticks, leaves, roots, and other vegetable matter to be eliminated.
+
+(5) The soil immediately on the site to be used without admixture of any
+sort and to be thrown direct into the shutterings.
+
+No water to be added without the express permission of the architect.
+
+(6) The boxes are to be filled in thin layers of not more than 4 in. at
+a time, and well rammed until solid. The workmen are not to use their
+rammers in unison.
+
+(7) Rammed earth at box ends to be shaved down to a 45 degrees slope so
+as to splice in with new span of pis� adjoining�it.
+
+Where door and window openings occur, the special "stops" to be adjusted
+and firmly secured so as to withstand hard ramming. Two 4 in. by 2 in.
+by 9 in. plugs to be built in to each window jamb for the securing of
+the frames and three to each door jamb.
+
+Special care to be taken in the thorough ramming at the corners and
+along the box edges.
+
+(8) Insert below floor level, where directed, 24 3-in. field drainage
+pipes to act as ventilators through the thickness of the wall. Insert
+wire mesh stops to exclude vermin.
+
+(9) Set all frames square and plumb, and where in outer walls, flush
+with finished exterior plaster-face, the joint being covered by a 2-in.
+by �-in. fillet.
+
+Where lintels occur, they are to be tailed in at least 9 in. on each
+side the opening.
+
+Provide plain picture-rail round all rooms at window-head level,
+providing plugs for fixing where necessary.
+
+Secure to floor round all boarded rooms a 2-in. by 1�-in. angle fillet
+as skirting.
+
+(10) The smooth surface of the pis� walling to be hammer-chipped to give
+good key to the plaster.
+
+Before rendering or plastering walls, any loose earth or dust to be
+removed with a stiff brush and the wall surface evenly wetted.
+
+  [Illustration: NEWLANDS CORNER PIS� HOUSE. THE PLAN.]
+
+The rendering to be carried evenly round the walls--the minor square
+angles being roughly chipped down first so as to obviate sharp corners.
+The main corners of the house are ready-rounded off to a 9-in. radius by
+the special corner mould.
+
+(11) Bond brick and slab work to pis� walls by driving iron spikes into
+the latter every few courses at joint level and bedding�in.
+
+(12) Colour-wash walls with tallow lime-whiting tinted with ochre.
+Provide 2 ft. skirting of pitch, applied hot, to form base-course round
+exterior of building.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Backyard, showing Barn with Pis� Pillars.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. Framing the Roof.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. An Interior, showing Fire-brick Hearth Fire.+]
+
+N.B.--The exterior of the walls of the Newlands Corner house have been
+finished in several different ways with a view to determining the most
+durable and economical form of epidermis.
+
+A trial pis�-building adjoining has stood for four years without any
+external protection whatever. It has suffered no damage and grows
+continually harder. For the sake of appearances, however, and for the
+better preservation of the wall from chance injury whilst still "green,"
+a�coating of some sort may be deemed necessary.
+
+
+    [Headnote: A Swedish Contribution]
+
+  THE THEORY OF PIS�
+
+The Swedish scientist, Mr. Karl Ellington, of Nossebro, who is basing a
+book on pis� (in�his own tongue) upon the frail foundation of the
+present volume, has, in the course of a letter to the author, made some
+exceedingly suggestive "guesses at the truth."
+
+"I am very interested to hear that you are proposing to use an hydraulic
+rammer for making blocks. I�have thought a good deal about this pressure
+business. I�am trying to scrutinise the thing from 'the inside,' so to
+speak. I�am trying to trace out how Nature makes rock. That helps us to
+understand pis�. Nature made all the stratified rocks out of what was
+once fine loose earth and mud. Rivers carried the mud out to sea. Waves
+pounded and gnawed the shores and got down some more stuff. The tides
+went forth and back and shovelled and levelled at the sea-bottom. Some
+more mud on top of that, and a few hundred or thousand feet of the heavy
+water on top of that--and Nature's pis� was in its making. But why do
+these mud particles stick together for ever even after that stratum is
+raised up high above the sea and the pressure is discontinued? That is
+the counterpoint of the whole problem. What is gravitation? Is it some
+form of magnetic or electric energy? We don't know. Do particles of mud
+grip and hold each other if they are forced together close enough to be
+united by some sort of magnetic or electric energy? Or do the particles
+only get a 'mechanical' grip on each other? However that may be, we seem
+to know now that we can make them grip by bringing them closely
+together. It would seem important, then, that we must bring as much of
+particle surfaces together within any given cubic space as we possibly
+can; that is, we must have as little of 'holes,' 'empty spaces,' pores
+and channels as possible in the mass, in the pressed wall. This, then,
+would in turn make it important that plenty of very fine (small)
+particles must be present in the mass--and so well distributed among the
+coarser particles as to be on hand close by wherever there can be one
+more chance for a small particle to fill a little chamber that the
+coarser particles would like to bridge over. We can think of how well
+Nature was fitted for this work of shuffling over all the particles at
+the sea-bottom and under great water pressure till she got every
+particle into the niche where it would exactly fit. She used waves,
+tides, and gulf streams as shovels and mixers and packers, and the water
+above as 'hydraulic rammer.' Looking at the pis� matter in this way, it
+would appear that both the _mixing_ and the _shuffling_ are of vital
+importance. And by 'shuffling' I�mean in this connection only that the
+smaller and larger particles get a chance to shift over a little during
+the process of pressing the earth together to hardness, so that the
+pressure may not work only and exclusively in a straight downward
+direction, but in a sort of wavy zigzag direction as well--much as when
+a street-roller is working the macadam and gravel a little forth and
+back at the same time as downward. I�have a great respect for old tools
+which are the outcome of long-time experience and handed-down wisdom.
+I�suspect the presence of some of that sort of experience in the rammer
+described in your book, p. 59. That tool would do the necessary shifting
+while attending to its _main_ intention: hammering the mass solidly
+together downwards. Now for your hydraulic rammer--is it advisable to
+make it blow or press only in a straight line downward? Maybe there
+ought to be two or three kinds of strokes alternating--one stroke with a
+rifled or wavy surface under the rammer--and the next stroke with a
+_plane_ surface.�.�.�. What sort of witchcraft enters into the effect of
+_high frequency blows_ as compared with blows with a little longer
+intervals between? Do the strokes create also some 'magnetic' effect in
+the pounded earth-mass which helps to fasten the particles to each
+other? And does this magnetic charge or friction heat, or whatever it
+is, act more promptly if one keeps on 'striking the iron while hot,'
+instead of letting the charge 'evaporate' and sneak away between
+strokes? Two or three of my hairs are turning grey over these questions
+alone. You compliment me by insinuating that I might stumble across some
+fruitful idea for the forms or boxes if I speculate a little more on the
+key-problem. Well, the thing won't leave me alone, so I have thought out
+several foolish variations and rejected them too. But the last one seems
+to have a little more vitality, so if it will live till I write my next
+letter I will tell you about it. One is so apt to follow the temptation
+of 'perfecting' an apparatus--at the cost of getting away from keeping
+it cheap, simple--and 'fool-proof.' By this time the idea has grown ripe
+in my mind, so that I ought to write out a little book on the pis�
+problem in Swedish and have it printed before springtime. Something
+ought to be done.�.�.�. I have to ask you kindly to permit me to make
+use of the data contained in your book. To this I will have to add what
+special precautions we must observe as to foundations in a climate like
+ours. I�intend to treat only the pis� method. Cob and chalk methods are
+not applicable here, as we have such materials only in a few unimportant
+spots."
+
+Mr. Ellington has long been an admirer and a firm friend of England, and
+he is good enough to regard his country as indebted to ours for the
+introduction of pis�-building:
+
+"Let me tell you that the help you are giving me now--not me, but my
+nation--will work as an additional bond that draws us more closely
+towards each other.�.�.�. Some of our people here have always looked too
+much towards the South and too little towards the West."
+
+
+    [Headnote: A Pis�-Builder's School]
+
+  PIS�, PRACTICE AND PLANT
+
+Now that so many able architects and enterprising bodies are seriously
+taking up pis�-building, the improvement in plant and technique should
+be both rapid and considerable. The School of Pis� Building established
+at Hornchurch in Essex, by the Imperial Ex-service Association, should
+alone provide us with much new and valuable knowledge of a highly
+practical kind.
+
+It is there, for instance, that various types of shuttering and rammers
+are being experimentally tested side by side, and their relative
+efficiency under varying conditions ascertained. Under some conditions
+it is probable that the floor and roof timbers (destined for use in the
+house under construction) will be found the most economical and
+satisfactory form of temporary "shuttering" for the making of the earth
+walls.
+
+The pis� "Test-House," built by Messrs. Alban Richards at their Ashstead
+works, was built in this way, and proved highly satisfactory.
+
+Another effective and more generally applicable form of shuttering
+(designed and manufactured by the same firm) is illustrated in the
+diagram reproduced below. It should be observed that wedges intervene
+between the movable shutters and the uprights.
+
+The method of employment of the "Mark V" shuttering is well illustrated
+by the bird's-eye view showing the Newlands cottage under construction.
+
+    [Headnote: Alternative Shutterings]
+
+In this matter of shuttering there is still, however, great scope for
+improvement, and it may be hoped that soon ingenuity and experience will
+jointly produce a complete pis� plant perfectly fulfilling all the many
+conditions enumerated earlier in the book.
+
+Shuttering made by riveting plain galvanised sheet iron to one side of a
+corrugated sheet has the qualities of lightness, smoothness, cheapness,
+and rigidity, and the claims of the inventor and patentee are now being
+put to the test in actual building.
+
+  [Illustration: PATENT SHUTTERING FOR PIS� DE TERRE
+  _By W. Alban Richards and Co._]
+
+There now seems little doubt but that pis� blocks will be largely used
+for partitions and chimney stacks where the soil is good enough, and
+experiments are being made with a view to discovering the best and
+cheapest way of making earth slabs similar to those of coke-breeze and
+concrete.
+
+The size aimed at is 18 in. by 18 in. by 3 in., the edges to be tongued
+and grooved.
+
+Certain "concrete" machines seem to lend themselves to adaptation for
+the making of earth blocks, but it is necessary to remember that sharp
+blows are required rather than a steady pressure, and also that we are
+working with a _dry_ material. The ordinary primitive way of making pis�
+blocks is indicated below.
+
+The hand-rammers are undoubtedly worth study and careful design. A�set
+of three seems to meet all ordinary requirements, and those shown on p.
+101 may be taken as typical. They should be of hard-wood, smoothly
+finished, and provided with long handles. They should be 9 in. to 12 in.
+long, and about 5 in. by 4 in. at maximum cross section.
+
+In the sketch they are shown "narrow-ways-on." No. 1�is used for
+preliminary pounding and final finishing, No. 2�for general
+consolidating, and No. 3�for working along the edges, against window
+stops, and under cross-ties.
+
+A South African correspondent, Major Baylay, makes interesting comment
+as regards rammers and local pis� practice:
+
+    [Headnote: South Africa]
+
+"My experience of all black labour is, that they won't put any 'guts'
+into it. They therefore want fairly heavy rammers, which they can lift
+and drop, say a foot, and which will do the rest for them. The heat of
+the sun and extreme dryness of atmosphere out here make it advisable to
+cover up completed courses at once with sacking, moist for choice,
+otherwise it is liable to dry out too quickly and crack. It dries out
+uncovered at night very well, when there is no rain.
+
+"The red loams of South Africa, where not too sandy, make excellent
+pis�. They or their equivalent are found almost everywhere. In the dry
+state they set so hard that moisture added just before ramming is
+useless. A�large heap must be made, well damped and covered over with
+moist sacking, and left until the moisture is distributed throughout the
+mass. When about four or five days old, in ordinary weather, the earth
+is ready to use--viz., just wet enough to bind when gripped in the hand.
+It should be passed through a sieve. I�use a sort of 'chicken run,'
+8�ft. long, and throw the earth on to it before using. Six feet of it is
+�-in. mesh, and 2 ft. �-in. mesh; the reason for this is that, if the
+earth is a little too dry, it does not always bind well with the
+previous layer. Therefore, put a few petrol tins of the fine earth into
+the shuttering first in order to ensure good bond, and throw the coarser
+stuff in after."
+
+  [Illustration: PIS� HAND RAMMERS]
+
+
+  _Second Note by Major Baylay, Peter Maritzburg, Natal, South Africa_
+
+"I have completed a small building, and though weather conditions have
+been as bad as possible, it is sound and very satisfactory.
+
+"In my opinion, pis�-building should not be attempted in the rainy
+season in Africa. Earth contains too much moisture, and the power of the
+sun dries it out too quickly and causes cracks.
+
+"_Re_ plastering. I covered the outside and inside with a mixture of 6
+earth, 2�sand, 1�blue (Hyd.) lime, the earth being the red, rather 'fat'
+earth found everywhere, and the same stuff the house is built of. It is
+put on thin with a trowel, after damping the wall. When it dries and
+cracks, rub all over with a sacking pad covered with the plaster
+mixture, but wetted to a thin cream consistency. It may sound an odd
+method, but the natives do this work well, and the result is as good as
+one can wish for. You can put tar or any wash (No.�6) on this."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Soils]
+
+  SOILS
+
+Were it not for the fact (often somewhat embarrassing) that soil quite
+incapable of making good pis� will none the less produce enthusiastic
+pis�-builders, a�warning as to the vital importance of the earth being
+really suitable might seem superfluous.
+
+The author has found some of the staunchest champions of pis�-building
+living on and valiantly struggling with stiff glutinous clay and almost
+pure sand.
+
+Even the most vigorous optimism can achieve little under such adverse
+conditions unless soil-blending be resorted to, and even so,
+pis�-building begins to lose points in the matter of economy directly
+complications of this sort are introduced.
+
+Fortunately, however, England is well off in the matter of pis� soils,
+the red marls being amongst the very best.
+
+A study of the country, or, failing that, of the geological maps, will
+reveal a great tract of this earth extending diagonally right across
+England, from Yorkshire down into Devonshire, where it ends
+conspicuously in the beautiful red cliffs about Torquay.
+
+There is a large area of the stuff in the Midlands, notably in
+Warwickshire, with lesser patches here and there about the country.
+
+Second only to the red marls come the brick earths, which, fortunately,
+are also widely distributed.
+
+"Brick earth" is merely clay that has been well weathered and
+disintegrated under the action of wind, rain, frost, and organic agents,
+the sulphides having become oxides, and what was a cold intractable
+slithery mass having become merely a "strong" and binding earth.
+
+It is probable that even stiff clay, if dug in the summer or autumn, and
+left exposed for a winter, would prove sufficiently reformed to be quite
+amenable for pis� building in the spring.
+
+After the marls and the brick earths there is an endless variety of
+soils that will serve well for pis�-building--some, of course, better
+than others, but all, save the extremes (the excessively light and the
+excessively clayey), capable of giving good results under proper
+treatment.
+
+Before putting pis� construction actually in hand, however, the
+intending builder will do well to submit samples of his earth to some
+competent authority, that they may receive his blessing.
+
+A fistful taken from a depth of 9 in., and another from say 2 ft. below
+the surface, should give sufficient evidence as to the soil's
+suitability or the reverse.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+_CHALK_
+
+
+� I. GENERAL
+
+Chalk, as a source of lime, has always been of high importance to
+builders, and, until improved transport brought alien materials into its
+old preserves, chalk was in general use for walling in the form of
+roughly squared blocks.
+
+Chalk again forms the basis of a compost that, used in the form of a
+stiff paste, has been largely employed for building from the earliest
+times down to the present.
+
+"Pis� de Craie," or chalk consolidated by ramming within a casing, is a
+form of building that has been long held in high repute in France and
+elsewhere, but which has only recently been given a serious trial in
+England.
+
+Chalk in all these forms, if fairly dealt with and reasonably protected
+from the weather, is a most amenable and satisfactory material to build
+with.
+
+The last-named method particularly seems to promise results that should
+satisfy the most exacting critics of the unconventional, as it assuredly
+does those who inhabit the cottages so constructed.
+
+The several systems of chalk construction are fully dealt with in the
+pages that follow.
+
+_Chalk Compost: Historical._--At the Ancient British village on West
+Down, Chilbolton, some five miles south of Andover, delving
+arch�ologists have brought to light undeniable fragments of chalk
+"Daub," with the wattle marks still clearly showing upon them.
+
+This discovery is chiefly of academic interest, though it is a pretty
+refutation to those who regard any building material save brick and
+stone as "new-fangled," and it should also serve to hearten the doubters
+and the timid amongst us who seek historic sanction for any departure
+from current building practice.
+
+_Composition and Uses._--In the Andover district Chalk Compost or "Chalk
+Mud," as it is called locally, is prepared and used as follows:
+
+The chalk is dug out in the autumn, and the frost allowed to play on it
+during the winter. In the spring building starts, and the weathered
+chalk is spread all around the outside of the walls. Straw is sprinkled
+on it and it is then well trodden, usually by the workers, but sometimes
+by horses. Sometimes chopped straw is added, sometimes unchopped straw
+is sprinkled on. The quality of the walls depends very largely on the
+preparation--that is, in getting the mud to the right consistency--and
+the old hands know by experience when it is ready.
+
+The compost is lifted on the wall by a fork and another man stands on
+the wall and treads it in. It is then chopped down straight with a
+spade. Some of the naked walls at Andover show traces of the courses,
+which are usually something under 2 ft. in height.
+
+Where a course has to be left unfinished it should be ended with a
+diagonal ramp so as to splice in with the work that follows.
+
+Some of the old builders seem to have been somewhat catholic in their
+conceptions as to what constituted "chalk," and vague patches of earth,
+loose flints and other stray substances not infrequently mar their work
+and sometimes seriously reduce its strength.
+
+As a general rule, the finer the chalk the stronger and more durable is
+the walling.
+
+What is aimed at is a conglomerate of small chalk knobs cemented
+together by a matrix of plastic chalk and straw, the whole forming as
+dense a mass as possible.
+
+Grinding in a mortar-mill would probably reduce all the chalk to an
+amorphous powder, which would not be desirable, and in any case such
+mechanical mixing is quite unnecessary.
+
+Building by ramming the moist compost between timber shutterings does
+not appear to have been practised in the past, though there is nothing
+against the method except its tendency to delay the drying out.
+
+The drying of each course takes several days, depending on the weather.
+A�course is usually laid right round the building. It must be covered up
+at night in case of rain, and when it is hard another course is laid on,
+and so on till completion. The aim is to build during the summer and
+autumn, and when the moisture has dried out, to render the exterior.
+
+Where brickwork is used with chalk compost it is generally bonded in in
+the ordinary way, but block-bonding the depth of a chalk course is a
+better way of doing�it.
+
+The exterior corners of chalk buildings are the vulnerable points, and
+these should therefore be well rounded off.
+
+_Timber._--In the old work nothing seems to have been done to prevent
+woodwork built in to the compost from decaying, though in many cases it
+has survived surprisingly. In any new work, however, proper ventilated
+air-spaces should be contrived or the timber ends treated with some
+preservative.
+
+The door and window frames are fixed to fairly large pieces of wood
+built in across the thickness of wall, and other woodwork is fixed to
+wood blocks built in in a�similar way.
+
+Picture-rails should be provided in all rooms, as chalk walls are apt to
+flake and chip if nails are driven into them.
+
+Lintels are usually of wood, and when plastering is carried down over
+these some form of key must of course be provided to hold�it.
+
+    [Headnote: Winter Work Barred]
+
+_Frost._--New work must not be exposed to frost or there will be danger
+of collapse, and winter work is barred out for this reason.
+
+_Repairs._--Chalk compost walls are not easily repaired in that
+material, and bricks are generally used, well bonded�in.
+
+_Chimneys._--Chimneys, too, are usually of brick, though there would
+seem no reason against the flues being carried up in chalk, especially
+if clay pipe linings were used.
+
+The chimney-stacks above the roof might well be built in flint, the
+corners being rounded off in deference to the peculiarities of the
+material.
+
+_External Rendering._--It is of the first importance that a good
+weather-tight skin be maintained, and many old buildings have suffered
+through neglect of this precaution.
+
+The rendering was often of the poorest quality, more mud than lime, and
+the constant repairs that the indifferent materials necessitated has
+resulted in many of the old cottages becoming patchworks of variegated
+plaster blotches, when not whitewashed over, which give an impression of
+dilapidation by no means warranted by the facts.
+
+_Rendering._--Given a good skin, however, of cement or cement and lime,
+a�chalk conglomerate wall will last indefinitely. So vital is the skin
+that it is as well to put it on in two good coats--rounding off all the
+corners and finishing it either with slap-dash or rough from the wooden
+float.
+
+Also, to ensure its proper adhesion throughout, wire-netting may be used
+as reinforcement--being secured to the face of the chalk wall by means
+of cross netting or wires laid on the wall as the building rises.
+
+If the netting be of a fine mesh it also serves as an absolute barrier
+to vermin, though pounded glass incorporated in the base of the wall is
+equally effective.
+
+_Strength._--Provided the wall has dried out thoroughly, any of the
+ordinary loads occurring in a two-storied house can be borne with ease.
+
+Chalk conglomerate walling, however, has no great lateral strength, and
+it should not be asked to stand up to thrusts.
+
+The roof, therefore, must be well tied, and should sit on the building
+merely as a lid.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Details of Chalk Construction at Amesbury.+
+  (From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of
+  the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Chalk Construction at Amesbury, Wilts.+
+  (From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of
+  the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)]
+
+_Roof._--Though thatch is the traditional roofing material of chalk
+cottages, any other will serve that is permanent and good of its kind.
+
+The only special demand that chalk walls make is that the eaves shall be
+generously overhung for their better protection from the weather.
+
+Where, in later years, the boldly projecting thatch has been
+thoughtlessly replaced by a slate roof with meagre eaves, or with none
+at all, the walls have suffered accordingly.
+
+    [Headnote: Garden Walls]
+
+_Garden Walls._--A chalk garden wall must be afforded just as much
+protection as the wall of a house and on both sides.
+
+The hat with which it is provided is of the highest importance to the
+health and longevity of the walling.
+
+Examples of garden wall copings are given in the sketches shown below.
+
+  [Illustration: WALL COPINGS.]
+
+_House Walls._--Chalk conglomerate walls rarely exceed 18 in. in
+thickness, and are usually the same upstairs as down.
+
+A plinth of the same thickness as the chalk wall it supports is usually
+carried up 6 in. to 18 in. above the ground level in rubble-work, flint,
+or brick, being known as the "Underpin Course." Any of the stock
+damp-courses are suitable, but they must be well and truly laid, as damp
+feet are nearly as deleterious to a chalk wall as a leaky or inadequate
+hat.
+
+No special tools are required for this method of building, an ordinary
+farm fork for lifting and a spade for the final chopping down of the
+wall faces being all that are necessary.
+
+A house built during the summer is usually fit for occupation the same
+autumn.
+
+_Old Examples._--Those who may wish to see buildings in chalk
+conglomerate, both old and new, would do well to visit some such typical
+chalk district as that lying about Andover in Wiltshire.
+
+It should, however, be constantly borne in mind that most of the old
+cottages were somewhat unscientifically erected by their original
+jack-of-all-trades occupiers, that damp-courses and Portland cement were
+unknown, and that the advantages of proper ventilation and the causes of
+dry-rot were discoveries yet to be made.
+
+Secondly, a large number of these cottages have been sadly neglected
+either recently or in the past, and they bear the disfiguring marks of
+their ill-treatment upon them now.
+
+But a chalk cottage that is well found in the beginning, and that is
+reasonably well cared for subsequently, has nothing to fear from
+comparison with cottages built in the most approved manner of the more
+fashionable materials.
+
+Mr. James Thorold gives the following particulars of a block of three
+chalk cottages recently built for Sir George Cooper on his estate at
+Hursley, near Winchester:
+
+"The chalk walling was done by Messrs. A. Annett and Son, of Winterslow,
+near Salisbury, where this method of building has been kept alive from
+olden days. It consists of working up the soft upper strata of the chalk
+by putting a bed of it 4 ft. 6�in. thick on the ground, watering and
+treading it to a sticky consistency with the feet, working in shortish
+straw at the same time. When thoroughly mixed by the builder's mate, he
+lifts up a forkful to the builder working on the wall immediately above
+him, the latter catches the chalk, dumps it down on the top of the wall,
+building an 18 in. course all round. As soon as the weather has dried
+this sufficiently he goes round with a sharp spade squaring up both
+sides of the wall. As this work is greatly dependent on the weather it
+is well if the men have other work to fall back on, and that building
+operations should be commenced in the spring or early summer. The wall
+is built 18 in. thick to the first floor joists and 14 in. above. Chalk
+in itself being very absorbent of moisture, the usual plan is to render
+the outside of the wall with a lime mortar, which, however, requires
+renewal every few years. To obviate this we fixed with long staples 1�
+in. mesh wire-netting over the outside surface of the wall to give a
+reinforcement for a rendering of hair mortar and cement gauged in
+proportion of 1 to 2 respectively, and left rough from the trowel. This
+rendering was done at a cost of 3s. 3�d. per square yard, which is a
+substantial addition to the cost of the walling, but so far there is no
+sign of a crack or hollow place behind it, and the cottages have kept
+very dry. The walls were finished off with a limewash containing Russian
+tallow and copperas.[9]
+
+    [Footnote 9: See recipes for Whitewash in Appendix�(I).]
+
+    [Headnote: Cost of Three Cottages]
+
+"As regards the cost of this block of three cottages, the result is
+obscured by the fact that tall chimney-stacks with ornamental bricks and
+appropriate foundations were built and reinforced leaded lights were
+used in the windows to keep the building in character with the other
+cottages on the estate, but at the time we estimated that the chalk
+walling saved a sum of �54 as against the amount we should have had to
+have spent in carrying out the building with bricks made on the estate,
+and this had to include lodging money and profit, the builders being
+independent men. The ornamental chimney-stacks were put in for the sake
+of appearance, flues built up in the chalk being entirely satisfactory
+and fireproof. The foundations are either flint or brick with a slate
+damp-course.
+
+"I consider that for a chalk country this method of building has many
+advantages.
+
+  "(1) It saves cartage.
+
+  "(2) It can be carried out by a skilled labourer who can be
+    otherwise employed during unsuitable weather.
+
+  "(3) No fuel is required as in burning bricks.
+
+  "(4) If a suitable rendering is employed to keep it weatherproof,
+    and a good damp-course on the foundations, the cottages are nice
+    and dry and keep an equable temperature, chalk being a good
+    non-conductor.
+
+"Sir George wonders if any method could be devised by chemical means to
+harden the chalk and make it weatherproof; if this could be done it
+might save the expense of the cement rendering."
+
+
+  CHALK CONGLOMERATE
+
+  From _Country Life_, February 23rd, 1901:
+
+"Soft chalk is practically mud, yet Dr. Poore, one leading authority on
+rural hygiene, had his model hygienic cottage built with it at Andover,
+just outside the boundaries, in order to escape the tyranny of the
+bye-laws. In several other places this material has been used time out
+of mind.
+
+"The white cottages on the Wiltshire Downs are as good as any in
+England."
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Three Chalk Cottages at Hursley Park+]
+
+
+  THE WINTERSLOW COTTAGES
+
+  From _Country Life_, April 6th, 1901:
+
+"The white chalk cottages of the scattered straggling village are found
+in every sort of position. They must not be confounded with the cottages
+of rock chalk at Medmenham. You might almost call them mud cottages.
+
+"The house is generally both planned and constructed by the owner.
+
+". . . The soil is only a few inches deep, soft chalk lies close to the
+surface and can be dug out with a spade. This is a very suitable
+material in the district and costs nothing but the labour of
+digging.�.�.�.
+
+"On the downs there is a constant lack of water; that which falls in the
+shape of rain is therefore very precious, and in some cases is indeed
+the only kind available. But a large tank or artificial well is needed
+to contain it, and the pit from which the chalk is dug out can be made
+to serve the purpose.�.�.�. One was made watertight by means of a lining
+of concrete, and held enough water to keep the family going through all
+the dry season.
+
+"In another house . . . the chalk-pit had been utilised to form a large
+and convenient cellar.�.�.�.
+
+"Most of them (the cottages) . . . are on two floors, with parlour,
+kitchen, back kitchen and so forth on one, and the bedrooms on the
+other. In the preparation of the chalk, the method followed is that of
+treading it into a kind of rubble, and adding a proportion of straw and
+a small quantity of lime.
+
+    [Headnote: Expensive Scaffolding Avoided]
+
+"There is a local builder who will run up the shell of a house for a
+matter of �100, more or less, according to its size.�.�.�. Most of the
+cottages are literally hand-made. A�skilful architect who visited the
+Winterslow cottages felt sure that boards must be used to keep the walls
+straight, but he was wrong. The chalk is shovelled up and the walls are
+kept straight without line or plummet. No expensive scaffolding or
+machinery is employed. Yet the walls come out beautifully in the end,
+the colour being an exquisite soft white. They are about 18 in. thick,
+and the slowness of their construction has one good effect, it gives
+them time to dry. No point is of more importance than this. It is
+advisable not to put on any rough-cast, plaster, or paper for at least
+twelve months, as doing so will prevent the moisture from exuding. One
+or two of the little cottages were slightly damp, but the majority were
+as dry as tinder. The thickness of the walls helps to render the cottage
+more comfortable, to make it cool in summer and dry in winter.
+
+"One word should be added in regard to soft chalk as a building
+material. Where it can be obtained in the garden at a few inches depth,
+and especially where the cottager is his own architect and builder, it
+can be most heartily recommended, but there are obvious objections to
+its transportation to districts where it is foreign.
+
+"The village itself is a very homely and irregular one without a single
+dwelling of any pretence. The country lying adjacent to Salisbury Plain
+consists of broken, sparsely peopled downland, and very ornate or
+finished cottages would be out of keeping, but they would not look so
+well copied in a very rich, heavily timbered country."
+
+
+  RATS AND CHALK
+
+_Note._--Conglomerate chalk is, like cob, vulnerable to the attacks of a
+really determined rat.
+
+The outer defences provided by the exterior rendering can be backed up
+by the mixing in of broken glass or sharp flints with the substance of
+the wall, where such attacks are likely.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Marsh Court, Hampshire.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Brick-and-chalk Vaulting at the Deanery Garden, Sonning+]
+
+
+    [Headnote: Block Chalk]
+
+  BLOCK CHALK
+
+"Chalk" is a term somewhat loosely used to denote the soft white
+limestone--the "_Creta Scriptoria_"--that is cousin to Marl on one side
+and to Ragstone on the other.
+
+In its purest form chalk consists of over 95 per cent. of carbonate of
+lime in the form of fine granular particles held together by a
+calcareous cement, its organic origin being clearly traced in the
+remains of the minute sea creatures with which it abounds.
+
+Hewn blocks of chalk have been used for walling and vaulting from
+immemorial times, and, where not exposed to direct erosion by the
+weather, remain to this day as clean-cut as when they were first
+quarried and a very great deal harder.
+
+The filling in of the great vaults at Salisbury Cathedral and in the
+Bishop's Palace are of chalk, whilst innumerable lesser buildings of
+more or less antiquity still remain to us as monuments to the excellence
+and durability of this stone.
+
+Chalk, too, was often used in combination with flint or brick to build
+the engaging chequer-work walls that embellish so many downland
+villages.
+
+At Medmenham there are cottages both old and new of hewn rock chalk, and
+both the Berks and Bucks banks of the Thames have many buildings to show
+of this beautiful material.
+
+Amongst present-day architects Sir Edwin Lutyens was the first to give
+hewn chalk an opportunity of showing its quality in serious
+architecture, Marsh Court in Hampshire being an instance of more than
+local celebrity.
+
+In the great walls at the Bishop of Winchester's palace, Farnham Castle
+in Surrey, the old builders appear to have used bricks, limestone and
+chalk proper, according as the several materials were delivered, quite
+indifferently, and with results altogether delightful.
+
+Not all chalk is suitable for building, that near the surface being
+often far gone in decay and much too friable for such a purpose.
+
+Even when apparently sound blocks have been gotten they are not
+infrequently found to be crossed in all directions by planes of weakness
+along which they are apt to fall to pieces in the handling.
+
+From this cause the "waste" is sometimes considerable.
+
+The well-known building "stones" from the quarries of Beer, Sutton, and
+Tottenhoe in Devonshire are really chalk, but in a form not readily
+distinguishable from ordinary free-stone.
+
+The longer that chalk blocks are kept to dry before building-in the
+better, and the sun and wind of at least a year should be allowed free
+play upon them to dry out their natural sap and render them
+"frost-proof."
+
+During the drying-out process the chalk should, if possible, be
+protected from the rain.
+
+For years after being built into the walls of a house, chalk will
+continue to dry and harden.
+
+But it is essentially a somewhat porous material, and will quickly
+revenge itself on those neglecting its just demands for a sound roof and
+a proper damp-course.
+
+In exposed situations new chalk walling is liable to allow the
+penetration of moisture under the pressure of the wind unless a cavity
+is provided or unless the surface is treated with a silicate or other
+"vitrifying" fluid.
+
+Chalk, however, has one shining virtue in common with its great
+antithesis--it improves mightily with keeping.
+
+Chalk walls sometimes have youthful vices in the way of porosity that
+entirely disappear with advancing years through the closing up of the
+surface pores, which eventually makes a cavity and inner lining
+superfluous.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+_UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS_
+
+
+  SUN-DRIED BRICKS
+
+The use of sun-dried bricks in this country, is, for no very apparent
+reason, almost entirely restricted to East Anglia. There it has been
+used for generations with entirely satisfactory results.
+
+Mr. Skipper of Norwich writes of the material as follows:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"Who, travelling from Norfolk to London, whether by the Ipswich or
+Cambridge line, has not noticed the numerous colour-washed or black
+(tarred) cottage, farmhouse and agricultural buildings scattered
+practically all along the countryside? Some of these are of studwork and
+plaster, some of wattle and daub, but many are built of clay made up
+into lumps, sun-dried, and built into the walls with a soft clay-mixture
+as mortar. No lime _need_ be used, though sometimes it is mixed with the
+clay mortar. The preparation, digging, exposure and mixing with short
+straw are similar to the Devonshire 'cob' work, but in these parts the
+worked clay is thrown into moulds, and lumps are formed of, say, 18 in.
+by 12 in. by 6 in., or 18 in. by 9 in. by 6 in. for large sizes, and for
+inside walling or backing to brick-faced walls, 18 in. by 6 in. by 6 in.
+The walls, naturally, are rough in texture and the joints are generally
+stopped up and besmeared with a thin coating or almost a wash of clay.
+This coating sometimes has lime mixed with it, but it is not necessary.
+This is all that is needed to complete the walling, and there is a
+building--a malting, that any one can see at Tivetshall Station on the
+Ipswich line, about 200 ft. long, 45 ft. or 50 ft. wide and three floors
+high, built of lumps 18 in. by 12 in. by 6 in.--that has stood the
+weather and weight of its roof for forty years built in this way; 12 in.
+is the thickness of its walls. A�further stage in finish is to give the
+walls two or three coats of coal tar, but it is not essential, though
+desirable where stock are kept, as cattle are rather fond of licking the
+clay, and they do not use their horns much when walls are tarred. The
+highest finish in this work is to cast sand on the last coating of tar
+before it is quite dry, and then to colour or whitewash on this. This
+accounts for the variety of colourings seen in these buildings, some
+even of a kind of pink or red; while some yellow or buff, beside the
+white and the black or tarred buildings, and all huddled together or
+standing apart, whether covered with thatch or red pan or flat tiles,
+look remarkably in harmony with their surroundings. These lump walls
+are, of course, built on a base of brickwork, about 18 in. or 2 ft.
+high, to keep them free from damp. This kind of walling can be built for
+_at least_ 15 per cent. or 20 per cent. cheaper than ordinary 9 in.
+brickwork. Thin as these walls are compared with those of 'cob' houses,
+they are noted for being warm in winter and cool in summer. When
+suitable clay is procurable a local builder almost invariably uses clay
+lumps when building a house for himself, though to gratify a whim
+perhaps, he will case the outside walls--especially the front next the
+street or road--with brickwork. But clay lumps he carefully reserves for
+inside walls and weight-carrying linings to the outside walls, bonding
+the two together very much in the same way as two 4� in. 'cavity walls'
+are bonded. I�am not suggesting that this walling is as interesting
+artistically as 'cob,' but I do suggest it is a practical, sensible and
+_dry_ walling, and if properly done it will 'last for ever,' as a local
+builder repeatedly said to me when speaking of it. One can easily see
+why the cost is light--the sun and the winds do the drying in the spring
+months, and no coals are required, and also the clay is often found on
+the building site, hence no cartage. Actual building work naturally goes
+quickly, as the lumps are large. There is another important point to
+notice. One may see a building complete with its roof on and occupied by
+its tenant while still awaiting an outside casing of brickwork to be
+built round it, either with a view to greater protection or for the mere
+vanity of the owner, for while thus left unprotected the lump walls take
+no harm from even winter exposure. Now to be quite practical in these
+extremely practical days, I�venture to suggest that the use of clay
+lumps at least for inside walls and linings of outside walls would be an
+immense boon to the numerous cottage-building schemes now being
+projected. We must not forget that comparatively few bricks will be
+available this year, while the cottages are wanted at once. Can these
+few bricks be better used than by forming foundations and chimneys for
+the clay-lump walls of these cottages? I�think not. The cottages could,
+of course, be occupied in the late summer or autumn of this year, and
+next year when bricks will be more plentiful perhaps the brick casings
+could be added, if brickwork _must_ complete them. I�make this strictly
+utilitarian suggestion solely to meet a very urgent and deep national
+need. Personally, I�prefer the sight of a cottage built and finished in
+the old-established method of the locality. Unskilled labour only is
+required, working under intelligent supervision, hence immediate
+employment for a great number of men would be provided."
+
+    [Headnote: Use for Unskilled Labour]
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Once Corn Hall, now Council School.+
+  Built about a hundred years ago. Still in sound condition
+  and quite dry.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Row of Clay-lump Cottages.+
+  The front has been plastered and panelled out. In the upper part
+  of the stable building, seen in the foreground, the clay-lumps
+  are shown exposed.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Engineering Workshops.+
+  Built twenty years ago. The walls are thoroughly sound, despite
+  constant vibration, and are perfectly dry, except the brick face,
+  which was added for effect.]
+
+The use of sun-dried bricks for the interior partitions of cob and pis�
+cottages is worth consideration, as the nature of these materials
+demands a thickness of wall which is too wasteful of space to be
+acceptable in mere partitioning.
+
+Of the strength of clay-lump walls, there is no question. It was
+recently necessary to cut a new doorway in the old clay-lump wall of a
+large traction-engine garage, and the blocks removed were thrown into a
+heap upon the ground.
+
+The clay happened to be needed for other purposes, for which it had
+first to be broken�up.
+
+Ordinary hammers proved entirely ineffective, and it was not until heavy
+sledges were used that the lumps could be smashed.
+
+The tractor-house in question is a large building some 25 ft. by 100
+ft., carrying a heavy roof and constantly subjected to vibration by the
+coming and going of the tractors.
+
+The walls are only 12 in. thick, without piers or reinforcements of any
+kind, and yet the whole building, which is 26 ft, high at the gables, is
+as perfect to-day as when first erected some twenty years ago.
+
+In the same town as this tractor-house, East Harling in Norfolk, is a
+council school built of clay lump (converted from the old Corn Hall),
+apparently not a pin the worse for a century of hard wear.
+
+Near by there are a number of private houses built of the same material,
+some of them reputed to be upwards of 200 years old and certain of them
+having considerable architectural merit.
+
+
+    [Headnote: "Substantial and Cool"]
+
+(_Extract from "The Farmers' Handbook," issued by the Department of
+Agriculture, New South Wales, 1911_)
+
++"Adobe," or Sun-dried Bricks+
+
+"As their name implies, these buildings are constructed of sun-dried,
+but unburnt bricks. For buildings of this character, material like clay,
+which is unsuitable for pis�-work, can be used. The bricks are made in a
+wooden mould, and are 16 in. long, 8�in. wide, and 6 in. thick. A�man
+can mould about 100 per day. They are laid in a similar manner to other
+bricks, the mortar used being wet loam, or even the material of which
+the bricks are made. The cost of making and laying is estimated at about
+15s. per 100. Buildings constructed of these bricks are substantial and
+cool, and very similar in character to pis� buildings.
+
+"A school-house built of these bricks eighteen years ago by Mr. Nixon,
+of Reefton, is still in an excellent state of preservation; in fact,
+little, if any, the worse for wear, despite the fact that walls are
+unprotected by verandahs or overhanging eaves. During its existence it
+has had, first one coat of oil-paint, and later a coat of coloured
+limewash."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"Clay lump," then, is one of the many good old building methods that
+needs no proving, but only revival and perhaps improvement.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+  I
+
+  WHITEWASH
+
+Whitewashing has been frequently referred to in the foregoing pages as
+the most suitable treatment for the exterior of chalk and earth
+buildings.
+
+There is, however, a certain prejudice against lime-whiting amongst both
+owners and occupiers, owing to the frequent renewal that its adoption
+usually implies.
+
+With a view to removing this drawback from a treatment otherwise so
+effective, the following recipes are suggested as improvements on the
+usual practice.
+
+Ordinary whitewash is made by slaking about 10 lbs. of quicklime with
+two gallons of water.
+
+The following recipes are taken from "_White Paints and Painting_"
+(Scott), and are reliable:
+
+(1) "_Factory" Whitewash (interiors), for Walls, Ceilings, Posts, etc._:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1�bushel) quicklime, slake with 15 gallons water.
+    Keep barrel covered till steam ceases to arise. Stir occasionally
+    to prevent scorching.
+
+  (_b_) 2� lbs. rye-flour, beat up in � gallon of cold water, then
+    add 2 gallons boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 2� lbs. of common rock-salt, dissolve in 2� gallons of hot
+    water.
+
+Mix (_b_) and (_c_), then pour into (_a_), and stir until all is well
+mixed. This is the whitewash used in the large implement factories, and
+recommended by the insurance companies. The above formula gives a
+product of perfect brush consistency.
+
+(2) _"Weatherproof" Whitewash (exteriors), for Buildings, Fences, etc._:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1�bushel) quicklime, slake with 12 gallons of hot
+    water.
+
+  (_b_) 2 lbs. common table salt, 1 lb. sulphate of zinc, dissolved
+    in a gallon of boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 2 gallons skimmed milk.
+
+Pour (_b_) into (_a_), then add the milk (_c_), and mix thoroughly.
+
+(3) _"Light House" Whitewash_:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1�bushel) quicklime, slake with 12 gallons of
+    hot water.
+
+  (_b_) 12 gallons rock-salt, dissolve in 6 gallons of boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 6 lbs. of Portland cement.
+
+Pour (_b_) into (_a_), and then add (_c_).
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Note._--Alum added to a lime whitewash prevents it rubbing off. An
+ounce to the gallon is sufficient.
+
+Flour paste answers the same purpose, but needs zinc sulphate as a
+preservative.
+
+The following are from "_1,000 More Paint Questions Answered_":
+
+(4) _Durable Whitewash for Outside Use._--A whitewash that will not rub
+off or wash off in rainy weather can be made by mixing one half-pint of
+flour to a batter with cold water, then stirring into this boiling water
+until it becomes a thick paste.
+
+While still hot it is poured into a pailful of ready-made lime whitewash
+and well stirred�in.
+
+(5) Another simple method is to add to 2 gallons of ready-made lime
+whitewash one half-pint each of molasses and table salt. Must be stirred
+frequently while being used.
+
+_Whitewash for Exterior Surfaces._--A formula for a durable whitewash
+for out-buildings of rough lumber. The following is reprinted from
+"_Popular Mechanics_":
+
+(6) Place 1 bushel good fresh lime in a barrel with 20 lbs. beef tallow;
+slake with hot water and cover with sackcloth to keep in steam. When the
+lime is slaked, the tallow will have disappeared, having formed a
+chemical compound with the lime. Dry colours may be added to produce any
+tint desired.[10]
+
+    [Footnote 10: Experiments and tests carried out for the author
+    by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research place
+    this receipt at the head of the list.]
+
+It is better to add colour before slaking the lime, but if this is not
+feasible mix the colour with alcohol and add it to the strained
+whitewash. Thin to easy flowing consistency with clear water.
+
+    [Headnote: Distempers and Limewashes]
+
+_Cold Water Paint that will stand the Weather._--A formula for making a
+white outside coating that will resist the action of the weather and
+remain hard even under the influence of moisture and rain. Experiments
+with different brands of cold water paints have proved failures.
+
+A really effective cold water paint, in order to resist the elements and
+remain white, should contain a white pigment of good body and some oil
+in addition to the water, and with this purpose in view the following is
+suggested:
+
+(7) To make 100 lbs. of such paint, mix 10 lbs. white, pure in oil, with
+10 lbs. bolted whiting, 8�lbs. raw linseed oil, 6�lbs. soft soap (made
+with potash), and 26 lbs. soft water.
+
+One quart of pale copal varnish will improve the preparation. The
+formula given is of the right consistency to apply on dressed lumber
+with the brush. For application on rough lumber or with the spraying
+machine it requires more thinning with water and varnish.
+
+The following is taken from Pearce's "_Painting and Decorating_":
+
+(8) A London recipe for distemper has the following proportions:
+4�"balls" whiting, 2�lbs. Young's patent size, and sufficient water to
+cover the whiting.
+
+(9) A Scotch distemper is described as: 12 lbs. whiting, size as given
+previously, 2�ozs. alum, 2�ozs. soft soap. It is very fast, for
+passages, schools, etc. Tinting colours for limewash should be
+restricted to ochres, umbers, lime blue, lime greens, charcoal or lamp
+black, and earthy reds (as�Venetian).
+
+(10) External limewash for farm buildings, etc., may be made as follows:
+Lime, ��bushel, slaked with 1 gallon of milk and remainder of water,
+1�lb. salt and � lb. sulphate of zinc to make it withstand the weather.
+
+Experiments with and practical tests of these and other kinds of
+whitewash are being carried out, and the author hopes that he may find
+opportunity at some later date of announcing the results obtained.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Local Materials]
+
+  II
+
+  THE IMPORTANCE OF USING LOCAL MATERIALS
+
+  (_Extract from "Country Life," November 9th, 1918_)
+
+  300,000 COTTAGES WOULD ENTAIL THE TRANSPORT OF 60,000,000 TONS
+  OF MATERIAL
+
+In carrying out any considerable scheme of house building two
+difficulties will have to be met. The first arises from the scarcity of
+building material; the other from the cost and difficulty of transport.
+These, to some extent, can be obviated by the use of local material,
+which is to be commended on other grounds as well. Local material fits
+into the character of the neighbourhood in which it is found and
+maintains its traditions.
+
+Very few people realise the bulk of materials, and in order to help them
+the following statement has been prepared to show the materials needed
+for each cottage and the total for 300,000 cottages:
+
+  Materials.                                        Weight.
+                                         Per One Cottage. Per 300,000.
+                                         Tons. Cwts. Qrs.   (Tons.)
+  Ballast, sand, gravel                       78 17  0     23,655,000
+  Lime                                         5 18  0      1,770,000
+  Cement                                      12  8  0      3,720,000
+  Bricks                                      85  0  0     25,500,000
+  Slates for D.P.C                             0 10  2        157,500
+  Chimney-pots                                 0  0  3         11,250
+  Tiles                                        7  2  2      2,137,500
+  Carcassing timber                            7  0  0      2,100,000
+  Complete joinery timber                      1 12  0        480,000
+  Cast-iron rain-water goods and sundries      0  9  0        135,000
+  Stoves, copper, ash-bin, etc.                0  5  2         82,500
+  Nails, screws, etc.                          0  1  2         22,500
+  Hair for plaster                             0  1  0         15,000
+  Lead flashings, etc.                         0  2  1         33,750
+  Sink, waste pipes, draining boards, etc.     0  2  1         33,750
+  Sanitary goods                               0  1  0         15,000
+  Whitening, distemper and paint               0  3  1         48,750
+                                             ---------     ----------
+      Total                                  199 14  2     59,917,500
+                                             ---------     ----------
+
+It will be seen that to carry out the scheme for 300,000 cottages a
+total of close on 60,000,000 tons of material will have to be shifted.
+In addition to that, it must be remembered that the cost of material is
+very small in comparison with that of building. This will be apparent
+from an analysis of the items employed for actual cost and the
+percentage which that cost bears to the total cost.
+
+Cottages erected 1912 (semi-detached): total interior area of cottage,
+772 ft. super, (parlour, kitchen, scullery and three bedrooms, coal and
+W.C.):
+
+                                                 Per House.
+ No.          Item.                   Actual Cost.     Per cent.�of
+                                                         Total Cost.
+  1. Sundries                                  8              2�66
+  2. Foundations                              16              5�28
+  3. External and party walls (_a_)           77             25�41
+            Windows and doors (_b_)           23              7�59
+  4. Internal partitions                      36             11�88
+  5. Ground floor                             18              5�94
+  6. Upper floor                              22              7�26
+  7. Roof and rain-water goods                34              1�22
+  8. Chimney and fireplaces                   30              9�90
+  9. Sanitary fittings, water supply and
+         drainage                             19              6�27
+ 10. Staircases                               11              3�63
+ 11. Fittings                                  6              1�98
+                                            ----
+      Total                                 �300
+
+These facts help to clarify the problem. The weight of the building
+materials required for an ordinary cottage with living-room, parlour,
+scullery, three bedrooms, etc., the house containing cubic contents of
+about 11,500 ft., would come approximately to 200 tons per cottage; and
+even assuming that there is only an average transport of fifty miles,
+this would give 10,000 ton-miles per rural cottage, which is taking it
+at a very low average. In each cottage the weight of the brickwork
+represents about 42 per cent. of the total weight. It is, therefore,
+apparent that every effort should be made to lessen the transit of
+materials required for the external walling. If, on the other hand,
+local materials are employed, this carriage would be saved and a great
+economy effected. Even if this utilitarian consideration were not so
+important as it is, the desirability of making all possible use of local
+materials is very great from other points of view. It would stimulate
+local interest in building and, in addition to retaining the traditions
+of the district, give greater hope of retaining and maintaining the
+proper architectural aspect of our villages.
+
+It is scarcely necessary to summarise the advantages that may fairly be
+expected to flow from this endeavour to make a real start at finding a
+solution for the housing difficulty. First and foremost must be placed
+the saving in transport. A�casual reader may easily imagine that the
+difficulties of carriage will vanish with the end of the war, but that
+is not so in reality. Any one who has travelled in France must have
+noticed engines bearing such names as Liverpool Street, King's Cross,
+Euston, Birmingham, and so on. The meaning of that is that a great deal
+of our rolling stock was sent over to France, and at the best will not
+be available here for a long time to come. Even the ordinary work of
+upkeep and repair has necessarily been neglected owing to the scarcity
+of men and other causes incidental to war-time. Transport difficulties
+are bound to last for a very considerable period after the peace
+settlement, and it would not be at all advisable to delay the
+construction of houses so long. The returned soldiers will make us
+vividly conscious of the shortage. Nothing could be imagined more likely
+to make them look for chances of going abroad than to learn that there
+is not sufficient housing accommodation for them in the village in which
+they lived before the war, and to which they hoped to return on its
+conclusion.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Cost per Foot Cube]
+
+  III
+
+  EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF _COUNTRY LIFE_,
+  JULY 27th, 1918
+
+"Shortly before the war I had occasion to demolish some very old
+cottages at Clovelly for the reconstruction of the New Inn. I�was so
+much struck with the stability of these (although by no means
+first-class samples of cob work) that I collected some facts and notes
+on the subject from different parts of the county of Devon. Where
+bye-laws have been adopted, cob is no longer being used. It is
+difficult, therefore, to give an accurate comparison of costs, but after
+careful investigation I did arrive at the following results for North
+Devon and Scotland. The prices were in 1913, and in both cases for a
+five-roomed cottage (assuming four to be built at the same time,
+including internal water supply, but omitting any special work necessary
+to procure supply, and omitting fencing).
+
+                    Cost per foot cube    Cost per foot cube
+                    cob at 2 ft. 6 in.    11 in. hollow brick.
+                    thick.
+  North Devon         6�d.                  5-7/8d.
+  Scotland            6d.                   6d.
+
+These prices assumed suitable material on or near site, and allowed
+something for the difficulty of getting at least one experienced
+cob-worker to instruct the unskilled men. Since 1913 the cost of brick
+has risen so much that cob would now be much cheaper, probably as much
+as 1d. or 1�d. foot cube in both cases, and this is likely to be the
+case for many years. Suitable material exists in many parts of the
+country. If reed straw cannot be had, other reinforcements can be used.
+I�have seen various materials in use, of which heather was perhaps the
+best and most easily procured. I�can endorse from experience the comfort
+of these old buildings, and the affection of Devon people for them. The
+thick walls give all that a house should--protection from heat in summer
+and cold in winter. For the contrast, visit the new Garden City at
+Rosyth. Many of the houses are attractive, but their thin brick walls,
+tile and slate hanging are not suitable to the north and east coasts.
+Ask the opinion of the occupants of these new houses. Many of them are
+Devon born and bred, and imported from the dockyards of the three towns.
+They nearly all complain of the cold, and their views form an
+interesting comment on modern construction."
+
+
+  IV
+
+  PIS� TESTS
+
+  (_With acknowledgements to "The Spectator"_)
+
+Through the courtesy of Messrs. Alban Richards & Co. we are able to
+publish the results of certain very instructive tests that have been
+carried out on Pis� during the past winter. Messrs. Richard's experience
+and Report bring out two points with especial clearness, (1) That Pis�
+work, though not impossible under winter conditions, is not ordinarily
+desirable unless some means of artificially drying the earth be resorted
+to. (2) That the strength of Pis� increases with surprising rapidity as
+the work dries out. It should be remarked that none of the samples
+tested were made from really good Pis� soil, such for instance as the
+red marls or brick earths. With such materials or anything approaching
+them, the results would have been even better, as the Report points
+out:--
+
+"In conjunction with Mr. Williams-Ellis, we have made certain tests with
+a view to satisfying ourselves as to the practicability of _pis� de
+terre_ for house construction. In order to obtain what we might term the
+minimum or 'worst' tests, we decided to erect walls for this purpose in
+the winter. This we have done for the last three months, which has been
+a very wet period, and the following is a short description of the tests
+we have made:--
+
+  "1. Two walls were erected measuring 14 ft. long, 9�ft. high and 18
+  in. thick, spaced 20 ft. apart, with short return ends to each wall.
+  Wall plates were placed centrally along the top of each wall, on
+  which were placed 9 in. by 3 in. wood joists, at 16 in. centres,
+  across the 20 ft span. In order to obtain the minimum results we
+  allowed the shutters to remain until the test was ready to be
+  applied, so that walls did not have an opportunity of drying or
+  hardening. This condition was thought necessary, as it is quite
+  reasonable to expect that if _pis� de terre_ cottages are erected,
+  considerable weight might be placed on the walls immediately the
+  shuttering is struck. We then proceeded to test the walls to
+  destruction. The floor space provided for by the joists referred to
+  above measure 220 super. feet, the load was then applied gradually.
+  The load applied totalled 16� tons, which is equivalent of 168 lbs.
+  per super. foot of floor space, under which the wall collapsed,
+  which, in our opinion, provides a factor of safety of three to the
+  normal load which a cottage floor would have to bear.
+
+"We are convinced that very much better results can be obtained in this
+method of construction with walls which were first dried before the load
+was applied. Further experiments are to be made to procure further data
+on this subject. In addition to the above tests, we have submitted to
+the National Physical Laboratory, blocks made of _pis� de terre_, from
+poor to medium soil, for testing purposes, and the following are the
+results which have been obtained:--
+
+"The following Report shows results of Tests made by the National
+Physical Laboratory.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pis� Tests]
+
+  "REPORT ON TESTS OF BUILDING BLOCKS OF PIS� DE TERRE SENT FOR TEST
+  BY MESSRS. W. ALBAN RICHARDS & CO., LTD.
+
+"_Tests made on January 14, 1920._
+
+"First set of three blocks sent in November 1919.
+
+"These blocks were composed of a fine gravel containing very few and
+very small stones. The material was said to be similar to that used at
+Merrow Down, near Guildford, Surrey. It appeared to be very similar to
+Farnham gravel.
+
+"The blocks were tested in compression, one within twenty-four hours of
+arrival at the laboratory, and the others after drying for a time in the
+laboratory. For results of tests see Table�I.
+
+  TABLE I
+
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+      |      |              |    |    |       |   LOAD.     |
+      |      |              |Age |Area|Density+-----+-------+
+      |      |              | in | in | lbs.  |     |in tons|
+      |      | Dimensions   |days|sq. | per   | in  |  per  |
+  No. |Marks.|  in inches.  | *  |ft. |c. ft. |tons |sq. ft.| REMARKS.
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+  UT1 |  3   |    9�9�9     | 1  |�562| 131   |0�70 |  1�66 |Cracked
+      |      |              |    |    |       |1�04 |  2�47 |Collapsed
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       |
+  UT2 |  1   | 8�9�8�9�8�9  | 9  |�550| 125   |4�27 | 10�50 |Collapsed
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       |
+  UT3 |  2   |8�95�8�95�8�95|16  |�556| 117   |2�31 |  5�57 |Small
+      |      |              |    |    |       |4�23 | 10�20 | cracks
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       | appeared
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+
+    [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+
+"Second set of blocks sent in December 1919.
+
+"This set consisted of six blocks in three pairs, each pair having been
+rammed with a different quantity of water.
+
+"One of each pair was tested within twenty-four hours of arrival at the
+laboratory, and the others after drying in the laboratory for twenty-six
+days.
+
+"The material used was not homogeneous, and the mixture consisted of a
+very clayey loam, a�fibrous loam, sand and large stones. The clayey
+material gave rise to surface cracks as the blocks dried.
+
+"For results of tests see Table II.
+
+  TABLE II
+
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+      |      |            |    |    |       |   LOAD.     |
+      |      |            |Age |Area|Density+-----+-------+
+      |      |            | in | in | lbs.  |     |in tons|
+      |      |Dimensions  |days|sq. | per   | in  |  per  |
+  No. |Marks.| in inches. | *  |ft. |c. ft. |tons |sq. ft.| REMARKS.
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+  VW1 |  1   | 8�9�9�8�5  | 1  |�555| 106   |0�45 |0�81   |Cracked�at
+      | dry  |            |    |    |       |     |       | one corner
+      |      |            |    |    |       |0�51 |0�92   |Collapsed
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW2 |  2   |   9�9�9    |26  |�562| 105   |2�15 |3�84   |Collapsed.
+      | dry  |            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | quite dry
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | in interior
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW3 |  3   |9�1�9�1�8�9 | 1  |�570| 134   |0�55 |0�96   |Collapsed
+      | wet  |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW4 |  4   |8�8�8�8�8�9 |26  |�546| 110   |3�20 |5�86   |Collapsed.
+      | wet  |            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | quite dry
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | in interior
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW5 |  5   |  9�8�9�9   | 1  |�558| 126   |0�60 |1�08   |Bulged and
+      |medium|            |    |    |       |     |       | cracked
+      |      |            |    |    |       |0�69 |1�24   |Collapsed
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW6 |  6   | 8�8�8�8�7  |26  |�546| 109   |3�33 |6�10   |Collapsed.
+      |medium|            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | slightly
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | damp�in
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | the interior
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+
+    [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+
+    Seal of
+  NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY _Signature of Director_
+
+"From the second set of blocks it would appear that it is better to ram
+with too much moisture than with too little. It will be noted that the
+density of the wet block was 30 per cent. more than that of the dry
+block, so that a wall could be carried higher with the dry material than
+with the wet, although such a wall would never gain the strength which a
+wet one would upon drying.
+
+
+  CONCLUSIONS
+
+"We are of opinion, having regard to the fact that the house at Newlands
+Corner (Guildford four miles) has weathered the winter, without showing
+any signs of dampness, that _pis� de terre_ will make a thoroughly dry
+house.
+
+"We consider that the tests made are satisfactory, and prove that this
+form of construction is of a sufficiently sound nature to be employed in
+the building of houses. With really suitable material, such as a light
+brick-earth or marl, it is considered that the results already obtained
+might well be 100 per cent. better."
+
+We are informed that additional tests are now proceeding with regard to
+the water-proof and weather-resisting qualities of Pis�, the results of
+which will be duly published.
+
+
+
+
+_INDEX_
+
+
+INTRODUCTION:
+
+  Chalk walls, 18
+  Cheap materials, the search for, 13
+  Pis� de craie, 16, 17, 107
+  Pis�, experiments with, 15
+    in moulds, 19, 20
+    in South Africa, 22, 23
+  Pliny on Pis� de terre, 25
+  Rammed chalk, 16, 17, 107
+
+GENERAL SURVEY:
+
+  Building materials, shortage of, 26
+  "Ersatz" products introduced during the War,�26
+  House famine, the, 27
+  Local materials, use of, to avoid transport,�29
+  Lutyens, Sir Edwin, and Mr. Alban Scott, cottage by,�30
+  Rural housing, suitability of cob and pis� for,�28
+
+I--COB:
+
+  Allen, Mr. C. B., his reference to Devon cob, quoted,�47
+  Baring-Gould, Rev. S., on cob, quoted, 47
+  Beauty of cob, 35
+  Bernard, Mr. Charles, his account of Sir Walter Raleigh's cob house,
+      45,�46
+  _Book of the West, The_, by Rev. S. Baring-Gould, reference to cob
+      in, quoted,�47
+  Building, 37, 38, 39
+  Carpentry and joinery, 41, 42
+  Chimneys, 44
+  Cob tradition, 52
+  Composition, 36
+  Cost, 35, 50
+  _Cottage-Building_, reference to cob in, quoted,�47
+  _Country Life_, letter to, relating to cob work, quoted, 115, 116
+  Design, 44, 45
+  Devon cob, 47
+  Drying, 39
+  Elizabethan cob houses still existing, 34
+  Former conditions returned, 52
+  Foundations and base, 40; result of bad, 34
+  Fruit walls, of cob, 47, 48
+  Fulford, Mr., of Great Fulford, on cob, 50-52
+  Gimson, Mr., his description of building cob, quoted,�35
+  Hayes Barton, Sir Walter Raleigh's house at, 45,�46
+  Hipped roofs, 41
+  Joinery, 41, 42, 43
+  Masonry and carpentry, 41, 42
+  Method of building, 36-45
+  Mixing, 37
+  Northcote, Lady Rosalind, her description of Sir Walter Raleigh's
+      house,�46
+  Primitive methods, 47
+  Protection, 43
+  Protective wash, 51
+  Raleigh, Sir Walter, his cob house at Hayes Barton, 45,�46
+  Rats, 44
+  Reed thatch, 46
+  Rendering, 51
+  Roofing, 51
+  Shuttering, 51
+  Strength, 44
+  Thickness of walls, 40
+  Traditional building material in Devon and Wessex,�33
+  Training of ex-soldiers, 52
+
+  II--PIS�:
+
+  Bolts, 86
+  Bonders, 69
+  Building procedure, 71, 72, 74, 75
+  Capabilities, 57, 58
+  Corners, 68
+  _Cyclop�dia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and
+      Literature_, on pis�, quoted, 59-71
+  Damp-course, 86
+  Definition of Pis� de terre, 57, 59
+  Durability, 82
+  _Earthwork, A Manual on_, quoted, 73-76
+  Empandeni, pis� work executed at, 78, 79,�80
+  Excavation, 86
+  Etah Jail, pis� work executed at, 76, 77,�78
+  Fillet, 87
+  Floating, 86
+  Foundations, 74
+  Frames, 87
+  France, introduction of pis� into, 57
+  Gorffon, Monsieur, reference to his treatise on pis�,�57
+  History, 57
+  Indian and Colonial practice, 73-88
+  Introduced into France by the Romans, 57
+  _Journal de Physique_, by the Abb� Rozier, quoted,�58
+  Lintels, 87
+  Locale, 58
+  Method of building, 58-62
+  Method of working, 60, 61, 62
+  New South Wales, pis� work in, 81-88
+  Origin, 58
+  Picture-rail, 87
+  Plant required, 85, 89, 90
+  Plastering, 75
+  Pliny, references to his account of pis�, 25,�57
+  Plugs, 86, 87
+  Protection, 75
+  Rain, 67
+  Rammer, the, 59, 60
+  Ramming, 62, 76
+  Rate of work, 63
+  Rendering, 70
+  Rods _versus_ bars, 75, 76
+  Rozier, the Abb�, his _Journal de Physique_, quoted, 58
+  Shuttering, 59, 88, 89
+  Shutter ties, 73
+  Skirting, 87
+  Soil blending, 64
+    preparation of, 66, 67
+    suitable, 63, 74, 86
+    tests, 63
+    to ascertain quality of, 65
+  Speed of building, 70
+  Stability, 82
+  Strength, 69
+  Studding, 87, 88
+  Theory and science of pis�, the, 62-73
+  Ventilators, 86
+  Virtues of pis�, 72
+  Wire netting, use of, 87, 88
+
+III--CHALK:
+
+  Block chalk, 117, 118
+  Chalk compost, historical, 107
+    composition and uses, 108, 109
+  Chalk conglomerate, 114
+  Chimneys, 110
+  External rendering, 110
+  Frost, 109
+  Garden walls, 111
+  House walls, 112
+  Old and modern examples, 112-115
+  Rats and chalk, 116
+  Rendering, 110
+  Repairs, 110
+  Roof, 111
+  Strength, 110
+  Timber, 109
+  Winterslow cottages, the, 115, 116
+
+IV--UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS:
+
+  "Adobe," use of, in New South Wales, 124
+  Age of clay-lump buildings, 124
+  East Anglia, use of sun-dried bricks in, 121
+  Method of making, 121
+  New South Wales, use of sun-dried bricks in, 124
+  Skipper, Mr., on sun-dried bricks, quoted, 121
+  Strength of clay-lump walls, 124
+  Thickness of clay-lump walls, 122-124
+
+APPENDIX:
+
+  Cold-water paint, recipe for, 129
+  Cost, an analysis of building, 131
+  _Country Life_, letter to, relating to cob work, quoted, 132, 133
+  Distempers, recipes for, 129
+  Local materials, importance of using, 130, 131
+  Weight of building materials, table of, 130
+  Whitewash, recipes for, 127, 128
+
+
+
+
+  Printed by
+  Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ld.,
+  London and Aylesbury.
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+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Pliny, _Natural History_, Bk. XXXV, chapter xlviii, quoted at end of
+Introduction:
+
+  "_Have we not in Africa and in Spain ... erected by Hannibal._"
+
+The standard numbering of this passage is XXXV.lxi. With punctuation and
+capitalization adjusted by transcriber to match translation:
+
+  Quid non in Africa Hispaniaque e terra parietes, quos appellant
+  'formaceos', quoniam in forma circumdatis ii utrimque tabulis
+  inferciuntur verius quam struuntur? Aevis durant, incorrupti
+  imbribus, ventis, ignibus omnique caemento firmiores. Spectat etiam
+  nunc speculas Hannibalis Hispania terrenasque turres iugis montium
+  inpositas.
+
+
+Illustration reproduced from 1819 Encyclop�dia:
+
+Immediately below the picture is the almost illegible text:
+
+  J. F. delin. / Lowry / Published as the Act directs 1817
+  by Longman Hurst Rees, Orme & Brown Paternoster Row.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+           *       *       *       *
+
+Errors and Inconsistencies (noted by transcriber):
+
+  [Headnotes]
+  Pis�--a South African Lead
+  The Discovery of the Old
+    [_these two notes were transposed to fit the text_]
+
+  [Illustration: / +The Newlands Waggon-house.+ / Interior.]
+    [final . missing]
+  force of the south-westerly storms."  [single for double quote]
+  This requires no hair, and is easily applied."  [close quote missing]
+  have always been found perfectly sound  ["prefectly"]
+  "Strangers who have sailed upon the Rh�ne  [open quote missing]
+  "There is every reason for introducing  [open quote missing]
+  "Pis� is a material readily obtainable  [single for double quote]
+  merely improvements of mechanism.  [. missing]
+  the misguided enthusiasts responsible
+    [line-end hyphen in "mis-/guided" invisible]
+  it is generally bonded in in the ordinary way  [not an error]
+  Chapter III. _CHALK_ / � I. GENERAL
+    [there are no sections II, III...]
+  fixed to wood blocks built in in a�similar way  [not an error]
+  [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+    [duplicate footnote added by transcriber:
+    tables were printed on a single page]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cottage Building in Cob, Pis�, Chalk
+and Clay, by Clough Williams-Ellis
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chalk and
+Clay, by Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chalk and Clay
+       a Renaissance (2nd edition)
+
+Author: Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+Commentator: J. St. Loe Strachey
+
+Release Date: April 19, 2010 [EBook #32048]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COTTAGE BUILDING IN COB ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Louise Hope, David Clarke and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class = "mynote">
+<p><a name = "start" id = "start">This text</a> uses UTF-8 (Unicode)
+file encoding. If the apostrophes and quotation marks in this paragraph
+appear as garbage, you may have an incompatible browser or unavailable
+fonts. First, make sure that your browser’s “character set” or “file
+encoding” is set to Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need to change the
+default font.</p>
+
+<p class = "center">
+<a href = "#preface">Preface</a><br>
+<a href = "#contents">Contents</a><br>
+<a class = "smallcaps" href = "#building">Cottage Building</a><br>
+<a href = "#ads">Publisher’s Advertising</a><br>
+<a href = "#endnote">Transcriber’s Notes</a></p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class = "page">
+
+<h3>COTTAGE&nbsp; &nbsp;BUILDING&nbsp; &nbsp;IN<br>
+COB, PISÉ, CHALK &amp; CLAY</h3>
+
+<hr class = "page">
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/publogo.png" width = "71" height = "120"
+alt = "publisher's device: COUNTRY LIFE" title = "COUNTRY LIFE"></p>
+
+<h6><i>First Edition, September 1919</i><br>
+<i>Second Edition (Revised and Enlarged), July 1920</i></h6>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "frontis" id = "frontis">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/frontis.jpg" width = "593" height = "362"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption wide">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Cob House built by Mr. Ernest Gimson, near
+Budleigh Salterton, Devon.</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Frontispiece</i>]</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class = "titlepage">
+<h1>COTTAGE BUILDING</h1>
+
+<h6>IN</h6>
+
+<h2>COB, PISÉ, CHALK &amp; CLAY</h2>
+
+<h4><i>A RENAISSANCE</i></h4>
+
+<h6>BY</h6>
+
+<h4>CLOUGH WILLIAMS-ELLIS</h4>
+
+<h5><i>WITH AN INTRODUCTION</i></h5>
+
+<h6>BY</h6>
+
+<h4><span class = "smallcaps">J. St. LOE STRACHEY</span></h4>
+
+<h6>SECOND EDITION<br>
+REVISED AND ENLARGED</h6>
+
+<h6>LONDON</h6>
+
+<h6 class = "justify">
+PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICES OF “COUNTRY LIFE,” 20,
+TAVISTOCK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.2, AND BY
+GEORGE NEWNES, LTD., 8-11, SOUTHAMPTON STREET,
+STRAND,&nbsp; W.C.2. &nbsp; &nbsp;NEW YORK:&nbsp; CHARLES&nbsp;
+SCRIBNER’S&nbsp; SONS</h6>
+
+<h6>MCMXX</h6>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class = "maintext">
+
+<span class = "pagenum">5</span>
+<a name = "page5" id = "page5"> </a>
+
+<h4><a name = "preface" id = "preface">
+AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION</a></h4>
+
+
+<p><span class = "firstword">The</span> exhaustion of the first edition
+of this book, within so short a time of its publication, makes it
+difficult to add much new matter for the reissue now called for, or, in
+the light of subsequent research and experience, to revise what had
+already been written.</p>
+
+<p>Any book that seemed to show a way of meeting the present building
+difficulties, however partially, was fairly assured of a welcome, but
+the somewhat unforeseen demand for my small contribution to the great
+volume of literature on cottage-building is, I&nbsp;think, to be
+attributed chiefly to its description of Pisé-building.</p>
+
+<p>Of the very large number of letters that reach me from readers of the
+book, quite ninety-nine out of every hundred are concerned with
+Pisé.</p>
+
+<p>The other methods of building have their advocates and exponents, but
+it is clearly Pisé that has caught the attention of the public as well
+as of the Press both at home and abroad, and it is to this method of
+construction that I have chiefly devoted my attention since the writing
+of the book as it first appeared.</p>
+
+<p>In our English climate Pisé-building is a summer craft, and the
+small-scale experiments of one person through a single summer cannot in
+the nature of things add very greatly to the sum of our knowledge of
+what is possible with Pisé and of what is not.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the new data have come through the building of Mr. Strachey’s
+demonstration house, an account of which is included in the present
+volume.</p>
+
+<p>At the time of writing, various tests are being carried out with the
+help of the National Physical Laboratory; but the results, though
+exceedingly encouraging, are not yet ready for publication.<a class =
+"tag" name = "tag1" id = "tag1" href = "#note1">1</a></p>
+
+<p>The fact that Pisé-building is essentially a “Dry-earth method” makes
+necessary the creation of artificial summer conditions under which the
+experiments may be conducted
+<span class = "pagenum">6</span>
+<a name = "page6" id = "page6"> </a>
+during the past winter. As a result of these researches,
+a&nbsp;considerable mass of useful data has become available for the
+opening of the present building season.<a class = "tag" name = "tag2" id
+= "tag2" href = "#note2">2</a></p>
+
+<p>Much helpful information is also likely to come to us from the
+Colonies, particularly from Rhodesia and British East Africa, where
+there is great activity in Pisé-building, and where there is no “close
+season” such as our winter imposes upon us here.</p>
+
+<p>It is instructive also to note that great interest in Pisé-building
+has been aroused in Canada and in Scandinavia, the two countries that we
+were wont to associate particularly with timber-building.</p>
+
+<p>From both I have received a number of letters complaining of “the
+lumber shortage,” and discussing the advantages of Pisé as compared with
+their traditional wood-construction.</p>
+
+<p>If these great timber countries are themselves feeling the pinch, the
+advocates of wooden houses for England may find that they are not merely
+barking up the wrong tree, but up a tree that is not even there.</p>
+
+<p>The timber famine is, in any case, a calamity to anyone dependent on
+building, that is to everyone, for even a Pisé house must still have a
+roof and floors and joinery.</p>
+
+<p>But to invoke the timber house as our salvation under existing
+conditions seems to be singularly perverse and unhelpful. Pisé, at all
+events, seems to offer us a more promising field for exploration than
+most of the other heterodox methods of construction that have been
+suggested, too often upon credentials that will not bear any but the
+most cursory scrutiny.</p>
+
+<p>Pisé, even now, is still in its experimental infancy.</p>
+
+<p>It has yet to prove itself in the fields of National Housing and of
+competitive commercial building schemes on a large scale.</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, Pisé does not claim to solve the housing problem. There is no
+solution unless, by some miracle, the present purchasing power of the
+sovereign appreciates by 200 per cent.</p>
+
+<p class = "right smallcaps">
+Clough Williams-Ellis.</p>
+
+<p class = "smaller">
+<span class = "smallcaps">22, South Eaton Place,<br>
+&emsp;London, S.W.1.</span><br>
+&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;<i>May 1920.</i></p>
+
+<div class = "footnote">
+<p><a class = "tag" name = "note1" id = "note1" href = "#tag1">1</a>
+Certain of these have since been issued and will be found in <a href =
+"#appIV">Appendix IV.</a>at the end of the book.</p>
+
+<p><a class = "tag" name = "note2" id = "note2" href = "#tag2">2</a>
+See <a href = "#appIV">Appendix IV.</a></p>
+</div>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">7</span>
+<a name = "page7" id = "page7"> </a>
+
+<h4><a name = "contents" id = "contents">CONTENTS</a></h4>
+
+<p class = "mynote">
+All indented sections were added by the transcriber.</p>
+
+<table class = "toc" summary = "table of contents">
+<tr>
+<td class = "right smallest" colspan = "3">
+PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname" colspan = "2">
+<span class = "opaque">INTRODUCTION</span></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#intro">11</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#introVI">VI</a></td>
+<td>Pisé in Moulds</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#introVIII">VIII</a></td>
+<td>Cob and Chalk</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#introIX">IX</a></td>
+<td>A Postscript</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#introX">X</a></td>
+<td>Pliny on Pisé de Terre</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname" colspan = "2">
+<span class = "opaque">GENERAL SURVEY</span></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#survey">26</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapnum" colspan = "3">
+<a href = "#chapI">I</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname" colspan = "2">
+<span class = "opaque">COB</span></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#page33">33</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#chapI_I">§ I.</a></td>
+<td>General</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#chapI_II">§ II.</a></td>
+<td>Method of Building</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#chapI_III">§ III.</a></td>
+<td>Conclusion</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapnum" colspan = "3">
+<a href = "#chapII">II</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname" colspan = "2">
+<span class = "opaque">PISÉ DE TERRE</span></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#page57">57</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#chapII_I">§ I.</a></td>
+<td>General</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#chapII_II">§ II.</a></td>
+<td>Method of Building</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#chapII_III">§ III.</a></td>
+<td>The Theory and Science of Pisé</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#chapII_IV">§ IV.</a></td>
+<td>Indian and Colonial Practice</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapnum" colspan = "3">
+<a href = "#chapIII">III</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname" colspan = "2">
+<span class = "opaque">CHALK</span></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#page107">107</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#chapIII_I">§I.</a></td>
+<td>General</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapnum" colspan = "3">
+<a href = "#chapIV">IV</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname" colspan = "2">
+<span class = "opaque">UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS</span></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#page121">121</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname" colspan = "2">
+<a href = "#appendix"><span class = "opaque">APPENDIX</span></a></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#appendix">127</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#appI">I</a></td>
+<td>Whitewash</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#appII">II</a></td>
+<td>The Importance Of Using Local Materials</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#appIII">III</a></td>
+<td>Extract From a Letter to the Editor of <i>Country Life</i></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset">
+<a href = "#appIV">IV</a></td>
+<td>Pisé Tests
+</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname" colspan = "2">
+<a href = "#index"><span class = "opaque">INDEX</span></a></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#page139">139</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">8</span>
+<a name = "page8" id = "page8"> </a>
+
+<h4><a name = "illus" id = "illus">ILLUSTRATIONS</a></h4>
+
+
+<p class = "mynote">
+Some illustrations have been moved to bring them nearer the related
+text. The bracketed page number shows their original location.</p>
+
+<table class = "toc" summary = "list of illustrations">
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">COB HOUSE BUILT BY MR. ERNEST GIMSON, NEAR
+BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#frontis">
+<i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<table class = "toc" summary = "list of illustrations continues">
+<tr>
+<td class = "number smallest" colspan = "2">
+FACING&nbsp;PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">PISÉ WAGGON-HOUSE AT NEWLANDS
+CORNER</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig18a1">18</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">THE NEWLANDS WAGGON-HOUSE
+(INTERIOR)</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig18a2">18</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">THE BEGINNING OF A PISÉ
+FRUIT-HOUSE</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig18b1">19</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">THE FRUIT-HOUSE COMPLETED WITH ROOF OF PEAT
+BLOCKS ON ROUGH BOARDING</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig18b2">19</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">MODEL OF A PISÉ DE TERRE HOUSE TO BE BUILT IN
+THREE SUCCESSIVE STAGES</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig22a">22</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">WAYSIDE STATION OF PISÉ AT SIMONDIUM, SOUTH
+AFRICA, DESIGNED BY MR. HERBERT BAKER</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig22b">23</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">FRONT AND BACK ELEVATIONS OF COTTAGE DESIGNED
+BY SIR EDWIN LUTYENS AND MR. ALBAN SCOTT</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig28a">28</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">PLAN OF COTTAGE DESIGNED BY SIR EDWIN LUTYENS
+AND MR. ALBAN SCOTT</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig28b">29</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">ANOTHER VIEW OF THE COB HOUSE BUILT BY MR.
+ERNEST GIMSON, NEAR BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig34a">34</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">A FINE SPECIMEN OF A DEVONSHIRE COB
+HOUSE</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig34b">35</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">A DEVONSHIRE COB FARMHOUSE, PROBABLY BETWEEN
+200 AND 300 YEARS OLD</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig36a">36</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">A COB-BUILT VILLAGE</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig36b">37</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">A DEVONSHIRE FARM, LOCAL MATERIAL
+(COB)</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig42a">42</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">DEVON COUNTRY HOUSE, BUILT OF DEVON
+COB</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig42b">43</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<span class = "pagenum">9</span>
+<p>COB HOUSE TEMP. ELIZABETH, LEWISHILL</p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig44a">44</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">ANOTHER DEVONSHIRE (COB) FARMHOUSE, WEEKE
+BARTON</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig44b">45</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">CEILINGS OF MODELLED PLASTER FROM OLD COB
+HOUSES IN DEVON</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig46a">46</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">A COB GARDEN-WALL WITH THATCHED
+COPING</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig46b">47</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">PISÉ PLANT AND IMPLEMENTS</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig58a">58</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">DIAGRAM OF MARK V PISÉ
+SHUTTERING</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig88a">88</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">MARK V SHUTTERING</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig88b">89</a></td>
+</tr>
+<!-- 2nd edn only -->
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">A SIMPLE MOULD FOR PISÉ BLOCKS</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig90a1">90</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">BLOCK-MOULDS, LARGE AND SMALL</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig90a2">90</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">SKETCH OF A PISÉ HOUSE IN COURSE OF
+ERECTION</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig90b">91</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">THE NEWLANDS CORNER BUILDING</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig92a">92</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">THE COTTAGE FROM THE
+SOUTH-EAST</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig92b1">93</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">THE GARDEN COURT</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig92b2">93</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">THE BACKYARD</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig94a">94</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">FRAMING THE ROOF</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig94b1">95</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">AN INTERIOR, SHOWING FIRE-BRICK HEARTH
+FIRE</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig94b2">95</a></td>
+</tr>
+<!-- remaining images from first edn. -->
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">DETAILS OF CHALK CONSTRUCTION AT
+AMESBURY</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig110a">110</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">COTTAGES AT COLDHARBOUR,
+AMESBURY</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig110b">111</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">THREE CHALK COTTAGES AT HURSLEY
+PARK</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig114a">114</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">MARSH COURT, HAMPSHIRE</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig116a">116</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">BRICK-AND-CHALK VAULTING AT THE DEANERY
+GARDEN, SONNING</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig116b">117</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">ONCE CORN HALL, NOW COUNCIL
+SCHOOL</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig122a1">122</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">A ROW OF CLAY-LUMP COTTAGES</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig122a2">122</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "chapname">
+<p><span class = "opaque">ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS</span></p></td>
+<td class = "number"><a href = "#fig122b">123</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">10</span>
+<a name = "page10" id = "page10"> </a>
+
+<h4><a name = "building" id = "building">CONSIDERATIONS</a></h4>
+
+
+<p>“<span class = "smallcaps">If all available brickworks were to
+produce at their highest limit of output and with all the labour they
+wanted at their disposal they could only turn out 4,000,000,000 bricks
+in a year as against a pre-war average of
+2,800,000,000.</span>”&mdash;(<i>See Report by Committee appointed by
+Ministry of Reconstruction to consider the post-war position of
+building.</i>)</p>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<p>The first year’s programme of working-class housing <i>alone</i>
+calls for at least 6,000,000,000 bricks. That is to say, unless wall
+materials other than brick are freely used, we shall fall alarmingly
+short of what the population of Great Britain needs in bare
+accommodation, and all building and engineering projects whatsoever
+other than housing must be postponed indefinitely.</p>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<p>“<span class = "smallcaps">The country districts of england and wales
+are unsurpassed for variety and beauty of character, and it would be
+nothing less than a national misfortune if the increased development of
+small holdings were to result in the erection of buildings unsuited to
+their environment and ugly in appearance.</span>”&mdash;(<i>Extract from
+the report submitted by the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire
+as to Buildings for Small Holdings, 1913.</i>)</p>
+
+
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">11</span>
+<a name = "page11" id = "page11"> </a>
+
+<h4><a name = "intro" id = "intro">
+INTRODUCTION</a></h4>
+
+<h5><a name = "introI" id = "introI">I</a></h5>
+
+<p><span class = "firstword">The</span> country is faced by a dilemma
+probably greater and more poignant than any with which it has hitherto
+had to deal. It needs, and needs at once, a&nbsp;million new houses, and
+it has not only utterly inadequate stores of material with which to
+build them, but has not even the plant by which that material can be
+rapidly created. There is not merely a shortage, but an actual famine
+everywhere as regards the things out of which houses are made. Bricks
+are wanted by the ten thousand million, but there are practically no
+bricks in sight. All that the brickyards of the United Kingdom can do,
+working all day and every day, is to turn out something like four
+thousand million a year. But to those who want houses at once, what is
+the use of a promise of bricks in five years’ time? To tell them to turn
+to the stone quarries is a mere derision. Let alone the cost of work and
+of transport, it is only in a few favoured places that the rocks will
+give us what we want. Needless to say we are short, too, of lime and
+cement, and probably shall be shorter. <i>No coal, no quicklime</i>, and
+<i>No coal, no cement</i>, and as things look now, it is going to be a
+case, if not of no coal, at any rate of much less coal. Even worse is
+the shortage in timber&mdash;the material hitherto deemed essential for
+the making of roofs, doors, windows and floors. Raw timber is hardly
+obtainable, and seasoned timber does not exist. The same story has to be
+told about tiles, slates, corrugated iron, and every other form of
+“legitimate” roofing substance. There are none to be had.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">12</span>
+<a name = "page12" id = "page12"> </a>
+<p>In this dread predicament what are we to do as a nation? What we must
+not do is at any rate quite clear. We must not lie down in the high road
+of civilisation and cry out that we are ruined or betrayed, or that the
+world is too hard for us, and that we must give up the task of living in
+houses. Whether we like it or not we have got to do something about the
+housing question, and we have got to do it at once, and there is an end.
+Translated into terms of action, this means that as we have not got
+enough of the old forms of material we must turn to others and learn how
+to house ourselves with materials such as we have not used before. Once
+again necessity must be the mother of invention, or rather, of invention
+and revival, for in anything so old and universal as the housing problem
+it is too late to be ambitious. Here we always find that there has been
+an ancient Assyrian or Egyptian or a primitive man in front
+of&nbsp;us.</p>
+
+<p>It is the object of the present book to attack part of the problem of
+how to build without bricks, and indeed without mortar, and equally
+important, as far as possible without the vast cost of transporting the
+heavy material of the house from one quarter of England to another. That
+is my apology for introducing to the public a work dealing with what I
+can hear old-fashioned master-builders describing as the “bastard” forms
+of construction. One of these is Pisé de terre, the old system of
+building with walls formed of rammed or compressed earth: a&nbsp;system
+which was once known throughout Europe and of which the primitive
+tribesmen of Arizona and New Mexico knew the secret. Down to our own day
+it has been practised with wonderful success in the Valley of the Rhône.
+Then come our own cob, once the cottage material <i>par excellence</i>
+of Devonshire and the West of England, our system of building with plain
+clay blocks, a&nbsp;plan indigenous in the Eastern counties, and again
+the use of chalk and chalk pisé.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">13</span>
+<a name = "page13" id = "page13"> </a>
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+The Search for Cheap Material</span></p>
+
+<p><span class = "smallcaps">Pisé de Terre</span></p>
+
+<p>For me Pisé de terre, ever since I heard of it, has offered special
+attractions. It, and it alone provides, or if one must be cautious,
+appears to provide the way to turn an old dream of mine and of many
+other people into a reality. My connection with the problem of housing,
+and especially of rural housing, <i>i.e.</i> cottage housing, now nearly
+a quarter of a century old, has been on the side of cheap material.
+Rightly or wrongly (I&nbsp;know that many great experts in building
+matters think quite wrongly), I&nbsp;have had the simplicity to believe
+that if you are to get cheap housing you must get it by the use of cheap
+material. It has always seemed to me that there is no other way. What
+more natural than first to ask why building material was so dear, and
+then what was the cause of its dearness? I&nbsp;found it in the fact
+that bricks are very expensive things to make, that stones are very
+expensive things to quarry, that cements are very expensive things to
+manufacture, and worst of all, that all these things are very heavy and
+very expensive to drag about the country, and to “dump” on the site in
+some lonely situation where cottages or a small-holder’s house and
+outbuildings are, to use the conventional phrase, “urgently demanded.”
+Therefore, to the unfeigned amusement, nay, contempt of all my
+architectural friends, I&nbsp;spent a great deal of my leisure in the
+years before the war in racking my brains in the search for cheap
+material. My deep desire was to find something in the earth out of which
+walls could be made. My ideal was a man or group of men with spades and
+pickaxes coming upon the land and creating the walls of a house out of
+what they found there. I&nbsp;wanted my house, my cottage in
+“Cloud-Cuckoo Land,” to rise like the lark from the furrows. But I was
+at once dissuaded from my purpose by cautious and scientific persons.
+The chemists, if they did not scoff like the architects, were visibly
+perturbed.
+<span class = "pagenum">14</span>
+<a name = "page14" id = "page14"> </a>
+“Your dream is impossible,” they said. “Nature abhors it as much as she
+used to be supposed to abhor a vacuum. If your soil is clay, and you can
+afford the time and cost of erecting kilns, and bringing coal to the
+spot to make the bricks, you can no doubt turn the earth on the spot
+into a house, but even then you had far better buy them of those that
+sell. Your dream of having some chemical which will mix with the earth
+and turn it into a kind of stone, is the merest delusion. It is the
+nature of the earth to kill anything in the way of cement that is mixed
+with it. For example, even a little earth will kill concrete or mortar.
+Unless you wash your sand most carefully, and free it from all earth
+stain, you will ruin your concrete blocks.” I&nbsp;appeared to be
+literally “up against” a&nbsp;brick wall. It was that or nothing. And
+then, and when things seemed at their very worst, a&nbsp;kind
+correspondent of <i>The Spectator</i> showed me a way of escape.
+I&nbsp;felt like a man lost in underground passages who suddenly sees a
+tiny square of light and knows that it means the way out. Somebody
+wrote, from South Africa I think, asking why I didn’t find the thing I
+wanted in Pisé de terre, much used in Australia, and occasionally in
+Cape Colony. Then came a rush of enlightenment. People who had seen and
+even lived in such houses wrote to <i>The Spectator</i>, and the world
+indeed for the moment seemed alive with Pisé de terre. I&nbsp;was even
+lent the “Farmer’s Handbook” of New South Wales, in which the State
+Government provides settlers with an elaborate description of how to
+build in Pisé, and how to make the necessary shuttering for doing so. It
+was then, too, that I began to hear of the seventeenth and
+eighteenth-century buildings of Pisé in the Rhone Valley. In fact,
+everybody but I seemed to know all there was to be known about Pisé de
+terre. For the moment indeed, the situation seemed like that described
+in <i>Punch’s</i> famous picture of the young lady and the German
+professor. “<i>What is Volapuk?</i>” asks the young
+<span class = "pagenum">15</span>
+<a name = "page15" id = "page15"> </a>
+lady. “<i>Ze universal language</i>,” says the professor. “<i>Where is
+it spoken?</i>” “<i>No vairs.</i>” Pisé de terre appeared to be the
+universal system of building, but as far as I could make out, it was
+practised “no vairs,” or at any rate not in Europe.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Experiments with “Pisé”</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "introII" id = "introII">II</a></h5>
+
+<p>I had got as far as the position described above, when down swept the
+war upon Europe, and everything had to be postponed in favour of the
+immediate need of filling the ranks of the nation’s army and teaching
+the men how to fight our enemies. As the war went on, however, the
+demand for rapid, cheap, and temporary building became very great, and I
+felt I should be justified in trying some experiments with Pisé de
+terre, even in spite of the difficulty of obtaining labour.</p>
+
+<p>I think I can best illustrate the nature of Pisé and what it can do,
+and I believe will do, if I shortly recount in chronological order these
+humble pioneer efforts.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1915 I found that it was necessary in the interests
+of the hospital established in my house to find a place in which to
+store apples, for the men in blue consumed them in incredible
+quantities. I&nbsp;thought I would try Pisé. Accordingly, I&nbsp;had
+some shuttering made on the Australian model&mdash;not splendid
+scientific shuttering such as is described in the body of this work, but
+still shuttering quite sufficient for the purpose. With great rapidity a
+little fruit-house was put up, roofed with boards, and covered with
+blocks of compressed peat in order to make a roof which would be both
+vermin-proof and also keep out the heat and the frost. In my ignorance
+and my hurry, I&nbsp;now find that I violated every sound rule of Pisé
+construction. I&nbsp;built the walls during a week of rain, when the
+earth was wet, which was a great mistake; and I did not clear out the
+stones, which was another error that prevented the walls from being
+homogeneous. Worst
+<span class = "pagenum">16</span>
+<a name = "page16" id = "page16"> </a>
+of all, as soon as the walls were built (and very pretty walls they
+were, looking something like soft brown marble), I&nbsp;painted them
+over with tar, which of course would not enter the wet wall, but only
+made a skin, which in a few months peeled off exactly like the bark off
+a plane tree. Yet in spite of this ignorant mishandling of my material,
+the little fruit-house is still standing and sheltered till January the
+few apples Nature allowed us to gather last autumn. It looks
+disreputable, but there has been no structural collapse, nor will
+there&nbsp;be.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">19</span>
+<a name = "fig18b1" id = "fig18b1">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic18b1.jpg" width = "428" height = "371"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">The Beginning of a Pisé
+Fruit-house.</span></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "fig18b2" id = "fig18b2">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic18b2.jpg" width = "429" height = "299"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">The Fruit-house Completed With Roof of Peat
+Blocks on Rough Boarding.</span></p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Rammed Chalk, “Pisé de Craie”</span></p>
+
+<p>No sooner was the fruit-house finished than I was met by the demand
+of my wife, the commandant of the hospital, to add to my house a
+patients’ dining-room, which would be bright, dry, airy, warm, and
+comfortable, and be large enough for forty men to have their meals in,
+and to use as a sitting-room during the rest of the day. The local
+builder said that it was impossible to make a wooden addition, for there
+was no wood to be procured, or to build in bricks, since my house stands
+600 ft. above the sea on an isolated chalk down. Crœsus would have found
+it difficult at that time to build on my site, and for the ordinary
+economic man&mdash;“L’homme à quarantes écus”&mdash;it was quite
+impossible. But the room had got to be built, for the men were there,
+and built at once, since the out-of-door life of July and August could
+not continue. There was nothing to do but to fall back upon Pisé.
+I&nbsp;decided to be ambitious and to experiment, not merely in Pisé de
+terre, but in what I then thought&mdash;and perhaps rightly&mdash;was a
+new form of Pisé, <i>i.e.</i> Pisé de craie or compressed chalk. My
+shuttering therefore was put up. A&nbsp;hole not very far off was dug in
+the earth, the chalk which was almost at the surface was quarried out,
+and we began to build the wall, candid and contemptuous friends telling
+us of course that the chalk wall would never stand the frosts in so
+exposed a position, and that the wall, if made, would certainly explode!
+Everyone worked at that wall; the nursing
+<span class = "pagenum">17</span>
+<a name = "page17" id = "page17"> </a>
+staff, the coachman, an occasional visitor, a&nbsp;schoolboy,
+a&nbsp;couple of boy scouts, members of the National Reserve who were
+guarding a “vulnerable point” close by, and even some of the patients.
+Patients as a rule will endure any toil with the utmost good temper if
+it is for the purposes of sport. If the task is useful it does not
+interest them. Still, a&nbsp;wall which might explode offered a certain
+attraction. We worked with more zeal than discretion, but happily I had
+it in my mind that homogeneity was the essential, and therefore the hard
+nuggets of chalk as they were thrown into the shuttering to be
+compressed by the rammers were first chopped up with spades, much as one
+minces meat. The wall had no foundations. In Pisé you can make your
+foundations, so to speak, as you go, through the simple process of
+ramming. Anyway, and to cut a long story short, the wall was made, was
+able to receive the roof, for which happily the local builder found some
+material, and not only did the wall stand, but showed a very creditable
+exterior. Its weight was of course enormous, for there were some twenty
+tons of chalk put into it. In spite of the irregularity of the labour it
+did not take more than ten or twelve days to build. To prevent the wet
+and frost getting into it, I&nbsp;painted the main front with a patent
+liquid material for rendering walls damp-proof. The Chalk Pisé wall not
+only served its purpose, but served it very well. The room proved
+extraordinarily warm and comfortable, largely owing no doubt to the fact
+of a solid, very dry, 18-in. wall on the north-east side.</p>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "introIII" id = "introIII">III</a></h5>
+
+<p>My next venture was in response to an urgent appeal from a farm
+tenant to build him a waggon house. The result is seen in the
+accompanying illustration. This building, about 40 ft. by 30 ft., was
+made purely of earth, but some experiments were tried in the way of
+introducing hurdles into the
+<span class = "pagenum">18</span>
+<a name = "page18" id = "page18"> </a>
+shuttering in order to afford a surface to which plaster could easily
+cling. Suffice it to say that the plain earth, without plaster or any
+covering, more than justified itself. One part of the wall is very much
+exposed to the weather, but it has stood the rains and the frosts of
+three very bad winters without turning a hair. Lovers of the picturesque
+may like to know that it presents a pleasant face of light ochre, upon
+which a pale green efflorescence of lichen has appeared of late. Anyway,
+the frost has not touched&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">18</span>
+<a name = "fig18a1" id = "fig18a1">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic18a1.jpg" width = "434" height = "335"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Pisé Waggon-house at Newlands
+Corner.</span><br>
+An experiment in rendering.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "fig18a2" id = "fig18a2">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic18a2.jpg" width = "439" height = "311"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">The Newlands Waggon-house.</span><br>
+Interior<ins class = "correction" title = ". missing">.&nbsp;</ins></p>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "introIV" id = "introIV">IV</a></h5>
+
+<p>Next I made some experiments in chalk farmyard walls. Unfortunately,
+however, one of these, which was not made homogeneous by chalk mincing,
+<i>i.e.</i> in which the nuggets of chalk were not properly broken up,
+got the wet into it, and true to the candid friend’s prophecy did
+literally explode in the big frost of 1917-18. Another very pretty chalk
+wall is, however, standing to this day. But though Chalk Pisé will,
+I&nbsp;think, do well if properly made and properly protected, it is
+somewhat of a doubtful material for anything except a building with a
+good overlay of roof. Another structure put up by me was a largish
+gardener’s potting shed. This was built purely of earth, and in dry
+weather. When the walls were perfectly dry, the local road authorities
+kindly came with their tar spray and sprayed it with hot tar, with most
+excellent results. The hot tar really entered instead of merely making a
+skin, with the result that the external walls thus treated resembled a
+section of tarred road stood up on end.</p>
+
+<p>I may add that I lent my Pisé shuttering to a Guildford Volunteer
+Battalion, who in a ten-hour day, or rather, two days of five hours
+each, built an excellent hut about 20 ft. square and 10 ft. high, and
+thus showed that a platoon might house themselves with Pisé in a day,
+provided they had roofing material ready. This building had subsequently
+<span class = "pagenum">19</span>
+<a name = "page19" id = "page19"> </a>
+to be destroyed, because the ground on which it stood was wanted for
+another purpose. When it was knocked down the house-breakers were
+astonished at the strength and tenacity of the walls. Yet the earth out
+of which they were made was particularly bad&mdash;as one of the
+volunteers expressed it, not earth, but merely leaf-mould and
+horse-manure. The site had, as a matter of fact, been a suburban garden
+for at least two hundred years.</p>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "introV" id = "introV">V</a></h5>
+
+<p>Before I leave the record of these terrestrial adventures I may note
+that in the early stages I received a great deal of help and
+encouragement from General Sir Robert Scott-Moncrieff. He was indeed so
+much struck by them that he drew up a series of instructions for walls
+of Pisé work which were issued to all engineer companies at the front in
+case they might have opportunities for experimenting. These instructions
+were based upon the Australian book and embodied the very simple form of
+shuttering there recommended. The diagram that accompanied them is
+reproduced in the Appendix to the present volume.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Pisé in Moulds</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "introVI" id = "introVI">VI</a><br>
+Pisé in Moulds</h5>
+
+<p>There is one thing more to be said about Pisé. I&nbsp;believe that a
+useful development of the system may be found in the plan of ramming
+earth into moulds and making earth blocks, something like concrete
+blocks. Moulds of this kind are easy to make and are specially suitable
+when the soil is somewhat clayey in its nature. They have the advantage
+of being much cheaper than shuttering, and of being capable of being
+handled by one man without assistance. With a strong wooden mould and a
+good rammer a small-holder may easily build his own pigsty, his
+<span class = "pagenum">20</span>
+<a name = "page20" id = "page20"> </a>
+own chicken house, and all the small outbuildings he requires, if not
+indeed add an extra room to his house. I&nbsp;am at present
+experimenting with these blocks and only yesterday had the pleasure of
+seeing a sergeant (R.A.M.C), discharged through ill-health and now
+trying to turn himself into a small-holder, building a pigsty with the
+help of one of my moulds.</p>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "introVII" id = "introVII">VII</a></h5>
+
+<p><i>Apropos</i> of the elusive universality and yet non-existence of
+Pisé work, the following personal anecdote or footnote to compressed
+earth may amuse my readers. Happening to be sleeping in a bedroom at
+Brooks’s Club in 1916, I&nbsp;noticed a charming Regency bookcase full
+of old books. Among them was a copy of a <i>Cyclopædia</i> of 1819.
+I&nbsp;thought it would be amusing to see whether there was any mention
+of Pisé de terre. What was my astonishment to find that what I thought
+was my own special and peculiar hobby and discovery was treated therein
+at very great length and with very great ability, but treated not in the
+least as anything new or wonderful, but instead as “this well-known and
+greatly appreciated system of building, etc., etc.” To complete the
+irony of the situation the fact was mentioned that a Mr. Holland had
+lately sent to the Board of Agriculture a memorandum as to how to put up
+houses and farm-buildings in this form of construction. My hair rose on
+my head, for I had just committed a similar official indiscretion
+myself, and had been bombarding appropriate authorities with what I
+thought must be a complete novelty. Truly one can never be first or do
+anything new. It is always “in the Files,” as Mr. Kipling says. Even in
+our most original moments we only keep on feebly imitating somebody
+else. The claim to originality is nothing but a muddy mixture
+<span class = "pagenum">21</span>
+<a name = "page21" id = "page21"> </a>
+of pride and ignorance. What did, however, somewhat amaze me was the
+calm statement of the <i>Cyclopædia</i> that this system of building was
+now well known in the counties of&mdash;and then came the names of
+practically all the counties of Southern England. And yet I had been
+keenly on the look-out for such buildings for several years. The cynic
+will say that they had all fallen down. That only shows the weakness of
+the cynic’s point of view. The truth is they are often concealed under
+various disguises of plaster, paint, and weather tiles. Few people know
+what their own walls are really made of till they try to cut a new
+opening for a door or a window in them.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Cob and Chalk</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "introVIII" id = "introVIII">VIII</a><br>
+Cob and Chalk</h5>
+
+<p>Of Cob I know little by actual experiment. It is fully dealt with in
+the body of this work, and readers will find that it is a kind of mud or
+clay concrete reinforced with straw. It is therefore totally and
+absolutely different from Pisé. One is wet, the other dry.</p>
+
+<p>All that need be said about chalk is said by the author of the
+present book.</p>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "introIX" id = "introIX">IX</a><br>
+A Postscript</h5>
+
+<p>In the body of this work mention is made of a very successful
+experiment in Pisé de terre made by the officials of a Rhodesian mining
+company; the outcome, I&nbsp;am proud to think, of my pre-war advocacy
+of Pisé in <i>The Spectator</i>. No sooner had my introduction been
+finished than there came by way of postscript an exceedingly interesting
+series of photographs, sent to me by Mr. Pickstone, a&nbsp;gentleman
+very well known in South Africa for his fruit gardens, his
+<span class = "pagenum">22</span>
+<a name = "page22" id = "page22"> </a>
+peaches, and his apricots. On the strength of what he had read in <i>The
+Spectator</i>, Mr. Pickstone lately undertook to build a station
+building and station-master’s house for the railway station at Simondium
+in the Drakenstein Valley, a&nbsp;place which during the summer is noted
+for its great heat. In the January number of the <i>South African
+Railways and Harbours Magazine</i>, Mr. Pickstone gives a detailed
+account of his bold and successful experiment and illustrates it by a
+reproduction of some of his photographs. Here is his own account of what
+he did.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Pisé&mdash;a South African Lead</span></p>
+
+<p>“It must have been about eighteen months ago that the railway
+administration decided to promote Simondium Siding to the dignity of a
+station. As a siding, it had always been a busy place in the fruit
+season, during which time a permanent checker had for some years been
+kept quite busy, his accommodation being a couple of small tin shanties,
+and he had been accustomed to board out where he could. Now we were to
+have a ‘pukka’ station-master and, presumably, suitable premises. The
+department quickly got to work and the station-master’s house arrived.
+It was what one might call a second-hand, or even a third- or
+fourth-hand one, consisting of the inevitable sheets of galvanised iron
+and the ever-essential Oregon and Swedish timber. Our new station-master
+also shortly afterwards arrived, and turned out to be a married man with
+a wife and four children. The station-master was not a grouser, but
+during the hot summer&mdash;and it is terribly hot in the Drakenstein
+Valley during that time of the year&mdash;he complained to me that it
+was almost impossible to hold on, owing to the conditions under which he
+and his family had to live. It was just about this time that I saw in
+<i>The Spectator</i> a series of articles strongly advocating ‘Pisé de
+terre’ construction for buildings of all kinds; especially was it
+recommended as a war-time expedient for rapid and economical
+construction for barracks and
+<span class = "pagenum">23</span>
+<a name = "page23" id = "page23"> </a>
+hospitals, and, indeed, it was strongly recommended by Mr. St. Loe
+Strachey, the editor, for all sorts of general building and military
+purposes. It is a curious fact, which many readers could verify, that
+frequently one lives one’s life under certain conditions, and in reality
+remains absolutely blind to their presence and potentialities. Here was
+I, living in a country where some of the most beautiful old homesteads
+are on the principle of the ‘Pisé de terre’ construction, and a large
+proportion of the older farm buildings in this district also built of
+similar material, with the additional pleasing accompaniment of
+beautiful beams, ceilings and floors made of colonial pine&mdash;one may
+advisedly add, the <i>despised</i> colonial pine. Some of these
+buildings have stood the wear and use of close on a century, and are
+still an object of joy to those privileged to have an eye to see. Here
+lived I, as I say, blind to its potentialities for to-day, although it
+had been clearly appreciated and carried out with the most charming and
+solid results by our great-grandfathers in the old slave-labour
+days.”</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">22</span>
+<a name = "fig22a" id = "fig22a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic22a.jpg" width = "570" height = "322"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption wide">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Model of a Pisé de Terre House to be built in
+Three Successive Stages.</span></p>
+<p class = "caption long">
+The right wing is planned to be built first as a complete small cottage,
+eventually becoming service and servants’ quarters.</p>
+
+<p class = "right">
+<i>Clough Williams-Ellis, Architect.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">23</span>
+<a name = "fig22b" id = "fig22b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic22b.jpg" width = "524" height = "343"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Wayside Station of Pisé at Simondium, South
+Africa,<br>
+designed by Mr. Herbert Baker.</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The supervising architect, Mr. Kendall, who was responsible for
+carrying out the work to the admirable design of Mr. Herbert Baker,
+gives the following description of the way the work was actually
+executed, which contains several very useful hints:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+“The construction of walls determined upon was that known as ‘Pisé de
+terre,’ consisting of earth walls some 18 in. to 24 in. thick, which owe
+their solidity to a simple process of ramming between wooden casings
+previously placed in position on both sides. These walls are built in
+stages of some 3&nbsp;ft. in height, the wood casing being raised at
+intervals as required. The frames for doors and windows are placed in
+position at the right time, and anchored into the walls by means of long
+hoop iron ties. These walls, when completed, give a surface almost as
+<span class = "pagenum">24</span>
+<a name = "page24" id = "page24"> </a>
+hard as burnt brick, but the external angles present a slight point of
+weakness, as from their exposure they would be naturally inclined to
+chip away in cases of rough usage. In order to overcome this it was
+arranged that irregular brick quoins should be embedded in the angles
+all the way up as the work proceeded. The walls, when completed, were
+then plastered and whitewashed, and present as good an appearance as
+more expensively plastered brickwork. As additional security the weather
+sides were given, prior to whitewashing, a&nbsp;coat of hot gas tar
+direct on the plaster, which in all exterior work was lime plus 10 per
+cent. cement. The roofs are of thatch with a fairly good overhang at the
+eaves in order to form a protection for the walls.”</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+On one point, however, we may reassure Mr. Kendall. I&nbsp;do not think
+he need be afraid of his walls being destroyed by the weather even if he
+has no overhang. Part of a Pisé wall in my cart-shed, built in a very
+exposed situation, has no overhang. Further, the wall is not covered by
+cement or any other protective covering. The compressed earth was left
+quite bare, and yet the three worst winters of alternating wet and frost
+known for many years have made no impression upon the wall. It seems to
+be both rain-proof and frost-proof.</p>
+
+<p>I may add that Mr. Pickstone informs me in a letter dated February
+19th that the Pisé walls have proved an enormous success from the point
+of view of protection from the heat. Whereas in an iron building lined
+with wood the temperature in the hot weather went up to 104 degrees
+Fahrenheit, in the station-master’s Pisé de terre dining-room the
+thermometer registered only 86 degrees. Those who have ever lived where
+such temperatures prevail will note the immense advantage gained by the
+Pisé walls. Such temperatures try strong men and women, and for children
+they are positively death-dealing. With so successful an
+<span class = "pagenum">25</span>
+<a name = "page25" id = "page25"> </a>
+experiment as that at Simondium before my eyes, I&nbsp;am beginning to
+feel that I may live to correct my view that this universal system of
+building is practised “no vairs.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+The Discovery of the Old</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "introX" id = "introX">X</a><br>
+Pliny on Pisé de Terre</h5>
+
+<p>Now for something which I have kept as the <i>bonne bouche</i> of my
+earthy story. At the end of my researches and experiments I found that
+Pliny has got it all in his <i>Natural History</i> in six lines! There
+is no need for more words.</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Have we not in Africa and in Spain walls of earth, known as
+‘formocean’ walls? From the fact that they are moulded, rather than
+built, by enclosing earth within a frame of boards, constructed on
+either side. These walls will last for centuries, are proof against
+rain, wind, and fire, and are superior in solidity to any cement. Even
+at this day Spain still holds watch-towers that were erected by
+Hannibal.</i>”&mdash;<i>Pliny’s “Natural History,”</i> Bk. XXXV, chapter
+xlviii.<a class = "tag" name = "endtagA" id = "endtagA" href =
+"#endnoteA">A</a></p>
+
+<p class = "right smallcaps">J. St. Loe Strachey.</p>
+
+<p class = "smallcaps smaller">Newlands Corner, Surrey.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">26</span>
+<a name = "page26" id = "page26"> </a>
+
+<h4><a name = "survey" id = "survey">GENERAL SURVEY</a></h4>
+
+<p><span class = "firstword">Always</span> necessity has been the mother
+of invention. The war has proved her prolific indeed, and her teeming
+offspring are seen in the multiplicity of war contrivances and the
+bewildering array of substitutes for the once common things of our daily
+life. Where necessity has been most dire, there invention has
+unfailingly come to the rescue with the most amazing “Ersatz” products
+to replace the vanished originals.</p>
+
+<p>At any rate it pleases us to attribute the truly astonishing feats of
+the Germans in this direction to their greater need rather than to any
+superior ingenuity or enterprise on their part.</p>
+
+<p>That their success was often no more than moderate will be readily
+admitted by anyone who, for instance, has made trial of their “Ersatz”
+cigars or ration coffee.</p>
+
+<p>Still, need did at least awaken prodigious effort, ingenuity, and
+enterprise&mdash;all co-ordinated and concentrated on the business of
+making good a hundred paralysing deficiencies.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+The House Famine</span></p>
+
+<p>In this present matter of National Housing the shortage of all the
+generally recognised building materials as well as of actual houses is
+extreme and grave. Effort, ingenuity, and enterprise in overcoming these
+insufficiencies are as urgently and vitally necessary to England in
+Peace as ever they were to Germany in war. Little will be said here of
+the direct and intimate connection between good houses and good
+citizens.</p>
+
+<p>It is assumed that those who go to the pains of reading
+<span class = "pagenum">27</span>
+<a name = "page27" id = "page27"> </a>
+this book have at least glanced at the Housing Reports, and drawn
+certain disquieting conclusions from the criminal and vital statistics
+with which the case for reform is reinforced.</p>
+
+<p>In a recent speech the Registrar-General said: “War does not only
+fill the graves, it also empties the cradles.” This is no less true of
+bad and inadequate housing.</p>
+
+<p>Only the most reckless and thick-skinned of the poorer population
+will adventure on marriage and the bringing up of a family whilst the
+odds against decent and reasonable housing persist as at present.</p>
+
+<p>True, “Housing” is very properly being given considerable prominence
+in the press, and scarcely a day passes but there appears an article or
+letter dealing with this question.</p>
+
+<p>Usually we are left but little wiser than we were, whilst if we
+chance to know something about the subject, the general tone of vague
+cheerfulness that pervades them all fills us with misgiving.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing is easier or pleasanter or more popular than to make airy
+promises or predictions about the “Homes for Happy Human Beings” that,
+somehow, are to be prepared for our returned soldiers, and for all those
+others who are housed miserably or not at all. It is very easy to
+predict and promise, but without adequate materials performance is not
+merely difficult, it is impossible.</p>
+
+<p>There is a world-shortage of almost every manufactured or cultivated
+product; there is also a labour famine, a&nbsp;money famine, and a
+transport famine.</p>
+
+<p>In this country, closely connected with these deficiencies and
+looming ominously over them all, is, as we have said, our
+house-famine.</p>
+
+<p>To relieve the last in face of the others, and without further
+aggravating them, is one of the most grave and pressing of the many
+problems that confront&nbsp;us.</p>
+
+<p>Briefly the problem is this: To provide a maximum of
+<span class = "pagenum">28</span>
+<a name = "page28" id = "page28"> </a>
+new housing with a minimum expenditure of labour, money, transport, and
+manufactured materials.</p>
+
+<p>Broadly speaking, so far as rural housing is concerned, the solution
+must be sought through the use of natural materials already existing on
+the site, materials that can be worked straight into the fabric of the
+building, without any elaborate or costly conversion, and that by local
+labour.</p>
+
+<p>“Pisé de Terre,” “Chalk Compost,” and “Cob” are three alternative
+forms of construction, one of which will usually fulfil the above
+conditions in any given situation.</p>
+
+<p>Despite the somewhat outlandish and high-sounding name of the first,
+it is nothing more than a very old and very simple method of building,
+recently revived through stress of circumstances. The rude technique has
+happily been kept alive and preserved for us in out-of-the-way corners
+of the Continent and in our Colonies. Wherever there is a sufficiency of
+sunshine to effect the necessary drying, there have earth buildings
+arisen and prospered.</p>
+
+<p>“Cob” building needs less introduction, as it is still well
+understood and a living craft in several parts of Great Britain, notably
+in Devonshire and South Wales, where its merits and advantages have been
+recognised apparently from the earliest times.</p>
+
+<p>All those indeed who are familiar with this method of construction
+are fully alive to its virtues, and the same is true of Pisé-building,
+both in chalk and earth, and also of clay-lump.</p>
+
+<p>This book, however, is addressed to those who have in the past built
+only with stone, brick, concrete, timber and plaster, etc., and who are
+only now considering a reversion to the more primitive construction here
+described, through the shortage or absolute lack of their former
+materials.</p>
+
+<p>It is not so much a question as to whether a Cob or Pisé house is
+preferable to one of brick or stone or concrete&mdash;though there are
+many who profess a lively preference for the former&mdash;but as to
+whether you will boldly revert to
+<span class = "pagenum">29</span>
+<a name = "page29" id = "page29"> </a>
+these old and well-tried methods of building, or, in the absence of the
+ordinary materials, feebly sit down and build nothing at all.</p>
+
+<p>For that will, inevitably, be the alternative for a great many
+private persons. National and Public-Utility Housing Schemes and public
+and industrial works of all sorts will naturally and properly claim
+priority in the matter of all building materials&mdash;and the private
+individual, so far as he can secure such materials at all, will only do
+so at a price that is the logical outcome of an unprecedented demand and
+an ominously inadequate supply.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Local Materials</span></p>
+
+<p>Timber, tiles, slates, plaster, and ironmongery he must still
+purchase and transport as best he may&mdash;but the shell of his house,
+its outer walls at least, could and should be raised from the soil of
+the site itself by the employment of the simplest gear and a small
+amount of unskilled local labour.</p>
+
+<p>So acute indeed is the transport problem, and so small is the hope of
+any substantial improvement in the near future, that any expedient
+tending to ease matters in this respect is worthy of the most serious
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>The restrictions imposed by high freights will of themselves tend to
+check the often senseless and unnecessary importation of materials
+foreign to a district, which in the past was the despair of architects
+of the “traditional” school.</p>
+
+<p>It was a wasteful practice that had gone far to obliterate all but
+the most robust traits in the old and very diverse local building
+conventions of rural England.</p>
+
+<p>Formerly, he who wilfully carried bricks into Merioneth or the
+Cotswolds, or slates into Kent or ragstone-rubble into Middlesex, was
+guilty of no more than foolishness and an æsthetic solecism.</p>
+
+<p>Under present conditions such action should render him liable to
+prosecution and conviction on some such count as “Wasting the shrunken
+resources of his country
+<span class = "pagenum">30</span>
+<a name = "page30" id = "page30"> </a>
+in a time of great scarcity, .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. in that he did wantonly
+transport material for building the walls of a house by rail and road
+from A to B when suitable and sufficient material of another sort and at
+no higher cost existed, and was readily accessible hard by the site
+at&nbsp;B.”</p>
+
+<p>That indeed is our one chance of salvation, the existence and use of
+“the materials of another sort hard by the site.”</p>
+
+<p>These natural materials and their appropriate use in building will be
+considered in the following pages.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">28</span>
+<a name = "fig28a" id = "fig28a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic28a.png" width = "444" height = "293"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption narrow">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Front and Back Elevations of Cottage designed
+by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Mr. Alban Scott.</span><br>
+This Cottage can be built in Cob, Pisé, Concrete, Stone, or Brick.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">29</span>
+<a name = "fig28b" id = "fig28b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic28b.png" width = "532" height = "322"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption wide">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Plan of Cottage designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens
+and Mr. Alban Scott.</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The Lutyens-Scott cottage, of which illustrations are given, is
+designed with a special view to the use of such local materials as cob,
+chalk, and Pisé, though it could also be constructed without appreciable
+modification in stone or brick.</p>
+
+<p>It is thus a model of unusually universal application, providing,
+too, accommodation such as is certain to be demanded by the new and more
+educated generation that it is the aim of the country to produce.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">31</span>
+<a name = "chapI" id = "chapI"> </a>
+
+<h3>I<br>
+<i>COB</i></h3>
+
+<!-- page 32 -->
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">33</span>
+<a name = "page33" id = "page33"> </a>
+
+<h4>I<br>
+<i>COB</i></h4>
+
+<h5><a name = "chapI_I" id = "chapI_I">§ I.</a>
+General</h5>
+
+<p><span class = "firstword">If</span> ever the counties of England
+recover their bygone loyalty to their own materials and their old
+traditions, then cob-building will return to Devon and the West. Cheap
+bricks, cheap transport, and the ignoble rage for fashions from the town
+went far to oust provincial cob from the affections of those whom, with
+their forbears, it had housed so well for several centuries.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the new loyalty be from within, or be imposed from without by
+force of circumstances, matters little. What does matter is the fact of
+its revival.</p>
+
+<p>For with it will come again the building of cottages that are knit
+intimately to their sites and surroundings as of old, cottages
+consanguineous with the ground they stand on, be it brick-earth, rock,
+or common soil.</p>
+
+<p>The soil of Devonshire and of many parts of Wessex and of Wales
+serves excellently well for building in cob or “clom.”<a class = "tag"
+name = "tag3" id = "tag3" href = "#note3">3</a></p>
+
+<p>The soil itself suggested the construction, and the men of Wessex
+were quick to take the hint and to act on&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>The yeomen and small-holders of earlier days were commonly builders
+too, and often built their own homes in their own way, yet by the
+guiding light of local tradition.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the old Devonian countryman in need of a house would set to and
+build it himself&mdash;of stone if that were handy and easily worked, of
+cob if it were not.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">34</span>
+<a name = "page34" id = "page34"> </a>
+<p>No doubt the doors and windows would be made and fitted by the
+village wheelwright; but the cottager himself would thatch or slate the
+roof as naturally and successfully as he built.</p>
+
+<p>The skill and care with which these versatile amateurs built their
+houses was not always of the highest, and careless construction, like
+other sins, is visited on the children&mdash;the worse the sooner.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it is that there are to-day plenty of old cob cottages that are
+both damp and insecure, but to condemn cob building in general because
+certain old builders were careless, ignorant, or incompetent is to
+condemn all materials from wattle and daub to ferro-concrete in the same
+breath.</p>
+
+<p>Cob, being a humble, amenable, and thoroughly accommodating
+substance, has reaped the inevitable reward of good nature in being “put
+upon” and in being asked to stand what is quite beyond its powers of
+endurance, and yet Devon cob houses of Elizabethan date are not
+uncommon.</p>
+
+<p>It is very reasonable in its demands, but two things it does
+require&mdash;dry foundations and a good protecting roof.</p>
+
+<p>To quote an old Devonshire saw on cob&mdash;“Giv’un a gude hat and
+pair of butes an’ ’er’l last for ever.”</p>
+
+<p>In many instances the Devonshire leaseholder, usually only a
+“life-lease” holder, built badly and on indifferent foundations. He
+neglected to repair his thatch, with the consequence that ruin followed
+sooner or later. He did not always use rough-cast, so that it often
+happened that by the time the lease expired the unfortunate landowner
+found that the cottage fell in&mdash;in the literal as well as in the
+legal sense. The lower portions of the walls were honey-combed with
+rat-holes, the walls bulged out or fissures resulted from subsidence,
+and the dwelling presented that appearance of squalor and meanness that
+has led so many to decry the mud buildings of Devon as relics of bygone
+barbarism. But if adequate care is bestowed on the construction, there
+<span class = "pagenum">35</span>
+<a name = "page35" id = "page35"> </a>
+is no reason why cob cottages should not prove at one and the same time
+comfortable to the inmates and pleasant to the eye, and endure for many
+generations.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">34</span>
+<a name = "fig34a" id = "fig34a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic34a.jpg" width = "539" height = "276"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption wide">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Another view of the Cob House built by Mr.
+Ernest Gimson,<br>
+near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.</span></p>
+
+<p class = "right">
+[<i>See Frontispiece</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">35</span>
+<a name = "fig34b" id = "fig34b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic34b.jpg" width = "513" height = "346"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A fine Specimen of a Devonshire Cob
+House.</span></p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+The Beauty of Cob</span></p>
+
+<p>As to their comeliness and longevity, a day’s walk in Devon, or,
+failing that, a&nbsp;glance at the printed pictures will tell all that
+need be told. That the beauty of cob buildings is not due merely to the
+irregularities and weathering produced by the passage of time is
+sufficiently proved by the photographs of Mr. Gimson’s charming cob
+cottage, taken soon after he had finished&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>The work was done a year or two before the war; this is Mr. Gimson’s
+own description of the manner of its building:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+“The cob was made of the stiff sand found on the site; this was mixed
+with water and a great quantity of long wheat straw trodden into it. The
+walls were built 3&nbsp;ft. thick, pared down to 2&nbsp;ft. 6&nbsp;in.,
+and were placed on a plinth standing 18 in. above the ground floor, and
+built of cobble stones found among the sand. The walls were given a coat
+of plaster and a coat of rough-cast, which was gently trowelled over to
+smooth the surface slightly. I&nbsp;believe eight men were engaged on
+the cobwork, some preparing the material, and others treading in on to
+the top of the walls. It took them about three months to reach the wall
+plate; the cost was 6<i>s.</i> a cubic yard, exclusive of the
+plastering. No centring was used. The joists rested on plates, and above
+them the walls were reduced to 2&nbsp;ft. 2&nbsp;in. in thickness to
+leave the ends of the joists free. The beams also rested on wide plates
+and the ends were built round with stone, leaving space for ventilation.
+Tile or slate lintels were used over all openings. The cost of the whole
+house was 6½<i>d.</i> a cubic foot. Building with cob is soon
+learnt&mdash;of the eight men, only one of them had had any previous
+experience, and, I&nbsp;believe, he had not built with it for thirty
+years. This is the only house I have built of cob.”</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">36</span>
+<a name = "page36" id = "page36"> </a>
+<p>What is most interesting in this narrative is the workmen’s lack of
+experience, which seems to have been no hindrance. Anyone who proposes
+to revive the use of cob may take courage from Mr. Gimson’s evidence.
+The time spent in building the walls was reasonable and the cost low. It
+may be guessed that the post-war rise in cost will be no greater in
+proportion, if as great, when compared with brickwork. The natural charm
+of the wall surface is enhanced by the crown of thatched roof, modelled
+with a skill which few can bring so certainly to their task as Mr.
+Gimson.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Method of Building</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "chapI_II" id = "chapI_II">§ II.</a>
+Method of Building</h5>
+
+<p><i>Composition.</i>&mdash;Cob is a mixture of shale and clay, straw
+and water. Shale is a common and widely distributed stratified formation
+of a slaty nature, and there are few types of clay soil that would not
+serve for cob-making.</p>
+
+<p>The precise relative proportion of the first two ingredients varies,
+depending on their individual peculiarities.</p>
+
+<p>Local custom as to the composition and preparation of the mixture
+will generally be found to have adjusted itself to the peculiarities of
+the soil.</p>
+
+<p>The following extract is from an analyst’s report on a sample of
+typical old cob walling:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+“The material when placed in water fell to pieces. On analysis, it was
+found to consist&nbsp;of:</p>
+
+<table class = "inline" summary = "see text">
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td class = "smaller">
+Per cent.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Stones (residue on 7 by 7 mesh sieve)</p></td>
+<td class = "number">24·40</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Sand, coarse (residue on 50 by 50 mesh sieve)</p></td>
+<td class = "number">19·70</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Fine sand (through 50 by 50 mesh sieve)</p></td>
+<td class = "number">32·50</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Clay</td>
+<td class = "number">20·60</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Straw</td>
+<td class = "number">1·25</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Water, etc.</td>
+<td class = "number">1·55</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td class = "sum">100·00</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">37</span>
+<a name = "page37" id = "page37"> </a>
+<p>“The material is a conglomerate of slaty gravel with a very sandy
+clay, to which mixture a small proportion of straw has been added.</p>
+
+<p>“The clay acts as an agglutinant, and the straw as a
+reinforcement.</p>
+
+<p>“Efficient protection from frost and rain would be necessary before
+such material could be considered weatherproof.”</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">36</span>
+<a name = "fig36a" id = "fig36a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic36a.jpg" width = "551" height = "358"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption wide">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A Devonshire Cob Farmhouse, probably between
+200 and 300 years old.</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">37</span>
+<a name = "fig36b" id = "fig36b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic36b.jpg" width = "496" height = "312"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A Cob-built Village.</span></p>
+
+<p>(N.B.&mdash;Lime is occasionally added to the clay-shale, but this is
+not usual.)</p>
+
+<p><i>Mixing.</i>&mdash;The old method of mixing by hand is as follows:
+A&nbsp;“bed” of clay-shale is formed close to the wall where it is to be
+used, sufficient to do one perch. A&nbsp;perch is superficial
+measurement described as 16½ ft. long, 1&nbsp;ft. high, and the amount
+of material will vary according to the thickness of wall required. Four
+men usually work together. The big stones are picked out. The material
+is arranged in a circular heap about 5&nbsp;or 6 ft. in diameter.</p>
+
+<p>Starting at the edge the men turn over the material with cob picks,
+standing and treading on the material all the time. One man sprinkles on
+water, and another sprinkles on barley straw from a wisp held under his
+left arm. The heap is then turned over again in the other direction,
+treading continuing all the time. “Twice turning” is usually considered
+sufficient. Straw bands may be wrapped puttee-wise around the legs of
+the men to keep them clean, and these are removed at the end of the
+day.</p>
+
+<p>More rarely the mixing is done in a rough trough, whilst a
+power-driven “pan-mill” has also been tried with success; though one
+would think that the use of such a machine might tend to diminish the
+binding strength of the straw submitted to its grinding.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Implements</span></p>
+
+<div class = "float">
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pg38a.png" width = "327" height = "317"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+COB PICK<br>
+(Measured from example at Great Fulford).</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><i>Building.</i>&mdash;In building a man stands on the low base-wall,
+and lays the material handed up to him on the cob
+<span class = "pagenum">38</span>
+<a name = "page38" id = "page38"> </a>
+picks, treading it into position. Thorough treading is important, and
+the heels should be well used. The material is allowed to project each
+side an inch or so beyond the stone base to allow for paring down
+afterwards. The courses are usually about 2&nbsp;ft. high. The cob
+should&nbsp;be
+<span class = "pagenum">39</span>
+<a name = "page39" id = "page39"> </a>
+laid and trodden in diagonal layers, as shown in the diagram: this is to
+secure proper bonding. It takes from two to three weeks for a course to
+dry, according to the weather, and five or six men would be required to
+build the walls of an ordinary cottage. This would not keep them
+continuously employed, however, and they would require to have several
+buildings in hand at the same time, so as to be able to turn from one to
+the other while the courses were drying.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pg38b.png" width = "373" height = "125"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption smaller">
+COB COURSE, OR SCAR, SHOWING DIAGONAL LAYERS.</p>
+
+<p>At the completion of a course the corners are plumbed up from the
+stone base below, a&nbsp;line is stretched through and the wall is then
+pared down “plumb” with the “paring iron” by the man standing on the
+wall. Sometimes, however, the paring down is left until the wall is
+finished and dry. Four men will do about four perches per day of a wall
+2&nbsp;ft. thick, preparing and laying material.</p>
+
+<p>The material is rarely laid between timber shuttering as in Pisé
+work, as the retaining boards tend seriously to retard the drying
+out.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pg39.png" width = "460" height = "207"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+PARING IRON<br>
+(Measured from example at Great Fulford)</p>
+
+<p><i>Drying.</i>&mdash;If a course takes from two to three weeks to
+<span class = "pagenum">40</span>
+<a name = "page40" id = "page40"> </a>
+dry, it naturally takes a long time for a whole cottage to completely
+dry out. The walls can be built from about March to September. The
+internal fitting, plastering, etc., can be done in the winter, but the
+external rendering must not be done for at least a year, perhaps two
+years, to allow the walls to become perfectly dry.</p>
+
+<p>As unprotected cob is sensitive to frost, especially if not
+thoroughly dried out, it should be given a good external rendering as
+soon as it is really dry, and should in the meantime be protected from
+frost by some temporary covering, straw-matting or what not. Also all
+cob-work must be protected from the rain both whilst building and when
+built.</p>
+
+<p>No artificial methods of drying are at present usual, beyond good
+fires inside during the winter, though, as under such conditions a cob
+cottage is not usually considered fit to live in for several months
+after completion, some artificial means of drying might be worth
+considering.</p>
+
+<p><i>Foundations and Base.</i>&mdash;The depth of the excavations
+required for the foundations naturally depends upon the character of the
+site and soil, as also does the spread of the footings, if any.</p>
+
+<p>The base-course wall of brick, stone, or concrete should be carried
+up some 2&nbsp;ft. or so above ground level. In old days this walling
+was not infrequently built “dry”&mdash;but good lias lime or cement
+should be used in all new work.</p>
+
+<p>The damp-course too was an unknown refinement to the by-gone
+builders, and the introduction of this one improvement alone makes the
+new cob cottage a very different dwelling from the old.</p>
+
+<p>The usual forms of damp-course serve well for cob walls, though
+slates laid butt and broken joint in cement are probably the best.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Walls and Roofs</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Thickness of Walls.</i>&mdash;The thickness of walls may be
+anything
+<span class = "pagenum">41</span>
+<a name = "page41" id = "page41"> </a>
+you please from 18 in. upwards. There are old examples a full 3&nbsp;ft.
+across, but for an ordinary two-storied cottage a thickness of about
+2&nbsp;ft. is general. Eighteen inches is certainly the minimum
+thickness, and would not ordinarily be adopted for any but one-storied
+buildings.</p>
+
+<p>The first-floor walls are made the same thickness as those below, for
+if they were reduced in width, as is usual in a stone building, the
+extra weight thus thrown on to one side of the ground floor walls would
+tend to make them bulge, unless quite dry and thoroughly set.</p>
+
+<p>There are old cob walls in existence fully 30 ft. in height, and
+there is no apparent limit in this direction provided they are thick
+enough.</p>
+
+<p>The upper layers compress the lower ones, and automatically render
+them more dense and stone-like and fit to bear the load imposed
+above.</p>
+
+<p><i>Hipped Roofs.</i>&mdash;As a general rule, however, it is found
+expedient to hip back the roof rather than carry it up in a tall gable,
+partly because cob-building at a great height above the ground in short
+and diminishing layers is a somewhat tedious process, partly because a
+hipped roof with good eaves is very welcome for the protection that its
+projection affords the walling.</p>
+
+<div class = "float">
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">42</span>
+<img src = "images/pg42a.png" width = "265" height = "244"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption smaller">
+WALL COPINGS.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><i>Masonry and Carpentry.</i>&mdash;The bonding of cob to stone and
+brick is sometimes liable to leave an open joint that will require
+filling when the cob dries and shrinks. Many of the chimneys in old cob
+houses are of brick or stone, and brick and stone jambs are sometimes to
+be seen in cob walls, but they are probably by way of repairs to damaged
+corners. It is considered better to have cob all round, so ensuring the
+uniform settlement of the building.</p>
+
+<p>The timber built into old cob does not seem to decay. The walls are
+usually so dry, especially when plastered, that the wood is well
+preserved. The straw in the interior of old cob walls is often as bright
+as when put in. The straw in cob performs a similar function to hair in
+plaster.
+<span class = "pagenum">42</span>
+<a name = "page42" id = "page42"> </a>
+Heather has sometimes been used instead of straw with good results.</p>
+
+<div class = "float">
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">42</span>
+<img src = "images/pg42b.png" width = "209" height = "149"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption smaller">
+LINTEL-BEARING CROSS-PIECE</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The old practice was for beams, wall plates, joists, etc., to be just
+bedded on the cob, and for the cob to be filled in between the joists.
+In new work, particularly when the use of imperfectly seasoned timber is
+unavoidable, it would be wise to take the usual precautions as to the
+proper ventilation of all “built in” woodwork&mdash;especially the ends
+of joists and so forth. Roofs must of course be tied and exercise no
+thrust on walls. The roof plates are sometimes tied down by galvanised
+iron wire.</p>
+
+<p>Door and window-frames are also fixed to wood blocks built into the
+jambs and to the wood lintels above. The frames are sometimes near the
+outer face of wall, sometimes
+<span class = "pagenum">43</span>
+<a name = "page43" id = "page43"> </a>
+near the inner-face. Where the door-frames are on the interior face of a
+2&nbsp;ft. thick wall, a&nbsp;convenient porch results.</p>
+
+<p>Other joinery is fixed to wood pins driven into the cob where
+required.</p>
+
+<p>Corners are usually of cob, though stone quoins are occasionally met
+with.</p>
+
+<p>Lintels are usually of wood well tailed into the wall and resting on
+a wood pad placed crosswise.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">42</span>
+<a name = "fig42a" id = "fig42a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic42a.jpg" width = "547" height = "339"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A&nbsp;Devonshire Farm, Local Material
+(Cob).</span></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">43</span>
+<a name = "fig42b" id = "fig42b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic42b.jpg" width = "544" height = "327"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Devon Country House, built of Devon
+Cob.</span></p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Protection</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Protection.</i>&mdash;Old buildings that have been neglected are
+often found to be somewhat eroded towards the bottom of their walls
+through the action of rain and frost.</p>
+
+<p>Protection is less here than higher up under the projecting eaves,
+and the Achilles’ heel of the cob wall is undoubtedly its base.</p>
+
+<p>This vulnerable part, exposed as it is to driven rain, back-splash,
+and the casual kicks, should be given special protection.</p>
+
+<p>Where the base is of cob and not of masonry, the traditional method
+is to provide a good deep skirting of pitch or tar, or a mixture of
+both, applied hot to the face of the rendering that should completely
+cover the exterior of all cob work.</p>
+
+<p>This rendering is usually composed of lime and hair mortar, though
+Portland cement has come into use to some extent recently.</p>
+
+<p>Cement, however, is apt to be rather too “short” and brittle, and it
+does not always hold to the cob walling very securely.</p>
+
+<p>A rendering consisting of an equal mixture of cement and lime with
+three parts of sand adheres well to cob, however, and is probably the
+best coating that can be given to&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>This coating can be colour-washed or lime-whited in the usual way.
+The granular surface of rough rendering or of “slap-dash” on the
+slightly wavy surface of cob
+<span class = "pagenum">44</span>
+<a name = "page44" id = "page44"> </a>
+walling perhaps gives to whitewash its very highest opportunity and
+charm.</p>
+
+<p>Certain it is that the old cob cottages of Devon with the pearly
+gleam of their white walls, their heaving bulk of thatch and their trim
+black skirtings, are as gracious and as pleasant to the eye as any in
+all the length and breadth of England.</p>
+
+<p>Within, lime-and-hair mortar plastered straight on to the cob makes
+an excellent lining.</p>
+
+<p><i>Chimneys.</i>&mdash;Nowadays, chimneys are commonly built up in
+brick or stone, but numerous good examples survive of flues and stacks
+constructed in cob. The insides of these are pargeted with lime and
+cow-dung in the usual way, brickwork being only introduced immediately
+around the fireplaces.</p>
+
+<p><i>Rats.</i>&mdash;Where the surface rendering of cob-walls has been
+omitted or has been allowed to fall away, an enterprising rat will
+sometimes do considerable damage by his tunnelling.</p>
+
+<p>A little powdered glass mixed with the lower strata of a wall will
+discourage any such burrowing, but the best preservative for any cob
+building is a thoroughly good skin of rendering, especially if this be
+reinforced by fine-mesh wire-netting secured to the wall.</p>
+
+<p><i>Strength.</i>&mdash;The strength of cob walls is surprisingly
+great so long as they are vertical, and are not subjected to undue
+lateral thrust or tension.</p>
+
+<p>Beams as large as 12 in. by 12 in. may be seen supported by old cob
+walls, and there is nothing likely to be asked of the material in the
+way of strength to which it cannot easily respond.</p>
+
+<p><i>Design.</i>&mdash;Cob, like every other material, should have a
+certain say in the design of any building in which its use is
+intended.</p>
+
+<p>The chief desiderata are a plain straightforward plan and broadly
+treated elevations where voids and solids are
+<span class = "pagenum">45</span>
+<a name = "page45" id = "page45"> </a>
+carefully disposed with an eye to getting as large unbroken blocks of
+cob as possible.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">44</span>
+<a name = "fig44a" id = "fig44a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic44a.jpg" width = "470" height = "341"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Cob House temp. Elizabeth,
+Lewishill.</span></p>
+<p class = "caption long">
+Walls from 3 ft. to 4 ft. thick. A wing was added in 1618. This farm has
+been occupied by the family of the present holder between 300 and 400
+years.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">45</span>
+<a name = "fig44b" id = "fig44b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic44b.jpg" width = "496" height = "347"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Another Devonshire (Cob) Farmhouse, Weeke
+Barton.</span></p>
+
+<p>The cracks that are sometimes found in old cob buildings are almost
+entirely attributable to unsuitable design in such respects, or to bad
+foundations.</p>
+
+<p>Cob walls built up in the ordinary way are not very suitable for
+internal partitions on account of their considerable width and the
+consequent waste of space, though in old work cob was sometimes used as
+a filling for stud and lath partitions which were finally plastered over
+in the usual way.</p>
+
+<p>The sun-dried clay-lumps so much used for walling in Suffolk would
+seem to be admirable for forming the partitions in a house of cob.</p>
+
+<p>Cob work is usually repaired with rubble, stone, or brick.</p>
+
+<p>New openings are easily cut through cob walls, and this fact has
+occasionally led to the collapse of an old building through the zeal for
+light and air of some new occupier exceeding his caution, and causing
+him to cut away the substance of his walls in cheerful disregard of the
+laws of gravity.</p>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "chapI_III" id = "chapI_III">§ III.</a>
+Conclusion</h5>
+
+<h6>AUTHORITIES&mdash;ANCIENT AND MODERN</h6>
+
+<p>Not by any means was cob exclusively the poor man’s material, and
+several old homes of this sort still survive that are of some
+consideration.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Raleigh’s House</span></p>
+
+<p>Amongst them is Hayes Barton, the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh.
+Writing of Raleigh and his home, Mr. Charles Bernard says:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+<i>Sir Walter Raleigh’s House.</i>&mdash;“He had great affection for his
+boyhood’s home&mdash;the old manor-house at Hayes
+<span class = "pagenum">46</span>
+<a name = "page46" id = "page46"> </a>
+Barton where he was born, and did his best to secure it from its then
+owner. ‘I&nbsp;will,’ he wrote, ‘most willingly give you whatsoever in
+your conscience you shall deme it worth .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. for ye naturall
+disposition I have to that place, being borne in that house, I&nbsp;had
+rather see myself there than anywhere else.’ But alas! it was not to be,
+and the snug and friendly Tudor homestead passed into other hands. The
+house at Hayes Barton was probably not newly built when Raleigh’s
+parents lived there, and it says much for the character of cob that the
+house is as good to-day as ever it was; though for all that it has, to
+use Mr. Eden Phillpotts’ words, ‘been patched and tinkered through the
+centuries,’ it ‘still endures, complete and sturdy, in harmony of old
+design, with unspoiled dignity from a far past.’ Lady Rosalind Northcote
+gives the following description of the house in her <i>Devon</i>. She
+writes: “In front of the garden, a&nbsp;swirling stream crosses a strip
+of green; and in the garden, at the right time, one may see the bees
+busy among golden-powdered clusters of candytuft, and dark red
+gillyflowers, and a few flame rose-coloured tulips, proud and erect. The
+house is very picturesque; it has cob walls and a thatched roof, and is
+built in the shape of the letter <span class = "sans">E</span>; a wing
+projects at either end, and in the middle the porch juts out slightly.
+The two wings are gabled; there is a small gable over the porch and two
+dormer ones over the windows at each side of it, the windows having
+lattice lights and narrow mullions. Dark carved beams above them show up
+well against the cream-coloured walls. The heavy door is closely studded
+with nails, and over it fall the delicate sprays and lilac “butterfly”
+blossoms of wistaria.’”</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">46</span>
+<a name = "fig46a" id = "fig46a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic46a1.jpg" width = "439" height = "132"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pic46a2.jpg" width = "437" height = "234"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pic46a3.jpg" width = "438" height = "269"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Ceilings of Modelled Plaster from old Cob
+Houses in Devon.</span></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">47</span>
+<a name = "fig46b" id = "fig46b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic46b.jpg" width = "557" height = "394"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A&nbsp;Cob Garden-wall with Thatched
+Coping.</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Reed Thatch.</i>&mdash;In recent years slates or tiles have
+replaced thatch for the roofing of cob buildings and walls, owing to the
+cost of reed (the local name for the straw from
+<span class = "pagenum">47</span>
+<a name = "page47" id = "page47"> </a>
+which the grain has been hand-threshed by flail to prevent the straw
+being broken), and the difficulty of getting good thatchers. The opinion
+is held by many that the lasting quality of thatch has deteriorated
+since the practice of liming the cornland has unfortunately been
+given&nbsp;up.</p>
+
+<p><i>Primitive Methods.</i>&mdash;Formerly the ground floors of cob
+cottages were all cobbled, but these have, generally speaking, been
+replaced by lime, ash, or cement floors. The cob builders of past
+generations apparently made no use of the square, plumb-line, or level.
+No laths were used for the walls, which were plastered within; outside,
+rough-cast or “slap-dash” was laid&nbsp;on.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Mr. Baring-Gould</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Mr. Baring-Gould’s Testimony.</i>&mdash;Mr. S. Baring-Gould, in
+his <i>Book of the West</i>, writing on the subject says: “No house can
+be considered more warm and cosy than that built of cob, especially when
+thatched. It is warm in winter and cool in summer, and I have known
+labourers bitterly bewail their fate in being transferred from an old
+fifteenth or sixteenth century cob cottage into a newly-built stone
+edifice of the most approved style, as they said it was like going out
+of warm life into a cold grave.”</p>
+
+
+<h6>DEVON COB</h6>
+
+<p>The following paragraph, taken from C. B. Allen’s
+<i>Cottage-Building</i>, is of interest:</p>
+
+<p>“The cob walls of Devonshire have been known to last above a century
+without requiring the slightest repair, and the Rev. W. Elicombe, who
+has himself built several houses of two stories with cob walls, says
+that he was born in a cob-wall parsonage built in the reign of
+Elizabeth, or somewhat earlier, and that it had to be taken down to be
+rebuilt only in the year 1831.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Fruit Walls.</i>&mdash;Again quoting Mr. Baring-Gould: “Cob walls
+for garden fruit are incomparable. They retain the warmth of the sun and
+give it out through the night,
+<span class = "pagenum">48</span>
+<a name = "page48" id = "page48"> </a>
+and when protected on top by slates, tiles, or thatch, will last for
+centuries.” It will be seen that the disadvantages of cob buildings are
+solely due to faults of construction, and not to any inherent defect in
+properly made cob as a material, and that the construction of cottages,
+farm buildings, and garden walls is well within the compass of an
+averagely intelligent workman.</p>
+
+<p>It is not intended to argue that the cob cottage could be
+advantageously built in every county, but only that where it has been
+used and liked for centuries, a&nbsp;wise building policy would
+encourage its continuance. The materials are at hand, and the population
+ready to welcome this form of dwelling-place.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Old Cob Lore</span></p>
+
+<p><i>An Old Authority.</i>&mdash;An old writer treating of
+cottage-building thus delivers himself:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+“A Bill for inclosing the waste lands of the kingdom having been
+introduced into the House of Commons, under the auspices of the Board of
+Agriculture, and as so beneficial a Bill cannot fail, sooner or later,
+to pass into a law, and as in consequence thereof, many small houses
+must necessarily be built, suited to small estates issuing out of
+allotments of such wastes, we have been induced to submit to the
+consideration of the Board three plans of such small houses to be built
+of different species of materials.</p>
+
+<p>“The first is with mud walls, composed of soft mire and straw, well
+trodden together, and which, by degrees, is laid on,
+stratum-super-stratum, to the height required; a&nbsp;species of
+building not uncommon for cottages, and even for better houses, barns,
+etc., in the western and some other parts of the kingdom. It is the
+cheapest habitation that we can construct and is also very dry and
+comfortable.”</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+And again:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+“Walls of mud, or of compressed earth, are still more
+<span class = "pagenum">49</span>
+<a name = "page49" id = "page49"> </a>
+economical than those of timber, and if they were raised on brick or
+stone foundations, the height of a foot or 18 in. above the ground, or
+above the highest point at which dung or moist straw was ever likely to
+be placed against them, their durability would be equal to that of
+marble, if properly constructed and kept perfectly dry. The cob walls of
+Devonshire, which are formed of clay and straw trodden together by oxen,
+have been known to last above a century without requiring the slightest
+repair; and we think that there are many farmers, especially in America
+and Australia, who if they knew how easily walls of this description
+could be built, would often avail themselves of them for various
+agricultural purposes.</p>
+
+<p>“The solidity of cob walls depends much upon their not being hurried
+in the process of making them, for if hurried, the walls will surely be
+crippled, that is, they will swag or swerve from the perpendicular. It
+is usual to pare down the sides of each successive rise before another
+is added to it. The instrument used for this purpose is like a baker’s
+peel (a&nbsp;kind of wooden shovel for taking the bread out of the
+oven), but the cob-parer is made of iron. The lintels of the doors and
+windows and of the cupboards and other recesses are put in as the work
+advances (allowance being made for their settling), bedding them on
+cross pieces, and the walls being carried up solid. The respective
+openings are cut out after the work is well settled. In Devonshire the
+builders of cob-wall houses like to begin their work when the birds
+begin to build their nests, in order that there may be time to cover in
+the shell of the building before winter. The outer walls are plastered
+the following spring. Should the work be overtaken by winter before the
+roof is on, it is usual to put a temporary covering of thatch upon the
+walls, to protect them from the frost.”</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Mr. Fulford’s Evidence</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Mr. Fulford’s Evidence.</i>&mdash;Mr. Fulford, of Great Fulford,
+near Exeter, whose own village and estate can show as
+<span class = "pagenum">50</span>
+<a name = "page50" id = "page50"> </a>
+many good examples of old cob work as any place in Devon, writes as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+<i>Cost.</i>&mdash;“It is not possible to give a close estimate of what
+would now be the comparative cost of a building in cob, stone, or brick,
+as this must depend upon the exact locality of the site. It may,
+however, be of assistance if I quote particulars of the relative cost of
+cob and stone building in Devon in the year 1808 when cob was in common
+use. The stonework referred to was rough rubble, and not with square or
+dressed blocks. It must be borne in mind that up to that date
+practically all material, stone, lime, etc., was carried on horses’
+backs. Wheeled carts which began to creep in about the beginning of
+1800, were not in general use until twenty or thirty years later. As a
+boy I knew a farmer who remembered the first wheeled cart coming to
+Dunsford. In 1838 the Rector of Bridford (the ‘Christowell’ of
+Blackmore’s novel) recorded the fact that in 1818 there was only one
+cart in the parish and it was scarcely used twice a year. In 1808 the
+price of building varied according to the district. In the northern part
+of the county the common price of stonework, including the value of
+three quarts of cider or beer daily, was from 22<i>d.</i> to 24<i>d.</i>
+the perch (16½&nbsp;ft.), 22 in. in width and 1&nbsp;ft. in height.
+Including all expenses of quarrying and carriage of materials, stonework
+worked out at from 5<i>s.</i> to 6<i>s.</i> per perch running measure,
+and cob estimated in like manner at about 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> Masons
+when not employed by the piece received 2<i>s.</i> per day, and
+allowance of beer or cider. In the Dunstone district (the clay shales
+from which make the best cob) masonwork was 18<i>d.</i> per rope of 20
+ft. in length, 18 in. thick, and 1&nbsp;ft. high, stone and all
+materials found and placed on the spot; cob work of the same measure was
+14<i>d.</i> In the South Hams district masonwork cost 2<i>s.</i>
+6<i>d.</i>, and cob 2<i>s.</i> per perch of 18 ft. in length, 2&nbsp;ft.
+thick, and 1&nbsp;ft. high.”</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">51</span>
+<a name = "page51" id = "page51"> </a>
+<p><i>Use of Shuttering.</i>&mdash;“In those parts of the red land where
+Dunstone shillot or clay shale is not available, the red clay was mixed
+with small stones or gravel, and frequently the cob was laid and trodden
+down between side boards as used in building concrete walls. Three
+cartloads of clay built a perch and a half of wall 20 in. wide and
+1&nbsp;ft. deep. Eight bundles of barley straw, equal to one pack-horse
+load, were mixed and tempered with nine cartloads of clay.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Roofing.</i>&mdash;“Thatching in 1808 cost 8<i>s.</i> per square
+of 10 ft.; 100 sheaves of wheat-straw reed, weighing 25 lb. each, were
+sufficient for one square. Thatching, however, is not, as many suppose,
+indispensable as a roofing for cob buildings; slate found in many parts
+of Devon was frequently used, and of late years Welsh and Delabole
+slates, tiles, and unfortunately, from the picturesque point of view,
+corrugated iron, have to a large extent supplanted thatch.”</p>
+
+<p><i>A Protective Wash.</i>&mdash;“Vancouver, in his report on the
+Survey of Devon for the Board of Agriculture in 1808, gave the following
+recipe, which he described as a preserving and highly ornamental wash
+for rough-cast that was then getting into common use: ‘Four parts of
+pounded lime, three of sand, two of pounded wood ashes, and one of
+scoria of iron, mixed well together and made sufficiently fluid to be
+applied with a brush. When dry it gives the appearance of new Portland
+stone, and affords an excellent protection against the penetrating force
+of the south-westerly storms<ins class = "correction" title =
+"text has single quote">.”&nbsp;</ins></p>
+
+<p><i>Rendering.</i>&mdash;“For the rough-weather sides of cob buildings
+I have found cement and sand, finished with a rough surface,
+satisfactory, and far more durable than ordinary lime and gravel rough
+cast. For interior cob walls, laths are not necessary. The old
+plastering was frequently laid on too thick. Of late years I have used
+with excellent results granite silicon plaster for ceilings and walls.
+This requires no hair, and is easily applied<ins class = "correction"
+title = "close quote missing">.”&nbsp;</ins></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">52</span>
+<a name = "page52" id = "page52"> </a>
+<p><i>The Cob Tradition.</i>&mdash;“Cob-making was, like many other
+local trades, carried on in some families from generation to generation
+and developed by them into an art, but apart from these specialists,
+practically every village mason and his labourers built as much with cob
+as they did with stone. There are men still left in various parts of the
+county who have made cob, and it would, in my opinion, be of advantage
+if demonstrations could be given by them to discharged sailors and
+soldiers who are anxious to take up work on the land.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Training of ex-Soldiers.</i>&mdash;“In cob-building, as in many
+other arts and crafts, a&nbsp;little showing is of far greater help to
+the novice than any amount of text-book instruction. The knowledge and
+experience that these men would gain from being shown, and better still,
+assisting an expert in making cob, would be of material advantage in the
+development of the county scheme promoted by the Central Land
+Association for the establishment of ex-Service men on the land. They
+could try their ’prentice hands on walls, tool-sheds, cart linhays,
+etc., for their own use, and some no doubt would develop into expert
+builders capable of constructing walls for dwelling-houses from approved
+plans.”</p>
+
+<p><i>1819 Conditions Returned.</i>&mdash;“The depletion of our
+home-grown timber supply and the prohibitive cost of practically all
+building material has in effect brought about the conditions that led
+our forefathers to utilise suitable material that lay nearest to hand,
+and unless some endeavour is made to follow their methods and profit by
+their example, it will be impossible to provide sufficient buildings for
+the necessary equipment of the allotments and small holdings, let alone
+housing accommodation for the workers on the land.”</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+A Champion of Cob</span></p>
+
+<p>There is probably no one who knows more about cob than does Mr.
+Fulford&mdash;certainly no one who has done
+<span class = "pagenum">53</span>
+<a name = "page53" id = "page53"> </a>
+more to promote the revival of cob-building both by precept and
+example.</p>
+
+<p>Cob is the traditional material of his native place, he has, as it
+were, been brought up on cob&mdash;he is familiar with both the ancient
+history and the modern practice of cob-building, and in short, he
+“knows.”</p>
+
+<p>When a revivalist has knowledge as well as enthusiasm, the grounds of
+his faith are usually worth serious attention.</p>
+
+<p class = "footnote">
+<a class = "tag" name = "note3" id = "note3" href = "#tag3">3</a>
+Probably, indeed, there is no county in the kingdom that has not
+considerable areas where the soil would, if tried, prove well adapted
+for cob-building.</p>
+
+
+<!-- page 54 -->
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">55</span>
+<a name = "chapII" id = "chapII"> </a>
+
+<h3>II<br>
+<i>PISÉ DE TERRE</i></h3>
+
+
+<!-- page 56 -->
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">57</span>
+<a name = "page57" id = "page57"> </a>
+
+<h4>II<br>
+<i>PISÉ DE TERRE</i></h4>
+
+<h5><a name = "chapII_I" id = "chapII_I">§ I.</a>
+General</h5>
+
+<p><i>What it is.</i>&mdash;“Pisé de terre” is merely the French for
+rammed earth, and rammed earth is an exceedingly good material for the
+building of walls.</p>
+
+<p>The odd thing is that its very obvious merits should have secured it
+such small attention.</p>
+
+<p>It is no new-fangled war-time invention brought forth by our present
+necessity, but a very ancient system well proved by centuries of
+trial.</p>
+
+<p><i>History.</i>&mdash;Pliny gives an excellent account of
+Pisé-building in his <i>Natural History</i>, and Monsieur Gorffon, who
+published a treatise on this method of construction in 1772, states that
+it was first introduced into France by the Romans.</p>
+
+<p>The following extracts from an old book based on a French original
+will serve well as an introduction to the study of Pisé-building:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+<i>Capabilities.</i>&mdash;“An account of a method of building strong
+and durable houses, with no other materials than earth; which has been
+practised for ages in the province of Lyons, though little known in the
+rest of France, or in any other part of Europe. It appeared to be
+attended with so many advantages, that many gentlemen in this country
+who employ their leisure in the study of rural economy were induced to
+make a trial of its efficiency; and the result of their experiments has
+been of such a nature as
+<span class = "pagenum">58</span>
+<a name = "page58" id = "page58"> </a>
+to make them desire, by all possible means, to extend the knowledge and
+practice of so beneficial an art.</p>
+
+<p>“The possibility of raising the walls of houses two or even three
+stories high, with earth only, which will sustain floors loaded with the
+heaviest weights, and of building the largest manufactories in this
+manner, may astonish every one who has not been an eye-witness of such
+things.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Of Pisé and its Origin.</i>&mdash;“Pisé is a very simple manual
+operation; it is merely by compressing earth in moulds or cases, that we
+may arrive at building houses of any size or height.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Locale.</i>&mdash;“This art, though at present confined to the
+single province of the Lyonese in France, was known and practised at a
+very early period of antiquity. The Abbé Rozier, in his <i>Journal de
+Physique</i>, says that he has discovered some traces of it (Pisé) in
+Catalonia; so that Spain, like France, has a single province in which
+this ancient manner of building has been preserved. The art, however,
+well deserves to be introduced into more general use. The cheapness of
+the materials which it requires, and the great saving of time and labour
+which it admits of, must recommend it in all places and on all
+occasions, but the French author says that it will be found particularly
+useful in hilly countries, where carriage is difficult, and sometimes
+impracticable; and for farm buildings, which, as they must be made of
+considerable extent, are usually very expensive, without yielding any
+return.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Method of Building</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "chapII_II" id = "chapII_II">§ II.</a>
+Method of Building</h5>
+
+<p>There is an exhaustive article on Pisé in Vol. XXVII of <i>The
+Cyclopædia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and
+Literature</i>, published in 1819. The writer, Abraham Rees, D.D.,
+F.R.S., F.L.S., draws chiefly on French authorities and his directions
+are most detailed and precise.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">58</span>
+<a name = "fig58a" id = "fig58a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic58a.jpg" width = "447" height = "609"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+PISÉ.<br>
+<i>Implements for Pisé or Rammed Earth Buildings</i><br>
+<!-- J. F... delin. / Lowry / Published as the Act directs 1817 by
+Longman Hurst Rees, Orme &amp; Brown Paternoster Row.<br> -->
+<span class = "smallcaps">Pisé Plant and Implements.</span><br>
+(Reproduced from an old Encyclopædia.)<br>
+<a href = "images/pic58a_large.jpg" target = "_blank">Larger
+View</a></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">59</span>
+<a name = "page59" id = "page59"> </a>
+<p><i>Definition.</i>&mdash;He introduces his subject thus:</p>
+
+<p>“Pisé-building, in Rural Economy, the name of a method of building
+with loamy or other earthy matters, which has long been practised with
+great success, and in a very cheap manner, in some departments of
+France, and which is now had recourse to with similar advantage in some
+parts of this country. It has been described, delineated, and
+recommended by Mr. H.&nbsp;Holland in the first volume of
+<i>Communications to the Board of Agriculture</i>, and is to be managed
+somewhat in the manner directed below.”</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+At great length and with immense detail, the plant, the preliminaries,
+and the process are each severally described.</p>
+
+<p>The pith of the matter is sufficiently given by the following
+extracts:</p>
+
+<p><i>Shuttering.</i>&mdash;“For the construction of the mould, take
+several planks, each 10 ft. long, of light wood, in order that the mould
+may be easy to handle; deal is the best as being least liable to warp.
+To prevent which the boards should be straight, sound, well seasoned,
+and with as few knots as possible. Let them be ploughed and tongued, and
+planed on both sides. Of these planks, fastened together with four
+strong ledges on each side, the mould must be made, 2&nbsp;ft.
+9&nbsp;in. in height; and two handles should be fixed to each side.</p>
+
+<p>“All the boards and ledges here mentioned must be, after they are
+planed, something more than 1&nbsp;in. thick.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Rammer.</i>&mdash;“The instrument with which the earth is rammed
+into the mould is a tool of the greatest consequence, on which the
+firmness and durability, in short the perfection, of the work depends.
+It is called a pisoir, or rammer; and though it may appear very easy to
+make it, more difficulty will be found in the execution than is at first
+apprehended. A&nbsp;better idea of its construction may be formed by
+examining the Plate, in which it is delineated,
+<span class = "pagenum">60</span>
+<a name = "page60" id = "page60"> </a>
+than any words can convey. It should be made of hard wood, either ash,
+oak, beech, walnut, etc., or what is preferable, the roots of either of
+them.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Method of Working.</i>&mdash;“Pisé contains all the best
+principles of masonry, together with some rules peculiar to itself,
+which are now to be explained.</p>
+
+<p>“To begin with the foundation; this may be made of any kind of
+masonry that is durable, and should be raised to the height of
+2&nbsp;ft. above the ground; which is necessary to secure the walls from
+the moisture of the earth, and the splashing of the rain, which will
+drop from the eaves of the roof.<a class = "tag" name = "tag4" id =
+"tag4" href = "#note4">4</a> When these foundation walls are made level,
+and 18 in. thick, mark upon them the distance at which the joists are to
+be set, for receiving the moulds; those distances should be 3&nbsp;ft.
+each from centre to centre. Each side of the mould being 10 ft. long,
+will divide into three lengths of 3&nbsp;ft. each, and leave 6&nbsp;in.
+at each end, which serve to lengthen the mould at the angles of the
+house and are useful for many other purposes. After having set the
+joists in their places, the masonry must be raised between them
+6&nbsp;in. higher, that is, to a level with the joists; there will,
+therefore, altogether be a base of 2½ ft., which in most cases will be
+found more than sufficient to prevent the rain, frost, snow, or damp
+from injuring the walls. Raise the mould immediately on this new
+masonry, placing it over one of the angles of the wall.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+The Ramming</span></p>
+
+<p>“A workman should be placed in each of the three divisions of the
+mould, the best workman being placed at the angle. He is to direct the
+work of the other two, and by occasionally applying a plumb-rule, to
+take care that the mould does not swerve from its upright position. The
+labourers who dig and prepare the earth must give it in small quantities
+to the workmen in the mould, who, after having
+<span class = "pagenum">61</span>
+<a name = "page61" id = "page61"> </a>
+spread it with their feet, begin to compress it with the rammer. They
+must only receive at a time so much as will cover the bottom of the
+mould to the thickness of 3&nbsp;or 4 in. The first strokes of the
+rammer should be given close to the sides of the mould, but they must be
+afterwards applied to every other part of the surface; the men should
+then cross their strokes, so that the earth may be compressed in every
+direction. Those who stand next to one another in the mould should
+regulate their strokes so as to beat at the same time under the cord,
+because that part cannot be got at without difficulty, and must be
+struck obliquely; with this precaution, the whole will be equally
+compressed. The man at the angle of the wall should beat carefully
+against the head of the mould.</p>
+
+<p>“Care must be taken that no fresh earth is received into the mould
+till the first layer is well beaten, which may be ascertained by
+striking it with a rammer; the stroke should leave hardly any print on
+the place. They must proceed in this manner to ram in layer after layer,
+till the whole mould is full. When this is done, the machine may be
+taken to pieces, and the earth which is contained will remain firm and
+upright, about 9&nbsp;ft. in length and 2½&nbsp;ft. in height. The mould
+may then be replaced for another length, including 1&nbsp;in. of that
+which has first been completed.</p>
+
+<p>“The first course being thus completed, we proceed to the second; and
+here it must be observed that in each successive course we must proceed
+in a direction contrary to that of the preceding. It may easily be
+conceived, that with this precaution the joints of the several lengths
+will be inclined in opposite directions, which will contribute very much
+to the firmness of the work. There is no reason to fear overcharging the
+first course with the second, though but just laid; for three courses
+may be laid without danger in one day.</p>
+
+<p>“This description of the first two courses is equally applicable
+<span class = "pagenum">62</span>
+<a name = "page62" id = "page62"> </a>
+to all the others, and will enable any person to build a house, with no
+other materials than earth, of whatever height and extent he
+pleases.</p>
+
+<p>“With respect to the gables, they may be made without any difficulty,
+by merely making their inclination in the mould and working the earth
+accordingly.”</p>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "chapII_III" id = "chapII_III">§ III.</a>
+The Theory and Science of Pisé</h5>
+
+<p><i>The Value of Ramming.</i>&mdash;“Beating, or compression, is used
+in many different sorts of work; the ancients employed it in making
+their rough walls; the Italians employ it for the terraces which adorn
+their houses; the Moors for all their walls; the Spaniards, the French,
+and others for some of the floors of their apartments. The intent of the
+ancient architects, when they recommended the beating of cement and
+other compositions used in building, was to prevent them from shrinking
+and cracking; and it is employed for the same purpose in walls which are
+made of earth. The beater, by repeated strokes, forces out from the
+earth the superfluous water which is contained and closely unites all
+the particles together, by which means the natural attraction of these
+particles is made powerful to operate, as it is by other natural causes
+in the formation of stones. Hence arises the increasing strength and
+astonishing durability which houses of this kind are found to
+possess.”</p>
+
+<p><i>An Experiment.</i>&mdash;“Upon beating a small portion of earth,
+and weighing it immediately afterwards, it was found to weigh 39½ lb.
+Fifteen days after, it had lost 4¼ lb. In the space of another fifteen
+days it lost but 1 lb.; and in fifteen days after that its weight
+diminished only ½ lb. In the space of about forty-five days the moisture
+was completely evaporated, and its weight was diminished about
+one-eighth; consequently only one-eighth of the whole mass was occupied
+by moisture, and this small proportion cannot at all affect the solidity
+and consistency
+<span class = "pagenum">63</span>
+<a name = "page63" id = "page63"> </a>
+of the earth so treated. This experiment is also sufficient to show the
+difference between this kind of building and that vulgar kind called in
+England ‘mud-walling.’”</p>
+
+<p><i>Rate of Work.</i>&mdash;“In one single day three courses of about
+3&nbsp;ft. each may be laid one over the other; so that a wall of earth
+of about 8&nbsp;or 9 ft., or one story high, may be safely raised in one
+day. Experience has proved that as soon as the builders have raised
+their walls to a proper height for flooring, the heaviest beams and
+rafters may without danger be placed on the walls thus newly made; and
+that the thickest timber of a roof may be laid on the gables of pisé the
+very instant they are completed.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Suitable Soils</span></p>
+
+<h6>ON EARTH PROPER FOR BUILDING</h6>
+
+<p><i>Suitable Soils.</i>&mdash;“1st. All earths in general are fit for
+that use, when they have not the lightness of poor lands nor the
+stiffness of clay.</p>
+
+<p>“2ndly. All earths fit for vegetation.</p>
+
+<p>“3rdly. Brick-earths; but these, if they are used alone, are apt to
+crack, owing to the quantity of moisture which they contain. This,
+however, does not hinder persons who understand the business from using
+them to a good purpose.</p>
+
+<p>“4thly. Strong earths, with a mixture of small gravel, which for that
+reason cannot serve for making either bricks, tiles, or pottery. These
+gravelly earths are very useful, and the best pisé is made of them.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Soil Tests.</i>&mdash;“The following appearances indicate that the
+earth in which they are found is fit for building: when a pickaxe,
+spade, or plough brings up large lumps of earth at a time; when arable
+lands lies in clods or lumps; when field-mice have made themselves
+subterraneous passages in the earth; all these are favourable signs.
+When the roads of a village, having been worn away by the water
+continually running through them, are lower than the other lands, and
+the sides of those roads support themselves
+<span class = "pagenum">64</span>
+<a name = "page64" id = "page64"> </a>
+almost upright, it is a sure mark that pisé may be executed in that
+village. One may also discover the fitness of the soil by trying to
+break with one’s fingers the little clods of earth in the roads, and
+finding a difficulty in doing it; or by observing the ruts of the road,
+in which the cart-wheels make a sort of pisé by their pressure; whenever
+there are deep ruts on a road, one may be sure of finding abundance of
+proper earth.</p>
+
+<p>“Proper earth is found at the bottom of the slopes of low lands that
+are cultivated, because every year the rain brings down the fat or good
+earth. It is frequently found on the banks of the river, but above all,
+it is found at the foot of hills, and on all cultivated lands which have
+much slope. In digging trenches and cellars for building, it generally
+happens that what comes out of them is fit for the purpose.”</p>
+
+
+<h6>ON THE MIXTURE OF EARTHS</h6>
+
+<p><i>Soil Blending.</i>&mdash;“As it may sometimes happen that earth of
+a proper quality is not to be found on the spot where it is intended to
+build, it becomes of importance to attend to the method of mixing
+earths; for though the earth which is near at hand may not of itself be
+proper, it is very probable that it may be rendered so by the mixture of
+a small quantity of another earth fetched from a distance. The principle
+on which a mixture must be made is very simple; strong earths must be
+tempered with light; those in which clay predominates, with others that
+are composed more of chalk and sand; and those of a rich, glutinous
+substance, with others of a poor and barren nature. The degree in which
+these qualities of the earths prevail must determine the proportions of
+the mixture; which it is impossible here to point out for every
+particular case, but which may be learnt by a little practice. Some easy
+methods will be described, by which any one may make a trial of the
+qualities of his earth.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">65</span>
+<a name = "page65" id = "page65"> </a>
+<p>“It will not be amiss to mix with the earth some small pebbles,
+gravel, rubbish of mortar, or in short any small mineral substances; but
+none of the animal or vegetable kind must be admitted.<a class = "tag"
+name = "tag5" id = "tag5" href = "#note5">5</a> Such hard substances
+bind the earth firmly between them, and being pressed and pressing in
+all directions, contribute very much to the solidity of the whole; so
+that well-worked earth, in which there is a mixture of gravel, becomes
+so hard at the end of two years that a chisel must be used to break it,
+as if it was freestone.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Experiments</span></p>
+
+<h6>EXPERIMENTS TO ASCERTAIN THE QUALITIES OF ANY EARTH</h6>
+
+<p><i>Trial by Experiment.</i>&mdash;“Take a small wooden tub or pail,
+without a bottom, dig a hole in the ground of a court or garden, and at
+the bottom of that hole fix a piece of stone, flat and level; place your
+tub upon the stone, fill around it the earth that has been dug out to
+make the hole, and ram it well, that the tub may be enclosed, to prevent
+its bursting. Then ram into the tub the earth you mean to try; putting
+in, at each time, about the thickness of three or four fingers’
+breadths: when this is well rammed, add as much more, and ram it in the
+same manner, and so the third and fourth, etc., till the earth is raised
+above the brim. This superfluous earth must be scraped off extremely
+smooth, and rendered as even as the under-part will be, which lies on
+the stone. Loosen with a spade the earth around the tub, and you will
+then be able to take it out, and with it the compressed earth that it
+contains; then turn the tub upside down, and if it is wider at the top
+than at the bottom, as such vessels usually are, the pisé will
+<span class = "pagenum">66</span>
+<a name = "page66" id = "page66"> </a>
+easily come out, but if it should happen to stick, let it dry in the air
+about twenty-four hours, and you will then find that the earth is loose
+enough to fall out of itself. You must be careful to cover this lump of
+pisé with a little board; for though a shower of rain, falling in an
+oblique direction, will not injure it, yet it may be a little damaged if
+the rain falls perpendicularly, and especially if it remains upon it.
+Leave the lump exposed to the air, only covered with a board or flat
+stone, and if it continues without cracking or crumbling, and increases
+daily in density and compactness as its natural moisture decreases, you
+may be sure that the earth is fit for building. But you must remember
+that it is necessary that the earth employed should be taken from a
+little below the surface of the ground, in order that it may be neither
+too dry nor too wet; it must be observed also that if the earth is not
+well pressed around the outside of the tub before it is filled, though
+the hoops were of iron, they would burst, so great is the pressure of
+the beaten earth against the mould, of whatever size it
+may&nbsp;be.”</p>
+
+<p><i>The Earth-ball Test&mdash;An Experiment which may be made at any
+time.</i>&mdash;“Every person in walking on his ground may make little
+balls of earth and press them as tight as he can between his hands. If
+he brings them home and puts marks on them, he will by that means know
+the quality of every piece of land, and also be a judge of the mixture
+it will be necessary to make.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Preparation of the Earth</span></p>
+
+<h6>ON THE PREPARATION OF THE EARTH FOR BUILDING</h6>
+
+<p><i>Soil Preparation.</i>&mdash;“All the operations of this art are
+very simple and easy; there is nothing to be done but to dig up the
+earth with a pickaxe, break the clods with a shovel, so as to divide it
+well, and then lay it in a heap, which is very necessary, because as the
+labourers throw it on that heap, the lumps of earth and large stones
+roll to the bottom, where another man may break them or draw them away
+with a
+<span class = "pagenum">67</span>
+<a name = "page67" id = "page67"> </a>
+rake. I&nbsp;must observe that there should be an interval of about an
+inch and a quarter between the teeth of the rake, that the stones and
+pebbles of the size of a walnut, or something more, may escape, and that
+it may draw off only the largest. If the earth that has been dug has not
+the proper quality, which is seldom the case, and it is necessary to
+fetch some better from a distance, then the mixture must be made in this
+manner: one man must throw one shovelful of the best sort, while the
+others throw five or six of the inferior sort on the heap, and so more
+or less according to the proportions which have been previously
+ascertained.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Rain.</i>&mdash;“No more earth should be prepared than the men can
+work in one day, or a little more, that they may not be in want; but if
+rain is expected, you must have at hand either planks, mats, or old
+cloths to lay over the heap of earth, so that the rain may not wet it;
+and then as soon as the rain is over, the men may resume their work,
+which, without this precaution, must be delayed; for it must be
+remembered that the earth cannot be used when it is either too dry or
+too wet, and therefore if the rain should wet it after it has been
+prepared, the men will be obliged to wait till it has recovered its
+proper consistency&mdash;a delay which would be equally disadvantageous
+to them and their employer. When the earth has been soaked by rain,
+instead of suffering compression, it becomes mud in the mould; even
+though it be but a little too moist, it cannot be worked; it swells
+under the blows of the rammer, and a stroke in one place makes it rise
+in another. When this is the case, it is better to stop the work, for
+the men find so much difficulty that it is not worth while to proceed.
+But there is not the same necessity of discontinuing the work when the
+earth is too dry, for it is easy to give it the necessary degree of
+moisture; in such a case it should be sprinkled with a watering-pot, and
+afterwards well mixed up together; it will then be fit for use.”</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">68</span>
+<a name = "page68" id = "page68"> </a>
+<p><i>Organic Matter.</i>&mdash;“It has already been observed that no
+vegetable substances should be left in the earth; therefore in digging,
+as well as in laying the earth in a heap, great care must be taken to
+pick out every bit of root, great and small, all sprigs and herbs, all
+bits of hay and straw, chips or shavings of woods, and in general
+everything that can rot or suffer a change in the earth.”</p>
+
+
+<h6>ON THE BOND TIMBER TO BE USED IN BUILDINGS OF PISÉ</h6>
+
+<p><i>Corners.</i>&mdash;“To make good walls, it is not sufficient that
+the earth be well beaten, we must also learn to unite them well
+together. Here the binders cost very little; they consist only of thin
+pieces of wood, a&nbsp;few cramps and nails, and these are sufficient to
+give the greatest stability to buildings of pisé.”</p>
+
+<p>Having gone on to explain that the angles of the building are formed
+by the successive courses alternately crossing one another on the corner
+like the alternating “long and short” quoins in a stone building, our
+authority proceeds to describe how rough boards are laid between the
+courses of pisé so as to cross at the corner and so, entirely encased in
+tightly compressed earth, they form effective ties.</p>
+
+<p>“This board must be rough, as the sawyers have left it, 5&nbsp;or
+6&nbsp;ft. long, something less than 1&nbsp;in. thick, and in breadth
+about 8, 9&nbsp;or 10 in., so that there may remain on each side
+4&nbsp;or 5 in. of earth, if the wall is 18 in. thick; by this means the
+board will be entirely concealed in the body of the wall. When thus
+placed neither the air nor damp can reach it, and of course there is no
+danger of its rotting. This has been often proved by experience, as in
+taking down old houses of pisé such boards have always been found <ins
+class = "correction" title = "text reads ‘prefectly’">perfectly</ins>sound,
+and many that had not even lost the
+colour of new wood. It is easy to conceive how much this board, from the
+pressure of the work raised above it, will help to bind together the two
+lengths of wall and to strengthen the angle.”</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">69</span>
+<a name = "page69" id = "page69"> </a>
+<p><i>Bonders.</i>&mdash;“It is useful (particularly when the earth is
+not of a very good quality) to put ends of planks into the pisé after it
+has been rammed about half the height of the mould. These ends of planks
+should only be 10 or 11 in. long, to leave as before a few inches of
+earth on each side of the wall, if it is 18 in. thick; they should be
+laid crosswise (as&nbsp;the plank before mentioned is laid lengthwise)
+over the whole course, at the distance of about 2&nbsp;ft. from one
+another, and will serve to equalise the pressure of the upper parts of
+the works on the lower course of the pisé.</p>
+
+<p>“The boards above mentioned need only be placed at the angles of the
+exterior wall, and in those parts where the courses of the partition
+walls join to those of the exterior wall, the same directions that have
+here been given for the second course must be observed at each
+succeeding course, up to the roof. By these means the reader will
+perceive that an innumerable quantity of holders or bondings will be
+formed, which sometimes draw to the right, sometimes to the left of the
+angles, and which powerfully unite the front walls with those of the
+partitions; the several parts deriving mutual support from one another,
+and the whole being rendered compact and solid.”</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+The Strength of Pisé</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Strength.</i>&mdash;“Hence these houses, made of earth alone, are
+able to resist the violence of the highest winds, storms and tempests.
+The height that is intended to be given to each story being known,
+boards of 3&nbsp;or 4 ft. in length should be placed beforehand in the
+pisé, in those places where the beams are to be fixed, and as soon as
+the mould no longer occupies that place, the beams may be laid on,
+though the pisé be fresh made; little slips of wood, or boards, may be
+introduced under them, in order to fix them level. The beams thus fixed
+for each story, the pisé may be continued as high as the place on which
+you intend to erect the roof.”</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">70</span>
+<a name = "page70" id = "page70"> </a>
+<h6>ON THE TIME AND LABOUR NECESSARY IN BUILDING A CERTAIN QUANTITY OF
+PISÉ</h6>
+
+<p><i>Speed of Building.</i>&mdash;“Besides the advantages of strength
+and cheapness, this method of building possesses that of speed in the
+execution. That the reader may know the time that is required for
+building a house, or an enclosure, he need only be told that a mason
+used to the work can, with the help of his labourer, when the earth lies
+near, build in one day 6&nbsp;ft. square of the pisé.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Rendering.</i>&mdash;“To prepare the walls for plastering, indent
+them with the point of the hammer, or hatchet, without being afraid of
+spoiling the surface left by the mould; all those little dents must be
+made as close as possible to each other, and cut in from top to bottom,
+so that every hole may have a little rest in the inferior part, which
+will serve to retain and support the plaster.</p>
+
+<p>“If you happen to lay the plaster over them before the dampness is
+entirely gone, you must expect that the sweat of the walls will cast off
+the plaster.”</p>
+
+<p>The wall surface having been duly hammer-chipped, the work must be
+scoured with a stiff brush to remove all loose earth and dust, and to
+finally prepare it for rough-casting. Rough-cast consists of a small
+quantity of mortar, diluted with water in a tub, to which a trowel of
+pure lime is added, so as to make it about the thickness of cream.</p>
+
+<p>One workman and his labourers are sufficient; the workman on the
+scaffold sprinkles with a brush the wall he has indented, swept, and
+prepared; after that he dips another brush, made of bits of reed, box,
+etc., into the tub which contains the rough-cast, and throws with this
+brush the rough-cast against the wall.</p>
+
+<p>“Rough-cast, which is attended with so little trouble and expense, is
+notwithstanding the best cover that can be made for pisé walls, and for
+all other constructions; it contributes to preserve the buildings. It is
+the peculiar
+<span class = "pagenum">71</span>
+<a name = "page71" id = "page71"> </a>
+advantage of these buildings that all the materials they require are
+cheap, and all the workmanship simple and easy.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Local Testimony.</i>&mdash;At the end of the article just
+summarised, an instructive letter from a former rector of St. John’s, La
+Rochelle, is quoted:</p>
+
+<p>“<span class = "smallcaps">Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&emsp;&emsp;“My having been an inhabitant for some time of the town
+of Montbrison, capital of the Forets, enables me to give you some
+information concerning the mode of building houses with earth, etc.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+A Pisé Church</span></p>
+
+<p><i>A Pisé Church.</i>&mdash;“The church was the most remarkable in
+this style of building; it is about 80 ft. long, 40 ft. broad, and 50
+ft. high; the walls built in pisé, 18 in. thick, and crépé, or
+rough-cast on the outside, with lime and sand. Soon after my arrival,
+the church, by some accident, was destroyed by fire, and remained
+unroofed for about a twelvemonth, exposed to rains and frost. As it was
+suspected that the walls had sustained much damage, either by fire or
+the inclemency of the season, and might fall down, it was determined to
+throw them down partially, and leave only the lower parts standing; but
+even this was not done without much difficulty, such was the firmness
+and hardness these walls had acquired, the church having stood above
+eighty years; and all the repairs required were only to give it on the
+outside, every twelve or fifteen years, a&nbsp;new coating of
+rough-cast.</p>
+
+<p>“A house for a single family is generally finished in about a
+fortnight. The following is the method I have seen them practise.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Building Procedure.</i>&mdash;“The earth is pounded as much as
+possible, in order to crumble any stones therein; clay is added thereto
+in a small quantity, about one-eighth part. It is all beaten and mixed
+up together by repeated blows with a mallet about 10 in. broad, and 10
+or 15 in. long, and 2&nbsp;in. thick. The earth being thus prepared, and
+<span class = "pagenum">72</span>
+<a name = "page72" id = "page72"> </a>
+slightly wetted, the foundation of the house is dug for; this is laid
+with stone, and when it is about 1&nbsp;ft. high above the surface of
+the ground, planks are arranged on each side, which are filled with
+earth intended for the wall; this is called Pisé in the dialect of the
+country. It is strongly beaten; and this method is continued
+successively all round the building. The walls have more or less
+thickness according to the fancy of the owner; I&nbsp;have seen them
+6&nbsp;in. and 18 in. thick. If several stories are intended in such
+erections, they do not fail to place beams to support the floors before
+they build higher. Of such buildings I never saw any consisting of more
+than three floors at most; generally they have but two. When the
+building is thus finished, it is left for some months to dry; then such
+as wish to make the building more solid and durable, give it a
+rough-cast coating on the outside with lime and sand. This is what I
+have observed during a residence of three years in the town of
+Montbrison. I&nbsp;should be happy if this detail should afford the
+slightest information to the generous nation which has received us with
+so much goodness.</p>
+
+<p class = "right">
+“I am, etc.,&emsp;&emsp;<br>
+“<span class = "smallcaps">Jaucour</span>.”</p>
+
+<p><i>The Virtues of Pisé.</i>&mdash;“Such is the method of building
+which has been practised in the Lyonnese for many centuries. Houses so
+built are strong, healthy, and very cheap, they will last a great length
+of time, for the French author says he had pulled down some of them
+which, from the title-deeds in the possession of the proprietors,
+appeared to be 165 years old, though they had been ill kept in repair.
+The rich traders of Lyons have no other way of building their
+country-houses. An outside covering of painting in fresco, which is
+attended with very little expense, conceals from the eye of the
+spectator the nature of the building, and is a handsome ornament to the
+house.
+<span class = "pagenum">73</span>
+<a name = "page73" id = "page73"> </a>
+That method of painting has more freshness and brilliancy than any
+other, because water does not impair the colours. No size, oil, or
+expense is required, manual labour is almost all it costs, either to the
+rich or poor. Any person may make his house look as splendid as he
+pleases, for a few pence laid out in red or yellow ochre, or in other
+mineral colours.</p>
+
+<p><ins class = "correction" title = "open quote missing">“</ins>Strangers
+who have sailed upon the Rhône probably never
+suspected that those beautiful houses, which they saw rising on the
+hills around them, were built of nothing but earth, nay, many persons
+have dwelt for a considerable time in such houses without ever being
+aware of their singular construction. Farmers in that country generally
+have them simply white-washed, but others, who have a greater taste for
+ornament, add pilasters, window-cases, panels, and decorations of
+various kinds.</p>
+
+<p><ins class = "correction" title = "open quote missing">“</ins>There
+is every reason for introducing this method of building into all parts
+of the kingdom; whether we consider the honour of the nation as
+concerned in the neatness of its villages, the great saving of wood
+which it will occasion, and the consequent security from fire, or the
+health of the inhabitants, to which it will greatly contribute, as such
+houses are never liable to the extremes of heat or cold. It is attended
+with many other circumstances that are advantageous to the State as well
+as to individuals. It saves both time and labour in building, and the
+houses may be inhabited almost immediately after they are finished; for
+which latter purpose, the holes made for the joists should not be closed
+up directly, as the air, if suffered to circulate through them, will dry
+the walls more speedily.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Indian and Colonial Practice</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "chapII_IV" id = "chapII_IV">§ IV.</a>
+Indian and Colonial Practice</h5>
+
+<p><i>A Manual on Earthwork</i>, edited by Colonel Maclagan, R.E., gives
+much interesting information as to Pisé-building and a number of
+valuable hints:</p>
+
+<p><i>Shutter-ties.</i>&mdash;“Cross pieces, as the work proceeds,
+<span class = "pagenum">74</span>
+<a name = "page74" id = "page74"> </a>
+become so firmly embedded in the wall, that there is great difficulty in
+extracting them, to remedy which iron bars have been substituted. Even
+these thin iron bars become so tightly jammed when surrounded by the
+compact pisé earth, that much labour and risk of injury to the work is
+incurred in extricating them, and the expedient of setting them in a bed
+of sand has been successfully resorted to. They are then drawn out with
+care, the sand also is removed, and the holes which they leave are
+subsequently filled with the same earth of which the wall is made, and
+rammed hard.</p>
+
+<p>“The heads of the opposite uprights are held together by ropes, but
+in practice in this country<a class = "tag" name = "tag6" id = "tag6"
+href = "#note6">6</a> it has been found that, under the immense pressure
+exerted upon the plank sides by the earth firmly rammed in the interior,
+the ropes are so liable to stretch, and to break, that it is advisable
+to use iron rods or bars in this position also. When ropes are used, the
+distance between the side planks is measured by gauge rods, and the
+ropes tightened when requisite to preserve the proper breadth of wall.
+The use of iron connecting rods renders this unnecessary.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Soil.</i>&mdash;“Soil of a medium quality, that is neither very
+stiff nor very sandy, is considered best adapted for pisé. It may be
+said that that which would make good bricks will answer well for this
+description of work.</p>
+
+<p>“When the earth is very dry, a sprinkling of water will be
+necessary.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Foundations.</i>&mdash;“It is usual to begin the work upon a
+foundation of brick or masonry; but there seems to be no reason why the
+pisé might not be used from the commencement, even for foundations under
+ground; being carefully guarded from all chance of injury by running
+water.”</p>
+
+<p><i>The Building.</i>&mdash;“The casing being prepared and erected,
+and the upper surface of the old work, when above the first stage, being
+sprinkled with water, the earth, well mixed and slightly moistened, is
+thrown in, and spread in thin
+<span class = "pagenum">75</span>
+<a name = "page75" id = "page75"> </a>
+layers of 4&nbsp;or 5 in. These should, when rammed, be reduced to
+one-half their original thickness. The rammers should be of hard wood
+and very smooth. The successive layers are similarly treated, and thus
+the work proceeds until the top of the casing is reached. The ends of
+each portion should be finished with a slope, to which will be joined
+the portion next to be added longitudinally. These joinings should not,
+in the successive courses, be above those of the lower stage, but as in
+masonry and brickwork, should ‘break joint.’ The seams are all
+distinctly perceptible when the work is complete.”</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Plastering</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Plastering.</i>&mdash;“The wall may have a coating of plaster, or
+the surface may be simply smoothed and dressed with a shovel, or similar
+implement. When it is to be plastered, it is necessary that the wall
+should first be thoroughly dry. If dry only externally whilst damp
+within, it has been found that the moisture is apt subsequently to
+attack the plaster and cause it to fall off in flakes. Without plaster,
+good Pisé work is found successfully to withstand exposure to the
+weather, and after the lapse of many years to be so compact and hard as
+to be picked down with difficulty.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Protection.</i>&mdash;“Where the wall is not that of a roofed
+building, it should be provided with a coping, having a good projection
+to protect it from rain.”</p>
+
+<p><i>Rods versus Bars.</i>&mdash;“The substitution of iron connecting
+bars for the wooden ones has been mentioned above. The evils of the
+wooden arrangement were found to be: the starting of the wedges, the
+fracture of the tenons, the tight jamming of the bars in the wall, and
+the injury to the walls and to the bars themselves from the force
+requisite to be applied for extracting them. The lower iron connecting
+bars are made 3½ in. by ½&nbsp;in.; the upper, 1&nbsp;in. by ⅓ or
+¼&nbsp;in. each, having holes ½&nbsp;in. by ¼&nbsp;in., with
+corresponding pins.</p>
+
+<p>“The mode of setting the bars and arranging the work on each
+successive elevation of the casing is to cut on the
+<span class = "pagenum">76</span>
+<a name = "page76" id = "page76"> </a>
+surface of the completed part of the wall a groove 1&nbsp;in. wider than
+the bar, filling it in, after placing the bar, with sand, to the level
+of the wall’s surface. The side boarding being set up, the vacant space
+left along the bevelled edge of the previous course is filled up with
+moist clay to retain the first layer of the new course. The end pieces
+are secured by iron bars or rods, with screws and nuts.”<a class = "tag"
+name = "tag7" id = "tag7" href = "#note7">7</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Ramming.</i>&mdash;“Gentle and quick ramming has been found most
+effectual.”</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "ital">
+Report on the Pisé-work executed at the Etah Jail during 1867-8. By Mr.
+H.&nbsp;Sprenger, Assistant Engineer</h6>
+
+<p>“The boxes in which the pisé-work at the Etah Jail is being executed
+consist of two wooden frames 10 ft. long and 2½ ft. broad, made of
+planks, which are nailed on to stout battens. They are held together by
+four pairs of posts 3&nbsp;in. by 3&nbsp;in., which are connected above
+and below with tie-bars of flat iron 1½ in. by ¼ in. The tie-bars have
+at each end a certain number of ½ in. holes punched in them to receive
+pins for the purpose of preventing the posts from slipping off. By
+changing the pins, walls of any given dimension can be obtained, wedges
+of hard wood, with longitudinal slots, are introduced between the posts
+and the pins, to adjust the breadth of the boxes to a standard gauge.
+After the boxes are fixed and adjusted, they are secured in their
+position by ropes passing over them, and tied to stakes on each side.
+Any deflection from the vertical should be corrected at the commencement
+of the work, as it is impossible to alter the position of a box after it
+is half full. Any earth which is suitable for brick-making will do for
+pisé-work. On being dug out it is passed through
+<span class = "pagenum">77</span>
+<a name = "page77" id = "page77"> </a>
+a screen with ½-in. meshes, and thrown into the boxes in even layers of
+6&nbsp;in. in depth.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+The Right Quantity of Water</span></p>
+
+<p>“Generally fresh earth contains sufficient moisture to ensure good
+consolidation; but if it is found that it jumps up under the rammers, it
+should, on being thrown into the boxes, be sprinkled with a little water
+out of a tin can with a rose. The watering should be as uniform as
+possible, as if it is applied unequally it will liquefy the earth, which
+will commence oozing out under the rammers. Pisé-work executed with too
+much water is worse than if done with dry earth, as, on account of the
+elasticity of the wet earth, the effect of the ramming is deadened, and
+the earth remains unconsolidated. The men should be prohibited to keep
+time in ramming, as it causes vibration, which is injurious to the
+stability of the wall. On working over a lower course, it is as well to
+let the lower tie-bars about 4&nbsp;in. into the same to give the boxes
+a firm hold on the old work, thereby the joints become imperceptible,
+and the upper edge of the lower course is prevented from chipping
+off.</p>
+
+<p>“The implements used are three different kinds of rammers. The earth
+is first beaten down with a V-shaped rammer, and then surfaced with one
+with a flat bottom. The sides of the boxes are consolidated with a
+spade-shaped rammer. When commencing the pisé-work at Etah, considerable
+difficulty was experienced in extricating the lower tie-bars. These
+were, therefore, supplied with holes 3&nbsp;in. apart throughout their
+whole length. A&nbsp;pin was inserted, against which a crow-bar with a
+long slot and well bent at the end was made to work. An equal pressure
+could thereby be exerted against the tie-bars; they were thus extracted
+with great facility without injuring them or the face of the wall, which
+was not the case formerly.”</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "ital">
+Supplementary Note by Mr. E. Battie, Executive Engineer, 5th Division,
+Grand Trunk Road</h6>
+
+<p>“The work at Etah has generally been concluded in the
+<span class = "pagenum">78</span>
+<a name = "page78" id = "page78"> </a>
+following manner: In the morning the boxes were taken down, and again
+put up and filled during the day; they were left during the night, so
+that the earth might detach itself from the sides. It is not advisable
+to allow a course to dry thoroughly, as the upper one will not bind well
+into it, but probably show a crack. If the earth is well rammed, and
+only the proper quantity of moisture admitted, a&nbsp;second course can
+be commenced immediately.”</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+The Report of the Rhodesia Munitions and Resources Committee issued in
+1918 contains an interesting paper by Mr. John Hynd on Pisé-building,
+from which the following is extracted:</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Pisé Buildings at Empandeni</span></p>
+
+<h6 class = "ital">
+“Pisé de Terre Buildings</h6>
+
+<p>“<i>The Spectator</i> took this matter up some two years ago and
+wrote as follows:</p>
+
+<p>“‘Various schemes of land settlement are in the
+air.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. All of them must, however, be concerned with
+cheap buildings. That is a <i>sine qua
+non</i>.’&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.</p>
+
+<p>“The material used for the walls at Empandeni is one-third sand,
+one-third ant-heap, and one-third soil, all pulverised and put through a
+sieve. Water is then added. The mixture must be neither too wet nor too
+dry, just sufficiently damp to bind; a&nbsp;good indication of the
+correct consistency being that when squeezed hard by the hand it shows a
+tendency to bind. Sufficient of the loose mixture is thrown into the
+form to fill it to a depth of about 3&nbsp;in., and this is thoroughly
+rammed before the next layer is put in. Most thorough ramming is
+essential. When the frame is rammed full, it is taken apart and shifted
+along to make another section and so on until the first layer is
+complete. The first layer is, as a rule, sufficiently dry to permit the
+starting of the next about three hours after laying. Door and window
+frames are put in as the work proceeds, and must be well braced while
+ramming. In the top layer hoop iron or fencing wire is let in for
+fastening down the wall plates. Arsenite of soda or Atlas Compound
+<span class = "pagenum">79</span>
+<a name = "page79" id = "page79"> </a>
+is used in the first layer or two to keep out white ants. The floor can
+be made of timber, cement concrete, or rammed earth, and the roof
+thatched or covered with corrugated iron as is most convenient.</p>
+
+<p>“The following Pisé de terre buildings have been erected at
+Empandeni:</p>
+
+<p>“A large schoolroom 75 ft. by 28 ft. by 12 ft. high, walls 14 in.
+thick; seven boys’ dormitories, each 30 ft. by 20 ft. by 12 ft.; twelve
+single-room houses, each 16 ft. by 12 ft.; six fowl houses, each 20 ft.
+by 10 ft.; a&nbsp;large fowl house 250 ft. long, front walls 7&nbsp;ft.
+and back walls 5&nbsp;ft. high. This building is divided into fifteen
+compartments.</p>
+
+<p>“From the foregoing description it is quite evident that cheap and
+efficient buildings of this nature can be erected at a very low
+cost.</p>
+
+<p>“On a farm it is not necessary to employ any skilled labour, as the
+doors and windows can be purchased ready-made, and the frame-work,
+clamps, etc., put together by the farmer himself. For a roof of thatch
+all the necessary material, except iron ridging, if this is used, can as
+a rule be procured on the farm.</p>
+
+<p>“Should a cement concrete floor, which is cheaper than a wood one, be
+desired, there would be an extra expenditure for cement, the amount
+required being about two bags per twelve square yards. Such a floor
+should be laid before the walls of the building are commenced, and it is
+essential that the site is thoroughly well rammed and consolidated,
+particularly below where walls will come, before laying the concrete, to
+prevent cracks developing through settlement. The concrete raft should
+be carried at least 6&nbsp;in. beyond the outside walls of the building,
+and if the work is properly done, a&nbsp;special ant-course will be
+unnecessary. The concrete can be left rough below the walls to give a
+bond, and it might be advisable to lay some pieces of hoop iron in it
+which would be left projecting to be bedded into the walls.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">80</span>
+<a name = "page80" id = "page80"> </a>
+<p>“Another good type of floor would probably be that suggested in
+<i>The Spectator</i>, viz. road material laid down and tarred in the
+same manner as roads are now made in many places.</p>
+
+<p>“A number of rooms and houses have been erected on the Globe and
+Phœnix Mine on much the same principle as Pisé de terre buildings, but
+the system developed there is different as regards the mixture, which
+consists of two parts ant-heap or ordinary dagga which must not be too
+sandy, and three parts ashes or clinker sieved free from fine dust.</p>
+
+<p>“A very full description of the method employed on this mine was
+forwarded by the courtesy of the Manager to the Committee, and it is
+interesting to note from this that the walls are made waterproof by
+first making them smooth with dagga plaster, then, when quite dry,
+giving one good coat of boiling hot tar. A&nbsp;coat of limewash is
+applied three days later. That this is effective is well evidenced by
+the fact that the buildings erected have successfully withstood our last
+abnormally heavy rainy season.</p>
+
+<p>“The Globe and Phœnix system is the result of a number of experiments
+carried out on that mine. Their mixture, which is stated to be
+ant-proof, contains more moisture than Pisé de terre, and each course is
+reinforced with old wire rope, or other suitable scrap. The material is
+left in a heap for one or two days before being used.</p>
+
+<p>“Circular huts have been built on the mine of the same material, the
+forms being made of two rings of corrugated iron in three or more
+sections joined up with cleats at the end laps and held in position with
+cross bolts and distance pieces. The inner ring is 9&nbsp;in. less
+radius than the outer one.”</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Pisé Buildings for Settlers</span></p>
+
+<h6 class = "ital">
+Extracts from a paper on Pisé in the “Farmers’ Handbook,” issued by the
+Department of Agriculture, New South Wales, 1911</h6>
+
+<p><ins class = "correction" title = "text has single quote">“Pisé</ins>
+is a material readily obtainable by the settler,
+<span class = "pagenum">81</span>
+<a name = "page81" id = "page81"> </a>
+of which cheap and durable buildings can be easily and substantially
+erected.</p>
+
+<p>“For the construction of pastoral or agricultural buildings,
+especially in districts remote from railways, or from towns in which
+other building materials are cheap or easily procurable, pisé is
+particularly well adapted. In the country earth is plentiful and readily
+obtainable; in the city or town such is not the case, and this fact,
+combined with the very bulky nature of the material, prohibits its use
+in such centres of population.</p>
+
+<p>“To the selector or settler, who, like many of our successful
+pioneers, is not burdened with a superfluity of hard cash, but who
+possesses an abundant capital of energy, combined with a certain amount
+of handiness, pisé has an additional advantage (which it shares with
+slabs, wattle and daub, etc.) over most other building materials, in
+that it affords him an opportunity of erecting his homesteading largely
+as the result of his own labour.</p>
+
+<p>“As a building material, pisé is infinitely superior and more durable
+than slabs, galvanised iron, or weather-boards. In fact it is
+questionable whether it is not more suitable for our climate, and
+therefore to be preferred to brickwork; for pisé buildings, properly
+protected and finished, are quite as durable and much cooler than
+buildings constructed with solid brick walls. This statement may be
+questioned by some whose knowledge of pisé is limited to buildings so
+badly planned that the very elementary principles of building
+construction have been neglected. This neglect, which is all too common,
+makes things bad enough, but when to it is added, as is sometimes the
+case, indifferent workmanship, combined with the use of unsuitable
+material, the result does not call for admiration, and it is not
+surprising that a bad impression is created. With no other knowledge of
+pisé it is only natural to condemn it because of such specimens, but
+under similar circumstances other better-known
+<span class = "pagenum">82</span>
+<a name = "page82" id = "page82"> </a>
+building materials of proved excellence would also be condemned.
+Brickwork would just as readily be condemned if its building qualities
+had to be estimated by the appearance presented by a brick building
+which had been constructed of badly-burnt bricks laid by unskilful
+tradesmen on an imperfectly thought-out plan. Just as with other
+building materials, the possibilities of this material can only be
+judged by an examination of properly planned and constructed examples of
+the pisé-builder’s art. Such are found here and there throughout the
+country, pleasing to look at, affording comfort and satisfaction to
+their owners. A&nbsp;properly constructed pisé building can be finished
+to suit the taste of the most fastidious. Even without plaster the walls
+can be ‘floated’ down and a ‘skin’ obtained on them which, when
+limewashed, resembles stonework. When plastered inside and out they
+possess the advantages of a stone house, and are erected at a fraction
+of the cost.</p>
+
+<p>“Some idea may be formed of the durability of pisé by the fact that
+there is a stable built of pisé which has been in constant use for over
+sixty years, and which at the present time is in good order. The good
+condition of this stable is the more surprising because the external
+walls are unprotected from the weather, and it is generally recognised
+that pisé-work, especially if unplastered, should be protected from the
+direct action of rain. Pisé buildings are said to have a life of a
+century and a half.</p>
+
+<p>“The stability of pisé buildings is beyond question, as is proved by
+the following instance:&mdash;At Lambrigg, a&nbsp;second-story brick
+building, with 14-in. walls, and containing ten rooms, is built upon a
+lower story of pisé. The bricklayer who had the contract for erecting
+the brick portion of the house refused, as it was built upon pisé, to
+guarantee his work. Some time after the completion of the house he
+visited it, and after a thorough examination of the building, declared
+that it was the most substantial brick
+<span class = "pagenum">83</span>
+<a name = "page83" id = "page83"> </a>
+house in the district, as it had not a crack in it, a&nbsp;feature which
+was somewhat unusual in that locality. Another case bearing on the same
+subject is that of a residence at Temora. When this building was being
+constructed the workmen omitted to leave holes for the bolts which were
+to secure the verandah plates to the walls, as it was thought these
+could readily be bored out afterwards with an auger. On attempting to
+bore out these holes on the completion of the building, and when the
+pisé-work had become drier, the operation of boring proved so difficult
+as to be practically impossible, and had to be abandoned.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Builders’ Aversions</span></p>
+
+<p>“The merits of pisé-work have been recognised in France, India,
+Mexico, and California for years past, and seeing its equal suitability
+for our climate, it is surprising that these merits have not led to its
+being more extensively used. The principal reason for this seems to be
+because our builders are averse to undertaking this class of work, and
+in consequence the bulk of it is placed in the hands of untrained men,
+who, whilst quite fitted to carry out the pisé-work, are not competent
+to undertake the other constructive work of a building. However, they do
+not hesitate to do this, as well as to undertake the more important work
+(though unrecognised as being&nbsp;so) of planning out the building. The
+result is in most cases an improperly planned and defectively
+constructed building, which appeals to no one, but has a tendency to
+bring pisé into disrepute.</p>
+
+<p>“The reason for a builder’s unwillingness to undertake pisé-work is
+not far to seek. For the successful carrying out of his work a builder
+relies upon skilled tradesmen; our tradesmen are trained in cities and
+towns, and as pisé is not a suitable material for such places, tradesmen
+do not become familiar with it. A&nbsp;good builder with a reputation to
+lose shrinks from placing that reputation at the mercy of a
+pisé-builder, who is not recognised as a tradesman, and in whom, in
+consequence of this, a&nbsp;builder is likely to have little or no
+confidence.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">84</span>
+<a name = "page84" id = "page84"> </a>
+<p>“The actual erection of pisé-work presents so little difficulty that
+it can be done by any one who has sufficient strength to shovel earth
+and wield a rammer, provided he will exercise care to see that the
+moulds or boxes into which the earth is shovelled are kept plumb and in
+straight lines. The average settler, even with no previous knowledge of
+pisé-work or building construction, need have no hesitation in
+undertaking the pisé-work of his own buildings if he works to a
+well-thought-out plan drawn up by somebody competent to do&nbsp;so.</p>
+
+<p>“The necessity of having a plan prepared by some one who understands
+the principles and requirements of simple building construction, before
+undertaking the erection of any building, cannot be too strongly
+emphasised. This great need, which is often overlooked by the settler,
+cannot be economically dispensed with. The securing of a properly
+prepared plan is of the greatest value towards obtaining a building of
+the maximum strength and durability, combined with the best appearance
+and greatest convenience, for the least cost. Even when a settler
+undertakes the pisé-work of his own building, it will only be in rare
+instances that he will not have the advantage of trained supervision
+during its erection. The services of a tradesman will invariably be
+found necessary to make doors and window-frames, construct the roof,
+etc. This workman can be engaged when the building is started, and
+whilst preparing the timbers of the roof, in readiness for the time when
+they will be required on the completion of the pisé-work, can supervise
+the fixing of the door and window frames, and see they are set
+correctly, and in their proper places.</p>
+
+<p>“Pisé walls are constructed in sections, the extent of which is
+regulated by the supply of casings available.</p>
+
+<p>“Into the moulds formed by the boxes the earth is shovelled in layers
+of 4&nbsp;or 5 in., and then rammed until thoroughly solid before
+another layer is put in. On the completion of the section, <i>i.e.</i>
+when the mould is full and
+<span class = "pagenum">85</span>
+<a name = "page85" id = "page85"> </a>
+well rammed, the keys or pins are knocked out of the ‘bolts,’ and the
+‘boxes’ taken apart and erected on another portion of the building. The
+top of that portion of the pisé-work on which it is proposed to erect
+another section should be well moistened and covered with wet bags some
+hours before the mould is formed. The bottom of the mould should overlap
+the top of the pisé-work by about 6&nbsp;in. After the ‘boxes’ are put
+together, the top layer of pisé should be loosened with a pick so as to
+form a bond with the section about to be built, and if this section
+adjoins one already built, the ends of the latter should be bevelled off
+so as not to form a straight joint.</p>
+
+<p>“Material which is too sandy will fret away, and one containing clay
+will crack when dry. Soils containing these defects should be avoided.
+There is, however, such a wide range of soils which are suitable that a
+holding of any size on which suitable soils cannot be found will be the
+exception. It is possible to remedy the defects found in one soil by
+mixing it with another soil, but very rarely will such a course be
+necessary.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Number of Men Required</span></p>
+
+<p>“The plant required will depend upon the number of men to be
+employed. Three is the least number that can be economically
+employed&mdash;two attending to the boxes and ramming, and one carting
+earth from its location to the building and assisting generally. The
+plant required for this number of men is given below. If more are
+engaged, additional plant of the same character will be found
+advantageous.</p>
+
+<p>“The necessary plant will consist of&mdash;2 wooden rammers,
+1&nbsp;iron shod rammer, 2&nbsp;straight boxes, 2&nbsp;angle boxes,
+3&nbsp;casings for blocking up the ends of boxes, bolts and keys for
+same, 12 gauge rods, washers&mdash;a liberal supply of ¾-in. washers,
+2&nbsp;shovels, 1&nbsp;spade, a&nbsp;horse and dray or other means for
+transporting the material to the building (if&nbsp;required).”</p>
+
+<p>The following detailed instructions are taken from the same
+authority:</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">86</span>
+<a name = "page86" id = "page86"> </a>
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Pisé in New Zealand</span></p>
+
+<h6>SPECIFICATION CLAUSES FOR A PISÉ HOUSE (NEW ZEALAND)</h6>
+
+<p><i>Excavator.</i>&mdash;Remove the turf to make footings, but not
+deeper at any place than 3&nbsp;in. Step where required.</p>
+
+<p class = "center"><i>Pisé-Builder</i></p>
+
+<p><i>Walls.</i>&mdash;Erect the walls as shown on plan, external walls
+18 in., internal walls 15 in., carried up plumb and true, with all cross
+walls properly bonded by continuing the pisé-boxes around all angles;
+when necessary, the material for the walls is to be properly tempered
+with sufficient water. All sticks and vegetable matter are to be
+removed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Suitable material</i>: to be a pipeclay loam, with a trace of
+small gravel evenly distributed through it.<a class = "tag" name =
+"tag8" id = "tag8" href = "#note8">8</a> The boxes to be filled in thin
+layers of 4&nbsp;in. at a time, and well rammed until solid; the workmen
+are not to use their rammers in unison.</p>
+
+<p>The whole of the internal angles, also door and window jambs, to be
+neatly splayed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Floating.</i>&mdash;Moisten well the outside and inside walls
+before the floors are laid, and float same to even smooth surface with
+wooden hand-float, using weak plaster, where required.</p>
+
+<p><i>Bolts.</i>&mdash;To hold down wall-plates, provide and build in
+½&nbsp;in. bolts, not less than 15 in. long, and spaced not more than
+6&nbsp;ft. apart.</p>
+
+<p><i>Damp-course.</i>&mdash;Below all walls lay a three-ply Ruberoid
+damp-course the full width of walls, to lap at ends at least
+4&nbsp;in.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ventilators.</i>&mdash;Insert below floors, where directed, four
+9&nbsp;in. by 6&nbsp;in. galvanised iron air gratings, in wooden frames
+1½ in. thick by full width of walls; also insert at about 18 in. below
+ceiling similar air gratings and frames.</p>
+
+<p><i>Plugs.</i>&mdash;Insert plugs 3 ft. apart for skirting, chair and
+picture-rail, at the heights directed.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">87</span>
+<a name = "page87" id = "page87"> </a>
+<p><i>Frames.</i>&mdash;Set all frames plumb and true, and secured in
+wall before removing head. Lintels and heads must be well and solidly
+bedded in mortar, at proper heights. The whole of the work to be done in
+a proper workmanlike manner.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fillet.</i>&mdash;Finish against intersection of floor and wall
+with neat 1½ in. quarter-round fillet, scribed to wall and floor and
+nailed to floors.</p>
+
+<p>The pisé-builder will require to build into wall at all window and
+door openings 3&nbsp;in. by 3&nbsp;in. shaped plugs, spaced not more
+than 3&nbsp;ft. apart to secure architraves.</p>
+
+<p><i>Lintels.</i>&mdash;For all door and window openings provide
+6&nbsp;in. by 4&nbsp;in. well-seasoned pine lintels, to extend 12 in.
+into pisé-work on each side of opening.</p>
+
+<p><i>Skirting.</i>&mdash;Provide and fix in all rooms, to plugs about
+3&nbsp;ft. apart, 6-in. skirting, neatly scribed to floors, mitred at
+angles as required.</p>
+
+<p><i>Picture-rail.</i>&mdash;Provide 3 in. by 1 in. picture-rail to all
+rooms.</p>
+
+<p><i>Plugs.</i>&mdash;Prepare and tar for pisé-builder 3 in. by 1 in.
+well-seasoned softwood plugs, 15 in. long, as per detail, for skirtings,
+picture- and chair-rail, to be inserted 3&nbsp;ft. apart.</p>
+
+
+<h6>STUDDING, WIRE-NETTING, AND PISÉ</h6>
+
+<p>“This is a modification of Pisé, which provides a settler in a
+district where poles and saplings are available with a quick method of
+providing himself with a comfortable temporary residence without the
+expenditure of much cash. To construct buildings of this character,
+a&nbsp;framework of saplings or poles, at intervals of 3&nbsp;ft.
+6&nbsp;in. to 3&nbsp;ft. apart, is first erected; this framework is
+covered on both sides with 1¼ in. mesh wire-netting. The two sections of
+netting are held together, strengthened, and prevented from stretching
+and bulging between the posts by means of wire hooks or loops, which are
+as long as the posts are wide.
+<span class = "pagenum">88</span>
+<a name = "page88" id = "page88"> </a>
+The spaces thus enclosed by the netting and the poles are then filled
+with earth, which is well rammed, thus making a solid wall 4&nbsp;in. to
+6&nbsp;in. thick. This wall can be plastered, the plaster forming a key
+with the wire-netting, which holds securely. Buildings of this character
+can be made to look rather attractive, and, if neatly constructed, are
+very much superior, both in appearance and comfort, to slabs or wattle
+and daub.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Pisé Shuttering</span></p>
+
+<h6>PISÉ SHUTTERING<br>
+<a name = "shutterI" id = "shutterI">I</a></h6>
+
+<p>That the plant now commonly in use for pisé-building is but a slight
+improvement on the anciently accepted model, may be seen by a comparison
+of modern examples with old engravings and descriptions. Pisé-building
+lay off the great main stream of constructional activity, and the
+enterprise and ingenuity lavished on the perfecting of other building
+materials and methods passed Pisé by, leaving it undisturbed in its
+quiet backwater, a&nbsp;primitive system still with its primitive
+tackle.</p>
+
+<p>Yet there were a number of very obvious and unnecessary shortcomings
+in the accepted shuttering that seemed to clamour for attention,
+defects, too, that were in no way inherent, but merely traditional
+infelicities reproduced in succeeding models that remained remarkably
+true to their primitive ancestral architype&mdash;the Pisé plant
+described by Pliny.</p>
+
+<p>Here seemed to be a very promising field for an ingenious inventor,
+a&nbsp;field that is still “To Let.”</p>
+
+<p>In the absence of any such inventive genius, the author has had
+certain ideas of his own embodied in the “Mark&nbsp;V” type of
+shuttering&mdash;a type that further experience and experiment will
+doubtless modify.</p>
+
+<p>The principle of the building-process remains unaffected. The
+improvements, such as they are, are merely improvements of mechanism<ins
+class = "correction" title = ". missing">.&nbsp;</ins></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">88</span>
+<a name = "fig88a" id = "fig88a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic88a.png" width = "503" height = "269"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallroman">
+DIAGRAM OF MARK V PISÉ SHUTTERING</span><br>
+<a href = "images/pic88a_large.jpg" target = "_blank">Larger
+View</a></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">89</span>
+<a name = "fig88b" id = "fig88b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic88b1.jpg" width = "403" height = "334"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Mark V Shuttering.</span><br>
+Showing top cross-braces thrown back and free leg disengaged.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pic88b2.jpg" width = "408" height = "334"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption narrow">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Mark V Shuttering.</span></p>
+<p class = "caption long">
+Showing screw-up securing tackle of exterior corner-piece and its
+rounded interior. Also screw-cramp at interior angle of shuttering.</p>
+</div>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">89</span>
+<a name = "page89" id = "page89"> </a>
+<p>Scientific research could doubtless, if it would, do much towards
+perfecting Pisé-building.</p>
+
+<p>We know very little about the behaviour of different earths under
+compression, or of their several reactions to chemical treatment.
+Meanwhile, a&nbsp;few trifling mechanical modifications are all that
+distinguish our modern plant from that devised by the ancients. That
+said, a&nbsp;short description of the “Mark V” model may be of some
+interest, pending the future developments that may now be hoped for.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">88c</span>
+<a name = "fig88c" id = "fig88c">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic88c.jpg" width = "520" height = "345"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Mark V Shuttering.</span></p>
+<p class = "caption long">
+Shuttering about to be removed from a first section of Pisé walling. Top
+cross-braces have been thrown back and clamps to legs released. It is
+now only necessary to detach the stays and lift away the shutters.
+Where, as here, there is no masonry plinth, the bearing-pins are only
+required for the succeeding courses of Pisé, and need not be inserted
+for the first.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">88d</span>
+<a name = "fig88d" id = "fig88d">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic88d.jpg" width = "405" height = "337"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption narrow">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Mark V Shuttering.</span><br>
+The angle-iron stay with cross-brace raised, and the blocking-box
+showing its internal clamping-gear.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<h6><a name = "shutterII" id = "shutterII">II</a></h6>
+
+<p>The chief desiderata in designing a satisfactory Pisé plant appear to
+be these:</p>
+
+<p>All constituent parts should be reasonably light and easy to handle.
+The shutters should be rigid and not liable to warp, without being
+expensively constructed. The shutters, when clamped in position, should
+be firmly and positively supported, without deviation from the
+vertical.</p>
+
+<p>The fairway between the shutters must be as little obstructed by the
+cross-braces as may be, leaving good room for the men on the wall to
+tread and ram.</p>
+
+<p>The through-pins by which the shuttering rests upon the base wall or
+on a completed course of Pisé, must be easily withdrawn without injury
+to the wall.</p>
+
+<p>The shuttering must be easily disengaged and removed from the wall,
+one side at a time.</p>
+
+<p>The special corner-piece must have some means of rigid attachment to
+the ordinary shutters on the two meeting walls.</p>
+
+<p>There must be some means of blocking off the shuttering at any
+desired point, for the forming of door or window openings at any
+level.</p>
+
+<p>The whole apparatus must be as simple and as fool-proof as possible,
+and built to stand rough usage and exposure to the weather.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">90</span>
+<a name = "page90" id = "page90"> </a>
+<h6><a name = "shutterIII" id = "shutterIII">III</a></h6>
+
+<p>The author has attempted to construct a plant embodying these
+essentials, and the working drawing and photographs shown will give the
+reader a tolerable idea of his “Mark V” model.</p>
+
+<p>The thing has, at the moment of writing, only been experimentally
+tested in one of the London parks. These trials were, however,
+sufficiently satisfactory to encourage a belief that the new plant will
+prove a very considerable improvement on the old. It has now been
+despatched to a site in Surrey, there to undergo the searching and very
+practical test of being used for the building of a small-holder’s house
+and homestead.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">90</span>
+<a name = "fig90a1" id = "fig90a1">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic90a1.jpg" width = "378" height = "451"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A Simple Mould for Pisé Blocks.</span></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "fig90a2" id = "fig90a2">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic90a2.jpg" width = "421" height = "363"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Block-Moulds, Large and Small. The Latter
+shown opened out.</span></p>
+
+
+<h6><a name = "shutterIV" id = "shutterIV">IV</a></h6>
+
+<p>To the second edition of this book a postscript must be added. Since
+the last paragraph was written, the small-holder’s house has come into
+actual being at Newlands Corner, near Guildford, and has attracted a
+good deal of attention from the Press, both at home and abroad. It has
+been inspected by multitudes of people, including a great number of
+Colonials and prospective Colonists, and by many distinguished persons
+directly or indirectly concerned with the problems of housing.</p>
+
+<p>That “Good wine needs no bush” may be a true saying, but a novel
+system of building assuredly needs demonstration, however great its
+merits. The success of the experiment at Newlands is admitted by all who
+have made the pilgrimage thither. Often would critics come to scoff and
+remain to pray. Specially prized amongst the converts is a
+foreman-bricklayer once openly scornful in his unbelief. Of enthusiasm,
+perhaps, there has been almost over much; and it has been difficult to
+restrain the zeal of would-be pisé-builders until the coming of spring,
+and the return of such weather conditions as the craft might reasonably
+demand.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">91</span>
+<a name = "page91" id = "page91"> </a>
+<p>For pisé is a “dry-earth” method of building, and, as at present
+practised, that means it is a summer job, so far, at any rate, as
+England is concerned.</p>
+
+<p>The author is the last person to claim that pisé-building may be
+successfully and economically carried out in all places, and at all
+seasons. He merely suggests that in a great many parts of the United
+Kingdom, pisé offers possibilities of cheap yet permanent building that
+are very well worth exploitation.</p>
+
+<p>A wide and thorough trial of the method now seems assured under a
+variety of conditions in a sufficient variety of places. Pisé is to be
+given its chance in Housing Schemes, in Government building
+demonstrations, on Ducal estates, and by ordinary private citizens in
+need of houses&mdash;by the rich (old and new), and by the poor.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+If Reason Rule</span></p>
+
+<p>If reason rule, pisé will make good and all will be well.</p>
+
+<p>If pisé-building is attempted where the conditions are unsuitable and
+in defiance of its physical limitations, the <ins class = "correction"
+title = "invisible hyphen at line break">misguided</ins> enthusiasts
+responsible must blame only themselves. But it is not self-reproach
+alone that they will have to suffer, for the author and all true friends
+of pisé will view their troubles with as much anger as sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could be so well calculated to bring discredit on a new
+movement as the failures of a few enthusiastic incompetents.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">91</span>
+<a name = "fig90b" id = "fig90b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic90b.jpg" width = "447" height = "208"
+usemap = "#fig90map" alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<map name = "fig90map">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "120,0,200,20"
+title = "Excavate to depth of 9 inches."
+alt = "Excavate to depth of 9 inches.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "200,0,260,25"
+title = "6 inch bed of Concrete." alt = "6 inch bed of Concrete.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "260,0,330,40"
+title = "2 courses of Brickwork 18 inches"
+alt = "2 courses of Brickwork 18 inches">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "330,25,370,50"
+title = "Shutter Bolts." alt = "Shutter Bolts.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "370,0,447,35"
+title = "Walls of earth erected in shutter boxes in layers 4 inches at a time, each well rammed down."
+alt = "Walls of earth erected in shutter boxes in layers 4 inches at a time, each well rammed down.">
+
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "55,80,90,105"
+title = "9 inch lap for Lintel." alt = "9 inch lap for Lintel.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "135,65,185,90"
+title = "Joists resting on wall plate."
+alt = "Joists resting on wall plate.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "100,95,190,130"
+title = "Completed wall colour-washed with Tallow, Lime-whiting and Ochre."
+alt = "Completed wall colour-washed with Tallow, Lime-whiting and Ochre.">
+
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "0,175,65,208"
+title = "Main Corners rounded off to a 9 inch radius."
+alt = "Main Corners rounded off to a 9 inch radius.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "115,185,205,208"
+title = "2 foot skirting of pitch as base course."
+alt = "2 foot skirting of pitch as base course.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "235,145,335,208"
+title = "Shuttering re-erected on just-completed lower stage of wall & being filled for a second stage."
+alt = "Shuttering re-erected on just-completed lower stage of wall & being filled for a second stage.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "345,140,447,170"
+title = "Portion of wall after erection with shuttering removed."
+alt = "Portion of wall after erection with shuttering removed.">
+<area shape = "rect" coords = "335,170,410,208"
+title = "All stones, etc. above walnut size to be sifted out."
+alt = "All stones, etc. above walnut size to be sifted out.">
+</map>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Sketch of a Pisé House in Course of
+Erection.</span><br>
+With acknowledgements to <i>The Sphere</i>.<br>
+<a href = "images/pic90b_large.jpg" target = "_blank">Larger
+View</a><br>
+<span class = "mynote">
+or hover your mouse over the text areas</span></p>
+
+
+<h6>THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION PISÉ DE TERRE HOUSE<br>
+AT NEWLANDS CORNER, NEAR GUILDFORD</h6>
+
+<p class = "center"><i>With acknowledgments to the “Spectator”</i></p>
+
+<p><i>Description.</i>&mdash;The house has six rooms arranged on one
+floor, of areas and cubical contents as laid down in their higher
+“schedules of accommodation” by the Ministry of Health and the Board of
+Agriculture.</p>
+
+<p>The plan is an adaptation of the first type illustrated in the
+Board’s new manual “designed for the guidance of
+<span class = "pagenum">92</span>
+<a name = "page92" id = "page92"> </a>
+County Councils and their architects” in the matter of buildings for
+small-holdings.</p>
+
+<p>The walls are of 18-in. solid pisé-work, the roof of red Bridgewater
+tiles, and the chimney breasts and stacks of brickwork.</p>
+
+<p>The floors are boarded save for the back kitchen, which is tiled. The
+inner partitions are of 2-in. breeze blocks, the ceilings are plastered,
+and the casement windows are of steel.</p>
+
+<p>There are two good lofts for storage, one entered from the barn,
+which is an extension of the house proper.</p>
+
+<p>The pillars of the barn and the partition wall between scullery and
+veranda are of 18 in. by 9&nbsp;in. by 9&nbsp;in. rammed earth blocks;
+the angle pillar to the veranda is of similar blocks made from soft
+chalk.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the structure is of monolithic pisé, built up <i>in
+situ</i> without joints of any kind, either horizontally or
+vertically.</p>
+
+<p><i>Cost.</i>&mdash;The total cost of the whole of the outer walling
+of the house (in&nbsp;pisé) amounted to less than £20. Had the walls
+been built in brickwork the cost would, according to estimate, have been
+about £200.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">94</span>
+<img src = "images/pg94.png" width = "474" height = "344"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption smaller">
+NEWLANDS CORNER PISÉ HOUSE. THE PLAN.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+The Newlands Specification</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Specification.</i>&mdash;The following is an abridged extract from
+the specification so far as it affects the pisé-builder:</p>
+
+<p>(1) Excavate to a depth of 9 in. over the site, dumping the turf and
+surface humus where directed.</p>
+
+<p>This soil is not to be used for building.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Lay a 6-in. bed of cement and flint concrete 3 ft. wide under
+outer walls. Centrally on this, lay two courses of brickwork in cement,
+to a width of 18 in., or build up to the same extent in concrete.</p>
+
+<p>Lay on this an approved damp-proof course; if of slates, having a
+further course of brickwork or concrete above it to prevent fracture
+when ramming.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">92</span>
+<a name = "fig92a" id = "fig92a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic92a.jpg" width = "470" height = "234"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">The Newlands Corner Pisé Demonstration
+Building.</span></p>
+
+<p>(3) Erect the walls according to the plan on the bases thus formed,
+carrying them up plumb and true and properly
+<span class = "pagenum">93</span>
+<a name = "page93" id = "page93"> </a>
+bonded by working round the building course by course, using the special
+angle-pieces at the corners to keep the work continuous and
+homogeneous.</p>
+
+<p>(4) All stones and flints above a walnut size to be removed by
+riddling and reserved for concrete.</p>
+
+<p>All sticks, leaves, roots, and other vegetable matter to be
+eliminated.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">93</span>
+<a name = "fig92b1" id = "fig92b1">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic92b1.jpg" width = "559" height = "304"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Newlands. The Cottage from the
+South-east.</span></p>
+
+<p>(5) The soil immediately on the site to be used without admixture of
+any sort and to be thrown direct into the shutterings.</p>
+
+<p>No water to be added without the express permission of the
+architect.</p>
+
+<p>(6) The boxes are to be filled in thin layers of not more than
+4&nbsp;in. at a time, and well rammed until solid. The workmen are not
+to use their rammers in unison.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">93</span>
+<a name = "fig92b2" id = "fig92b2">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic92b2.jpg" width = "559" height = "395"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Newlands. The Garden Court.</span></p>
+
+<p>(7) Rammed earth at box ends to be shaved down to a 45 degrees slope
+so as to splice in with new span of pisé adjoining&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>Where door and window openings occur, the special “stops” to be
+adjusted and firmly secured so as to withstand hard ramming. Two
+4&nbsp;in. by 2&nbsp;in. by 9&nbsp;in. plugs to be built in to each
+window jamb for the securing of the frames and three to each door
+jamb.</p>
+
+<p>Special care to be taken in the thorough ramming at the corners and
+along the box edges.</p>
+
+<p>(8) Insert below floor level, where directed, 24 3-in. field drainage
+pipes to act as ventilators through the thickness of the wall. Insert
+wire mesh stops to exclude vermin.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">94</span>
+<a name = "fig94a" id = "fig94a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic94a.jpg" width = "559" height = "372"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Newlands. The Backyard, showing Barn with Pisé
+Pillars.</span></p>
+
+<p>(9) Set all frames square and plumb, and where in outer walls, flush
+with finished exterior plaster-face, the joint being covered by a 2-in.
+by ¾-in. fillet.</p>
+
+<p>Where lintels occur, they are to be tailed in at least 9 in. on each
+side the opening.</p>
+
+<p>Provide plain picture-rail round all rooms at window-head level,
+providing plugs for fixing where necessary.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">94</span>
+<a name = "page94" id = "page94"> </a>
+<p>Secure to floor round all boarded rooms a 2-in. by 1½-in. angle
+fillet as skirting.</p>
+
+<p>(10) The smooth surface of the pisé walling to be hammer-chipped to
+give good key to the plaster.</p>
+
+<p>Before rendering or plastering walls, any loose earth or dust to be
+removed with a stiff brush and the wall surface evenly wetted.</p>
+
+<p>The rendering to be carried evenly round the walls&mdash;the minor
+square angles being roughly chipped down first so as to obviate sharp
+corners. The main corners of the house are ready-rounded off to a 9-in.
+radius by the special corner mould.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">95</span>
+<a name = "fig94b1" id = "fig94b1">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic94b1.jpg" width = "428" height = "337"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Newlands. Framing the Roof.</span></p>
+
+<p>(11) Bond brick and slab work to pisé walls by driving iron spikes
+into the latter every few courses at joint level and
+bedding&nbsp;in.</p>
+
+<p>(12) Colour-wash walls with tallow lime-whiting tinted with ochre.
+Provide 2&nbsp;ft. skirting of pitch, applied hot, to form base-course
+round exterior of building.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "fig94b2" id = "fig94b2">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic94b2.jpg" width = "312" height = "439"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Newlands. An Interior, showing Fire-brick
+Hearth Fire.</span></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">95</span>
+<a name = "page95" id = "page95"> </a>
+<p>N.B.&mdash;The exterior of the walls of the Newlands Corner house
+have been finished in several different ways with a view to determining
+the most durable and economical form of epidermis.</p>
+
+<p>A trial pisé-building adjoining has stood for four years without any
+external protection whatever. It has suffered no damage and grows
+continually harder. For the sake of appearances, however, and for the
+better preservation of the wall from chance injury whilst still “green,”
+a&nbsp;coating of some sort may be deemed necessary.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+A Swedish Contribution</span></p>
+
+<h6>THE THEORY OF PISÉ</h6>
+
+<p>The Swedish scientist, Mr. Karl Ellington, of Nossebro, who is basing
+a book on pisé (in&nbsp;his own tongue) upon the frail foundation of the
+present volume, has, in the course of a letter to the author, made some
+exceedingly suggestive “guesses at the truth.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am very interested to hear that you are proposing to use an
+hydraulic rammer for making blocks. I&nbsp;have thought a good deal
+about this pressure business. I&nbsp;am trying to scrutinise the thing
+from ‘the inside,’ so to speak. I&nbsp;am trying to trace out how Nature
+makes rock. That helps us to understand pisé. Nature made all the
+stratified rocks out of what was once fine loose earth and mud. Rivers
+carried the mud out to sea. Waves pounded and gnawed the shores and got
+down some more stuff. The tides went forth and back and shovelled and
+levelled at the sea-bottom. Some more mud on top of that, and a few
+hundred or thousand feet of the heavy water on top of that&mdash;and
+Nature’s pisé was in its making. But why do these mud particles stick
+together for ever even after that stratum is raised up high above the
+sea and the pressure is discontinued? That is the counterpoint of the
+<span class = "pagenum">96</span>
+<a name = "page96" id = "page96"> </a>
+whole problem. What is gravitation? Is it some form of magnetic or
+electric energy? We don’t know. Do particles of mud grip and hold each
+other if they are forced together close enough to be united by some sort
+of magnetic or electric energy? Or do the particles only get a
+‘mechanical’ grip on each other? However that may be, we seem to know
+now that we can make them grip by bringing them closely together. It
+would seem important, then, that we must bring as much of particle
+surfaces together within any given cubic space as we possibly can; that
+is, we must have as little of ‘holes,’ ‘empty spaces,’ pores and
+channels as possible in the mass, in the pressed wall. This, then, would
+in turn make it important that plenty of very fine (small) particles
+must be present in the mass&mdash;and so well distributed among the
+coarser particles as to be on hand close by wherever there can be one
+more chance for a small particle to fill a little chamber that the
+coarser particles would like to bridge over. We can think of how well
+Nature was fitted for this work of shuffling over all the particles at
+the sea-bottom and under great water pressure till she got every
+particle into the niche where it would exactly fit. She used waves,
+tides, and gulf streams as shovels and mixers and packers, and the water
+above as ‘hydraulic rammer.’ Looking at the pisé matter in this way, it
+would appear that both the <i>mixing</i> and the <i>shuffling</i> are of
+vital importance. And by ‘shuffling’ I&nbsp;mean in this connection only
+that the smaller and larger particles get a chance to shift over a
+little during the process of pressing the earth together to hardness, so
+that the pressure may not work only and exclusively in a straight
+downward direction, but in a sort of wavy zigzag direction as
+well&mdash;much as when a street-roller is working the macadam and
+gravel a little forth and back at the same time as downward. I&nbsp;have
+a great respect for old tools which are the outcome of long-time
+experience and handed-down wisdom. I&nbsp;suspect the presence of some
+of that sort of experience
+<span class = "pagenum">97</span>
+<a name = "page97" id = "page97"> </a>
+in the rammer described in your book, p. 59. That tool would do the
+necessary shifting while attending to its <i>main</i> intention:
+hammering the mass solidly together downwards. Now for your hydraulic
+rammer&mdash;is it advisable to make it blow or press only in a straight
+line downward? Maybe there ought to be two or three kinds of strokes
+alternating&mdash;one stroke with a rifled or wavy surface under the
+rammer&mdash;and the next stroke with a <i>plane</i>
+surface.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. What sort of witchcraft enters into the
+effect of <i>high frequency blows</i> as compared with blows with a
+little longer intervals between? Do the strokes create also some
+‘magnetic’ effect in the pounded earth-mass which helps to fasten the
+particles to each other? And does this magnetic charge or friction heat,
+or whatever it is, act more promptly if one keeps on ‘striking the iron
+while hot,’ instead of letting the charge ‘evaporate’ and sneak away
+between strokes? Two or three of my hairs are turning grey over these
+questions alone. You compliment me by insinuating that I might stumble
+across some fruitful idea for the forms or boxes if I speculate a little
+more on the key-problem. Well, the thing won’t leave me alone, so I have
+thought out several foolish variations and rejected them too. But the
+last one seems to have a little more vitality, so if it will live till I
+write my next letter I will tell you about it. One is so apt to follow
+the temptation of ‘perfecting’ an apparatus&mdash;at the cost of getting
+away from keeping it cheap, simple&mdash;and ‘fool-proof.’ By this time
+the idea has grown ripe in my mind, so that I ought to write out a
+little book on the pisé problem in Swedish and have it printed before
+springtime. Something ought to be done.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. I have to
+ask you kindly to permit me to make use of the data contained in your
+book. To this I will have to add what special precautions we must
+observe as to foundations in a climate like ours. I&nbsp;intend to treat
+only the pisé method. Cob and chalk methods are not applicable here, as
+we have such materials only in a few unimportant spots.”</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">98</span>
+<a name = "page98" id = "page98"> </a>
+<p>Mr. Ellington has long been an admirer and a firm friend of England,
+and he is good enough to regard his country as indebted to ours for the
+introduction of pisé-building:</p>
+
+<p>“Let me tell you that the help you are giving me now&mdash;not me,
+but my nation&mdash;will work as an additional bond that draws us more
+closely towards each other.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Some of our people here
+have always looked too much towards the South and too little towards the
+West.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+A Pisé-Builder’s School</span></p>
+
+<h6>PISÉ, PRACTICE AND PLANT</h6>
+
+<p>Now that so many able architects and enterprising bodies are
+seriously taking up pisé-building, the improvement in plant and
+technique should be both rapid and considerable. The School of Pisé
+Building established at Hornchurch in Essex, by the Imperial Ex-service
+Association, should alone provide us with much new and valuable
+knowledge of a highly practical kind.</p>
+
+<p>It is there, for instance, that various types of shuttering and
+rammers are being experimentally tested side by side, and their relative
+efficiency under varying conditions ascertained. Under some conditions
+it is probable that the floor and roof timbers (destined for use in the
+house under construction) will be found the most economical and
+satisfactory form of temporary “shuttering” for the making of the earth
+walls.</p>
+
+<p>The pisé “Test-House,” built by Messrs. Alban Richards at their
+Ashstead works, was built in this way, and proved highly
+satisfactory.</p>
+
+<p>Another effective and more generally applicable form of shuttering
+(designed and manufactured by the same firm) is illustrated in the
+diagram reproduced below. It should be observed that wedges intervene
+between the movable shutters and the uprights.</p>
+
+<p>The method of employment of the “Mark V” shuttering
+<span class = "pagenum">99</span>
+<a name = "page99" id = "page99"> </a>
+is well illustrated by the bird’s-eye view showing the Newlands cottage
+under construction.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Alternative Shutterings</span></p>
+
+<p>In this matter of shuttering there is still, however, great scope for
+improvement, and it may be hoped that soon ingenuity and experience will
+jointly produce a complete pisé plant perfectly fulfilling all the many
+conditions enumerated earlier in the book.</p>
+
+<p>Shuttering made by riveting plain galvanised sheet iron to one side
+of a corrugated sheet has the qualities of lightness, smoothness,
+cheapness, and rigidity, and the claims of the inventor and patentee are
+now being put to the test in actual building.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pg99.png" width = "441" height = "465"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+PATENT SHUTTERING FOR PISÉ DE TERRE<br>
+<i>By W. Alban Richards and Co.</i></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">100</span>
+<a name = "page100" id = "page100"> </a>
+<p>There now seems little doubt but that pisé blocks will be largely
+used for partitions and chimney stacks where the soil is good enough,
+and experiments are being made with a view to discovering the best and
+cheapest way of making earth slabs similar to those of coke-breeze and
+concrete.</p>
+
+<p>The size aimed at is 18 in. by 18 in. by 3 in., the edges to be
+tongued and grooved.</p>
+
+<p>Certain “concrete” machines seem to lend themselves to adaptation for
+the making of earth blocks, but it is necessary to remember that sharp
+blows are required rather than a steady pressure, and also that we are
+working with a <i>dry</i> material. The ordinary primitive way of making
+pisé blocks is indicated below.</p>
+
+<div class = "float">
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pg101.png" width = "241" height = "156"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption smaller">
+PISÉ HAND RAMMERS</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The hand-rammers are undoubtedly worth study and careful design.
+A&nbsp;set of three seems to meet all ordinary requirements, and those
+shown on p. 101 may be taken as typical. They should be of hard-wood,
+smoothly finished, and provided with long handles. They should be
+9&nbsp;in. to 12 in. long, and about 5&nbsp;in. by 4&nbsp;in. at maximum
+cross section.</p>
+
+<p>In the sketch they are shown “narrow-ways-on.” No. 1&nbsp;is used for
+preliminary pounding and final finishing, No. 2&nbsp;for general
+consolidating, and No. 3&nbsp;for working along the edges, against
+window stops, and under cross-ties.</p>
+
+<p>A South African correspondent, Major Baylay, makes interesting
+comment as regards rammers and local pisé practice:</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+South Africa</span></p>
+
+<p>“My experience of all black labour is, that they won’t put any ‘guts’
+into it. They therefore want fairly heavy rammers, which they can lift
+and drop, say a foot, and which will do the rest for them. The heat of
+the sun and extreme dryness of atmosphere out here make it advisable to
+cover up completed courses at once with sacking, moist for choice,
+otherwise it is liable to dry out too quickly and crack. It dries out
+uncovered at night very well, when there is no rain.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">101</span>
+<a name = "page101" id = "page101"> </a>
+<p>“The red loams of South Africa, where not too sandy, make excellent
+pisé. They or their equivalent are found almost everywhere. In the dry
+state they set so hard that moisture added just before ramming is
+useless. A&nbsp;large heap must be made, well damped and covered over
+with moist sacking, and left until the moisture is distributed
+throughout the mass. When about four or five days old, in ordinary
+weather, the earth is ready to use&mdash;viz., just wet enough to bind
+when gripped in the hand. It should be passed through a sieve.
+I&nbsp;use a sort of ‘chicken run,’ 8&nbsp;ft. long, and throw the earth
+on to it before using. Six feet of it is ½-in. mesh, and 2&nbsp;ft.
+¼-in. mesh; the reason for this is that, if the earth is a little too
+dry, it does not always bind well with the previous layer. Therefore,
+put a few petrol tins of the fine earth into the shuttering first in
+order to ensure good bond, and throw the coarser stuff in after.”</p>
+
+<h6 class = "ital">
+Second Note by Major Baylay, Peter Maritzburg, Natal, South Africa</h6>
+
+<p>“I have completed a small building, and though weather conditions
+have been as bad as possible, it is sound and very satisfactory.</p>
+
+<p>“In my opinion, pisé-building should not be attempted in the rainy
+season in Africa. Earth contains too much
+<span class = "pagenum">102</span>
+<a name = "page102" id = "page102"> </a>
+moisture, and the power of the sun dries it out too quickly and causes
+cracks.</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Re</i> plastering. I covered the outside and inside with a
+mixture of 6 earth, 2&nbsp;sand, 1&nbsp;blue (Hyd.) lime, the earth
+being the red, rather ‘fat’ earth found everywhere, and the same stuff
+the house is built of. It is put on thin with a trowel, after damping
+the wall. When it dries and cracks, rub all over with a sacking pad
+covered with the plaster mixture, but wetted to a thin cream
+consistency. It may sound an odd method, but the natives do this work
+well, and the result is as good as one can wish for. You can put tar or
+any wash (No.&nbsp;6) on this.”</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Soils</span></p>
+
+<h6>SOILS</h6>
+
+<p>Were it not for the fact (often somewhat embarrassing) that soil
+quite incapable of making good pisé will none the less produce
+enthusiastic pisé-builders, a&nbsp;warning as to the vital importance of
+the earth being really suitable might seem superfluous.</p>
+
+<p>The author has found some of the staunchest champions of
+pisé-building living on and valiantly struggling with stiff glutinous
+clay and almost pure sand.</p>
+
+<p>Even the most vigorous optimism can achieve little under such adverse
+conditions unless soil-blending be resorted to, and even so,
+pisé-building begins to lose points in the matter of economy directly
+complications of this sort are introduced.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately, however, England is well off in the matter of pisé
+soils, the red marls being amongst the very best.</p>
+
+<p>A study of the country, or, failing that, of the geological maps,
+will reveal a great tract of this earth extending diagonally right
+across England, from Yorkshire down into Devonshire, where it ends
+conspicuously in the beautiful red cliffs about Torquay.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">103</span>
+<a name = "page103" id = "page103"> </a>
+<p>There is a large area of the stuff in the Midlands, notably in
+Warwickshire, with lesser patches here and there about the country.</p>
+
+<p>Second only to the red marls come the brick earths, which,
+fortunately, are also widely distributed.</p>
+
+<p>“Brick earth” is merely clay that has been well weathered and
+disintegrated under the action of wind, rain, frost, and organic agents,
+the sulphides having become oxides, and what was a cold intractable
+slithery mass having become merely a “strong” and binding earth.</p>
+
+<p>It is probable that even stiff clay, if dug in the summer or autumn,
+and left exposed for a winter, would prove sufficiently reformed to be
+quite amenable for pisé building in the spring.</p>
+
+<p>After the marls and the brick earths there is an endless variety of
+soils that will serve well for pisé-building&mdash;some, of course,
+better than others, but all, save the extremes (the excessively light
+and the excessively clayey), capable of giving good results under proper
+treatment.</p>
+
+<p>Before putting pisé construction actually in hand, however, the
+intending builder will do well to submit samples of his earth to some
+competent authority, that they may receive his blessing.</p>
+
+<p>A fistful taken from a depth of 9 in., and another from say
+2&nbsp;ft. below the surface, should give sufficient evidence as to the
+soil’s suitability or the reverse.</p>
+
+
+<div class = "footnote">
+<p><a class = "tag" name = "note4" id = "note4" href = "#tag4">4</a>
+The introduction of a damp-course and the provision of gutters at the
+eaves greatly reduce the function of the masonry base in modern
+work.</p>
+
+<p><a class = "tag" name = "note5" id = "note5" href = "#tag5">5</a>
+“The pisé does not admit any vegetable or animal substances. In mud
+walls they put straw, chopped hay, hair, flocks, wool, etc., to make the
+mud adhere to the wood, or laths; whereas the workmen who build in pisé
+are careful to pick out the least straw or the smallest bit of root
+which remains in the earth: in short, the pisé is a mineral substance
+imitating stone, consequently anything that can slake or rot must be
+excluded.”</p>
+
+<p><a class = "tag" name = "note6" id = "note6" href = "#tag6">6</a>
+India.</p>
+
+<p><a class = "tag" name = "note7" id = "note7" href = "#tag7">7</a>
+“A convenient arrangement might be: to make the lower and upper
+connecting bars alike, to raise the side boarding a few inches above the
+upper bars, which, when embedded, might be allowed to remain and become
+the lower ones of the next course; the external apparatus being shifted
+by taking out the pins and slipping off the stanchions and planks to be
+reapplied to the upper bars already in position to receive them.”</p>
+
+<p><a class = "tag" name = "note8" id = "note8" href = "#tag8">8</a>
+This was specified because it was the best material near the site.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<!-- page 104 -->
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">105</span>
+<a name = "chapIII" id = "chapIII"> </a>
+
+<h3>III<br>
+<i>CHALK</i></h3>
+
+<!-- page 106 -->
+
+<span class = "pagenum">107</span>
+<a name = "page107" id = "page107"> </a>
+
+<h4>III<br>
+<i>CHALK</i></h4>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "chapIII_I" id = "chapIII_I"><ins class = "correction"
+title = "there are no sections II, III...">§ I.</ins></a>
+General</h5>
+
+<p><span class = "firstword">Chalk</span>, as a source of lime, has
+always been of high importance to builders, and, until improved
+transport brought alien materials into its old preserves, chalk was in
+general use for walling in the form of roughly squared blocks.</p>
+
+<p>Chalk again forms the basis of a compost that, used in the form of a
+stiff paste, has been largely employed for building from the earliest
+times down to the present.</p>
+
+<p>“Pisé de Craie,” or chalk consolidated by ramming within a casing, is
+a form of building that has been long held in high repute in France and
+elsewhere, but which has only recently been given a serious trial in
+England.</p>
+
+<p>Chalk in all these forms, if fairly dealt with and reasonably
+protected from the weather, is a most amenable and satisfactory material
+to build with.</p>
+
+<p>The last-named method particularly seems to promise results that
+should satisfy the most exacting critics of the unconventional, as it
+assuredly does those who inhabit the cottages so constructed.</p>
+
+<p>The several systems of chalk construction are fully dealt with in the
+pages that follow.</p>
+
+<p><i>Chalk Compost: Historical.</i>&mdash;At the Ancient British
+village on West Down, Chilbolton, some five miles south of Andover,
+delving archæologists have brought to light undeniable fragments of
+chalk “Daub,” with the wattle marks still clearly showing upon them.</p>
+
+<p>This discovery is chiefly of academic interest, though
+<span class = "pagenum">108</span>
+<a name = "page108" id = "page108"> </a>
+it is a pretty refutation to those who regard any building material save
+brick and stone as “new-fangled,” and it should also serve to hearten
+the doubters and the timid amongst us who seek historic sanction for any
+departure from current building practice.</p>
+
+<p><i>Composition and Uses.</i>&mdash;In the Andover district Chalk
+Compost or “Chalk Mud,” as it is called locally, is prepared and used as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>The chalk is dug out in the autumn, and the frost allowed to play on
+it during the winter. In the spring building starts, and the weathered
+chalk is spread all around the outside of the walls. Straw is sprinkled
+on it and it is then well trodden, usually by the workers, but sometimes
+by horses. Sometimes chopped straw is added, sometimes unchopped straw
+is sprinkled on. The quality of the walls depends very largely on the
+preparation&mdash;that is, in getting the mud to the right
+consistency&mdash;and the old hands know by experience when it is
+ready.</p>
+
+<p>The compost is lifted on the wall by a fork and another man stands on
+the wall and treads it in. It is then chopped down straight with a
+spade. Some of the naked walls at Andover show traces of the courses,
+which are usually something under 2&nbsp;ft. in height.</p>
+
+<p>Where a course has to be left unfinished it should be ended with a
+diagonal ramp so as to splice in with the work that follows.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the old builders seem to have been somewhat catholic in their
+conceptions as to what constituted “chalk,” and vague patches of earth,
+loose flints and other stray substances not infrequently mar their work
+and sometimes seriously reduce its strength.</p>
+
+<p>As a general rule, the finer the chalk the stronger and more durable
+is the walling.</p>
+
+<p>What is aimed at is a conglomerate of small chalk knobs cemented
+together by a matrix of plastic chalk and straw, the whole forming as
+dense a mass as possible.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">109</span>
+<a name = "page109" id = "page109"> </a>
+<p>Grinding in a mortar-mill would probably reduce all the chalk to an
+amorphous powder, which would not be desirable, and in any case such
+mechanical mixing is quite unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>Building by ramming the moist compost between timber shutterings does
+not appear to have been practised in the past, though there is nothing
+against the method except its tendency to delay the drying out.</p>
+
+<p>The drying of each course takes several days, depending on the
+weather. A&nbsp;course is usually laid right round the building. It must
+be covered up at night in case of rain, and when it is hard another
+course is laid on, and so on till completion. The aim is to build during
+the summer and autumn, and when the moisture has dried out, to render
+the exterior.</p>
+
+<p>Where brickwork is used with chalk compost it is generally bonded
+<ins class = "correction" title = "not an error">in in</ins> the
+ordinary way, but block-bonding the depth of a chalk course is a better
+way of doing&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>The exterior corners of chalk buildings are the vulnerable points,
+and these should therefore be well rounded off.</p>
+
+<p><i>Timber.</i>&mdash;In the old work nothing seems to have been done
+to prevent woodwork built in to the compost from decaying, though in
+many cases it has survived surprisingly. In any new work, however,
+proper ventilated air-spaces should be contrived or the timber ends
+treated with some preservative.</p>
+
+<p>The door and window frames are fixed to fairly large pieces of wood
+built in across the thickness of wall, and other woodwork is fixed to
+wood blocks built <ins class = "correction" title = "not an error">in
+in</ins> a similar way.</p>
+
+<p>Picture-rails should be provided in all rooms, as chalk walls are apt
+to flake and chip if nails are driven into them.</p>
+
+<p>Lintels are usually of wood, and when plastering is carried down over
+these some form of key must of course be provided to hold&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Winter Work Barred</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Frost.</i>&mdash;New work must not be exposed to frost or there
+will be danger of collapse, and winter work is barred out for this
+reason.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">110</span>
+<a name = "page110" id = "page110"> </a>
+<p><i>Repairs.</i>&mdash;Chalk compost walls are not easily repaired in
+that material, and bricks are generally used, well bonded&nbsp;in.</p>
+
+<p><i>Chimneys.</i>&mdash;Chimneys, too, are usually of brick, though
+there would seem no reason against the flues being carried up in chalk,
+especially if clay pipe linings were used.</p>
+
+<p>The chimney-stacks above the roof might well be built in flint, the
+corners being rounded off in deference to the peculiarities of the
+material.</p>
+
+<p><i>External Rendering.</i>&mdash;It is of the first importance that a
+good weather-tight skin be maintained, and many old buildings have
+suffered through neglect of this precaution.</p>
+
+<p>The rendering was often of the poorest quality, more mud than lime,
+and the constant repairs that the indifferent materials necessitated has
+resulted in many of the old cottages becoming patchworks of variegated
+plaster blotches, when not whitewashed over, which give an impression of
+dilapidation by no means warranted by the facts.</p>
+
+<p><i>Rendering.</i>&mdash;Given a good skin, however, of cement or
+cement and lime, a&nbsp;chalk conglomerate wall will last indefinitely.
+So vital is the skin that it is as well to put it on in two good
+coats&mdash;rounding off all the corners and finishing it either with
+slap-dash or rough from the wooden float.</p>
+
+<p>Also, to ensure its proper adhesion throughout, wire-netting may be
+used as reinforcement&mdash;being secured to the face of the chalk wall
+by means of cross netting or wires laid on the wall as the building
+rises.</p>
+
+<p>If the netting be of a fine mesh it also serves as an absolute
+barrier to vermin, though pounded glass incorporated in the base of the
+wall is equally effective.</p>
+
+<p><i>Strength.</i>&mdash;Provided the wall has dried out thoroughly,
+any of the ordinary loads occurring in a two-storied house can be borne
+with ease.</p>
+
+<p>Chalk conglomerate walling, however, has no great lateral strength,
+and it should not be asked to stand up to thrusts.</p>
+
+<p>The roof, therefore, must be well tied, and should sit on the
+building merely as a lid.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">110</span>
+<a name = "fig110a" id = "fig110a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic110a.png" width = "441" height = "646"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption narrow">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Details of Chalk Construction at
+Amesbury.</span><br>
+(From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of the
+Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)<br>
+<a href = "images/pic110a_large.jpg" target = "_blank">Larger
+View</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">111</span>
+<a name = "fig110b" id = "fig110b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic110b.png" width = "546" height = "294"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption wide">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Chalk Construction at Amesbury,
+Wilts.</span><br>
+(From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of the
+Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)</p>
+</div>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">111</span>
+<a name = "page111" id = "page111"> </a>
+<p><i>Roof.</i>&mdash;Though thatch is the traditional roofing material
+of chalk cottages, any other will serve that is permanent and good of
+its kind.</p>
+
+<p>The only special demand that chalk walls make is that the eaves shall
+be generously overhung for their better protection from the weather.</p>
+
+<p>Where, in later years, the boldly projecting thatch has been
+thoughtlessly replaced by a slate roof with meagre eaves, or with none
+at all, the walls have suffered accordingly.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Garden Walls</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Garden Walls.</i>&mdash;A chalk garden wall must be afforded just
+as much protection as the wall of a house and on both sides.</p>
+
+<p>The hat with which it is provided is of the highest importance to the
+health and longevity of the walling.</p>
+
+<p>Examples of garden wall copings are given in the sketches shown
+below.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pg111.png" width = "428" height = "354"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption smaller">
+WALL COPINGS.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">112</span>
+<a name = "page112" id = "page112"> </a>
+<p><i>House Walls.</i>&mdash;Chalk conglomerate walls rarely exceed 18
+in. in thickness, and are usually the same upstairs as down.</p>
+
+<p>A plinth of the same thickness as the chalk wall it supports is
+usually carried up 6&nbsp;in. to 18 in. above the ground level in
+rubble-work, flint, or brick, being known as the “Underpin Course.” Any
+of the stock damp-courses are suitable, but they must be well and truly
+laid, as damp feet are nearly as deleterious to a chalk wall as a leaky
+or inadequate hat.</p>
+
+<p>No special tools are required for this method of building, an
+ordinary farm fork for lifting and a spade for the final chopping down
+of the wall faces being all that are necessary.</p>
+
+<p>A house built during the summer is usually fit for occupation the
+same autumn.</p>
+
+<p><i>Old Examples.</i>&mdash;Those who may wish to see buildings in
+chalk conglomerate, both old and new, would do well to visit some such
+typical chalk district as that lying about Andover in Wiltshire.</p>
+
+<p>It should, however, be constantly borne in mind that most of the old
+cottages were somewhat unscientifically erected by their original
+jack-of-all-trades occupiers, that damp-courses and Portland cement were
+unknown, and that the advantages of proper ventilation and the causes of
+dry-rot were discoveries yet to be made.</p>
+
+<p>Secondly, a large number of these cottages have been sadly neglected
+either recently or in the past, and they bear the disfiguring marks of
+their ill-treatment upon them now.</p>
+
+<p>But a chalk cottage that is well found in the beginning, and that is
+reasonably well cared for subsequently, has nothing to fear from
+comparison with cottages built in the most approved manner of the more
+fashionable materials.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. James Thorold gives the following particulars of a block of three
+chalk cottages recently built for Sir George Cooper on his estate at
+Hursley, near Winchester:</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">113</span>
+<a name = "page113" id = "page113"> </a>
+<p>“The chalk walling was done by Messrs. A. Annett and Son, of
+Winterslow, near Salisbury, where this method of building has been kept
+alive from olden days. It consists of working up the soft upper strata
+of the chalk by putting a bed of it 4&nbsp;ft. 6&nbsp;in. thick on the
+ground, watering and treading it to a sticky consistency with the feet,
+working in shortish straw at the same time. When thoroughly mixed by the
+builder’s mate, he lifts up a forkful to the builder working on the wall
+immediately above him, the latter catches the chalk, dumps it down on
+the top of the wall, building an 18 in. course all round. As soon as the
+weather has dried this sufficiently he goes round with a sharp spade
+squaring up both sides of the wall. As this work is greatly dependent on
+the weather it is well if the men have other work to fall back on, and
+that building operations should be commenced in the spring or early
+summer. The wall is built 18 in. thick to the first floor joists and 14
+in. above. Chalk in itself being very absorbent of moisture, the usual
+plan is to render the outside of the wall with a lime mortar, which,
+however, requires renewal every few years. To obviate this we fixed with
+long staples 1¼ in. mesh wire-netting over the outside surface of the
+wall to give a reinforcement for a rendering of hair mortar and cement
+gauged in proportion of 1 to 2 respectively, and left rough from the
+trowel. This rendering was done at a cost of 3<i>s.</i> 3½<i>d.</i> per
+square yard, which is a substantial addition to the cost of the walling,
+but so far there is no sign of a crack or hollow place behind it, and
+the cottages have kept very dry. The walls were finished off with a
+limewash containing Russian tallow and copperas.<a class = "tag" name =
+"tag9" id = "tag9" href = "#note9">9</a></p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Cost of Three Cottages</span></p>
+
+<p>“As regards the cost of this block of three cottages, the result is
+obscured by the fact that tall chimney-stacks with ornamental bricks and
+appropriate foundations were built and reinforced leaded lights were
+used in the windows
+<span class = "pagenum">114</span>
+<a name = "page114" id = "page114"> </a>
+to keep the building in character with the other cottages on the estate,
+but at the time we estimated that the chalk walling saved a sum of £54
+as against the amount we should have had to have spent in carrying out
+the building with bricks made on the estate, and this had to include
+lodging money and profit, the builders being independent men. The
+ornamental chimney-stacks were put in for the sake of appearance, flues
+built up in the chalk being entirely satisfactory and fireproof. The
+foundations are either flint or brick with a slate damp-course.</p>
+
+<p>“I consider that for a chalk country this method of building has many
+advantages.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+“(1) It saves cartage.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+“(2) It can be carried out by a skilled labourer who can be otherwise
+employed during unsuitable weather.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+“(3) No fuel is required as in burning bricks.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+“(4) If a suitable rendering is employed to keep it weatherproof, and a
+good damp-course on the foundations, the cottages are nice and dry and
+keep an equable temperature, chalk being a good non-conductor.</p>
+
+<p>“Sir George wonders if any method could be devised by chemical means
+to harden the chalk and make it weatherproof; if this could be done it
+might save the expense of the cement rendering.”</p>
+
+
+<h6>CHALK CONGLOMERATE</h6>
+
+<p>From <i>Country Life</i>, February 23rd, 1901:</p>
+
+<p>“Soft chalk is practically mud, yet Dr. Poore, one leading authority
+on rural hygiene, had his model hygienic cottage built with it at
+Andover, just outside the boundaries, in order to escape the tyranny of
+the bye-laws. In several other places this material has been used time
+out of mind.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">115</span>
+<a name = "page115" id = "page115"> </a>
+<p>“The white cottages on the Wiltshire Downs are as good as any in
+England.”</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">114</span>
+<a name = "fig114a" id = "fig114a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic114a.jpg" width = "445" height = "291"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Three Chalk Cottages at Hursley
+Park</span></p>
+
+
+<h6>THE WINTERSLOW COTTAGES</h6>
+
+<p>From <i>Country Life</i>, April 6th, 1901:</p>
+
+<p>“The white chalk cottages of the scattered straggling village are
+found in every sort of position. They must not be confounded with the
+cottages of rock chalk at Medmenham. You might almost call them mud
+cottages.</p>
+
+<p>“The house is generally both planned and constructed by the
+owner.</p>
+
+<p>“. . . The soil is only a few inches deep, soft chalk lies close to
+the surface and can be dug out with a spade. This is a very suitable
+material in the district and costs nothing but the labour of
+digging.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.</p>
+
+<p>“On the downs there is a constant lack of water; that which falls in
+the shape of rain is therefore very precious, and in some cases is
+indeed the only kind available. But a large tank or artificial well is
+needed to contain it, and the pit from which the chalk is dug out can be
+made to serve the purpose.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. One was made watertight
+by means of a lining of concrete, and held enough water to keep the
+family going through all the dry season.</p>
+
+<p>“In another house . . . the chalk-pit had been utilised to form a
+large and convenient cellar.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.</p>
+
+<p>“Most of them (the cottages) . . . are on two floors, with parlour,
+kitchen, back kitchen and so forth on one, and the bedrooms on the
+other. In the preparation of the chalk, the method followed is that of
+treading it into a kind of rubble, and adding a proportion of straw and
+a small quantity of lime.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Expensive Scaffolding Avoided</span></p>
+
+<p>“There is a local builder who will run up the shell of a house for a
+matter of £100, more or less, according to its
+size.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Most of the cottages are literally hand-made.
+A&nbsp;skilful architect who visited the Winterslow cottages
+<span class = "pagenum">116</span>
+<a name = "page116" id = "page116"> </a>
+felt sure that boards must be used to keep the walls straight, but he
+was wrong. The chalk is shovelled up and the walls are kept straight
+without line or plummet. No expensive scaffolding or machinery is
+employed. Yet the walls come out beautifully in the end, the colour
+being an exquisite soft white. They are about 18 in. thick, and the
+slowness of their construction has one good effect, it gives them time
+to dry. No point is of more importance than this. It is advisable not to
+put on any rough-cast, plaster, or paper for at least twelve months, as
+doing so will prevent the moisture from exuding. One or two of the
+little cottages were slightly damp, but the majority were as dry as
+tinder. The thickness of the walls helps to render the cottage more
+comfortable, to make it cool in summer and dry in winter.</p>
+
+<p>“One word should be added in regard to soft chalk as a building
+material. Where it can be obtained in the garden at a few inches depth,
+and especially where the cottager is his own architect and builder, it
+can be most heartily recommended, but there are obvious objections to
+its transportation to districts where it is foreign.</p>
+
+<p>“The village itself is a very homely and irregular one without a
+single dwelling of any pretence. The country lying adjacent to Salisbury
+Plain consists of broken, sparsely peopled downland, and very ornate or
+finished cottages would be out of keeping, but they would not look so
+well copied in a very rich, heavily timbered country.”</p>
+
+
+<h6>RATS AND CHALK</h6>
+
+<p><i>Note.</i>&mdash;Conglomerate chalk is, like cob, vulnerable to the
+attacks of a really determined rat.</p>
+
+<p>The outer defences provided by the exterior rendering can be backed
+up by the mixing in of broken glass or sharp flints with the substance
+of the wall, where such attacks are likely.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">116</span>
+<a name = "fig116a" id = "fig116a">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic116a.jpg" width = "570" height = "394"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Marsh Court, Hampshire.</span></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">117</span>
+<a name = "fig116b" id = "fig116b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic116b.jpg" width = "501" height = "395"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Brick-and-chalk Vaulting at the Deanery
+Garden, Sonning</span></p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">117</span>
+<a name = "page117" id = "page117"> </a>
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Block Chalk</span></p>
+
+<h6>BLOCK CHALK</h6>
+
+<p>“Chalk” is a term somewhat loosely used to denote the soft white
+limestone&mdash;the “<i>Creta Scriptoria</i>”&mdash;that is cousin to
+Marl on one side and to Ragstone on the other.</p>
+
+<p>In its purest form chalk consists of over 95 per cent. of carbonate
+of lime in the form of fine granular particles held together by a
+calcareous cement, its organic origin being clearly traced in the
+remains of the minute sea creatures with which it abounds.</p>
+
+<p>Hewn blocks of chalk have been used for walling and vaulting from
+immemorial times, and, where not exposed to direct erosion by the
+weather, remain to this day as clean-cut as when they were first
+quarried and a very great deal harder.</p>
+
+<p>The filling in of the great vaults at Salisbury Cathedral and in the
+Bishop’s Palace are of chalk, whilst innumerable lesser buildings of
+more or less antiquity still remain to us as monuments to the excellence
+and durability of this stone.</p>
+
+<p>Chalk, too, was often used in combination with flint or brick to
+build the engaging chequer-work walls that embellish so many downland
+villages.</p>
+
+<p>At Medmenham there are cottages both old and new of hewn rock chalk,
+and both the Berks and Bucks banks of the Thames have many buildings to
+show of this beautiful material.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst present-day architects Sir Edwin Lutyens was the first to
+give hewn chalk an opportunity of showing its quality in serious
+architecture, Marsh Court in Hampshire being an instance of more than
+local celebrity.</p>
+
+<p>In the great walls at the Bishop of Winchester’s palace, Farnham
+Castle in Surrey, the old builders appear to have used bricks, limestone
+and chalk proper, according as the several materials were delivered,
+quite indifferently, and with results altogether delightful.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">118</span>
+<a name = "page118" id = "page118"> </a>
+<p>Not all chalk is suitable for building, that near the surface being
+often far gone in decay and much too friable for such a purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Even when apparently sound blocks have been gotten they are not
+infrequently found to be crossed in all directions by planes of weakness
+along which they are apt to fall to pieces in the handling.</p>
+
+<p>From this cause the “waste” is sometimes considerable.</p>
+
+<p>The well-known building “stones” from the quarries of Beer, Sutton,
+and Tottenhoe in Devonshire are really chalk, but in a form not readily
+distinguishable from ordinary free-stone.</p>
+
+<p>The longer that chalk blocks are kept to dry before building-in the
+better, and the sun and wind of at least a year should be allowed free
+play upon them to dry out their natural sap and render them
+“frost-proof.”</p>
+
+<p>During the drying-out process the chalk should, if possible, be
+protected from the rain.</p>
+
+<p>For years after being built into the walls of a house, chalk will
+continue to dry and harden.</p>
+
+<p>But it is essentially a somewhat porous material, and will quickly
+revenge itself on those neglecting its just demands for a sound roof and
+a proper damp-course.</p>
+
+<p>In exposed situations new chalk walling is liable to allow the
+penetration of moisture under the pressure of the wind unless a cavity
+is provided or unless the surface is treated with a silicate or other
+“vitrifying” fluid.</p>
+
+<p>Chalk, however, has one shining virtue in common with its great
+antithesis&mdash;it improves mightily with keeping.</p>
+
+<p>Chalk walls sometimes have youthful vices in the way of porosity that
+entirely disappear with advancing years through the closing up of the
+surface pores, which eventually makes a cavity and inner lining
+superfluous.</p>
+
+<p class = "footnote">
+<a class = "tag" name = "note9" id = "note9" href = "#tag9">9</a>
+See recipes for Whitewash in <a href = "#appI">Appendix (I)</a>.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">119</span>
+<a name = "chapIV" id = "chapIV"> </a>
+
+<h3>IV<br>
+<i>UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS</i></h3>
+
+<!-- page 120 -->
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">121</span>
+<a name = "page121" id = "page121"> </a>
+
+<h4>IV<br>
+<i>UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS</i></h4>
+
+
+<h5 class = "smallcaps">Sun-dried Bricks</h5>
+
+<p>The use of sun-dried bricks in this country, is, for no very apparent
+reason, almost entirely restricted to East Anglia. There it has been
+used for generations with entirely satisfactory results.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Skipper of Norwich writes of the material as follows:</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+“Who, travelling from Norfolk to London, whether by the Ipswich or
+Cambridge line, has not noticed the numerous colour-washed or black
+(tarred) cottage, farmhouse and agricultural buildings scattered
+practically all along the countryside? Some of these are of studwork and
+plaster, some of wattle and daub, but many are built of clay made up
+into lumps, sun-dried, and built into the walls with a soft clay-mixture
+as mortar. No lime <i>need</i> be used, though sometimes it is mixed
+with the clay mortar. The preparation, digging, exposure and mixing with
+short straw are similar to the Devonshire ‘cob’ work, but in these parts
+the worked clay is thrown into moulds, and lumps are formed of, say, 18
+in. by 12 in. by 6&nbsp;in., or 18 in. by 9&nbsp;in. by 6&nbsp;in. for
+large sizes, and for inside walling or backing to brick-faced walls, 18
+in. by 6&nbsp;in. by 6&nbsp;in. The walls, naturally, are rough in
+texture and the joints are generally stopped up and besmeared with a
+thin coating or almost a wash of clay. This coating sometimes has lime
+mixed with it, but it is not necessary. This is all that is needed to
+complete the walling, and there is a building&mdash;a malting,
+<span class = "pagenum">122</span>
+<a name = "page122" id = "page122"> </a>
+that any one can see at Tivetshall Station on the Ipswich line, about
+200 ft. long, 45 ft. or 50 ft. wide and three floors high, built of
+lumps 18 in. by 12 in. by 6&nbsp;in.&mdash;that has stood the weather
+and weight of its roof for forty years built in this way; 12 in. is the
+thickness of its walls. A&nbsp;further stage in finish is to give the
+walls two or three coats of coal tar, but it is not essential, though
+desirable where stock are kept, as cattle are rather fond of licking the
+clay, and they do not use their horns much when walls are tarred. The
+highest finish in this work is to cast sand on the last coating of tar
+before it is quite dry, and then to colour or whitewash on this. This
+accounts for the variety of colourings seen in these buildings, some
+even of a kind of pink or red; while some yellow or buff, beside the
+white and the black or tarred buildings, and all huddled together or
+standing apart, whether covered with thatch or red pan or flat tiles,
+look remarkably in harmony with their surroundings. These lump walls
+are, of course, built on a base of brickwork, about 18 in. or 2&nbsp;ft.
+high, to keep them free from damp. This kind of walling can be built for
+<i>at least</i> 15 per cent. or 20 per cent. cheaper than ordinary
+9&nbsp;in. brickwork. Thin as these walls are compared with those of
+‘cob’ houses, they are noted for being warm in winter and cool in
+summer. When suitable clay is procurable a local builder almost
+invariably uses clay lumps when building a house for himself, though to
+gratify a whim perhaps, he will case the outside walls&mdash;especially
+the front next the street or road&mdash;with brickwork. But clay lumps
+he carefully reserves for inside walls and weight-carrying linings to
+the outside walls, bonding the two together very much in the same way as
+two 4½ in. ‘cavity walls’ are bonded. I&nbsp;am not suggesting that this
+walling is as interesting artistically as ‘cob,’ but I do suggest it is
+a practical, sensible and <i>dry</i> walling, and if properly done it
+will ‘last for ever,’ as a local builder repeatedly said to me when
+speaking of it. One can easily see why
+<span class = "pagenum">123</span>
+<a name = "page123" id = "page123"> </a>
+the cost is light&mdash;the sun and the winds do the drying in the
+spring months, and no coals are required, and also the clay is often
+found on the building site, hence no cartage. Actual building work
+naturally goes quickly, as the lumps are large. There is another
+important point to notice. One may see a building complete with its roof
+on and occupied by its tenant while still awaiting an outside casing of
+brickwork to be built round it, either with a view to greater protection
+or for the mere vanity of the owner, for while thus left unprotected the
+lump walls take no harm from even winter exposure. Now to be quite
+practical in these extremely practical days, I&nbsp;venture to suggest
+that the use of clay lumps at least for inside walls and linings of
+outside walls would be an immense boon to the numerous cottage-building
+schemes now being projected. We must not forget that comparatively few
+bricks will be available this year, while the cottages are wanted at
+once. Can these few bricks be better used than by forming foundations
+and chimneys for the clay-lump walls of these cottages? I&nbsp;think
+not. The cottages could, of course, be occupied in the late summer or
+autumn of this year, and next year when bricks will be more plentiful
+perhaps the brick casings could be added, if brickwork <i>must</i>
+complete them. I&nbsp;make this strictly utilitarian suggestion solely
+to meet a very urgent and deep national need. Personally, I&nbsp;prefer
+the sight of a cottage built and finished in the old-established method
+of the locality. Unskilled labour only is required, working under
+intelligent supervision, hence immediate employment for a great number
+of men would be provided.”</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Use for Unskilled Labour</span></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "fig122a2" id = "fig122a2">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic122a2.jpg" width = "436" height = "293"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption narrow">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A Row of Clay-lump Cottages.</span></p>
+<p class = "caption long">
+The front has been plastered and panelled out. In the upper part of the
+stable building, seen in the foreground, the clay-lumps are shown
+exposed.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">123</span>
+<a name = "fig122b" id = "fig122b">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic122b1.jpg" width = "440" height = "264"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pic122b2.png" width = "440" height = "274"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption narrow">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Engineering Workshops.</span></p>
+<p class = "caption long">
+Built twenty years ago. The walls are thoroughly sound, despite constant
+vibration, and are perfectly dry, except the brick face, which was added
+for effect.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class = "space">
+The use of sun-dried bricks for the interior partitions of cob and pisé
+cottages is worth consideration, as the nature of these materials
+demands a thickness of wall which is too wasteful of space to be
+acceptable in mere partitioning.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">124</span>
+<a name = "page124" id = "page124"> </a>
+<p>Of the strength of clay-lump walls, there is no question. It was
+recently necessary to cut a new doorway in the old clay-lump wall of a
+large traction-engine garage, and the blocks removed were thrown into a
+heap upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The clay happened to be needed for other purposes, for which it had
+first to be broken&nbsp;up.</p>
+
+<p>Ordinary hammers proved entirely ineffective, and it was not until
+heavy sledges were used that the lumps could be smashed.</p>
+
+<p>The tractor-house in question is a large building some 25 ft. by 100
+ft., carrying a heavy roof and constantly subjected to vibration by the
+coming and going of the tractors.</p>
+
+<p>The walls are only 12 in. thick, without piers or reinforcements of
+any kind, and yet the whole building, which is 26 ft, high at the
+gables, is as perfect to-day as when first erected some twenty years
+ago.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">122</span>
+<a name = "fig122a1" id = "fig122a1">&nbsp;</a><br>
+<img src = "images/pic122a1.jpg" width = "436" height = "214"
+alt = "see caption"></p>
+
+<div class = "caption narrow">
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Once Corn Hall, now Council School.</span><br>
+Built about a hundred years ago. Still in sound condition and quite
+dry.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the same town as this tractor-house, East Harling in Norfolk, is a
+council school built of clay lump (converted from the old Corn Hall),
+apparently not a pin the worse for a century of hard wear.</p>
+
+<p>Near by there are a number of private houses built of the same
+material, some of them reputed to be upwards of 200 years old and
+certain of them having considerable architectural merit.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+“Substantial and Cool”</span></p>
+
+<h6 class = "ital">
+(Extract from “The Farmers’ Handbook,” issued by the Department of
+Agriculture, New South Wales, 1911)</h6>
+
+<p class = "center smallcaps">“Adobe,” or Sun-dried Bricks</p>
+
+<p>“As their name implies, these buildings are constructed of sun-dried,
+but unburnt bricks. For buildings of this character, material like clay,
+which is unsuitable for pisé-work, can be used. The bricks are made in a
+wooden mould, and are 16 in. long, 8&nbsp;in. wide, and 6&nbsp;in.
+thick. A&nbsp;man can mould about 100 per day. They are laid in a
+<span class = "pagenum">125</span>
+<a name = "page125" id = "page125"> </a>
+similar manner to other bricks, the mortar used being wet loam, or even
+the material of which the bricks are made. The cost of making and laying
+is estimated at about 15<i>s.</i> per 100. Buildings constructed of
+these bricks are substantial and cool, and very similar in character to
+pisé buildings.</p>
+
+<p>“A school-house built of these bricks eighteen years ago by Mr.
+Nixon, of Reefton, is still in an excellent state of preservation; in
+fact, little, if any, the worse for wear, despite the fact that walls
+are unprotected by verandahs or overhanging eaves. During its existence
+it has had, first one coat of oil-paint, and later a coat of coloured
+limewash.”</p>
+
+<p>“Clay lump,” then, is one of the many good old building methods that
+needs no proving, but only revival and perhaps improvement.</p>
+
+<!-- page 126 -->
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">127</span>
+<a name = "page127" id = "page127"> </a>
+
+<h4><a name = "appendix" id = "appendix">APPENDIX</a></h4>
+
+<h5><a name = "appI" id = "appI">I</a><br>
+WHITEWASH</h5>
+
+<p>Whitewashing has been frequently referred to in the foregoing pages
+as the most suitable treatment for the exterior of chalk and earth
+buildings.</p>
+
+<p>There is, however, a certain prejudice against lime-whiting amongst
+both owners and occupiers, owing to the frequent renewal that its
+adoption usually implies.</p>
+
+<p>With a view to removing this drawback from a treatment otherwise so
+effective, the following recipes are suggested as improvements on the
+usual practice.</p>
+
+<p>Ordinary whitewash is made by slaking about 10 lbs. of quicklime with
+two gallons of water.</p>
+
+<p>The following recipes are taken from “<i>White Paints and
+Painting</i>” (Scott), and are reliable:</p>
+
+<p>(1) “<i>Factory” Whitewash (interiors), for Walls, Ceilings, Posts,
+etc.</i>:</p>
+
+<div class = "inset">
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>a</i>) 62 lbs. (1&nbsp;bushel) quicklime, slake with 15 gallons
+water. Keep barrel covered till steam ceases to arise. Stir occasionally
+to prevent scorching.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>b</i>) 2½ lbs. rye-flour, beat up in ½ gallon of cold water, then
+add 2 gallons boiling water.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>c</i>) 2½ lbs. of common rock-salt, dissolve in 2½ gallons of hot
+water.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mix (<i>b</i>) and (<i>c</i>), then pour into (<i>a</i>), and stir
+until all is well mixed. This is the whitewash used in the large
+implement factories, and recommended by the insurance companies. The
+above formula gives a product of perfect brush consistency.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">128</span>
+<a name = "page128" id = "page128"> </a>
+<p>(2) <i>“Weatherproof” Whitewash (exteriors), for Buildings, Fences,
+etc.</i>:</p>
+
+<div class = "inset">
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>a</i>) 62 lbs. (1&nbsp;bushel) quicklime, slake with 12 gallons of
+hot water.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>b</i>) 2 lbs. common table salt, 1 lb. sulphate of zinc, dissolved
+in a gallon of boiling water.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>c</i>) 2 gallons skimmed milk.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Pour (<i>b</i>) into (<i>a</i>), then add the milk (<i>c</i>), and
+mix thoroughly.</p>
+
+<p>(3) <i>“Light House” Whitewash</i>:</p>
+
+<div class = "inset">
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>a</i>) 62 lbs. (1&nbsp;bushel) quicklime, slake with 12 gallons of
+hot water.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>b</i>) 12 gallons rock-salt, dissolve in 6 gallons of boiling
+water.</p>
+
+<p class = "hanging">
+(<i>c</i>) 6 lbs. of Portland cement.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Pour (<i>b</i>) into (<i>a</i>), and then add (<i>c</i>).</p>
+
+<p class = "space">
+<i>Note.</i>&mdash;Alum added to a lime whitewash prevents it rubbing
+off. An ounce to the gallon is sufficient.</p>
+
+<p>Flour paste answers the same purpose, but needs zinc sulphate as a
+preservative.</p>
+
+<p>The following are from “<i>1,000 More Paint Questions
+Answered</i>”:</p>
+
+<p>(4) <i>Durable Whitewash for Outside Use.</i>&mdash;A whitewash that
+will not rub off or wash off in rainy weather can be made by mixing one
+half-pint of flour to a batter with cold water, then stirring into this
+boiling water until it becomes a thick paste.</p>
+
+<p>While still hot it is poured into a pailful of ready-made lime
+whitewash and well stirred&nbsp;in.</p>
+
+<p>(5) Another simple method is to add to 2 gallons of ready-made lime
+whitewash one half-pint each of molasses and table salt. Must be stirred
+frequently while being used.</p>
+
+<p><i>Whitewash for Exterior Surfaces.</i>&mdash;A formula for a durable
+whitewash for out-buildings of rough lumber. The following is reprinted
+from “<i>Popular Mechanics</i>”:</p>
+
+<p>(6) Place 1 bushel good fresh lime in a barrel with 20 lbs. beef
+tallow; slake with hot water and cover with sackcloth to keep in steam.
+When the lime is slaked, the tallow will have disappeared, having formed
+a chemical compound with the lime. Dry colours may be added to produce
+any tint desired.<a class = "tag" name = "tag10" id = "tag10" href =
+"#note10">10</a></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">129</span>
+<a name = "page129" id = "page129"> </a>
+<p>It is better to add colour before slaking the lime, but if this is
+not feasible mix the colour with alcohol and add it to the strained
+whitewash. Thin to easy flowing consistency with clear water.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Distempers and Limewashes</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Cold Water Paint that will stand the Weather.</i>&mdash;A formula
+for making a white outside coating that will resist the action of the
+weather and remain hard even under the influence of moisture and rain.
+Experiments with different brands of cold water paints have proved
+failures.</p>
+
+<p>A really effective cold water paint, in order to resist the elements
+and remain white, should contain a white pigment of good body and some
+oil in addition to the water, and with this purpose in view the
+following is suggested:</p>
+
+<p>(7) To make 100 lbs. of such paint, mix 10 lbs. white, pure in oil,
+with 10 lbs. bolted whiting, 8&nbsp;lbs. raw linseed oil, 6&nbsp;lbs.
+soft soap (made with potash), and 26 lbs. soft water.</p>
+
+<p>One quart of pale copal varnish will improve the preparation. The
+formula given is of the right consistency to apply on dressed lumber
+with the brush. For application on rough lumber or with the spraying
+machine it requires more thinning with water and varnish.</p>
+
+<p>The following is taken from Pearce’s “<i>Painting and
+Decorating</i>”:</p>
+
+<p>(8) A London recipe for distemper has the following proportions:
+4&nbsp;“balls” whiting, 2&nbsp;lbs. Young’s patent size, and sufficient
+water to cover the whiting.</p>
+
+<p>(9) A Scotch distemper is described as: 12 lbs. whiting, size as
+given previously, 2&nbsp;ozs. alum, 2&nbsp;ozs. soft soap. It is very
+fast, for passages, schools, etc. Tinting colours for limewash should be
+restricted to ochres, umbers, lime blue, lime greens, charcoal or lamp
+black, and earthy reds (as&nbsp;Venetian).</p>
+
+<p>(10) External limewash for farm buildings, etc., may be made as
+follows: Lime, ½&nbsp;bushel, slaked with 1 gallon of milk and remainder
+of water, 1&nbsp;lb. salt and ½ lb. sulphate of zinc to make it
+withstand the weather.</p>
+
+<p>Experiments with and practical tests of these and other kinds of
+whitewash are being carried out, and the author hopes that he may find
+opportunity at some later date of announcing the results obtained.</p>
+
+<p class = "footnote">
+<a class = "tag" name = "note10" id = "note10" href = "#tag10">10</a>
+Experiments and tests carried out for the author by the Department of
+Scientific and Industrial Research place this receipt at the head of the
+list.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">130</span>
+<a name = "page130" id = "page130"> </a>
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Local Materials</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "appII" id = "appII">II</a><br>
+THE IMPORTANCE OF USING LOCAL MATERIALS</h5>
+
+<p class = "center">
+(<i>Extract from “Country Life,” November 9th, 1918</i>)</p>
+
+<p class = "center smallcaps">
+300,000 Cottages would Entail the Transport Of 60,000,000 Tons of
+Material</p>
+
+<p>In carrying out any considerable scheme of house building two
+difficulties will have to be met. The first arises from the scarcity of
+building material; the other from the cost and difficulty of transport.
+These, to some extent, can be obviated by the use of local material,
+which is to be commended on other grounds as well. Local material fits
+into the character of the neighbourhood in which it is found and
+maintains its traditions.</p>
+
+<p>Very few people realise the bulk of materials, and in order to help
+them the following statement has been prepared to show the materials
+needed for each cottage and the total for 300,000 cottages:</p>
+
+<table class = "inline" summary = "see text">
+<tr>
+<th>Materials.</th>
+<th colspan = "5">Weight.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<th colspan = "3">Per One Cottage.</th>
+<td rowspan = "20">&emsp;</td>
+<th>Per 300,000.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<th>Tons.</th>
+<th abbr = "hundredweight">Cwts.</th>
+<th abbr = "quarter">Qrs.</th>
+<th>(Tons.)</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Ballast, sand, gravel</td>
+<td class = "number">78</td>
+<td class = "number">17</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">23,655,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Lime</td>
+<td class = "number">5</td>
+<td class = "number">18</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">1,770,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Cement</td>
+<td class = "number">12</td>
+<td class = "number">8</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">3,720,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Bricks</td>
+<td class = "number">85</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">25,500,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Slates for D.P.C</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">10</td>
+<td class = "number">2</td>
+<td class = "number">157,500</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Chimney-pots</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">3</td>
+<td class = "number">11,250</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Tiles</td>
+<td class = "number">7</td>
+<td class = "number">2</td>
+<td class = "number">2</td>
+<td class = "number">2,137,500</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Carcassing timber</td>
+<td class = "number">7</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">2,100,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Complete joinery timber</td>
+<td class = "number">1</td>
+<td class = "number">12</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">480,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Cast-iron rain-water goods and sundries</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">9</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">135,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Stoves, copper, ash-bin, etc.</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">5</td>
+<td class = "number">2</td>
+<td class = "number">82,500</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Nails, screws, etc.</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">1</td>
+<td class = "number">2</td>
+<td class = "number">22,500</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Hair for plaster</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">1</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">15,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Lead flashings, etc.</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">2</td>
+<td class = "number">1</td>
+<td class = "number">33,750</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Sink, waste pipes, draining boards, etc.</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">2</td>
+<td class = "number">1</td>
+<td class = "number">33,750</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Sanitary goods</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">1</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">15,000</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Whitening, distemper and paint</td>
+<td class = "number">0</td>
+<td class = "number">3</td>
+<td class = "number">1</td>
+<td class = "number">48,750</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "middle">Total</td>
+<td class = "sum">199</td>
+<td class = "sum">14</td>
+<td class = "sum">2</td>
+<td class = "sum">59,917,500</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>It will be seen that to carry out the scheme for 300,000 cottages a
+total of close on 60,000,000 tons of material will have to be shifted.
+In addition to that, it must be remembered that the
+<span class = "pagenum">131</span>
+<a name = "page131" id = "page131"> </a>
+cost of material is very small in comparison with that of building. This
+will be apparent from an analysis of the items employed for actual cost
+and the percentage which that cost bears to the total cost.</p>
+
+<p>Cottages erected 1912 (semi-detached): total interior area of
+cottage, 772 ft. super, (parlour, kitchen, scullery and three bedrooms,
+coal and W.C.):</p>
+
+<table class = "inline" summary = "see text">
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<th colspan = "3">
+Per House.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<th>No.</th>
+<th>Item.</th>
+<th>Actual<br>
+Cost.</th>
+<td rowspan = "14">&emsp;</td>
+<th class = "locked">Per cent. of<br>
+Total Cost.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">1.</td>
+<td>Sundries</td>
+<td class = "number">8</td>
+<td class = "number">2.66</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">2.</td>
+<td>Foundations</td>
+<td class = "number">16</td>
+<td class = "number">5.28</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">3.</td>
+<td>External and party walls (<i>a</i>)</td>
+<td class = "number">77</td>
+<td class = "number">25.41</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td>&nbsp; &nbsp; Windows and doors (<i>b</i>)</td>
+<td class = "number">23</td>
+<td class = "number">7.59</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">4.</td>
+<td>Internal partitions</td>
+<td class = "number">36</td>
+<td class = "number">11.88</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">5.</td>
+<td>Ground floor</td>
+<td class = "number">18</td>
+<td class = "number">5.94</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">6.</td>
+<td>Upper floor</td>
+<td class = "number">22</td>
+<td class = "number">7.26</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">7.</td>
+<td>Roof and rain-water goods</td>
+<td class = "number">34</td>
+<td class = "number">1.22</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">8.</td>
+<td>Chimney and fireplaces</td>
+<td class = "number">30</td>
+<td class = "number">9.90</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">9.</td>
+<td><p>Sanitary fittings, water supply and drainage</p></td>
+<td class = "number">19</td>
+<td class = "number">6.27</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">10.</td>
+<td>Staircases</td>
+<td class = "number">11</td>
+<td class = "number">3.63</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "number">11.</td>
+<td>Fittings</td>
+<td class = "number">6</td>
+<td class = "number">1.98</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td class = "middle">
+Total</td>
+<td class = "sum">£300</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>These facts help to clarify the problem. The weight of the building
+materials required for an ordinary cottage with living-room, parlour,
+scullery, three bedrooms, etc., the house containing cubic contents of
+about 11,500 ft., would come approximately to 200 tons per cottage; and
+even assuming that there is only an average transport of fifty miles,
+this would give 10,000 ton-miles per rural cottage, which is taking it
+at a very low average. In each cottage the weight of the brickwork
+represents about 42 per cent. of the total weight. It is, therefore,
+apparent that every effort should be made to lessen the transit of
+materials required for the external walling. If, on the other hand,
+local materials are employed, this carriage would be saved and a great
+economy effected. Even if this utilitarian consideration were not so
+important as it is, the desirability of making all possible use of local
+materials is very great from other points of view. It would stimulate
+local interest in building and, in addition to retaining the traditions
+<span class = "pagenum">132</span>
+<a name = "page132" id = "page132"> </a>
+of the district, give greater hope of retaining and maintaining the
+proper architectural aspect of our villages.</p>
+
+<p>It is scarcely necessary to summarise the advantages that may fairly
+be expected to flow from this endeavour to make a real start at finding
+a solution for the housing difficulty. First and foremost must be placed
+the saving in transport. A&nbsp;casual reader may easily imagine that
+the difficulties of carriage will vanish with the end of the war, but
+that is not so in reality. Any one who has travelled in France must have
+noticed engines bearing such names as Liverpool Street, King’s Cross,
+Euston, Birmingham, and so on. The meaning of that is that a great deal
+of our rolling stock was sent over to France, and at the best will not
+be available here for a long time to come. Even the ordinary work of
+upkeep and repair has necessarily been neglected owing to the scarcity
+of men and other causes incidental to war-time. Transport difficulties
+are bound to last for a very considerable period after the peace
+settlement, and it would not be at all advisable to delay the
+construction of houses so long. The returned soldiers will make us
+vividly conscious of the shortage. Nothing could be imagined more likely
+to make them look for chances of going abroad than to learn that there
+is not sufficient housing accommodation for them in the village in which
+they lived before the war, and to which they hoped to return on its
+conclusion.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Cost per Foot Cube</span></p>
+
+<h5><a name = "appIII" id = "appIII">III</a><br>
+EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF <i>COUNTRY LIFE</i>,
+JULY&nbsp;27th,&nbsp;1918</h5>
+
+<p>“Shortly before the war I had occasion to demolish some very old
+cottages at Clovelly for the reconstruction of the New Inn. I&nbsp;was
+so much struck with the stability of these (although by no means
+first-class samples of cob work) that I collected some facts and notes
+on the subject from different parts of the county of Devon. Where
+bye-laws have been adopted, cob is no longer being used. It is
+difficult, therefore, to give an accurate comparison of costs, but after
+careful investigation I did arrive at the following results for North
+Devon and Scotland. The prices were in 1913, and in both cases for a
+five-roomed cottage
+<span class = "pagenum">133</span>
+<a name = "page133" id = "page133"> </a>
+(assuming four to be built at the same time, including internal water
+supply, but omitting any special work necessary to procure supply, and
+omitting fencing).</p>
+
+<table class = "inline" summary = "see text">
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td rowspan = "3">&emsp;</td>
+<th>Cost per foot cube<br>
+cob at 2 ft. 6 in.<br>
+thick.</th>
+<td rowspan = "3">&emsp;</td>
+<th>Cost per foot<br>
+cube 11 in.<br>
+hollow brick.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>North Devon</td>
+<td class = "center">6½<i>d.</i></td>
+<td class = "center">5⅞<i>d.</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Scotland</td>
+<td class = "center">6<i>d.</i></td>
+<td class = "center">6<i>d.</i></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>These prices assumed suitable material on or near site, and allowed
+something for the difficulty of getting at least one experienced
+cob-worker to instruct the unskilled men. Since 1913 the cost of brick
+has risen so much that cob would now be much cheaper, probably as much
+as 1<i>d.</i> or 1¼<i>d.</i> foot cube in both cases, and this is likely
+to be the case for many years. Suitable material exists in many parts of
+the country. If reed straw cannot be had, other reinforcements can be
+used. I&nbsp;have seen various materials in use, of which heather was
+perhaps the best and most easily procured. I&nbsp;can endorse from
+experience the comfort of these old buildings, and the affection of
+Devon people for them. The thick walls give all that a house
+should&mdash;protection from heat in summer and cold in winter. For the
+contrast, visit the new Garden City at Rosyth. Many of the houses are
+attractive, but their thin brick walls, tile and slate hanging are not
+suitable to the north and east coasts. Ask the opinion of the occupants
+of these new houses. Many of them are Devon born and bred, and imported
+from the dockyards of the three towns. They nearly all complain of the
+cold, and their views form an interesting comment on modern
+construction.”</p>
+
+
+<h5><a name = "appIV" id = "appIV">IV</a><br>
+PISÉ TESTS</h5>
+
+<p class = "center">(<i>With acknowledgements to “The
+Spectator”</i>)</p>
+
+<p>Through the courtesy of Messrs. Alban Richards &amp; Co. we are able
+to publish the results of certain very instructive tests that have been
+carried out on Pisé during the past winter. Messrs. Richard’s experience
+and Report bring out two points with especial clearness, (1)&nbsp;That
+Pisé work, though not impossible under winter conditions, is not
+ordinarily desirable unless some means of artificially drying the earth
+be resorted to. (2)&nbsp;That the strength of Pisé increases with
+surprising rapidity as
+<span class = "pagenum">134</span>
+<a name = "page134" id = "page134"> </a>
+the work dries out. It should be remarked that none of the samples
+tested were made from really good Pisé soil, such for instance as the
+red marls or brick earths. With such materials or anything approaching
+them, the results would have been even better, as the Report points
+out:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>“In conjunction with Mr. Williams-Ellis, we have made certain tests
+with a view to satisfying ourselves as to the practicability of <i>pisé
+de terre</i> for house construction. In order to obtain what we might
+term the minimum or ‘worst’ tests, we decided to erect walls for this
+purpose in the winter. This we have done for the last three months,
+which has been a very wet period, and the following is a short
+description of the tests we have made:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class = "inset">
+“1. Two walls were erected measuring 14 ft. long, 9&nbsp;ft. high and 18
+in. thick, spaced 20 ft. apart, with short return ends to each wall.
+Wall plates were placed centrally along the top of each wall, on which
+were placed 9&nbsp;in. by 3&nbsp;in. wood joists, at 16 in. centres,
+across the 20 ft span. In order to obtain the minimum results we allowed
+the shutters to remain until the test was ready to be applied, so that
+walls did not have an opportunity of drying or hardening. This condition
+was thought necessary, as it is quite reasonable to expect that if
+<i>pisé de terre</i> cottages are erected, considerable weight might be
+placed on the walls immediately the shuttering is struck. We then
+proceeded to test the walls to destruction. The floor space provided for
+by the joists referred to above measure 220 super. feet, the load was
+then applied gradually. The load applied totalled 16½ tons, which is
+equivalent of 168 lbs. per super. foot of floor space, under which the
+wall collapsed, which, in our opinion, provides a factor of safety of
+three to the normal load which a cottage floor would have to bear.</p>
+
+<p>“We are convinced that very much better results can be obtained in
+this method of construction with walls which were first dried before the
+load was applied. Further experiments are to be made to procure further
+data on this subject. In addition to the above tests, we have submitted
+to the National Physical Laboratory, blocks made of <i>pisé de
+terre</i>, from poor to medium soil, for testing purposes, and the
+following are the results which have been obtained:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>“The following Report shows results of Tests made by the National
+Physical Laboratory.</p>
+
+<p class = "headnote"><span class = "headnote">
+Pisé Tests</span></p>
+
+<p class = "center">
+“<span class = "smallcaps">Report on Tests of Building Blocks of Pisé de
+Terre sent for test by Messrs. W.&nbsp;Alban Richards &amp; Co.,
+Ltd.</span></p>
+
+<p class = "center">
+“<i>Tests made on January 14, 1920.</i></p>
+
+<p>“First set of three blocks sent in November 1919.</p>
+
+<p>“These blocks were composed of a fine gravel containing very
+<span class = "pagenum">136</span>
+<a name = "page136" id = "page136"> </a>
+few and very small stones. The material was said to be similar to that
+used at Merrow Down, near Guildford, Surrey. It appeared to be very
+similar to Farnham gravel.</p>
+
+<p>“The blocks were tested in compression, one within twenty-four hours
+of arrival at the laboratory, and the others after drying for a time in
+the laboratory. For results of tests see Table&nbsp;I.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">[<i>135</i>]</span>
+
+<h6>TABLE I</h6>
+
+<table class = "test" summary = "see text">
+<tr>
+<th rowspan = "2">No.</th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Marks.</th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Dimensions<br>in inches.</th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Age<br>in<br>days.<br><a name = "tabletag1" id =
+"tabletag1" href = "#tablenote1">*</a></th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Area<br>in<br>sq.ft.</th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Density<br>lbs. per<br>c.ft.</th>
+<th class ="smallcaps" colspan = "2">Load.</th>
+<th class ="smallcaps" rowspan = "2" width = "20%">Remarks.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<th>in tons</th>
+<th>in tons<br>per sq.ft.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad">
+<td>UT1</td>
+<td>3</td>
+<td>9×9×9</td>
+<td>1</td>
+<td>.562</td>
+<td>131</td>
+<td>0.70</td>
+<td>1.66</td>
+<td class = "left">Cracked</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td>1.04</td>
+<td>2.47</td>
+<td class = "left">Collapsed</td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad">
+<td>UT2</td>
+<td>1</td>
+<td>8.9×8.9×8.9</td>
+<td>9</td>
+<td>.550</td>
+<td>125</td>
+<td>4.27</td>
+<td>10.50</td>
+<td class = "left">Collapsed</td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad">
+<td>UT3</td>
+<td>2</td>
+<td>8.95×8.95×8.95</td>
+<td>16</td>
+<td>.556</td>
+<td>117</td>
+<td>2.31</td>
+<td>5.57</td>
+<td rowspan = "2" class = "left">
+<p>Small cracks appeared</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "bottompad">
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td>4.23</td>
+<td>10.20</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class = "footnote">
+<a name = "tablenote1" id = "tablenote1" href = "#tabletag1">*</a>
+Age after arrival at laboratory.</p>
+
+<p>“Second set of blocks sent in December 1919.</p>
+
+<p>“This set consisted of six blocks in three pairs, each pair having
+been rammed with a different quantity of water.</p>
+
+<p>“One of each pair was tested within twenty-four hours of arrival at
+the laboratory, and the others after drying in the laboratory for
+twenty-six days.</p>
+
+<p>“The material used was not homogeneous, and the mixture consisted of
+a very clayey loam, a&nbsp;fibrous loam, sand and large stones. The
+clayey material gave rise to surface cracks as the blocks dried.</p>
+
+<p>“For results of tests see Table II.</p>
+
+<p>“From the second set of blocks it would appear that it is better to
+ram with too much moisture than with too little. It will be noted that
+the density of the wet block was 30 per cent. more than that of the dry
+block, so that a wall could be carried higher with the dry material than
+with the wet, although such a wall would never gain the strength which a
+wet one would upon drying.</p>
+
+<h6>TABLE II</h6>
+
+<table class = "test" summary = "see text">
+<tr>
+<th rowspan = "2">No.</th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Marks.</th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Dimensions<br>in inches.</th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Age<br>in<br>days.<br><a name = "tabletag2" id =
+"tabletag2" href = "#tablenote2">*</a></th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Area<br>in<br>sq.ft.</th>
+<th rowspan = "2">Density<br>lbs. per<br>c.&nbsp;ft.</th>
+<th class ="smallcaps" colspan = "2">Load.</th>
+<th class ="smallcaps" rowspan = "2" width = "20%">Remarks.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<th>in tons</th>
+<th>in tons<br>per sq.ft.</th>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad">
+<td>VW1</td>
+<td>1<br>dry</td>
+<td>8.9×9×8.5</td>
+<td>1</td>
+<td>.555</td>
+<td>106</td>
+<td>0.45</td>
+<td>0.81</td>
+<td class = "left"><p>Cracked at one corner</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td>0.51</td>
+<td>0.92</td>
+<td class = "left">Collapsed</td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad">
+<td>VW2</td>
+<td>2<br>dry</td>
+<td>9×9×9</td>
+<td>26</td>
+<td>.562</td>
+<td>105</td>
+<td>2.15</td>
+<td>3.84</td>
+<td class = "left"><p>Collapsed.<br>
+Material quite dry in interior</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad">
+<td>VW3</td>
+<td>3<br>wet</td>
+<td>9.1×9.1×8.9</td>
+<td>1</td>
+<td>.570</td>
+<td>134</td>
+<td>0.55</td>
+<td>0.96</td>
+<td class = "left">Collapsed</td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad">
+<td>VW4</td>
+<td>4<br>wet</td>
+<td>8.8×8.8×8.9</td>
+<td>26</td>
+<td>.546</td>
+<td>110</td>
+<td>3.20</td>
+<td>5.86</td>
+<td class = "left"><p>Collapsed.<br>
+Material quite dry in interior</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad">
+<td>VW5</td>
+<td>5<br>medium</td>
+<td>9×8.9×9</td>
+<td>1</td>
+<td>.558</td>
+<td>126</td>
+<td>0.60</td>
+<td>1.08</td>
+<td class = "left"><p>Bulged and cracked</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td></td>
+<td>0.69</td>
+<td>1.24</td>
+<td class = "left">Collapsed</td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "toppad bottompad">
+<td>VW6</td>
+<td>6<br>medium</td>
+<td>8.8×8.8×7</td>
+<td>26</td>
+<td>.546</td>
+<td>109</td>
+<td>3.33</td>
+<td>6.10</td>
+<td class = "left"><p>Collapsed.<br>
+Material slightly damp in the interior</p></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class = "footnote">
+<a name = "tablenote2" id = "tablenote2" href = "#tabletag2">*</a>
+Age after arrival at laboratory.</p>
+
+<p class = "center">
+Seal of<br>
+NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY <i>Signature of Director</i></p>
+
+
+<h5 class = "smallcaps">Conclusions</h5>
+
+<p>“We are of opinion, having regard to the fact that the house at
+Newlands Corner (Guildford four miles) has weathered the winter, without
+showing any signs of dampness, that <i>pisé de terre</i> will make a
+thoroughly dry house.</p>
+
+<p>“We consider that the tests made are satisfactory, and prove that
+this form of construction is of a sufficiently sound nature to be
+employed in the building of houses. With really suitable material, such
+as a light brick-earth or marl, it is considered that the results
+already obtained might well be 100 per cent. better.”</p>
+
+<p>We are informed that additional tests are now proceeding with regard
+to the water-proof and weather-resisting qualities of Pisé, the results
+of which will be duly published.</p>
+
+<div class = "index">
+
+<span class = "pagenum">137</span>
+<a name = "index" id = "index"> </a>
+
+<h3>INDEX</h3>
+
+<!-- page 138 -->
+
+<span class = "pagenum">139</span>
+<a name = "page139" id = "page139"> </a>
+
+<h4>INDEX</h4>
+
+<p class = "header"><a href = "#intro">Introduction:</a></p>
+
+<p>Chalk walls, <a href = "#page18">18</a></p>
+
+<p>Cheap materials, the search for, <a href = "#page13">13</a></p>
+
+<p>Pisé de craie, <a href = "#page16">16</a>,
+<a href = "#page17">17</a>,
+<a href = "#page107">107</a></p>
+
+<p>Pisé, experiments with, <a href = "#page15">15</a></p>
+
+<p class = "indent">in moulds, <a href = "#page19">19</a>,
+<a href = "#page20">20</a></p>
+<p class = "indent">in South Africa, <a href = "#page22">22</a>,
+<a href = "#page23">23</a></p>
+
+<p>Pliny on Pisé de terre, <a href = "#page25">25</a></p>
+
+<p>Rammed chalk, <a href = "#page16">16</a>,
+<a href = "#page17">17</a>,
+<a href = "#page107">107</a></p>
+
+
+<p class = "header"><a href = "#survey">General Survey:</a></p>
+
+<p>Building materials, shortage of, <a href = "#page26">26</a></p>
+
+<p>“Ersatz” products introduced during the War, <a href =
+"#page26">26</a></p>
+
+<p>House famine, the, <a href = "#page27">27</a></p>
+
+<p>Local materials, use of, to avoid transport, <a href =
+"#page29">29</a></p>
+
+<p>Lutyens, Sir Edwin, and Mr. Alban Scott, cottage by, <a href =
+"#page30">30</a></p>
+
+<p>Rural housing, suitability of cob and pisé for, <a href =
+"#page28">28</a></p>
+
+
+<p class = "header"><a href = "#chapI">I&mdash;Cob:</a></p>
+
+<p>Allen, Mr. C. B., his reference to Devon cob, quoted, <a href =
+"#page47">47</a></p>
+
+<p>Baring-Gould, Rev. S., on cob, quoted, <a href = "#page47">47</a></p>
+
+<p>Beauty of cob, <a href = "#page35">35</a></p>
+
+<p>Bernard, Mr. Charles, his account of Sir Walter Raleigh’s cob house,
+<a href = "#page45">45</a>,
+<a href = "#page46">46</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Book of the West, The</i>, by Rev. S. Baring-Gould, reference to
+cob in, quoted, <a href = "#page47">47</a></p>
+
+<p>Building, <a href = "#page37">37</a>,
+<a href = "#page38">38</a>,
+<a href = "#page39">39</a></p>
+
+<p>Carpentry and joinery, <a href = "#page41">41</a>,
+<a href = "#page42">42</a></p>
+
+<p>Chimneys, <a href = "#page44">44</a></p>
+
+<p>Cob tradition, <a href = "#page52">52</a></p>
+
+<p>Composition, <a href = "#page36">36</a></p>
+
+<p>Cost, <a href = "#page35">35</a>,
+<a href = "#page50">50</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Cottage-Building</i>, reference to cob in, quoted, <a href =
+"#page47">47</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Country Life</i>, letter to, relating to cob work, quoted, <a href
+= "#page115">115</a>,
+<a href = "#page116">116</a></p>
+
+<p>Design, <a href = "#page44">44</a>,
+<a href = "#page45">45</a></p>
+
+<p>Devon cob, <a href = "#page47">47</a></p>
+
+<p>Drying, <a href = "#page39">39</a></p>
+
+<p>Elizabethan cob houses still existing, <a href = "#page34">34</a></p>
+
+<p>Former conditions returned, <a href = "#page52">52</a></p>
+
+<p>Foundations and base, <a href = "#page40">40</a>; result of bad,
+<a href = "#page34">34</a></p>
+
+<p>Fruit walls, of cob, <a href = "#page47">47</a>,
+<a href = "#page48">48</a></p>
+
+<p>Fulford, Mr., of Great Fulford, on cob, <a href = "#page50">50</a>-<a
+href = "#page52">52</a></p>
+
+<p>Gimson, Mr., his description of building cob, quoted, <a href =
+"#page35">35</a></p>
+
+<p>Hayes Barton, Sir Walter Raleigh’s house at, <a href =
+"#page45">45</a>,
+<a href = "#page46">46</a></p>
+
+<p>Hipped roofs, <a href = "#page41">41</a></p>
+
+<p>Joinery, <a href = "#page41">41</a>,
+<a href = "#page42">42</a>,
+<a href = "#page43">43</a></p>
+
+<p>Masonry and carpentry, <a href = "#page41">41</a>,
+<a href = "#page42">42</a></p>
+
+<p>Method of building, <a href = "#page36">36</a>-<a href =
+"#page45">45</a></p>
+
+<p>Mixing, <a href = "#page37">37</a></p>
+
+<p>Northcote, Lady Rosalind, her description of Sir Walter Raleigh’s
+house, <a href = "#page46">46</a></p>
+
+<p>Primitive methods, <a href = "#page47">47</a></p>
+
+<p>Protection, <a href = "#page43">43</a></p>
+
+<p>Protective wash, <a href = "#page51">51</a></p>
+
+<p>Raleigh, Sir Walter, his cob house at Hayes Barton, <a href =
+"#page45">45</a>,
+<a href = "#page46">46</a></p>
+
+<p>Rats, <a href = "#page44">44</a></p>
+
+<p>Reed thatch, <a href = "#page46">46</a></p>
+
+<p>Rendering, <a href = "#page51">51</a></p>
+
+<p>Roofing, <a href = "#page51">51</a></p>
+
+<p>Shuttering, <a href = "#page51">51</a></p>
+
+<p>Strength, <a href = "#page44">44</a></p>
+
+<p>Thickness of walls, <a href = "#page40">40</a></p>
+
+<p>Traditional building material in Devon and Wessex, <a href =
+"#page33">33</a></p>
+
+<p>Training of ex-soldiers, <a href = "#page52">52</a></p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">140</span>
+<a name = "page140" id = "page140"> </a>
+<p class = "header"><a href = "#chapII">II&mdash;Pisé:</a></p>
+
+<p>Bolts, <a href = "#page86">86</a></p>
+
+<p>Bonders, <a href = "#page69">69</a></p>
+
+<p>Building procedure, <a href = "#page71">71</a>,
+<a href = "#page72">72</a>,
+<a href = "#page74">74</a>,
+<a href = "#page75">75</a></p>
+
+<p>Capabilities, <a href = "#page57">57</a>,
+<a href = "#page58">58</a></p>
+
+<p>Corners, <a href = "#page68">68</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Cyclopædia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and
+Literature</i>, on pisé, quoted, <a href = "#page59">59</a>-<a href =
+"#page71">71</a></p>
+
+<p>Damp-course, <a href = "#page86">86</a></p>
+
+<p>Definition of Pisé de terre, <a href = "#page57">57</a>,
+<a href = "#page59">59</a></p>
+
+<p>Durability, <a href = "#page82">82</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Earthwork, A Manual on</i>, quoted, <a href = "#page73">73</a>-<a
+href = "#page76">76</a></p>
+
+<p>Empandeni, pisé work executed at, <a href = "#page78">78</a>,
+<a href = "#page79">79</a>,
+<a href = "#page80">80</a></p>
+
+<p>Excavation, <a href = "#page86">86</a></p>
+
+<p>Etah Jail, pisé work executed at, <a href = "#page76">76</a>,
+<a href = "#page77">77</a>,
+<a href = "#page78">78</a></p>
+
+<p>Fillet, <a href = "#page87">87</a></p>
+
+<p>Floating, <a href = "#page86">86</a></p>
+
+<p>Foundations, <a href = "#page74">74</a></p>
+
+<p>Frames, <a href = "#page87">87</a></p>
+
+<p>France, introduction of pisé into, <a href = "#page57">57</a></p>
+
+<p>Gorffon, Monsieur, reference to his treatise on pisé, <a href =
+"#page57">57</a></p>
+
+<p>History, <a href = "#page57">57</a></p>
+
+<p>Indian and Colonial practice, <a href = "#page73">73</a>-<a href =
+"#page88">88</a></p>
+
+<p>Introduced into France by the Romans, <a href = "#page57">57</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Journal de Physique</i>, by the Abbé Rozier, quoted, <a href =
+"#page58">58</a></p>
+
+<p>Lintels, <a href = "#page87">87</a></p>
+
+<p>Locale, <a href = "#page58">58</a></p>
+
+<p>Method of building, <a href = "#page58">58</a>-<a href =
+"#page62">62</a></p>
+
+<p>Method of working, <a href = "#page60">60</a>,
+<a href = "#page61">61</a>,
+<a href = "#page62">62</a></p>
+
+<p>New South Wales, pisé work in, <a href = "#page81">81</a>-<a href =
+"#page88">88</a></p>
+
+<p>Origin, <a href = "#page58">58</a></p>
+
+<p>Picture-rail, <a href = "#page87">87</a></p>
+
+<p>Plant required, <a href = "#page85">85</a>,
+<a href = "#page89">89</a>,
+<a href = "#page90">90</a></p>
+
+<p>Plastering, <a href = "#page75">75</a></p>
+
+<p>Pliny, references to his account of pisé, <a href = "#page25">25</a>,
+<a href = "#page57">57</a></p>
+
+<p>Plugs, <a href = "#page86">86</a>,
+<a href = "#page87">87</a></p>
+
+<p>Protection, <a href = "#page75">75</a></p>
+
+<p>Rain, <a href = "#page67">67</a></p>
+
+<p>Rammer, the, <a href = "#page59">59</a>,
+<a href = "#page60">60</a></p>
+
+<p>Ramming, <a href = "#page62">62</a>,
+<a href = "#page76">76</a></p>
+
+<p>Rate of work, <a href = "#page63">63</a></p>
+
+<p>Rendering, <a href = "#page70">70</a></p>
+
+<p>Rods <i>versus</i> bars, <a href = "#page75">75</a>,
+<a href = "#page76">76</a></p>
+
+<p>Rozier, the Abbé, his <i>Journal de Physique</i>, quoted, <a href =
+"#page58">58</a></p>
+
+<p>Shuttering, <a href = "#page59">59</a>,
+<a href = "#page88">88</a>,
+<a href = "#page89">89</a></p>
+
+<p>Shutter ties, <a href = "#page73">73</a></p>
+
+<p>Skirting, <a href = "#page87">87</a></p>
+
+<p>Soil blending, <a href = "#page64">64</a></p>
+
+<p class = "indent">preparation of, <a href = "#page66">66</a>,
+<a href = "#page67">67</a></p>
+<p class = "indent">suitable, <a href = "#page63">63</a>,
+<a href = "#page74">74</a>,
+<a href = "#page86">86</a></p>
+<p class = "indent">tests, <a href = "#page63">63</a></p>
+<p class = "indent">to ascertain quality of, <a href =
+"#page65">65</a></p>
+
+<p>Speed of building, <a href = "#page70">70</a></p>
+
+<p>Stability, <a href = "#page82">82</a></p>
+
+<p>Strength, <a href = "#page69">69</a></p>
+
+<p>Studding, <a href = "#page87">87</a>,
+<a href = "#page88">88</a></p>
+
+<p>Theory and science of pisé, the, <a href = "#page62">62</a>-<a href =
+"#page73">73</a></p>
+
+<p>Ventilators, <a href = "#page86">86</a></p>
+
+<p>Virtues of pisé, <a href = "#page72">72</a></p>
+
+<p>Wire netting, use of, <a href = "#page87">87</a>,
+<a href = "#page88">88</a></p>
+
+
+<p class = "header"><a href = "#chapIII">III&mdash;Chalk:</a></p>
+
+<p>Block chalk, <a href = "#page117">117</a>,
+<a href = "#page118">118</a></p>
+
+<p>Chalk compost, historical, <a href = "#page107">107</a></p>
+
+<p class = "indent">composition and uses, <a href = "#page108">108</a>,
+<a href = "#page109">109</a></p>
+
+<p>Chalk conglomerate, <a href = "#page114">114</a></p>
+
+<p>Chimneys, <a href = "#page110">110</a></p>
+
+<p>External rendering, <a href = "#page110">110</a></p>
+
+<p>Frost, <a href = "#page109">109</a></p>
+
+<p>Garden walls, <a href = "#page111">111</a></p>
+
+<p>House walls, <a href = "#page112">112</a></p>
+
+<p>Old and modern examples, <a href = "#page112">112</a>-<a href =
+"#page115">115</a></p>
+
+<p>Rats and chalk, <a href = "#page116">116</a></p>
+
+<p>Rendering, <a href = "#page110">110</a></p>
+
+<p>Repairs, <a href = "#page110">110</a></p>
+
+<p>Roof, <a href = "#page111">111</a></p>
+
+<p>Strength, <a href = "#page110">110</a></p>
+
+<p>Timber, <a href = "#page109">109</a></p>
+
+<p>Winterslow cottages, the, <a href = "#page115">115</a>,
+<a href = "#page116">116</a></p>
+
+
+<p class = "header"><a href = "#chapIV">IV&mdash;Unburned Clay and Earth
+Bricks:</a></p>
+
+<p>“Adobe,” use of, in New South Wales, <a href = "#page124">124</a></p>
+
+<p>Age of clay-lump buildings, <a href = "#page124">124</a></p>
+
+<p>East Anglia, use of sun-dried bricks in, <a href =
+"#page121">121</a></p>
+
+<p>Method of making, <a href = "#page121">121</a></p>
+
+<p>New South Wales, use of sun-dried bricks in, <a href =
+"#page124">124</a></p>
+
+<p>Skipper, Mr., on sun-dried bricks, quoted, <a href =
+"#page121">121</a></p>
+
+<p>Strength of clay-lump walls, <a href = "#page124">124</a></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">141</span>
+<a name = "page141" id = "page141"> </a>
+
+<p>Thickness of clay-lump walls, <a href = "#page122">122</a>-<a href =
+"#page124">124</a></p>
+
+
+<p class = "header"><a href = "#appendix">Appendix:</a></p>
+
+<p>Cold-water paint, recipe for, <a href = "#page129">129</a></p>
+
+<p>Cost, an analysis of building, <a href = "#page131">131</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Country Life</i>, letter to, relating to cob work, quoted, <a href
+= "#page132">132</a>,
+<a href = "#page133">133</a></p>
+
+<p>Distempers, recipes for, <a href = "#page129">129</a></p>
+
+<p>Local materials, importance of using, <a href = "#page130">130</a>,
+<a href = "#page131">131</a></p>
+
+<p>Weight of building materials, table of, <a href =
+"#page130">130</a></p>
+
+<p>Whitewash, recipes for, <a href = "#page127">127</a>,
+<a href = "#page128">128</a></p>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<!--end div maintext -->
+
+<div class = "page">
+
+<span class = "pagenum">142</span>
+<a name = "page142" id = "page142"> </a>
+
+<h6>PRINTED BY<br>
+HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,<br>
+LONDON AND AYLESBURY.</h6>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr>
+
+<div class = "pub_ads">
+
+<h2><a name = "ads" id = "ads">Recent Additions to the</a><br>
+“COUNTRY LIFE LIBRARY.”</h2>
+
+<hr class = "small">
+
+<p class = "title">
+The “Country Life” Book of Cottages.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+By <span class = "smallcaps">Lawrence Weaver</span>. Nearly 300 pages
+and over 300 illustrations. <b>9/6</b> net; by post, <b>10/-</b>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+Small Country Houses: Their Repair and Enlargement.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+By <span class = "smallcaps">Lawrence Weaver</span>. Forty examples
+chosen from five centuries. 300 illustrations. Large quarto, <b>18/9</b>
+net; by post, <b>19/6</b>.</p>
+
+<p class = "quote">
+“Anyone who wishes to adapt an old house for modern use will find much
+to learn from Mr. Weaver’s pages.” &mdash;<i>Scotsman</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+Small Country Houses of To-day.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+(<i>Second Series</i>.) By <span class = "smallcaps">Lawrence
+Weaver</span>. Over 300 illustrations and plans. Large quarto,
+<b>25/-</b> net; by post, <b>26/-</b>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+The First and Chief Groundes of Architecture.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+By <span class = "smallcaps">John Shute</span>, 1563, with a historical
+and critical introduction by <span class = "smallcaps">Lawrence
+Weaver</span>. Facsimile edition of the first book on architecture
+published in England. Folio, half-bound in sheepskin, <b>18/9</b> net;
+by post, <b>19/6</b>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+Houses and Gardens by E. L. Lutyens.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+Described and criticised by <span class = "smallcaps">Lawrence
+Weaver</span>. 400 folio pages, and 600 magnificent illustrations. 2nd
+Edition, quarter buckram, <b>31/3</b> net; half morocco, <b>43/9</b>
+net; postage <b>10d.</b> extra.</p>
+
+<p class = "quote">
+“It is only when we see such a publication as this, that we realise what
+quality characterises some of the building of to-day. Abundantly and
+splendidly illustrated, this book shows the work of a great master.”
+&mdash;<i>Manchester Guardian</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+Grinling Gibbons and the Woodwork of His Age (1648-1720).</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+By <span class = "smallcaps">H. Avray Tipping</span>, M.A., F.S.A. Large
+folio, quarter buckram, <b>31/3</b> net; half morocco, <b>43/9</b> net;
+postage <b>10d.</b> extra. Nearly 250 illustrations.</p>
+
+<p class = "quote">
+“The book is rich in lessons for architects and amateurs of fine
+woodwork.” &mdash;<i>The Scotsman</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+English Homes.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+Edited by <span class = "smallcaps">H. Avray Tipping</span>, M.A.,
+F.S.A. The internal character, furniture and decorations, of some of the
+most notable Houses of England. Vols. I. and III., containing 500
+matchless illustrations, large folio, handsomely bound, each <b>52/6</b>
+net.</p>
+
+<p class = "quote">
+“A veritable revelation of the wealth of internal adornments,
+architectural and other, contained in the great country mansions of
+England. To turn over the pages is to obtain keen pleasure, as well as
+enlightenment, concerning a treasury of domestic art and archæology,
+which to a large extent is kept closed from the common eye.”
+&mdash;<i>Scotsman</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+Gardens Old and New.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+Edited by <span class = "smallcaps">H. Avray Tipping</span>, M.A.,
+F.S.A. Vols. I. and III., beautifully illustrated, each <b>52/6</b> net.
+These volumes illustrate the relationship between house and garden in a
+way never before attempted.</p>
+
+<p class = "quote">
+“The principle conveyed in the letterpress is that held by all great
+gardeners and architects&mdash;that house and garden are, or should be,
+intimately associated, and that the character of the possessors should
+be reflected in both. The accounts of lovely garden after lovely garden
+are most agreeable reading.” &mdash;<i>Daily Chronicle</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+Twenty-Five Great Houses of France.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+By <span class = "smallcaps">Sir Theodore Andrea Cook</span>, M.A.,
+F.S.A., with an Introductory Chapter, outlining the Development of
+French Domestic Architecture, by <span class = "smallcaps">W.&nbsp;H.
+Ward</span>, M.A., F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A., and illustrations by <span class
+= "smallcaps">Frederick H. Evans</span>. Large folio, containing over
+400 superb illustrations, plans and diagrams. Half-bound in buckram,
+<b>52/6</b> net; in half morocco, <b>60/6</b> net; postage <b>1/-</b>
+extra.</p>
+
+<p class = "quote">
+“The Publishers of <span class = "smallcaps">Country Life</span> have
+touched few subjects that they have not adorned, but here they have
+surpassed themselves. It is seldom that we have seen so rich and
+communicative photographs of great architecture.” &mdash;<i>Daily
+News</i>.</p>
+
+<p class = "quote">
+“A book which will prove a source of endless delight to lovers of
+architecture.” &mdash;<i>Glasgow Herald</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+Garden Ornament.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+By <span class = "smallcaps">Gertrude Jekyll</span>, with over 500
+wonderful illustrations. Large folio, gilt edges, <b>63/-</b> net;
+postage <b>1/-</b> extra.</p>
+
+<p class = "quote">
+“Miss Jekyll’s collection in this noble folio is a storehouse of
+examples, styles and method in the decoration of gardens,
+a&nbsp;compendium of the history and taste in English Horticulture and a
+revelation of the treasures of beauty which our country holds.”
+&mdash;<i>Times</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "title">
+Windsor Castle.</p>
+
+<p class = "desc">
+An Architectural History. Collected and written by command of Their
+Majesties <span class = "smallcaps">Queen Victoria</span>, <span class =
+"smallcaps">King Edward VII.</span> and King <span class =
+"smallcaps">George V</span>. By <span class = "smallcaps">Sir William H.
+St. John Hope</span>, Litt.D., D.C.L. Imperial quarto, in Two Volumes,
+and a Portfolio. Bound in half sheepskin, <b>£7 17s. 6d.</b> net; whole
+sheepskin, <b>£10 10s.</b> net; full morocco, <b>£13 2s. 6d.</b>
+Carriage extra.</p>
+
+<hr class = "small">
+
+<p class = "center smaller">
+Illustrated prospectuses of these invaluable books and a complete
+catalogue will be sent post free on application to the Manager, COUNTRY
+LIFE, <span class = "smallcaps">Ltd.</span>, 20, Tavistock Street,
+Covent Garden, W.C.2.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+
+<div class = "endnote">
+<h4><a name = "endnote" id = "endnote">Transcriber’s Notes</a></h4>
+
+<p>The two headnotes <i>Pisé&mdash;a South African Lead</i> and <i>The
+Discovery of the Old</i> were transposed to fit the text. They were
+originally printed on pages 25 and 23, respectively.</p>
+
+<hr class = "small">
+
+<p><a class = "tag" name = "endnoteA" id = "endnoteA" href =
+"#endtagA">A</a>
+Transcriber’s Footnote:</p>
+
+<p>Pliny, <i>Natural History</i>, Bk. XXXV, chapter xlviii, quoted at
+end of Introduction:</p>
+
+<p class = "inset">
+“<i>Have we not in Africa and in Spain walls of earth, known as
+‘formocean’ walls? From the fact that they are moulded, rather than
+built, by enclosing earth within a frame of boards, constructed on
+either side. These walls will last for centuries, are proof against
+rain, wind, and fire, and are superior in solidity to any cement. Even
+at this day Spain still holds watch-towers that were erected by
+Hannibal.</i>”</p>
+
+<p>The standard numbering of this passage is XXXV.lxi. With punctuation
+and capitalization adjusted by transcriber to match author’s
+translation:</p>
+
+<p class = "inset">
+Quid non in Africa Hispaniaque e terra parietes, quos appellant
+‘formaceos’, quoniam in forma circumdatis ii utrimque tabulis
+inferciuntur verius quam struuntur? Aevis durant, incorrupti imbribus,
+ventis, ignibus omnique caemento firmiores. Spectat etiam nunc speculas
+Hannibalis Hispania terrenasque turres iugis montium inpositas.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chal
+ and Clay, by Clough Williams-Ellis
+
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,5373 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cottage Building in Cob, Pis�, Chalk and
+Clay, by Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Cottage Building in Cob, Pis�, Chalk and Clay
+       a Renaissance (2nd edition)
+
+Author: Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+Commentator: J. St. Loe Strachey
+
+Release Date: April 19, 2010 [EBook #32048]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COTTAGE BUILDING IN COB ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Louise Hope, David Clarke and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[This is the ASCII or "rock-bottom" version of the text for people whose
+text readers cannot handle the "real" (Unicode, UTF-8) or even the
+simplified Latin-1 version. Differences include:
+
+  --the "oe" and "ae" ligatures are each two letters
+  --all fractions are written out as 1/2, 1/4...
+  --the word "Pise" is missing its accent
+  --a few symbols such as the "Section" and "Pound" (currency) signs
+    have had to be shown in an alternative form
+
+In illustration captions, small capitals are shown as +text+; in the
+advertising, the +same symbols+ represent boldface.
+
+Headers of odd-numbered pages changed from page to page. These have been
+marked as [Headnote] and are added to the Table of Contents in brackets
+to aid in text searching.
+
+In the body text, _s._ and _d._ (shillings and pence) were always
+italicized; in the advertising, all prices were printed in boldface.
+Both have been left unmarked to reduce visual clutter.
+
+Errors and other problems are listed at the end of the e-text.]
+
+
+
+
+  COTTAGE BUILDING IN
+  COB, PISE, CHALK & CLAY
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: Publisher's Device {COUNTRY LIFE}]
+
+  _First Edition, September 1919_
+  _Second Edition (Revised and Enlarged), July 1920_
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Cob House built by Mr. Ernest Gimson,
+  near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.+
+  _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+
+  COTTAGE BUILDING
+
+    in
+
+  COB, PISE, CHALK & CLAY
+
+  _A Renaissance_
+
+
+    By
+  CLOUGH WILLIAMS-ELLIS
+
+  _With An Introduction_
+    By
+  J. St. LOE STRACHEY
+
+
+  Second Edition
+  Revised And Enlarged
+
+
+    London
+  Published at the Offices of "Country Life," 20,
+  Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2, and by
+  George Newnes, Ltd., 8-11, Southampton Street,
+  Strand, W.C.2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
+    MCMXX
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
+
+
+The exhaustion of the first edition of this book, within so short a time
+of its publication, makes it difficult to add much new matter for the
+reissue now called for, or, in the light of subsequent research and
+experience, to revise what had already been written.
+
+Any book that seemed to show a way of meeting the present building
+difficulties, however partially, was fairly assured of a welcome, but
+the somewhat unforeseen demand for my small contribution to the great
+volume of literature on cottage-building is, I think, to be attributed
+chiefly to its description of Pise-building.
+
+Of the very large number of letters that reach me from readers of the
+book, quite ninety-nine out of every hundred are concerned with Pise.
+
+The other methods of building have their advocates and exponents, but it
+is clearly Pise that has caught the attention of the public as well as
+of the Press both at home and abroad, and it is to this method of
+construction that I have chiefly devoted my attention since the writing
+of the book as it first appeared.
+
+In our English climate Pise-building is a summer craft, and the
+small-scale experiments of one person through a single summer cannot in
+the nature of things add very greatly to the sum of our knowledge of
+what is possible with Pise and of what is not.
+
+Most of the new data have come through the building of Mr. Strachey's
+demonstration house, an account of which is included in the present
+volume.
+
+At the time of writing, various tests are being carried out with the
+help of the National Physical Laboratory; but the results, though
+exceedingly encouraging, are not yet ready for publication.[1]
+
+The fact that Pise-building is essentially a "Dry-earth method" makes
+necessary the creation of artificial summer conditions under which the
+experiments may be conducted during the past winter. As a result of
+these researches, a considerable mass of useful data has become
+available for the opening of the present building season.[2]
+
+Much helpful information is also likely to come to us from the Colonies,
+particularly from Rhodesia and British East Africa, where there is great
+activity in Pise-building, and where there is no "close season" such as
+our winter imposes upon us here.
+
+It is instructive also to note that great interest in Pise-building has
+been aroused in Canada and in Scandinavia, the two countries that we
+were wont to associate particularly with timber-building.
+
+From both I have received a number of letters complaining of "the lumber
+shortage," and discussing the advantages of Pise as compared with their
+traditional wood-construction.
+
+If these great timber countries are themselves feeling the pinch, the
+advocates of wooden houses for England may find that they are not merely
+barking up the wrong tree, but up a tree that is not even there.
+
+The timber famine is, in any case, a calamity to anyone dependent on
+building, that is to everyone, for even a Pise house must still have a
+roof and floors and joinery.
+
+But to invoke the timber house as our salvation under existing
+conditions seems to be singularly perverse and unhelpful. Pise, at all
+events, seems to offer us a more promising field for exploration than
+most of the other heterodox methods of construction that have been
+suggested, too often upon credentials that will not bear any but the
+most cursory scrutiny.
+
+Pise, even now, is still in its experimental infancy.
+
+It has yet to prove itself in the fields of National Housing and of
+competitive commercial building schemes on a large scale.
+
+Lastly, Pise does not claim to solve the housing problem. There is no
+solution unless, by some miracle, the present purchasing power of the
+sovereign appreciates by 200 per cent.
+
+    CLOUGH WILLIAMS-ELLIS.
+
+  22, South Eaton Place,
+  London, S.W.1.
+  _May 1920._
+
+
+    [Footnote 1: Certain of these have since been issued and will
+    be found in Appendix IV. at the end of the book.]
+
+    [Footnote 2: See Appendix IV.]
+
+
+
+
+  CONTENTS
+
+  [Text shown in brackets was taken from headnotes and added here
+  by the transcriber.]
+
+                                                            Page
+
+  INTRODUCTION                                                11
+    [The Search for Cheap Material -- Experiments with
+    "Pise" -- Rammed Chalk, "Pise de Craie" -- Pise in
+    Moulds -- Cob and Chalk -- Pise--a South African
+    Lead -- The Discovery of the Old]
+
+  GENERAL SURVEY                                              26
+    [The House Famine -- Local Materials]
+
+  I. COB                                                      33
+    [The Beauty of Cob -- Method of Building --
+    Implements -- Walls and Roofs -- Protection --
+    Raleigh's House -- Mr. Baring-Gould -- Old Cob Lore
+    -- Mr. Fulford's Evidence -- A Champion of Cob]
+
+  II. PISE DE TERRE                                           57
+    [Method of Building -- The Ramming -- Suitable Soils
+    -- Experiments -- Preparation of the Earth -- The
+    Strength of Pise -- A Pise Church -- Indian and
+    Colonial Practice -- Plastering -- The Right
+    Quantity of Water -- Pise Buildings at Empandeni --
+    Pise Buildings for Settlers -- Builders' Aversions
+    -- Number of Men Required -- Pise in New Zealand --
+    Pise Shuttering -- If Reason Rule -- The Newlands
+    Specification -- A Swedish Contribution --
+    A Pise-Builder's School -- Alternative Shutterings
+    -- South Africa -- Soils]
+
+  III. CHALK                                                 107
+    [Winter Work Barred -- Garden Walls -- Cost of Three
+    Cottages -- Expensive Scaffolding Avoided -- Block
+    Chalk]
+
+  IV. UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS                         121
+    [Use for Unskilled Labour -- "Substantial and Cool"]
+
+  APPENDIX                                                   127
+    [Distempers and Limewashes -- Local Materials --
+    Cost per Foot Cube -- Pise Tests]
+
+  INDEX                                                      139
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  COB HOUSE BUILT BY MR. ERNEST GIMSON,
+      NEAR BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON               _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                     Facing Page
+  PISE WAGGON-HOUSE AT NEWLANDS CORNER                        18
+  THE NEWLANDS WAGGON-HOUSE (INTERIOR)                        18
+  THE BEGINNING OF A PISE FRUIT-HOUSE                         19
+  THE FRUIT-HOUSE COMPLETED WITH ROOF OF PEAT BLOCKS
+      ON ROUGH BOARDING                                       19
+  MODEL OF A PISE DE TERRE HOUSE TO BE BUILT IN
+      THREE SUCCESSIVE STAGES                                 22
+  WAYSIDE STATION OF PISE AT SIMONDIUM, SOUTH AFRICA,
+      DESIGNED BY MR. HERBERT BAKER                           23
+  FRONT AND BACK ELEVATIONS OF COTTAGE DESIGNED BY
+      SIR EDWIN LUTYENS AND MR. ALBAN SCOTT                   28
+  PLAN OF COTTAGE DESIGNED BY SIR EDWIN LUTYENS
+      AND MR. ALBAN SCOTT                                     29
+  ANOTHER VIEW OF THE COB HOUSE BUILT BY MR.
+      ERNEST GIMSON, NEAR BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON           34
+  A FINE SPECIMEN OF A DEVONSHIRE COB HOUSE                   35
+  A DEVONSHIRE COB FARMHOUSE, PROBABLY BETWEEN
+      200 AND 300 YEARS OLD                                   36
+  A COB-BUILT VILLAGE                                         37
+  A DEVONSHIRE FARM, LOCAL MATERIAL (COB)                     42
+  DEVON COUNTRY HOUSE, BUILT OF DEVON COB                     43
+  COB HOUSE TEMP. ELIZABETH, LEWISHILL                        44
+  ANOTHER DEVONSHIRE (COB) FARMHOUSE, WEEKE BARTON            45
+  CEILINGS OF MODELLED PLASTER FROM OLD COB HOUSES IN DEVON   46
+  A COB GARDEN-WALL WITH THATCHED COPING                      47
+  PISE PLANT AND IMPLEMENTS                                   58
+  DIAGRAM OF MARK V PISE SHUTTERING                           88
+  MARK V SHUTTERING                                           89
+  A SIMPLE MOULD FOR PISE BLOCKS                              90
+  BLOCK-MOULDS, LARGE AND SMALL                               90
+  SKETCH OF A PISE HOUSE IN COURSE OF ERECTION                91
+  THE NEWLANDS CORNER BUILDING                                92
+  THE COTTAGE FROM THE SOUTH-EAST                             93
+  THE GARDEN COURT                                            93
+  THE BACKYARD                                                94
+  FRAMING THE ROOF                                            95
+  AN INTERIOR, SHOWING FIRE-BRICK HEARTH FIRE                 95
+  DETAILS OF CHALK CONSTRUCTION AT AMESBURY                  110
+  COTTAGES AT COLDHARBOUR, AMESBURY                          111
+  THREE CHALK COTTAGES AT HURSLEY PARK                       114
+  MARSH COURT, HAMPSHIRE                                     116
+  BRICK-AND-CHALK VAULTING AT THE DEANERY GARDEN, SONNING    117
+  ONCE CORN HALL, NOW COUNCIL SCHOOL                         122
+  A ROW OF CLAY-LUMP COTTAGES                                122
+  ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS                                      123
+
+
+
+
+CONSIDERATIONS
+
+
+  "IF ALL AVAILABLE BRICKWORKS WERE TO PRODUCE AT THEIR HIGHEST LIMIT
+  OF OUTPUT AND WITH ALL THE LABOUR THEY WANTED AT THEIR DISPOSAL THEY
+  COULD ONLY TURN OUT 4,000,000,000 BRICKS IN A YEAR AS AGAINST A
+  PRE-WAR AVERAGE OF 2,800,000,000."--(_See Report by Committee
+  appointed by Ministry of Reconstruction to consider the post-war
+  position of building._)
+
+  The first year's programme of working-class housing _alone_ calls
+  for at least 6,000,000,000 bricks. That is to say, unless wall
+  materials other than brick are freely used, we shall fall alarmingly
+  short of what the population of Great Britain needs in bare
+  accommodation, and all building and engineering projects whatsoever
+  other than housing must be postponed indefinitely.
+
+  "THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES ARE UNSURPASSED FOR
+  VARIETY AND BEAUTY OF CHARACTER, AND IT WOULD BE NOTHING LESS THAN A
+  NATIONAL MISFORTUNE IF THE INCREASED DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL HOLDINGS
+  WERE TO RESULT IN THE ERECTION OF BUILDINGS UNSUITED TO THEIR
+  ENVIRONMENT AND UGLY IN APPEARANCE."--(_Extract from the report
+  submitted by the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire as to
+  Buildings for Small Holdings, 1913._)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+  I
+
+The country is faced by a dilemma probably greater and more poignant
+than any with which it has hitherto had to deal. It needs, and needs at
+once, a million new houses, and it has not only utterly inadequate
+stores of material with which to build them, but has not even the plant
+by which that material can be rapidly created. There is not merely a
+shortage, but an actual famine everywhere as regards the things out of
+which houses are made. Bricks are wanted by the ten thousand million,
+but there are practically no bricks in sight. All that the brickyards of
+the United Kingdom can do, working all day and every day, is to turn out
+something like four thousand million a year. But to those who want
+houses at once, what is the use of a promise of bricks in five years'
+time? To tell them to turn to the stone quarries is a mere derision. Let
+alone the cost of work and of transport, it is only in a few favoured
+places that the rocks will give us what we want. Needless to say we are
+short, too, of lime and cement, and probably shall be shorter. _No coal,
+no quicklime_, and _No coal, no cement_, and as things look now, it is
+going to be a case, if not of no coal, at any rate of much less coal.
+Even worse is the shortage in timber--the material hitherto deemed
+essential for the making of roofs, doors, windows and floors. Raw timber
+is hardly obtainable, and seasoned timber does not exist. The same story
+has to be told about tiles, slates, corrugated iron, and every other
+form of "legitimate" roofing substance. There are none to be had.
+
+In this dread predicament what are we to do as a nation? What we must
+not do is at any rate quite clear. We must not lie down in the high road
+of civilisation and cry out that we are ruined or betrayed, or that the
+world is too hard for us, and that we must give up the task of living in
+houses. Whether we like it or not we have got to do something about the
+housing question, and we have got to do it at once, and there is an end.
+Translated into terms of action, this means that as we have not got
+enough of the old forms of material we must turn to others and learn how
+to house ourselves with materials such as we have not used before. Once
+again necessity must be the mother of invention, or rather, of invention
+and revival, for in anything so old and universal as the housing problem
+it is too late to be ambitious. Here we always find that there has been
+an ancient Assyrian or Egyptian or a primitive man in front of us.
+
+It is the object of the present book to attack part of the problem of
+how to build without bricks, and indeed without mortar, and equally
+important, as far as possible without the vast cost of transporting the
+heavy material of the house from one quarter of England to another. That
+is my apology for introducing to the public a work dealing with what I
+can hear old-fashioned master-builders describing as the "bastard" forms
+of construction. One of these is Pise de terre, the old system of
+building with walls formed of rammed or compressed earth: a system which
+was once known throughout Europe and of which the primitive tribesmen of
+Arizona and New Mexico knew the secret. Down to our own day it has been
+practised with wonderful success in the Valley of the Rhone. Then come
+our own cob, once the cottage material _par excellence_ of Devonshire
+and the West of England, our system of building with plain clay blocks,
+a plan indigenous in the Eastern counties, and again the use of chalk
+and chalk pise.
+
+
+    [Headnote: The Search for Cheap Material]
+
+  PISE DE TERRE
+
+For me Pise de terre, ever since I heard of it, has offered special
+attractions. It, and it alone provides, or if one must be cautious,
+appears to provide the way to turn an old dream of mine and of many
+other people into a reality. My connection with the problem of housing,
+and especially of rural housing, _i.e._ cottage housing, now nearly a
+quarter of a century old, has been on the side of cheap material.
+Rightly or wrongly (I know that many great experts in building matters
+think quite wrongly), I have had the simplicity to believe that if you
+are to get cheap housing you must get it by the use of cheap material.
+It has always seemed to me that there is no other way. What more natural
+than first to ask why building material was so dear, and then what was
+the cause of its dearness? I found it in the fact that bricks are very
+expensive things to make, that stones are very expensive things to
+quarry, that cements are very expensive things to manufacture, and worst
+of all, that all these things are very heavy and very expensive to drag
+about the country, and to "dump" on the site in some lonely situation
+where cottages or a small-holder's house and outbuildings are, to use
+the conventional phrase, "urgently demanded." Therefore, to the
+unfeigned amusement, nay, contempt of all my architectural friends,
+I spent a great deal of my leisure in the years before the war in
+racking my brains in the search for cheap material. My deep desire was
+to find something in the earth out of which walls could be made. My
+ideal was a man or group of men with spades and pickaxes coming upon the
+land and creating the walls of a house out of what they found there.
+I wanted my house, my cottage in "Cloud-Cuckoo Land," to rise like the
+lark from the furrows. But I was at once dissuaded from my purpose by
+cautious and scientific persons. The chemists, if they did not scoff
+like the architects, were visibly perturbed. "Your dream is impossible,"
+they said. "Nature abhors it as much as she used to be supposed to abhor
+a vacuum. If your soil is clay, and you can afford the time and cost of
+erecting kilns, and bringing coal to the spot to make the bricks, you
+can no doubt turn the earth on the spot into a house, but even then you
+had far better buy them of those that sell. Your dream of having some
+chemical which will mix with the earth and turn it into a kind of stone,
+is the merest delusion. It is the nature of the earth to kill anything
+in the way of cement that is mixed with it. For example, even a little
+earth will kill concrete or mortar. Unless you wash your sand most
+carefully, and free it from all earth stain, you will ruin your concrete
+blocks." I appeared to be literally "up against" a brick wall. It was
+that or nothing. And then, and when things seemed at their very worst,
+a kind correspondent of _The Spectator_ showed me a way of escape.
+I felt like a man lost in underground passages who suddenly sees a tiny
+square of light and knows that it means the way out. Somebody wrote,
+from South Africa I think, asking why I didn't find the thing I wanted
+in Pise de terre, much used in Australia, and occasionally in Cape
+Colony. Then came a rush of enlightenment. People who had seen and even
+lived in such houses wrote to _The Spectator_, and the world indeed for
+the moment seemed alive with Pise de terre. I was even lent the
+"Farmer's Handbook" of New South Wales, in which the State Government
+provides settlers with an elaborate description of how to build in Pise,
+and how to make the necessary shuttering for doing so. It was then, too,
+that I began to hear of the seventeenth and eighteenth-century buildings
+of Pise in the Rhone Valley. In fact, everybody but I seemed to know all
+there was to be known about Pise de terre. For the moment indeed, the
+situation seemed like that described in _Punch's_ famous picture of the
+young lady and the German professor. "_What is Volapuk?_" asks the young
+lady. "_Ze universal language_," says the professor. "_Where is it
+spoken?_" "_No vairs._" Pise de terre appeared to be the universal
+system of building, but as far as I could make out, it was practised "no
+vairs," or at any rate not in Europe.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Experiments with "Pise"]
+
+  II
+
+I had got as far as the position described above, when down swept the
+war upon Europe, and everything had to be postponed in favour of the
+immediate need of filling the ranks of the nation's army and teaching
+the men how to fight our enemies. As the war went on, however, the
+demand for rapid, cheap, and temporary building became very great, and I
+felt I should be justified in trying some experiments with Pise de
+terre, even in spite of the difficulty of obtaining labour.
+
+I think I can best illustrate the nature of Pise and what it can do, and
+I believe will do, if I shortly recount in chronological order these
+humble pioneer efforts.
+
+In the summer of 1915 I found that it was necessary in the interests of
+the hospital established in my house to find a place in which to store
+apples, for the men in blue consumed them in incredible quantities.
+I thought I would try Pise. Accordingly, I had some shuttering made on
+the Australian model--not splendid scientific shuttering such as is
+described in the body of this work, but still shuttering quite
+sufficient for the purpose. With great rapidity a little fruit-house was
+put up, roofed with boards, and covered with blocks of compressed peat
+in order to make a roof which would be both vermin-proof and also keep
+out the heat and the frost. In my ignorance and my hurry, I now find
+that I violated every sound rule of Pise construction. I built the walls
+during a week of rain, when the earth was wet, which was a great
+mistake; and I did not clear out the stones, which was another error
+that prevented the walls from being homogeneous. Worst of all, as soon
+as the walls were built (and very pretty walls they were, looking
+something like soft brown marble), I painted them over with tar, which
+of course would not enter the wet wall, but only made a skin, which in a
+few months peeled off exactly like the bark off a plane tree. Yet in
+spite of this ignorant mishandling of my material, the little
+fruit-house is still standing and sheltered till January the few apples
+Nature allowed us to gather last autumn. It looks disreputable, but
+there has been no structural collapse, nor will there be.
+
+    [Headnote: Rammed Chalk, "Pise de Craie"]
+
+No sooner was the fruit-house finished than I was met by the demand of
+my wife, the commandant of the hospital, to add to my house a patients'
+dining-room, which would be bright, dry, airy, warm, and comfortable,
+and be large enough for forty men to have their meals in, and to use as
+a sitting-room during the rest of the day. The local builder said that
+it was impossible to make a wooden addition, for there was no wood to be
+procured, or to build in bricks, since my house stands 600 ft. above the
+sea on an isolated chalk down. Croesus would have found it difficult at
+that time to build on my site, and for the ordinary economic
+man--"L'homme a quarantes ecus"--it was quite impossible. But the room
+had got to be built, for the men were there, and built at once, since
+the out-of-door life of July and August could not continue. There was
+nothing to do but to fall back upon Pise. I decided to be ambitious and
+to experiment, not merely in Pise de terre, but in what I then
+thought--and perhaps rightly--was a new form of Pise, _i.e._ Pise de
+craie or compressed chalk. My shuttering therefore was put up. A hole
+not very far off was dug in the earth, the chalk which was almost at the
+surface was quarried out, and we began to build the wall, candid and
+contemptuous friends telling us of course that the chalk wall would
+never stand the frosts in so exposed a position, and that the wall, if
+made, would certainly explode! Everyone worked at that wall; the nursing
+staff, the coachman, an occasional visitor, a schoolboy, a couple of boy
+scouts, members of the National Reserve who were guarding a "vulnerable
+point" close by, and even some of the patients. Patients as a rule will
+endure any toil with the utmost good temper if it is for the purposes of
+sport. If the task is useful it does not interest them. Still, a wall
+which might explode offered a certain attraction. We worked with more
+zeal than discretion, but happily I had it in my mind that homogeneity
+was the essential, and therefore the hard nuggets of chalk as they were
+thrown into the shuttering to be compressed by the rammers were first
+chopped up with spades, much as one minces meat. The wall had no
+foundations. In Pise you can make your foundations, so to speak, as you
+go, through the simple process of ramming. Anyway, and to cut a long
+story short, the wall was made, was able to receive the roof, for which
+happily the local builder found some material, and not only did the wall
+stand, but showed a very creditable exterior. Its weight was of course
+enormous, for there were some twenty tons of chalk put into it. In spite
+of the irregularity of the labour it did not take more than ten or
+twelve days to build. To prevent the wet and frost getting into it,
+I painted the main front with a patent liquid material for rendering
+walls damp-proof. The Chalk Pise wall not only served its purpose, but
+served it very well. The room proved extraordinarily warm and
+comfortable, largely owing no doubt to the fact of a solid, very dry,
+18-in. wall on the north-east side.
+
+
+  III
+
+My next venture was in response to an urgent appeal from a farm tenant
+to build him a waggon house. The result is seen in the accompanying
+illustration. This building, about 40 ft. by 30 ft., was made purely of
+earth, but some experiments were tried in the way of introducing hurdles
+into the shuttering in order to afford a surface to which plaster could
+easily cling. Suffice it to say that the plain earth, without plaster or
+any covering, more than justified itself. One part of the wall is very
+much exposed to the weather, but it has stood the rains and the frosts
+of three very bad winters without turning a hair. Lovers of the
+picturesque may like to know that it presents a pleasant face of light
+ochre, upon which a pale green efflorescence of lichen has appeared of
+late. Anyway, the frost has not touched it.
+
+
+  IV
+
+Next I made some experiments in chalk farmyard walls. Unfortunately,
+however, one of these, which was not made homogeneous by chalk mincing,
+_i.e._ in which the nuggets of chalk were not properly broken up, got
+the wet into it, and true to the candid friend's prophecy did literally
+explode in the big frost of 1917-18. Another very pretty chalk wall is,
+however, standing to this day. But though Chalk Pise will, I think, do
+well if properly made and properly protected, it is somewhat of a
+doubtful material for anything except a building with a good overlay of
+roof. Another structure put up by me was a largish gardener's potting
+shed. This was built purely of earth, and in dry weather. When the walls
+were perfectly dry, the local road authorities kindly came with their
+tar spray and sprayed it with hot tar, with most excellent results. The
+hot tar really entered instead of merely making a skin, with the result
+that the external walls thus treated resembled a section of tarred road
+stood up on end.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Pise Waggon-house at Newlands Corner.+
+  An experiment in rendering.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Newlands Waggon-house.+
+  Interior.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Beginning of a Pise Fruit-house.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Fruit-house Completed With Roof of Peat Blocks
+  on Rough Boarding.+]
+
+I may add that I lent my Pise shuttering to a Guildford Volunteer
+Battalion, who in a ten-hour day, or rather, two days of five hours
+each, built an excellent hut about 20 ft. square and 10 ft. high, and
+thus showed that a platoon might house themselves with Pise in a day,
+provided they had roofing material ready. This building had subsequently
+to be destroyed, because the ground on which it stood was wanted for
+another purpose. When it was knocked down the house-breakers were
+astonished at the strength and tenacity of the walls. Yet the earth out
+of which they were made was particularly bad--as one of the volunteers
+expressed it, not earth, but merely leaf-mould and horse-manure. The
+site had, as a matter of fact, been a suburban garden for at least two
+hundred years.
+
+
+  V
+
+Before I leave the record of these terrestrial adventures I may note
+that in the early stages I received a great deal of help and
+encouragement from General Sir Robert Scott-Moncrieff. He was indeed so
+much struck by them that he drew up a series of instructions for walls
+of Pise work which were issued to all engineer companies at the front in
+case they might have opportunities for experimenting. These instructions
+were based upon the Australian book and embodied the very simple form of
+shuttering there recommended. The diagram that accompanied them is
+reproduced in the Appendix to the present volume.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pise in Moulds]
+
+  VI
+
+  PISE IN MOULDS
+
+There is one thing more to be said about Pise. I believe that a useful
+development of the system may be found in the plan of ramming earth into
+moulds and making earth blocks, something like concrete blocks. Moulds
+of this kind are easy to make and are specially suitable when the soil
+is somewhat clayey in its nature. They have the advantage of being much
+cheaper than shuttering, and of being capable of being handled by one
+man without assistance. With a strong wooden mould and a good rammer a
+small-holder may easily build his own pigsty, his own chicken house, and
+all the small outbuildings he requires, if not indeed add an extra room
+to his house. I am at present experimenting with these blocks and only
+yesterday had the pleasure of seeing a sergeant (R.A.M.C), discharged
+through ill-health and now trying to turn himself into a small-holder,
+building a pigsty with the help of one of my moulds.
+
+
+  VII
+
+_Apropos_ of the elusive universality and yet non-existence of Pise
+work, the following personal anecdote or footnote to compressed earth
+may amuse my readers. Happening to be sleeping in a bedroom at Brooks's
+Club in 1916, I noticed a charming Regency bookcase full of old books.
+Among them was a copy of a _Cyclopaedia_ of 1819. I thought it would be
+amusing to see whether there was any mention of Pise de terre. What was
+my astonishment to find that what I thought was my own special and
+peculiar hobby and discovery was treated therein at very great length
+and with very great ability, but treated not in the least as anything
+new or wonderful, but instead as "this well-known and greatly
+appreciated system of building, etc., etc." To complete the irony of the
+situation the fact was mentioned that a Mr. Holland had lately sent to
+the Board of Agriculture a memorandum as to how to put up houses and
+farm-buildings in this form of construction. My hair rose on my head,
+for I had just committed a similar official indiscretion myself, and had
+been bombarding appropriate authorities with what I thought must be a
+complete novelty. Truly one can never be first or do anything new. It is
+always "in the Files," as Mr. Kipling says. Even in our most original
+moments we only keep on feebly imitating somebody else. The claim to
+originality is nothing but a muddy mixture of pride and ignorance. What
+did, however, somewhat amaze me was the calm statement of the
+_Cyclopaedia_ that this system of building was now well known in the
+counties of--and then came the names of practically all the counties of
+Southern England. And yet I had been keenly on the look-out for such
+buildings for several years. The cynic will say that they had all fallen
+down. That only shows the weakness of the cynic's point of view. The
+truth is they are often concealed under various disguises of plaster,
+paint, and weather tiles. Few people know what their own walls are
+really made of till they try to cut a new opening for a door or a window
+in them.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Cob and Chalk]
+
+  VIII
+
+  COB AND CHALK
+
+Of Cob I know little by actual experiment. It is fully dealt with in the
+body of this work, and readers will find that it is a kind of mud or
+clay concrete reinforced with straw. It is therefore totally and
+absolutely different from Pise. One is wet, the other dry.
+
+All that need be said about chalk is said by the author of the present
+book.
+
+
+  IX
+
+  A POSTSCRIPT
+
+In the body of this work mention is made of a very successful experiment
+in Pise de terre made by the officials of a Rhodesian mining company;
+the outcome, I am proud to think, of my pre-war advocacy of Pise in _The
+Spectator_. No sooner had my introduction been finished than there came
+by way of postscript an exceedingly interesting series of photographs,
+sent to me by Mr. Pickstone, a gentleman very well known in South Africa
+for his fruit gardens, his peaches, and his apricots. On the strength of
+what he had read in _The Spectator_, Mr. Pickstone lately undertook to
+build a station building and station-master's house for the railway
+station at Simondium in the Drakenstein Valley, a place which during the
+summer is noted for its great heat. In the January number of the _South
+African Railways and Harbours Magazine_, Mr. Pickstone gives a detailed
+account of his bold and successful experiment and illustrates it by a
+reproduction of some of his photographs. Here is his own account of what
+he did.
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: Pise--a South African Lead]
+
+"It must have been about eighteen months ago that the railway
+administration decided to promote Simondium Siding to the dignity of a
+station. As a siding, it had always been a busy place in the fruit
+season, during which time a permanent checker had for some years been
+kept quite busy, his accommodation being a couple of small tin shanties,
+and he had been accustomed to board out where he could. Now we were to
+have a 'pukka' station-master and, presumably, suitable premises. The
+department quickly got to work and the station-master's house arrived.
+It was what one might call a second-hand, or even a third- or
+fourth-hand one, consisting of the inevitable sheets of galvanised iron
+and the ever-essential Oregon and Swedish timber. Our new station-master
+also shortly afterwards arrived, and turned out to be a married man with
+a wife and four children. The station-master was not a grouser, but
+during the hot summer--and it is terribly hot in the Drakenstein Valley
+during that time of the year--he complained to me that it was almost
+impossible to hold on, owing to the conditions under which he and his
+family had to live. It was just about this time that I saw in _The
+Spectator_ a series of articles strongly advocating 'Pise de terre'
+construction for buildings of all kinds; especially was it recommended
+as a war-time expedient for rapid and economical construction for
+barracks and hospitals, and, indeed, it was strongly recommended by Mr.
+St. Loe Strachey, the editor, for all sorts of general building and
+military purposes. It is a curious fact, which many readers could
+verify, that frequently one lives one's life under certain conditions,
+and in reality remains absolutely blind to their presence and
+potentialities. Here was I, living in a country where some of the most
+beautiful old homesteads are on the principle of the 'Pise de terre'
+construction, and a large proportion of the older farm buildings in this
+district also built of similar material, with the additional pleasing
+accompaniment of beautiful beams, ceilings and floors made of colonial
+pine--one may advisedly add, the _despised_ colonial pine. Some of these
+buildings have stood the wear and use of close on a century, and are
+still an object of joy to those privileged to have an eye to see. Here
+lived I, as I say, blind to its potentialities for to-day, although it
+had been clearly appreciated and carried out with the most charming and
+solid results by our great-grandfathers in the old slave-labour days."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Model of a Pise de Terre House to be built in
+  Three Successive Stages.+
+  The right wing is planned to be built first as a complete
+  small cottage, eventually becoming service and servants' quarters.
+  _Clough Williams-Ellis, Architect_.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Wayside Station of Pise at Simondium, South Africa,
+  designed by Mr. Herbert Baker.+]
+
+The supervising architect, Mr. Kendall, who was responsible for carrying
+out the work to the admirable design of Mr. Herbert Baker, gives the
+following description of the way the work was actually executed, which
+contains several very useful hints:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"The construction of walls determined upon was that known as 'Pise de
+terre,' consisting of earth walls some 18 in. to 24 in. thick, which owe
+their solidity to a simple process of ramming between wooden casings
+previously placed in position on both sides. These walls are built in
+stages of some 3 ft. in height, the wood casing being raised at
+intervals as required. The frames for doors and windows are placed in
+position at the right time, and anchored into the walls by means of long
+hoop iron ties. These walls, when completed, give a surface almost as
+hard as burnt brick, but the external angles present a slight point of
+weakness, as from their exposure they would be naturally inclined to
+chip away in cases of rough usage. In order to overcome this it was
+arranged that irregular brick quoins should be embedded in the angles
+all the way up as the work proceeded. The walls, when completed, were
+then plastered and whitewashed, and present as good an appearance as
+more expensively plastered brickwork. As additional security the weather
+sides were given, prior to whitewashing, a coat of hot gas tar direct on
+the plaster, which in all exterior work was lime plus 10 per cent.
+cement. The roofs are of thatch with a fairly good overhang at the eaves
+in order to form a protection for the walls."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+On one point, however, we may reassure Mr. Kendall. I do not think he
+need be afraid of his walls being destroyed by the weather even if he
+has no overhang. Part of a Pise wall in my cart-shed, built in a very
+exposed situation, has no overhang. Further, the wall is not covered by
+cement or any other protective covering. The compressed earth was left
+quite bare, and yet the three worst winters of alternating wet and frost
+known for many years have made no impression upon the wall. It seems to
+be both rain-proof and frost-proof.
+
+I may add that Mr. Pickstone informs me in a letter dated February 19th
+that the Pise walls have proved an enormous success from the point of
+view of protection from the heat. Whereas in an iron building lined with
+wood the temperature in the hot weather went up to 104 degrees
+Fahrenheit, in the station-master's Pise de terre dining-room the
+thermometer registered only 86 degrees. Those who have ever lived where
+such temperatures prevail will note the immense advantage gained by the
+Pise walls. Such temperatures try strong men and women, and for children
+they are positively death-dealing. With so successful an experiment as
+that at Simondium before my eyes, I am beginning to feel that I may live
+to correct my view that this universal system of building is practised
+"no vairs."
+
+
+    [Headnote: The Discovery of the Old]
+
+  X
+
+  PLINY ON PISE DE TERRE
+
+Now for something which I have kept as the _bonne bouche_ of my earthy
+story. At the end of my researches and experiments I found that Pliny
+has got it all in his _Natural History_ in six lines! There is no need
+for more words.
+
+"_Have we not in Africa and in Spain walls of earth, known as
+'formocean' walls? From the fact that they are moulded, rather than
+built, by enclosing earth within a frame of boards, constructed on
+either side. These walls will last for centuries, are proof against
+rain, wind, and fire, and are superior in solidity to any cement. Even
+at this day Spain still holds watch-towers that were erected by
+Hannibal._" --_Pliny's "Natural History,"_ Bk. XXXV, chapter xlviii.
+
+    J. ST. LOE STRACHEY.
+
+  Newlands Corner, Surrey.
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL SURVEY
+
+
+Always necessity has been the mother of invention. The war has proved
+her prolific indeed, and her teeming offspring are seen in the
+multiplicity of war contrivances and the bewildering array of
+substitutes for the once common things of our daily life. Where
+necessity has been most dire, there invention has unfailingly come to
+the rescue with the most amazing "Ersatz" products to replace the
+vanished originals.
+
+At any rate it pleases us to attribute the truly astonishing feats of
+the Germans in this direction to their greater need rather than to any
+superior ingenuity or enterprise on their part.
+
+That their success was often no more than moderate will be readily
+admitted by anyone who, for instance, has made trial of their "Ersatz"
+cigars or ration coffee.
+
+Still, need did at least awaken prodigious effort, ingenuity, and
+enterprise--all co-ordinated and concentrated on the business of making
+good a hundred paralysing deficiencies.
+
+    [Headnote: The House Famine]
+
+In this present matter of National Housing the shortage of all the
+generally recognised building materials as well as of actual houses is
+extreme and grave. Effort, ingenuity, and enterprise in overcoming these
+insufficiencies are as urgently and vitally necessary to England in
+Peace as ever they were to Germany in war. Little will be said here of
+the direct and intimate connection between good houses and good
+citizens.
+
+It is assumed that those who go to the pains of reading this book have
+at least glanced at the Housing Reports, and drawn certain disquieting
+conclusions from the criminal and vital statistics with which the case
+for reform is reinforced.
+
+In a recent speech the Registrar-General said: "War does not only fill
+the graves, it also empties the cradles." This is no less true of bad
+and inadequate housing.
+
+Only the most reckless and thick-skinned of the poorer population will
+adventure on marriage and the bringing up of a family whilst the odds
+against decent and reasonable housing persist as at present.
+
+True, "Housing" is very properly being given considerable prominence in
+the press, and scarcely a day passes but there appears an article or
+letter dealing with this question.
+
+Usually we are left but little wiser than we were, whilst if we chance
+to know something about the subject, the general tone of vague
+cheerfulness that pervades them all fills us with misgiving.
+
+Nothing is easier or pleasanter or more popular than to make airy
+promises or predictions about the "Homes for Happy Human Beings" that,
+somehow, are to be prepared for our returned soldiers, and for all those
+others who are housed miserably or not at all. It is very easy to
+predict and promise, but without adequate materials performance is not
+merely difficult, it is impossible.
+
+There is a world-shortage of almost every manufactured or cultivated
+product; there is also a labour famine, a money famine, and a transport
+famine.
+
+In this country, closely connected with these deficiencies and looming
+ominously over them all, is, as we have said, our house-famine.
+
+To relieve the last in face of the others, and without further
+aggravating them, is one of the most grave and pressing of the many
+problems that confront us.
+
+Briefly the problem is this: To provide a maximum of new housing with a
+minimum expenditure of labour, money, transport, and manufactured
+materials.
+
+Broadly speaking, so far as rural housing is concerned, the solution
+must be sought through the use of natural materials already existing on
+the site, materials that can be worked straight into the fabric of the
+building, without any elaborate or costly conversion, and that by local
+labour.
+
+"Pise de Terre," "Chalk Compost," and "Cob" are three alternative forms
+of construction, one of which will usually fulfil the above conditions
+in any given situation.
+
+Despite the somewhat outlandish and high-sounding name of the first, it
+is nothing more than a very old and very simple method of building,
+recently revived through stress of circumstances. The rude technique has
+happily been kept alive and preserved for us in out-of-the-way corners
+of the Continent and in our Colonies. Wherever there is a sufficiency of
+sunshine to effect the necessary drying, there have earth buildings
+arisen and prospered.
+
+"Cob" building needs less introduction, as it is still well understood
+and a living craft in several parts of Great Britain, notably in
+Devonshire and South Wales, where its merits and advantages have been
+recognised apparently from the earliest times.
+
+All those indeed who are familiar with this method of construction are
+fully alive to its virtues, and the same is true of Pise-building, both
+in chalk and earth, and also of clay-lump.
+
+This book, however, is addressed to those who have in the past built
+only with stone, brick, concrete, timber and plaster, etc., and who are
+only now considering a reversion to the more primitive construction here
+described, through the shortage or absolute lack of their former
+materials.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Front and Back Elevations of Cottage designed by Sir Edwin
+  Lutyens and Mr. Alban Scott.+
+  This Cottage can be built in Cob, Pise, Concrete, Stone, or Brick.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Plan of Cottage designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Mr. Alban Scott.+]
+
+It is not so much a question as to whether a Cob or Pise house is
+preferable to one of brick or stone or concrete--though there are many
+who profess a lively preference for the former--but as to whether you
+will boldly revert to these old and well-tried methods of building, or,
+in the absence of the ordinary materials, feebly sit down and build
+nothing at all.
+
+For that will, inevitably, be the alternative for a great many private
+persons. National and Public-Utility Housing Schemes and public and
+industrial works of all sorts will naturally and properly claim priority
+in the matter of all building materials--and the private individual, so
+far as he can secure such materials at all, will only do so at a price
+that is the logical outcome of an unprecedented demand and an ominously
+inadequate supply.
+
+    [Headnote: Local Materials]
+
+Timber, tiles, slates, plaster, and ironmongery he must still purchase
+and transport as best he may--but the shell of his house, its outer
+walls at least, could and should be raised from the soil of the site
+itself by the employment of the simplest gear and a small amount of
+unskilled local labour.
+
+So acute indeed is the transport problem, and so small is the hope of
+any substantial improvement in the near future, that any expedient
+tending to ease matters in this respect is worthy of the most serious
+attention.
+
+The restrictions imposed by high freights will of themselves tend to
+check the often senseless and unnecessary importation of materials
+foreign to a district, which in the past was the despair of architects
+of the "traditional" school.
+
+It was a wasteful practice that had gone far to obliterate all but the
+most robust traits in the old and very diverse local building
+conventions of rural England.
+
+Formerly, he who wilfully carried bricks into Merioneth or the
+Cotswolds, or slates into Kent or ragstone-rubble into Middlesex, was
+guilty of no more than foolishness and an aesthetic solecism.
+
+Under present conditions such action should render him liable to
+prosecution and conviction on some such count as "Wasting the shrunken
+resources of his country in a time of great scarcity, . . . in that he
+did wantonly transport material for building the walls of a house by
+rail and road from A to B when suitable and sufficient material of
+another sort and at no higher cost existed, and was readily accessible
+hard by the site at B."
+
+That indeed is our one chance of salvation, the existence and use of
+"the materials of another sort hard by the site."
+
+These natural materials and their appropriate use in building will be
+considered in the following pages.
+
+   *   *   *
+
+The Lutyens-Scott cottage, of which illustrations are given, is designed
+with a special view to the use of such local materials as cob, chalk,
+and Pise, though it could also be constructed without appreciable
+modification in stone or brick.
+
+It is thus a model of unusually universal application, providing, too,
+accommodation such as is certain to be demanded by the new and more
+educated generation that it is the aim of the country to produce.
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+_COB_
+
+
+Sec. I. GENERAL
+
+If ever the counties of England recover their bygone loyalty to their
+own materials and their old traditions, then cob-building will return to
+Devon and the West. Cheap bricks, cheap transport, and the ignoble rage
+for fashions from the town went far to oust provincial cob from the
+affections of those whom, with their forbears, it had housed so well for
+several centuries.
+
+Whether the new loyalty be from within, or be imposed from without by
+force of circumstances, matters little. What does matter is the fact of
+its revival.
+
+For with it will come again the building of cottages that are knit
+intimately to their sites and surroundings as of old, cottages
+consanguineous with the ground they stand on, be it brick-earth, rock,
+or common soil.
+
+The soil of Devonshire and of many parts of Wessex and of Wales serves
+excellently well for building in cob or "clom."[3]
+
+    [Footnote 3: Probably, indeed, there is no county in the kingdom
+    that has not considerable areas where the soil would, if tried,
+    prove well adapted for cob-building.]
+
+The soil itself suggested the construction, and the men of Wessex were
+quick to take the hint and to act on it.
+
+The yeomen and small-holders of earlier days were commonly builders too,
+and often built their own homes in their own way, yet by the guiding
+light of local tradition.
+
+Thus the old Devonian countryman in need of a house would set to and
+build it himself--of stone if that were handy and easily worked, of cob
+if it were not.
+
+No doubt the doors and windows would be made and fitted by the village
+wheelwright; but the cottager himself would thatch or slate the roof as
+naturally and successfully as he built.
+
+The skill and care with which these versatile amateurs built their
+houses was not always of the highest, and careless construction, like
+other sins, is visited on the children--the worse the sooner.
+
+Thus it is that there are to-day plenty of old cob cottages that are
+both damp and insecure, but to condemn cob building in general because
+certain old builders were careless, ignorant, or incompetent is to
+condemn all materials from wattle and daub to ferro-concrete in the same
+breath.
+
+Cob, being a humble, amenable, and thoroughly accommodating substance,
+has reaped the inevitable reward of good nature in being "put upon" and
+in being asked to stand what is quite beyond its powers of endurance,
+and yet Devon cob houses of Elizabethan date are not uncommon.
+
+It is very reasonable in its demands, but two things it does
+require--dry foundations and a good protecting roof.
+
+To quote an old Devonshire saw on cob--"Giv'un a gude hat and pair of
+butes an' 'er'l last for ever."
+
+In many instances the Devonshire leaseholder, usually only a
+"life-lease" holder, built badly and on indifferent foundations. He
+neglected to repair his thatch, with the consequence that ruin followed
+sooner or later. He did not always use rough-cast, so that it often
+happened that by the time the lease expired the unfortunate landowner
+found that the cottage fell in--in the literal as well as in the legal
+sense. The lower portions of the walls were honey-combed with rat-holes,
+the walls bulged out or fissures resulted from subsidence, and the
+dwelling presented that appearance of squalor and meanness that has led
+so many to decry the mud buildings of Devon as relics of bygone
+barbarism. But if adequate care is bestowed on the construction, there
+is no reason why cob cottages should not prove at one and the same time
+comfortable to the inmates and pleasant to the eye, and endure for many
+generations.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Another view of the Cob House built by Mr. Ernest Gimson,
+  near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.+
+    _See Frontispiece_]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A fine Specimen of a Devonshire Cob House.+]
+
+    [Headnote: The Beauty of Cob]
+
+As to their comeliness and longevity, a day's walk in Devon, or, failing
+that, a glance at the printed pictures will tell all that need be told.
+That the beauty of cob buildings is not due merely to the irregularities
+and weathering produced by the passage of time is sufficiently proved by
+the photographs of Mr. Gimson's charming cob cottage, taken soon after
+he had finished it.
+
+The work was done a year or two before the war; this is Mr. Gimson's own
+description of the manner of its building:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"The cob was made of the stiff sand found on the site; this was mixed
+with water and a great quantity of long wheat straw trodden into it. The
+walls were built 3 ft. thick, pared down to 2 ft. 6 in., and were placed
+on a plinth standing 18 in. above the ground floor, and built of cobble
+stones found among the sand. The walls were given a coat of plaster and
+a coat of rough-cast, which was gently trowelled over to smooth the
+surface slightly. I believe eight men were engaged on the cobwork, some
+preparing the material, and others treading in on to the top of the
+walls. It took them about three months to reach the wall plate; the cost
+was 6s. a cubic yard, exclusive of the plastering. No centring was used.
+The joists rested on plates, and above them the walls were reduced to 2
+ft. 2 in. in thickness to leave the ends of the joists free. The beams
+also rested on wide plates and the ends were built round with stone,
+leaving space for ventilation. Tile or slate lintels were used over all
+openings. The cost of the whole house was 6-1/2d. a cubic foot. Building
+with cob is soon learnt--of the eight men, only one of them had had any
+previous experience, and, I believe, he had not built with it for thirty
+years. This is the only house I have built of cob."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+What is most interesting in this narrative is the workmen's lack of
+experience, which seems to have been no hindrance. Anyone who proposes
+to revive the use of cob may take courage from Mr. Gimson's evidence.
+The time spent in building the walls was reasonable and the cost low. It
+may be guessed that the post-war rise in cost will be no greater in
+proportion, if as great, when compared with brickwork. The natural charm
+of the wall surface is enhanced by the crown of thatched roof, modelled
+with a skill which few can bring so certainly to their task as Mr.
+Gimson.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Method of Building]
+
+Sec. II. METHOD OF BUILDING
+
+_Composition._--Cob is a mixture of shale and clay, straw and water.
+Shale is a common and widely distributed stratified formation of a slaty
+nature, and there are few types of clay soil that would not serve for
+cob-making.
+
+The precise relative proportion of the first two ingredients varies,
+depending on their individual peculiarities.
+
+Local custom as to the composition and preparation of the mixture will
+generally be found to have adjusted itself to the peculiarities of the
+soil.
+
+The following extract is from an analyst's report on a sample of typical
+old cob walling:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"The material when placed in water fell to pieces. On analysis, it was
+found to consist of:
+
+                                                Per cent.
+  Stones (residue on 7 by 7 mesh sieve)            24.40
+  Sand, coarse (residue on 50 by 50 mesh sieve)    19.70
+  Fine sand (through 50 by 50 mesh sieve)          32.50
+  Clay                                             20.60
+  Straw                                             1.25
+  Water, etc.                                       1.55
+                                                  ------
+                                                  100.00
+                                                  ------
+
+"The material is a conglomerate of slaty gravel with a very sandy clay,
+to which mixture a small proportion of straw has been added.
+
+"The clay acts as an agglutinant, and the straw as a reinforcement.
+
+"Efficient protection from frost and rain would be necessary before such
+material could be considered weatherproof."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Devonshire Cob Farmhouse, probably between 200 and 300 years old.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Cob-built Village.+]
+
+(N.B.--Lime is occasionally added to the clay-shale, but this is not
+usual.)
+
+_Mixing._--The old method of mixing by hand is as follows: A "bed" of
+clay-shale is formed close to the wall where it is to be used,
+sufficient to do one perch. A perch is superficial measurement described
+as 16-1/2 ft. long, 1 ft. high, and the amount of material will vary
+according to the thickness of wall required. Four men usually work
+together. The big stones are picked out. The material is arranged in a
+circular heap about 5 or 6 ft. in diameter.
+
+Starting at the edge the men turn over the material with cob picks,
+standing and treading on the material all the time. One man sprinkles on
+water, and another sprinkles on barley straw from a wisp held under his
+left arm. The heap is then turned over again in the other direction,
+treading continuing all the time. "Twice turning" is usually considered
+sufficient. Straw bands may be wrapped puttee-wise around the legs of
+the men to keep them clean, and these are removed at the end of the day.
+
+More rarely the mixing is done in a rough trough, whilst a power-driven
+"pan-mill" has also been tried with success; though one would think that
+the use of such a machine might tend to diminish the binding strength of
+the straw submitted to its grinding.
+
+    [Headnote: Implements]
+
+  [Illustration: COB PICK (Measured from example at Great Fulford).]
+
+_Building._--In building a man stands on the low base-wall, and lays the
+material handed up to him on the cob picks, treading it into position.
+Thorough treading is important, and the heels should be well used. The
+material is allowed to project each side an inch or so beyond the stone
+base to allow for paring down afterwards. The courses are usually about
+2 ft. high. The cob should be laid and trodden in diagonal layers, as
+shown in the diagram: this is to secure proper bonding. It takes from
+two to three weeks for a course to dry, according to the weather, and
+five or six men would be required to build the walls of an ordinary
+cottage. This would not keep them continuously employed, however, and
+they would require to have several buildings in hand at the same time,
+so as to be able to turn from one to the other while the courses were
+drying.
+
+  [Illustration: COB COURSE, OR SCAR, SHOWING DIAGONAL LAYERS.]
+
+At the completion of a course the corners are plumbed up from the stone
+base below, a line is stretched through and the wall is then pared down
+"plumb" with the "paring iron" by the man standing on the wall.
+Sometimes, however, the paring down is left until the wall is finished
+and dry. Four men will do about four perches per day of a wall 2 ft.
+thick, preparing and laying material.
+
+The material is rarely laid between timber shuttering as in Pise work,
+as the retaining boards tend seriously to retard the drying out.
+
+  [Illustration: PARING IRON (Measured from example at Great Fulford)]
+
+_Drying._--If a course takes from two to three weeks to dry, it
+naturally takes a long time for a whole cottage to completely dry out.
+The walls can be built from about March to September. The internal
+fitting, plastering, etc., can be done in the winter, but the external
+rendering must not be done for at least a year, perhaps two years, to
+allow the walls to become perfectly dry.
+
+As unprotected cob is sensitive to frost, especially if not thoroughly
+dried out, it should be given a good external rendering as soon as it is
+really dry, and should in the meantime be protected from frost by some
+temporary covering, straw-matting or what not. Also all cob-work must be
+protected from the rain both whilst building and when built.
+
+No artificial methods of drying are at present usual, beyond good fires
+inside during the winter, though, as under such conditions a cob cottage
+is not usually considered fit to live in for several months after
+completion, some artificial means of drying might be worth considering.
+
+_Foundations and Base._--The depth of the excavations required for the
+foundations naturally depends upon the character of the site and soil,
+as also does the spread of the footings, if any.
+
+The base-course wall of brick, stone, or concrete should be carried up
+some 2 ft. or so above ground level. In old days this walling was not
+infrequently built "dry"--but good lias lime or cement should be used in
+all new work.
+
+The damp-course too was an unknown refinement to the by-gone builders,
+and the introduction of this one improvement alone makes the new cob
+cottage a very different dwelling from the old.
+
+The usual forms of damp-course serve well for cob walls, though slates
+laid butt and broken joint in cement are probably the best.
+
+    [Headnote: Walls and Roofs]
+
+_Thickness of Walls._--The thickness of walls may be anything you please
+from 18 in. upwards. There are old examples a full 3 ft. across, but for
+an ordinary two-storied cottage a thickness of about 2 ft. is general.
+Eighteen inches is certainly the minimum thickness, and would not
+ordinarily be adopted for any but one-storied buildings.
+
+The first-floor walls are made the same thickness as those below, for if
+they were reduced in width, as is usual in a stone building, the extra
+weight thus thrown on to one side of the ground floor walls would tend
+to make them bulge, unless quite dry and thoroughly set.
+
+There are old cob walls in existence fully 30 ft. in height, and there
+is no apparent limit in this direction provided they are thick enough.
+
+The upper layers compress the lower ones, and automatically render them
+more dense and stone-like and fit to bear the load imposed above.
+
+_Hipped Roofs._--As a general rule, however, it is found expedient to
+hip back the roof rather than carry it up in a tall gable, partly
+because cob-building at a great height above the ground in short and
+diminishing layers is a somewhat tedious process, partly because a
+hipped roof with good eaves is very welcome for the protection that its
+projection affords the walling.
+
+_Masonry and Carpentry._--The bonding of cob to stone and brick is
+sometimes liable to leave an open joint that will require filling when
+the cob dries and shrinks. Many of the chimneys in old cob houses are of
+brick or stone, and brick and stone jambs are sometimes to be seen in
+cob walls, but they are probably by way of repairs to damaged corners.
+It is considered better to have cob all round, so ensuring the uniform
+settlement of the building.
+
+The timber built into old cob does not seem to decay. The walls are
+usually so dry, especially when plastered, that the wood is well
+preserved. The straw in the interior of old cob walls is often as bright
+as when put in. The straw in cob performs a similar function to hair in
+plaster. Heather has sometimes been used instead of straw with good
+results.
+
+  [Illustration: WALL COPINGS.]
+
+The old practice was for beams, wall plates, joists, etc., to be just
+bedded on the cob, and for the cob to be filled in between the joists.
+In new work, particularly when the use of imperfectly seasoned timber is
+unavoidable, it would be wise to take the usual precautions as to the
+proper ventilation of all "built in" woodwork--especially the ends of
+joists and so forth. Roofs must of course be tied and exercise no thrust
+on walls. The roof plates are sometimes tied down by galvanised iron
+wire.
+
+  [Illustration: LINTEL-BEARING CROSS-PIECE]
+
+Door and window-frames are also fixed to wood blocks built into the
+jambs and to the wood lintels above. The frames are sometimes near the
+outer face of wall, sometimes near the inner-face. Where the door-frames
+are on the interior face of a 2 ft. thick wall, a convenient porch
+results.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Devonshire Farm, Local Material (Cob).+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Devon Country House, built of Devon Cob.+]
+
+Other joinery is fixed to wood pins driven into the cob where required.
+
+Corners are usually of cob, though stone quoins are occasionally met
+with.
+
+Lintels are usually of wood well tailed into the wall and resting on a
+wood pad placed crosswise.
+
+    [Headnote: Protection]
+
+_Protection._--Old buildings that have been neglected are often found to
+be somewhat eroded towards the bottom of their walls through the action
+of rain and frost.
+
+Protection is less here than higher up under the projecting eaves, and
+the Achilles' heel of the cob wall is undoubtedly its base.
+
+This vulnerable part, exposed as it is to driven rain, back-splash, and
+the casual kicks, should be given special protection.
+
+Where the base is of cob and not of masonry, the traditional method is
+to provide a good deep skirting of pitch or tar, or a mixture of both,
+applied hot to the face of the rendering that should completely cover
+the exterior of all cob work.
+
+This rendering is usually composed of lime and hair mortar, though
+Portland cement has come into use to some extent recently.
+
+Cement, however, is apt to be rather too "short" and brittle, and it
+does not always hold to the cob walling very securely.
+
+A rendering consisting of an equal mixture of cement and lime with three
+parts of sand adheres well to cob, however, and is probably the best
+coating that can be given to it.
+
+This coating can be colour-washed or lime-whited in the usual way. The
+granular surface of rough rendering or of "slap-dash" on the slightly
+wavy surface of cob walling perhaps gives to whitewash its very highest
+opportunity and charm.
+
+Certain it is that the old cob cottages of Devon with the pearly gleam
+of their white walls, their heaving bulk of thatch and their trim black
+skirtings, are as gracious and as pleasant to the eye as any in all the
+length and breadth of England.
+
+Within, lime-and-hair mortar plastered straight on to the cob makes an
+excellent lining.
+
+_Chimneys._--Nowadays, chimneys are commonly built up in brick or stone,
+but numerous good examples survive of flues and stacks constructed in
+cob. The insides of these are pargeted with lime and cow-dung in the
+usual way, brickwork being only introduced immediately around the
+fireplaces.
+
+_Rats._--Where the surface rendering of cob-walls has been omitted or
+has been allowed to fall away, an enterprising rat will sometimes do
+considerable damage by his tunnelling.
+
+A little powdered glass mixed with the lower strata of a wall will
+discourage any such burrowing, but the best preservative for any cob
+building is a thoroughly good skin of rendering, especially if this be
+reinforced by fine-mesh wire-netting secured to the wall.
+
+_Strength._--The strength of cob walls is surprisingly great so long as
+they are vertical, and are not subjected to undue lateral thrust or
+tension.
+
+Beams as large as 12 in. by 12 in. may be seen supported by old cob
+walls, and there is nothing likely to be asked of the material in the
+way of strength to which it cannot easily respond.
+
+_Design._--Cob, like every other material, should have a certain say in
+the design of any building in which its use is intended.
+
+The chief desiderata are a plain straightforward plan and broadly
+treated elevations where voids and solids are carefully disposed with an
+eye to getting as large unbroken blocks of cob as possible.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Cob House temp. Elizabeth, Lewishill.+
+  Walls from 3 ft. to 4 ft. thick. A wing was added in 1618.
+  This farm has been occupied by the family of the present holder
+  between 300 and 400 years.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Another Devonshire (Cob) Farmhouse, Weeke Barton.+]
+
+The cracks that are sometimes found in old cob buildings are almost
+entirely attributable to unsuitable design in such respects, or to bad
+foundations.
+
+Cob walls built up in the ordinary way are not very suitable for
+internal partitions on account of their considerable width and the
+consequent waste of space, though in old work cob was sometimes used as
+a filling for stud and lath partitions which were finally plastered over
+in the usual way.
+
+The sun-dried clay-lumps so much used for walling in Suffolk would seem
+to be admirable for forming the partitions in a house of cob.
+
+Cob work is usually repaired with rubble, stone, or brick.
+
+New openings are easily cut through cob walls, and this fact has
+occasionally led to the collapse of an old building through the zeal for
+light and air of some new occupier exceeding his caution, and causing
+him to cut away the substance of his walls in cheerful disregard of the
+laws of gravity.
+
+
+Sec. III. CONCLUSION
+
+  AUTHORITIES--ANCIENT AND MODERN
+
+Not by any means was cob exclusively the poor man's material, and
+several old homes of this sort still survive that are of some
+consideration.
+
+    [Headnote: Raleigh's House]
+
+Amongst them is Hayes Barton, the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh.
+Writing of Raleigh and his home, Mr. Charles Bernard says:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Sir Walter Raleigh's House._--"He had great affection for his boyhood's
+home--the old manor-house at Hayes Barton where he was born, and did his
+best to secure it from its then owner. 'I will,' he wrote, 'most
+willingly give you whatsoever in your conscience you shall deme it worth
+. . . for ye naturall disposition I have to that place, being borne in
+that house, I had rather see myself there than anywhere else.' But alas!
+it was not to be, and the snug and friendly Tudor homestead passed into
+other hands. The house at Hayes Barton was probably not newly built when
+Raleigh's parents lived there, and it says much for the character of cob
+that the house is as good to-day as ever it was; though for all that it
+has, to use Mr. Eden Phillpotts' words, 'been patched and tinkered
+through the centuries,' it 'still endures, complete and sturdy, in
+harmony of old design, with unspoiled dignity from a far past.' Lady
+Rosalind Northcote gives the following description of the house in her
+_Devon_. She writes: "In front of the garden, a swirling stream crosses
+a strip of green; and in the garden, at the right time, one may see the
+bees busy among golden-powdered clusters of candytuft, and dark red
+gillyflowers, and a few flame rose-coloured tulips, proud and erect. The
+house is very picturesque; it has cob walls and a thatched roof, and is
+built in the shape of the letter +E+; a wing projects at either
+end, and in the middle the porch juts out slightly. The two wings are
+gabled; there is a small gable over the porch and two dormer ones over
+the windows at each side of it, the windows having lattice lights and
+narrow mullions. Dark carved beams above them show up well against the
+cream-coloured walls. The heavy door is closely studded with nails, and
+over it fall the delicate sprays and lilac "butterfly" blossoms of
+wistaria.'"
+
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Ceilings of Modelled Plaster from old Cob Houses in Devon.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Cob Garden-wall with Thatched Coping.+]
+
+_Reed Thatch._--In recent years slates or tiles have replaced thatch for
+the roofing of cob buildings and walls, owing to the cost of reed (the
+local name for the straw from which the grain has been hand-threshed by
+flail to prevent the straw being broken), and the difficulty of getting
+good thatchers. The opinion is held by many that the lasting quality of
+thatch has deteriorated since the practice of liming the cornland has
+unfortunately been given up.
+
+_Primitive Methods._--Formerly the ground floors of cob cottages were
+all cobbled, but these have, generally speaking, been replaced by lime,
+ash, or cement floors. The cob builders of past generations apparently
+made no use of the square, plumb-line, or level. No laths were used for
+the walls, which were plastered within; outside, rough-cast or
+"slap-dash" was laid on.
+
+    [Headnote: Mr. Baring-Gould]
+
+_Mr. Baring-Gould's Testimony._--Mr. S. Baring-Gould, in his _Book of
+the West_, writing on the subject says: "No house can be considered more
+warm and cosy than that built of cob, especially when thatched. It is
+warm in winter and cool in summer, and I have known labourers bitterly
+bewail their fate in being transferred from an old fifteenth or
+sixteenth century cob cottage into a newly-built stone edifice of the
+most approved style, as they said it was like going out of warm life
+into a cold grave."
+
+
+  DEVON COB
+
+The following paragraph, taken from C. B. Allen's _Cottage-Building_, is
+of interest:
+
+"The cob walls of Devonshire have been known to last above a century
+without requiring the slightest repair, and the Rev. W. Elicombe, who
+has himself built several houses of two stories with cob walls, says
+that he was born in a cob-wall parsonage built in the reign of
+Elizabeth, or somewhat earlier, and that it had to be taken down to be
+rebuilt only in the year 1831."
+
+_Fruit Walls._--Again quoting Mr. Baring-Gould: "Cob walls for garden
+fruit are incomparable. They retain the warmth of the sun and give it
+out through the night, and when protected on top by slates, tiles, or
+thatch, will last for centuries." It will be seen that the disadvantages
+of cob buildings are solely due to faults of construction, and not to
+any inherent defect in properly made cob as a material, and that the
+construction of cottages, farm buildings, and garden walls is well
+within the compass of an averagely intelligent workman.
+
+It is not intended to argue that the cob cottage could be advantageously
+built in every county, but only that where it has been used and liked
+for centuries, a wise building policy would encourage its continuance.
+The materials are at hand, and the population ready to welcome this form
+of dwelling-place.
+
+    [Headnote: Old Cob Lore]
+
+_An Old Authority._--An old writer treating of cottage-building thus
+delivers himself:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"A Bill for inclosing the waste lands of the kingdom having been
+introduced into the House of Commons, under the auspices of the Board of
+Agriculture, and as so beneficial a Bill cannot fail, sooner or later,
+to pass into a law, and as in consequence thereof, many small houses
+must necessarily be built, suited to small estates issuing out of
+allotments of such wastes, we have been induced to submit to the
+consideration of the Board three plans of such small houses to be built
+of different species of materials.
+
+"The first is with mud walls, composed of soft mire and straw,
+well trodden together, and which, by degrees, is laid on,
+stratum-super-stratum, to the height required; a species of building not
+uncommon for cottages, and even for better houses, barns, etc., in the
+western and some other parts of the kingdom. It is the cheapest
+habitation that we can construct and is also very dry and comfortable."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+And again:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"Walls of mud, or of compressed earth, are still more economical than
+those of timber, and if they were raised on brick or stone foundations,
+the height of a foot or 18 in. above the ground, or above the highest
+point at which dung or moist straw was ever likely to be placed against
+them, their durability would be equal to that of marble, if properly
+constructed and kept perfectly dry. The cob walls of Devonshire, which
+are formed of clay and straw trodden together by oxen, have been known
+to last above a century without requiring the slightest repair; and we
+think that there are many farmers, especially in America and Australia,
+who if they knew how easily walls of this description could be built,
+would often avail themselves of them for various agricultural purposes.
+
+"The solidity of cob walls depends much upon their not being hurried in
+the process of making them, for if hurried, the walls will surely be
+crippled, that is, they will swag or swerve from the perpendicular. It
+is usual to pare down the sides of each successive rise before another
+is added to it. The instrument used for this purpose is like a baker's
+peel (a kind of wooden shovel for taking the bread out of the oven), but
+the cob-parer is made of iron. The lintels of the doors and windows and
+of the cupboards and other recesses are put in as the work advances
+(allowance being made for their settling), bedding them on cross pieces,
+and the walls being carried up solid. The respective openings are cut
+out after the work is well settled. In Devonshire the builders of
+cob-wall houses like to begin their work when the birds begin to build
+their nests, in order that there may be time to cover in the shell of
+the building before winter. The outer walls are plastered the following
+spring. Should the work be overtaken by winter before the roof is on, it
+is usual to put a temporary covering of thatch upon the walls, to
+protect them from the frost."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: Mr. Fulford's Evidence]
+
+_Mr. Fulford's Evidence._--Mr. Fulford, of Great Fulford, near Exeter,
+whose own village and estate can show as many good examples of old cob
+work as any place in Devon, writes as follows:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Cost._--"It is not possible to give a close estimate of what would now
+be the comparative cost of a building in cob, stone, or brick, as this
+must depend upon the exact locality of the site. It may, however, be of
+assistance if I quote particulars of the relative cost of cob and stone
+building in Devon in the year 1808 when cob was in common use. The
+stonework referred to was rough rubble, and not with square or dressed
+blocks. It must be borne in mind that up to that date practically all
+material, stone, lime, etc., was carried on horses' backs. Wheeled carts
+which began to creep in about the beginning of 1800, were not in general
+use until twenty or thirty years later. As a boy I knew a farmer who
+remembered the first wheeled cart coming to Dunsford. In 1838 the Rector
+of Bridford (the 'Christowell' of Blackmore's novel) recorded the fact
+that in 1818 there was only one cart in the parish and it was scarcely
+used twice a year. In 1808 the price of building varied according to the
+district. In the northern part of the county the common price of
+stonework, including the value of three quarts of cider or beer daily,
+was from 22d. to 24d. the perch (16-1/2 ft.), 22 in. in width and
+1 ft. in height. Including all expenses of quarrying and carriage of
+materials, stonework worked out at from 5s. to 6s. per perch running
+measure, and cob estimated in like manner at about 3s. 6d. Masons when
+not employed by the piece received 2s. per day, and allowance of beer or
+cider. In the Dunstone district (the clay shales from which make the
+best cob) masonwork was 18d. per rope of 20 ft. in length, 18 in. thick,
+and 1 ft. high, stone and all materials found and placed on the spot;
+cob work of the same measure was 14d. In the South Hams district
+masonwork cost 2s. 6d., and cob 2s. per perch of 18 ft. in length, 2 ft.
+thick, and 1 ft. high."
+
+_Use of Shuttering._--"In those parts of the red land where Dunstone
+shillot or clay shale is not available, the red clay was mixed with
+small stones or gravel, and frequently the cob was laid and trodden down
+between side boards as used in building concrete walls. Three cartloads
+of clay built a perch and a half of wall 20 in. wide and 1 ft. deep.
+Eight bundles of barley straw, equal to one pack-horse load, were mixed
+and tempered with nine cartloads of clay."
+
+_Roofing._--"Thatching in 1808 cost 8s. per square of 10 ft.; 100
+sheaves of wheat-straw reed, weighing 25 lb. each, were sufficient for
+one square. Thatching, however, is not, as many suppose, indispensable
+as a roofing for cob buildings; slate found in many parts of Devon was
+frequently used, and of late years Welsh and Delabole slates, tiles, and
+unfortunately, from the picturesque point of view, corrugated iron, have
+to a large extent supplanted thatch."
+
+_A Protective Wash._--"Vancouver, in his report on the Survey of Devon
+for the Board of Agriculture in 1808, gave the following recipe, which
+he described as a preserving and highly ornamental wash for rough-cast
+that was then getting into common use: 'Four parts of pounded lime,
+three of sand, two of pounded wood ashes, and one of scoria of iron,
+mixed well together and made sufficiently fluid to be applied with a
+brush. When dry it gives the appearance of new Portland stone, and
+affords an excellent protection against the penetrating force of the
+south-westerly storms."
+
+_Rendering._--"For the rough-weather sides of cob buildings I have found
+cement and sand, finished with a rough surface, satisfactory, and far
+more durable than ordinary lime and gravel rough cast. For interior cob
+walls, laths are not necessary. The old plastering was frequently laid
+on too thick. Of late years I have used with excellent results granite
+silicon plaster for ceilings and walls. This requires no hair, and is
+easily applied."
+
+_The Cob Tradition._--"Cob-making was, like many other local trades,
+carried on in some families from generation to generation and developed
+by them into an art, but apart from these specialists, practically every
+village mason and his labourers built as much with cob as they did with
+stone. There are men still left in various parts of the county who have
+made cob, and it would, in my opinion, be of advantage if demonstrations
+could be given by them to discharged sailors and soldiers who are
+anxious to take up work on the land."
+
+_Training of ex-Soldiers._--"In cob-building, as in many other arts and
+crafts, a little showing is of far greater help to the novice than any
+amount of text-book instruction. The knowledge and experience that these
+men would gain from being shown, and better still, assisting an expert
+in making cob, would be of material advantage in the development of the
+county scheme promoted by the Central Land Association for the
+establishment of ex-Service men on the land. They could try their
+'prentice hands on walls, tool-sheds, cart linhays, etc., for their own
+use, and some no doubt would develop into expert builders capable of
+constructing walls for dwelling-houses from approved plans."
+
+_1819 Conditions Returned._--"The depletion of our home-grown timber
+supply and the prohibitive cost of practically all building material has
+in effect brought about the conditions that led our forefathers to
+utilise suitable material that lay nearest to hand, and unless some
+endeavour is made to follow their methods and profit by their example,
+it will be impossible to provide sufficient buildings for the necessary
+equipment of the allotments and small holdings, let alone housing
+accommodation for the workers on the land."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+    [Headnote: A Champion of Cob]
+
+There is probably no one who knows more about cob than does Mr.
+Fulford--certainly no one who has done more to promote the revival of
+cob-building both by precept and example.
+
+Cob is the traditional material of his native place, he has, as it were,
+been brought up on cob--he is familiar with both the ancient history and
+the modern practice of cob-building, and in short, he "knows."
+
+When a revivalist has knowledge as well as enthusiasm, the grounds of
+his faith are usually worth serious attention.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+_PISE DE TERRE_
+
+
+Sec. I. GENERAL
+
+_What it is._--"Pise de terre" is merely the French for rammed earth,
+and rammed earth is an exceedingly good material for the building of
+walls.
+
+The odd thing is that its very obvious merits should have secured it
+such small attention.
+
+It is no new-fangled war-time invention brought forth by our present
+necessity, but a very ancient system well proved by centuries of trial.
+
+_History._--Pliny gives an excellent account of Pise-building in his
+_Natural History_, and Monsieur Gorffon, who published a treatise on
+this method of construction in 1772, states that it was first introduced
+into France by the Romans.
+
+The following extracts from an old book based on a French original will
+serve well as an introduction to the study of Pise-building:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Capabilities._--"An account of a method of building strong and durable
+houses, with no other materials than earth; which has been practised for
+ages in the province of Lyons, though little known in the rest of
+France, or in any other part of Europe. It appeared to be attended with
+so many advantages, that many gentlemen in this country who employ their
+leisure in the study of rural economy were induced to make a trial of
+its efficiency; and the result of their experiments has been of such a
+nature as to make them desire, by all possible means, to extend the
+knowledge and practice of so beneficial an art.
+
+"The possibility of raising the walls of houses two or even three
+stories high, with earth only, which will sustain floors loaded with the
+heaviest weights, and of building the largest manufactories in this
+manner, may astonish every one who has not been an eye-witness of such
+things."
+
+_Of Pise and its Origin._--"Pise is a very simple manual operation; it
+is merely by compressing earth in moulds or cases, that we may arrive at
+building houses of any size or height."
+
+_Locale._--"This art, though at present confined to the single province
+of the Lyonese in France, was known and practised at a very early period
+of antiquity. The Abbe Rozier, in his _Journal de Physique_, says that
+he has discovered some traces of it (Pise) in Catalonia; so that Spain,
+like France, has a single province in which this ancient manner of
+building has been preserved. The art, however, well deserves to be
+introduced into more general use. The cheapness of the materials which
+it requires, and the great saving of time and labour which it admits of,
+must recommend it in all places and on all occasions, but the French
+author says that it will be found particularly useful in hilly
+countries, where carriage is difficult, and sometimes impracticable; and
+for farm buildings, which, as they must be made of considerable extent,
+are usually very expensive, without yielding any return."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Method of Building]
+
+Sec. II. METHOD OF BUILDING
+
+There is an exhaustive article on Pise in Vol. XXVII of _The Cyclopaedia
+or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature_, published in
+1819. The writer, Abraham Rees, D.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., draws chiefly on
+French authorities and his directions are most detailed and precise.
+
+  [Illustration: PISE.
+  _Implements for Pise or Rammed Earth Buildings_
+  +Pise Plant and Implements.+
+  (Reproduced from an old Encyclopaedia.)]
+
+_Definition._--He introduces his subject thus:
+
+"Pise-building, in Rural Economy, the name of a method of building with
+loamy or other earthy matters, which has long been practised with great
+success, and in a very cheap manner, in some departments of France, and
+which is now had recourse to with similar advantage in some parts of
+this country. It has been described, delineated, and recommended by Mr.
+H. Holland in the first volume of _Communications to the Board of
+Agriculture_, and is to be managed somewhat in the manner directed
+below."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+At great length and with immense detail, the plant, the preliminaries,
+and the process are each severally described.
+
+The pith of the matter is sufficiently given by the following extracts:
+
+_Shuttering._--"For the construction of the mould, take several planks,
+each 10 ft. long, of light wood, in order that the mould may be easy to
+handle; deal is the best as being least liable to warp. To prevent which
+the boards should be straight, sound, well seasoned, and with as few
+knots as possible. Let them be ploughed and tongued, and planed on both
+sides. Of these planks, fastened together with four strong ledges on
+each side, the mould must be made, 2 ft. 9 in. in height; and two
+handles should be fixed to each side.
+
+"All the boards and ledges here mentioned must be, after they are
+planed, something more than 1 in. thick."
+
+_Rammer._--"The instrument with which the earth is rammed into the mould
+is a tool of the greatest consequence, on which the firmness and
+durability, in short the perfection, of the work depends. It is called a
+pisoir, or rammer; and though it may appear very easy to make it, more
+difficulty will be found in the execution than is at first apprehended.
+A better idea of its construction may be formed by examining the Plate,
+in which it is delineated, than any words can convey. It should be made
+of hard wood, either ash, oak, beech, walnut, etc., or what is
+preferable, the roots of either of them."
+
+_Method of Working._--"Pise contains all the best principles of masonry,
+together with some rules peculiar to itself, which are now to be
+explained.
+
+"To begin with the foundation; this may be made of any kind of masonry
+that is durable, and should be raised to the height of 2 ft. above the
+ground; which is necessary to secure the walls from the moisture of the
+earth, and the splashing of the rain, which will drop from the eaves of
+the roof.[4] When these foundation walls are made level, and 18 in.
+thick, mark upon them the distance at which the joists are to be set,
+for receiving the moulds; those distances should be 3 ft. each from
+centre to centre. Each side of the mould being 10 ft. long, will divide
+into three lengths of 3 ft. each, and leave 6 in. at each end, which
+serve to lengthen the mould at the angles of the house and are useful
+for many other purposes. After having set the joists in their places,
+the masonry must be raised between them 6 in. higher, that is, to a
+level with the joists; there will, therefore, altogether be a base of
+2-1/2 ft., which in most cases will be found more than sufficient to
+prevent the rain, frost, snow, or damp from injuring the walls. Raise
+the mould immediately on this new masonry, placing it over one of the
+angles of the wall.
+
+    [Footnote 4: The introduction of a damp-course and the provision
+    of gutters at the eaves greatly reduce the function of the
+    masonry base in modern work.]
+
+    [Headnote: The Ramming]
+
+"A workman should be placed in each of the three divisions of the mould,
+the best workman being placed at the angle. He is to direct the work of
+the other two, and by occasionally applying a plumb-rule, to take care
+that the mould does not swerve from its upright position. The labourers
+who dig and prepare the earth must give it in small quantities to the
+workmen in the mould, who, after having spread it with their feet, begin
+to compress it with the rammer. They must only receive at a time so much
+as will cover the bottom of the mould to the thickness of 3 or 4 in. The
+first strokes of the rammer should be given close to the sides of the
+mould, but they must be afterwards applied to every other part of the
+surface; the men should then cross their strokes, so that the earth may
+be compressed in every direction. Those who stand next to one another in
+the mould should regulate their strokes so as to beat at the same time
+under the cord, because that part cannot be got at without difficulty,
+and must be struck obliquely; with this precaution, the whole will be
+equally compressed. The man at the angle of the wall should beat
+carefully against the head of the mould.
+
+"Care must be taken that no fresh earth is received into the mould till
+the first layer is well beaten, which may be ascertained by striking it
+with a rammer; the stroke should leave hardly any print on the place.
+They must proceed in this manner to ram in layer after layer, till the
+whole mould is full. When this is done, the machine may be taken to
+pieces, and the earth which is contained will remain firm and upright,
+about 9 ft. in length and 2-1/2 ft. in height. The mould may then be
+replaced for another length, including 1 in. of that which has first
+been completed.
+
+"The first course being thus completed, we proceed to the second; and
+here it must be observed that in each successive course we must proceed
+in a direction contrary to that of the preceding. It may easily be
+conceived, that with this precaution the joints of the several lengths
+will be inclined in opposite directions, which will contribute very much
+to the firmness of the work. There is no reason to fear overcharging the
+first course with the second, though but just laid; for three courses
+may be laid without danger in one day.
+
+"This description of the first two courses is equally applicable to all
+the others, and will enable any person to build a house, with no other
+materials than earth, of whatever height and extent he pleases.
+
+"With respect to the gables, they may be made without any difficulty, by
+merely making their inclination in the mould and working the earth
+accordingly."
+
+
+Sec. III. THE THEORY AND SCIENCE OF PISE
+
+_The Value of Ramming._--"Beating, or compression, is used in many
+different sorts of work; the ancients employed it in making their rough
+walls; the Italians employ it for the terraces which adorn their houses;
+the Moors for all their walls; the Spaniards, the French, and others for
+some of the floors of their apartments. The intent of the ancient
+architects, when they recommended the beating of cement and other
+compositions used in building, was to prevent them from shrinking and
+cracking; and it is employed for the same purpose in walls which are
+made of earth. The beater, by repeated strokes, forces out from the
+earth the superfluous water which is contained and closely unites all
+the particles together, by which means the natural attraction of these
+particles is made powerful to operate, as it is by other natural causes
+in the formation of stones. Hence arises the increasing strength and
+astonishing durability which houses of this kind are found to possess."
+
+_An Experiment._--"Upon beating a small portion of earth, and weighing
+it immediately afterwards, it was found to weigh 39-1/2 lb. Fifteen days
+after, it had lost 4-1/4 lb. In the space of another fifteen days it
+lost but 1 lb.; and in fifteen days after that its weight diminished
+only 1/2 lb. In the space of about forty-five days the moisture was
+completely evaporated, and its weight was diminished about one-eighth;
+consequently only one-eighth of the whole mass was occupied by moisture,
+and this small proportion cannot at all affect the solidity and
+consistency of the earth so treated. This experiment is also sufficient
+to show the difference between this kind of building and that vulgar
+kind called in England 'mud-walling.'"
+
+_Rate of Work._--"In one single day three courses of about 3 ft. each
+may be laid one over the other; so that a wall of earth of about 8 or 9
+ft., or one story high, may be safely raised in one day. Experience has
+proved that as soon as the builders have raised their walls to a proper
+height for flooring, the heaviest beams and rafters may without danger
+be placed on the walls thus newly made; and that the thickest timber of
+a roof may be laid on the gables of pise the very instant they are
+completed."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Suitable Soils]
+
+  ON EARTH PROPER FOR BUILDING
+
+_Suitable Soils._--"1st. All earths in general are fit for that use,
+when they have not the lightness of poor lands nor the stiffness of
+clay.
+
+"2ndly. All earths fit for vegetation.
+
+"3rdly. Brick-earths; but these, if they are used alone, are apt to
+crack, owing to the quantity of moisture which they contain. This,
+however, does not hinder persons who understand the business from using
+them to a good purpose.
+
+"4thly. Strong earths, with a mixture of small gravel, which for that
+reason cannot serve for making either bricks, tiles, or pottery. These
+gravelly earths are very useful, and the best pise is made of them."
+
+_Soil Tests._--"The following appearances indicate that the earth in
+which they are found is fit for building: when a pickaxe, spade, or
+plough brings up large lumps of earth at a time; when arable lands lies
+in clods or lumps; when field-mice have made themselves subterraneous
+passages in the earth; all these are favourable signs. When the roads of
+a village, having been worn away by the water continually running
+through them, are lower than the other lands, and the sides of those
+roads support themselves almost upright, it is a sure mark that pise may
+be executed in that village. One may also discover the fitness of the
+soil by trying to break with one's fingers the little clods of earth in
+the roads, and finding a difficulty in doing it; or by observing the
+ruts of the road, in which the cart-wheels make a sort of pise by their
+pressure; whenever there are deep ruts on a road, one may be sure of
+finding abundance of proper earth.
+
+"Proper earth is found at the bottom of the slopes of low lands that are
+cultivated, because every year the rain brings down the fat or good
+earth. It is frequently found on the banks of the river, but above all,
+it is found at the foot of hills, and on all cultivated lands which have
+much slope. In digging trenches and cellars for building, it generally
+happens that what comes out of them is fit for the purpose."
+
+
+  ON THE MIXTURE OF EARTHS
+
+_Soil Blending._--"As it may sometimes happen that earth of a proper
+quality is not to be found on the spot where it is intended to build, it
+becomes of importance to attend to the method of mixing earths; for
+though the earth which is near at hand may not of itself be proper, it
+is very probable that it may be rendered so by the mixture of a small
+quantity of another earth fetched from a distance. The principle on
+which a mixture must be made is very simple; strong earths must be
+tempered with light; those in which clay predominates, with others that
+are composed more of chalk and sand; and those of a rich, glutinous
+substance, with others of a poor and barren nature. The degree in which
+these qualities of the earths prevail must determine the proportions of
+the mixture; which it is impossible here to point out for every
+particular case, but which may be learnt by a little practice. Some easy
+methods will be described, by which any one may make a trial of the
+qualities of his earth.
+
+"It will not be amiss to mix with the earth some small pebbles, gravel,
+rubbish of mortar, or in short any small mineral substances; but none of
+the animal or vegetable kind must be admitted.[5] Such hard substances
+bind the earth firmly between them, and being pressed and pressing in
+all directions, contribute very much to the solidity of the whole; so
+that well-worked earth, in which there is a mixture of gravel, becomes
+so hard at the end of two years that a chisel must be used to break it,
+as if it was freestone."
+
+    [Footnote 5: "The pise does not admit any vegetable or animal
+    substances. In mud walls they put straw, chopped hay, hair,
+    flocks, wool, etc., to make the mud adhere to the wood, or laths;
+    whereas the workmen who build in pise are careful to pick out the
+    least straw or the smallest bit of root which remains in the
+    earth: in short, the pise is a mineral substance imitating stone,
+    consequently anything that can slake or rot must be excluded."]
+
+
+    [Headnote: Experiments]
+
+  EXPERIMENTS TO ASCERTAIN THE QUALITIES OF ANY EARTH
+
+_Trial by Experiment._--"Take a small wooden tub or pail, without a
+bottom, dig a hole in the ground of a court or garden, and at the bottom
+of that hole fix a piece of stone, flat and level; place your tub upon
+the stone, fill around it the earth that has been dug out to make the
+hole, and ram it well, that the tub may be enclosed, to prevent its
+bursting. Then ram into the tub the earth you mean to try; putting in,
+at each time, about the thickness of three or four fingers' breadths:
+when this is well rammed, add as much more, and ram it in the same
+manner, and so the third and fourth, etc., till the earth is raised
+above the brim. This superfluous earth must be scraped off extremely
+smooth, and rendered as even as the under-part will be, which lies on
+the stone. Loosen with a spade the earth around the tub, and you will
+then be able to take it out, and with it the compressed earth that it
+contains; then turn the tub upside down, and if it is wider at the top
+than at the bottom, as such vessels usually are, the pise will easily
+come out, but if it should happen to stick, let it dry in the air about
+twenty-four hours, and you will then find that the earth is loose enough
+to fall out of itself. You must be careful to cover this lump of pise
+with a little board; for though a shower of rain, falling in an oblique
+direction, will not injure it, yet it may be a little damaged if the
+rain falls perpendicularly, and especially if it remains upon it. Leave
+the lump exposed to the air, only covered with a board or flat stone,
+and if it continues without cracking or crumbling, and increases daily
+in density and compactness as its natural moisture decreases, you may be
+sure that the earth is fit for building. But you must remember that it
+is necessary that the earth employed should be taken from a little below
+the surface of the ground, in order that it may be neither too dry nor
+too wet; it must be observed also that if the earth is not well pressed
+around the outside of the tub before it is filled, though the hoops were
+of iron, they would burst, so great is the pressure of the beaten earth
+against the mould, of whatever size it may be."
+
+_The Earth-ball Test--An Experiment which may be made at any
+time._--"Every person in walking on his ground may make little balls of
+earth and press them as tight as he can between his hands. If he brings
+them home and puts marks on them, he will by that means know the quality
+of every piece of land, and also be a judge of the mixture it will be
+necessary to make."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Preparation of the Earth]
+
+  ON THE PREPARATION OF THE EARTH FOR BUILDING
+
+_Soil Preparation._--"All the operations of this art are very simple and
+easy; there is nothing to be done but to dig up the earth with a
+pickaxe, break the clods with a shovel, so as to divide it well, and
+then lay it in a heap, which is very necessary, because as the labourers
+throw it on that heap, the lumps of earth and large stones roll to the
+bottom, where another man may break them or draw them away with a rake.
+I must observe that there should be an interval of about an inch and a
+quarter between the teeth of the rake, that the stones and pebbles of
+the size of a walnut, or something more, may escape, and that it may
+draw off only the largest. If the earth that has been dug has not the
+proper quality, which is seldom the case, and it is necessary to fetch
+some better from a distance, then the mixture must be made in this
+manner: one man must throw one shovelful of the best sort, while the
+others throw five or six of the inferior sort on the heap, and so more
+or less according to the proportions which have been previously
+ascertained."
+
+_Rain._--"No more earth should be prepared than the men can work in one
+day, or a little more, that they may not be in want; but if rain is
+expected, you must have at hand either planks, mats, or old cloths to
+lay over the heap of earth, so that the rain may not wet it; and then as
+soon as the rain is over, the men may resume their work, which, without
+this precaution, must be delayed; for it must be remembered that the
+earth cannot be used when it is either too dry or too wet, and therefore
+if the rain should wet it after it has been prepared, the men will be
+obliged to wait till it has recovered its proper consistency--a delay
+which would be equally disadvantageous to them and their employer. When
+the earth has been soaked by rain, instead of suffering compression, it
+becomes mud in the mould; even though it be but a little too moist, it
+cannot be worked; it swells under the blows of the rammer, and a stroke
+in one place makes it rise in another. When this is the case, it is
+better to stop the work, for the men find so much difficulty that it is
+not worth while to proceed. But there is not the same necessity of
+discontinuing the work when the earth is too dry, for it is easy to give
+it the necessary degree of moisture; in such a case it should be
+sprinkled with a watering-pot, and afterwards well mixed up together; it
+will then be fit for use."
+
+_Organic Matter._--"It has already been observed that no vegetable
+substances should be left in the earth; therefore in digging, as well as
+in laying the earth in a heap, great care must be taken to pick out
+every bit of root, great and small, all sprigs and herbs, all bits of
+hay and straw, chips or shavings of woods, and in general everything
+that can rot or suffer a change in the earth."
+
+
+  ON THE BOND TIMBER TO BE USED IN BUILDINGS OF PISE
+
+_Corners._--"To make good walls, it is not sufficient that the earth be
+well beaten, we must also learn to unite them well together. Here the
+binders cost very little; they consist only of thin pieces of wood,
+a few cramps and nails, and these are sufficient to give the greatest
+stability to buildings of pise."
+
+Having gone on to explain that the angles of the building are formed by
+the successive courses alternately crossing one another on the corner
+like the alternating "long and short" quoins in a stone building, our
+authority proceeds to describe how rough boards are laid between the
+courses of pise so as to cross at the corner and so, entirely encased in
+tightly compressed earth, they form effective ties.
+
+"This board must be rough, as the sawyers have left it, 5 or 6 ft. long,
+something less than 1 in. thick, and in breadth about 8, 9 or 10 in., so
+that there may remain on each side 4 or 5 in. of earth, if the wall is
+18 in. thick; by this means the board will be entirely concealed in the
+body of the wall. When thus placed neither the air nor damp can reach
+it, and of course there is no danger of its rotting. This has been often
+proved by experience, as in taking down old houses of pise such boards
+have always been found perfectly sound, and many that had not even lost
+the colour of new wood. It is easy to conceive how much this board, from
+the pressure of the work raised above it, will help to bind together the
+two lengths of wall and to strengthen the angle."
+
+_Bonders._--"It is useful (particularly when the earth is not of a very
+good quality) to put ends of planks into the pise after it has been
+rammed about half the height of the mould. These ends of planks should
+only be 10 or 11 in. long, to leave as before a few inches of earth on
+each side of the wall, if it is 18 in. thick; they should be laid
+crosswise (as the plank before mentioned is laid lengthwise) over the
+whole course, at the distance of about 2 ft. from one another, and will
+serve to equalise the pressure of the upper parts of the works on the
+lower course of the pise.
+
+"The boards above mentioned need only be placed at the angles of the
+exterior wall, and in those parts where the courses of the partition
+walls join to those of the exterior wall, the same directions that have
+here been given for the second course must be observed at each
+succeeding course, up to the roof. By these means the reader will
+perceive that an innumerable quantity of holders or bondings will be
+formed, which sometimes draw to the right, sometimes to the left of the
+angles, and which powerfully unite the front walls with those of the
+partitions; the several parts deriving mutual support from one another,
+and the whole being rendered compact and solid."
+
+    [Headnote: The Strength of Pise]
+
+_Strength._--"Hence these houses, made of earth alone, are able to
+resist the violence of the highest winds, storms and tempests. The
+height that is intended to be given to each story being known, boards of
+3 or 4 ft. in length should be placed beforehand in the pise, in those
+places where the beams are to be fixed, and as soon as the mould no
+longer occupies that place, the beams may be laid on, though the pise be
+fresh made; little slips of wood, or boards, may be introduced under
+them, in order to fix them level. The beams thus fixed for each story,
+the pise may be continued as high as the place on which you intend to
+erect the roof."
+
+
+  ON THE TIME AND LABOUR NECESSARY IN BUILDING
+    A CERTAIN QUANTITY OF PISE
+
+_Speed of Building._--"Besides the advantages of strength and cheapness,
+this method of building possesses that of speed in the execution. That
+the reader may know the time that is required for building a house, or
+an enclosure, he need only be told that a mason used to the work can,
+with the help of his labourer, when the earth lies near, build in one
+day 6 ft. square of the pise."
+
+_Rendering._--"To prepare the walls for plastering, indent them with the
+point of the hammer, or hatchet, without being afraid of spoiling the
+surface left by the mould; all those little dents must be made as close
+as possible to each other, and cut in from top to bottom, so that every
+hole may have a little rest in the inferior part, which will serve to
+retain and support the plaster.
+
+"If you happen to lay the plaster over them before the dampness is
+entirely gone, you must expect that the sweat of the walls will cast off
+the plaster."
+
+The wall surface having been duly hammer-chipped, the work must be
+scoured with a stiff brush to remove all loose earth and dust, and to
+finally prepare it for rough-casting. Rough-cast consists of a small
+quantity of mortar, diluted with water in a tub, to which a trowel of
+pure lime is added, so as to make it about the thickness of cream.
+
+One workman and his labourers are sufficient; the workman on the
+scaffold sprinkles with a brush the wall he has indented, swept, and
+prepared; after that he dips another brush, made of bits of reed, box,
+etc., into the tub which contains the rough-cast, and throws with this
+brush the rough-cast against the wall.
+
+"Rough-cast, which is attended with so little trouble and expense, is
+notwithstanding the best cover that can be made for pise walls, and for
+all other constructions; it contributes to preserve the buildings. It is
+the peculiar advantage of these buildings that all the materials they
+require are cheap, and all the workmanship simple and easy."
+
+_Local Testimony._--At the end of the article just summarised, an
+instructive letter from a former rector of St. John's, La Rochelle, is
+quoted:
+
+  "SIR,--
+
+"My having been an inhabitant for some time of the town of Montbrison,
+capital of the Forets, enables me to give you some information
+concerning the mode of building houses with earth, etc.
+
+    [Headnote: A Pise Church]
+
+_A Pise Church._--"The church was the most remarkable in this style of
+building; it is about 80 ft. long, 40 ft. broad, and 50 ft. high; the
+walls built in pise, 18 in. thick, and crepe, or rough-cast on the
+outside, with lime and sand. Soon after my arrival, the church, by some
+accident, was destroyed by fire, and remained unroofed for about a
+twelvemonth, exposed to rains and frost. As it was suspected that the
+walls had sustained much damage, either by fire or the inclemency of the
+season, and might fall down, it was determined to throw them down
+partially, and leave only the lower parts standing; but even this was
+not done without much difficulty, such was the firmness and hardness
+these walls had acquired, the church having stood above eighty years;
+and all the repairs required were only to give it on the outside, every
+twelve or fifteen years, a new coating of rough-cast.
+
+"A house for a single family is generally finished in about a fortnight.
+The following is the method I have seen them practise."
+
+_Building Procedure._--"The earth is pounded as much as possible, in
+order to crumble any stones therein; clay is added thereto in a small
+quantity, about one-eighth part. It is all beaten and mixed up together
+by repeated blows with a mallet about 10 in. broad, and 10 or 15 in.
+long, and 2 in. thick. The earth being thus prepared, and slightly
+wetted, the foundation of the house is dug for; this is laid with stone,
+and when it is about 1 ft. high above the surface of the ground, planks
+are arranged on each side, which are filled with earth intended for the
+wall; this is called Pise in the dialect of the country. It is strongly
+beaten; and this method is continued successively all round the
+building. The walls have more or less thickness according to the fancy
+of the owner; I have seen them 6 in. and 18 in. thick. If several
+stories are intended in such erections, they do not fail to place beams
+to support the floors before they build higher. Of such buildings I
+never saw any consisting of more than three floors at most; generally
+they have but two. When the building is thus finished, it is left for
+some months to dry; then such as wish to make the building more solid
+and durable, give it a rough-cast coating on the outside with lime and
+sand. This is what I have observed during a residence of three years in
+the town of Montbrison. I should be happy if this detail should afford
+the slightest information to the generous nation which has received us
+with so much goodness.
+
+  "I am, etc.,
+
+    "JAUCOUR."
+
+
+_The Virtues of Pise._--"Such is the method of building which has been
+practised in the Lyonnese for many centuries. Houses so built are
+strong, healthy, and very cheap, they will last a great length of time,
+for the French author says he had pulled down some of them which, from
+the title-deeds in the possession of the proprietors, appeared to be 165
+years old, though they had been ill kept in repair. The rich traders of
+Lyons have no other way of building their country-houses. An outside
+covering of painting in fresco, which is attended with very little
+expense, conceals from the eye of the spectator the nature of the
+building, and is a handsome ornament to the house. That method of
+painting has more freshness and brilliancy than any other, because water
+does not impair the colours. No size, oil, or expense is required,
+manual labour is almost all it costs, either to the rich or poor. Any
+person may make his house look as splendid as he pleases, for a few
+pence laid out in red or yellow ochre, or in other mineral colours.
+
+"Strangers who have sailed upon the Rhone probably never suspected that
+those beautiful houses, which they saw rising on the hills around them,
+were built of nothing but earth, nay, many persons have dwelt for a
+considerable time in such houses without ever being aware of their
+singular construction. Farmers in that country generally have them
+simply white-washed, but others, who have a greater taste for ornament,
+add pilasters, window-cases, panels, and decorations of various kinds.
+
+"There is every reason for introducing this method of building into all
+parts of the kingdom; whether we consider the honour of the nation as
+concerned in the neatness of its villages, the great saving of wood
+which it will occasion, and the consequent security from fire, or the
+health of the inhabitants, to which it will greatly contribute, as such
+houses are never liable to the extremes of heat or cold. It is attended
+with many other circumstances that are advantageous to the State as well
+as to individuals. It saves both time and labour in building, and the
+houses may be inhabited almost immediately after they are finished; for
+which latter purpose, the holes made for the joists should not be closed
+up directly, as the air, if suffered to circulate through them, will dry
+the walls more speedily."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Indian and Colonial Practice]
+
+Sec. IV. INDIAN AND COLONIAL PRACTICE
+
+_A Manual on Earthwork_, edited by Colonel Maclagan, R.E., gives much
+interesting information as to Pise-building and a number of valuable
+hints:
+
+_Shutter-ties._--"Cross pieces, as the work proceeds, become so firmly
+embedded in the wall, that there is great difficulty in extracting them,
+to remedy which iron bars have been substituted. Even these thin iron
+bars become so tightly jammed when surrounded by the compact pise earth,
+that much labour and risk of injury to the work is incurred in
+extricating them, and the expedient of setting them in a bed of sand has
+been successfully resorted to. They are then drawn out with care, the
+sand also is removed, and the holes which they leave are subsequently
+filled with the same earth of which the wall is made, and rammed hard.
+
+"The heads of the opposite uprights are held together by ropes, but in
+practice in this country[6] it has been found that, under the immense
+pressure exerted upon the plank sides by the earth firmly rammed in the
+interior, the ropes are so liable to stretch, and to break, that it is
+advisable to use iron rods or bars in this position also. When ropes are
+used, the distance between the side planks is measured by gauge rods,
+and the ropes tightened when requisite to preserve the proper breadth of
+wall. The use of iron connecting rods renders this unnecessary."
+
+    [Footnote 6: India.]
+
+_Soil._--"Soil of a medium quality, that is neither very stiff nor very
+sandy, is considered best adapted for pise. It may be said that that
+which would make good bricks will answer well for this description of
+work.
+
+"When the earth is very dry, a sprinkling of water will be necessary."
+
+_Foundations._--"It is usual to begin the work upon a foundation of
+brick or masonry; but there seems to be no reason why the pise might not
+be used from the commencement, even for foundations under ground; being
+carefully guarded from all chance of injury by running water."
+
+_The Building._--"The casing being prepared and erected, and the upper
+surface of the old work, when above the first stage, being sprinkled
+with water, the earth, well mixed and slightly moistened, is thrown in,
+and spread in thin layers of 4 or 5 in. These should, when rammed, be
+reduced to one-half their original thickness. The rammers should be of
+hard wood and very smooth. The successive layers are similarly treated,
+and thus the work proceeds until the top of the casing is reached. The
+ends of each portion should be finished with a slope, to which will be
+joined the portion next to be added longitudinally. These joinings
+should not, in the successive courses, be above those of the lower
+stage, but as in masonry and brickwork, should 'break joint.' The seams
+are all distinctly perceptible when the work is complete."
+
+    [Headnote: Plastering]
+
+_Plastering._--"The wall may have a coating of plaster, or the surface
+may be simply smoothed and dressed with a shovel, or similar implement.
+When it is to be plastered, it is necessary that the wall should first
+be thoroughly dry. If dry only externally whilst damp within, it has
+been found that the moisture is apt subsequently to attack the plaster
+and cause it to fall off in flakes. Without plaster, good Pise work is
+found successfully to withstand exposure to the weather, and after the
+lapse of many years to be so compact and hard as to be picked down with
+difficulty."
+
+_Protection._--"Where the wall is not that of a roofed building, it
+should be provided with a coping, having a good projection to protect it
+from rain."
+
+_Rods versus Bars._--"The substitution of iron connecting bars for the
+wooden ones has been mentioned above. The evils of the wooden
+arrangement were found to be: the starting of the wedges, the fracture
+of the tenons, the tight jamming of the bars in the wall, and the injury
+to the walls and to the bars themselves from the force requisite to be
+applied for extracting them. The lower iron connecting bars are made
+3-1/2 in. by 1/2 in.; the upper, 1 in. by 1/3 or 1/4 in. each, having
+holes 1/2 in. by 1/4 in., with corresponding pins.
+
+"The mode of setting the bars and arranging the work on each successive
+elevation of the casing is to cut on the surface of the completed part
+of the wall a groove 1 in. wider than the bar, filling it in, after
+placing the bar, with sand, to the level of the wall's surface. The side
+boarding being set up, the vacant space left along the bevelled edge of
+the previous course is filled up with moist clay to retain the first
+layer of the new course. The end pieces are secured by iron bars or
+rods, with screws and nuts."[7]
+
+    [Footnote 7: "A convenient arrangement might be: to make the
+    lower and upper connecting bars alike, to raise the side boarding
+    a few inches above the upper bars, which, when embedded, might be
+    allowed to remain and become the lower ones of the next course;
+    the external apparatus being shifted by taking out the pins and
+    slipping off the stanchions and planks to be reapplied to the
+    upper bars already in position to receive them."]
+
+_Ramming._--"Gentle and quick ramming has been found most effectual."
+
+
+  _Report on the Pise-work executed at the Etah Jail during 1867-8.
+  By Mr. H. Sprenger, Assistant Engineer_
+
+"The boxes in which the pise-work at the Etah Jail is being executed
+consist of two wooden frames 10 ft. long and 2-1/2 ft. broad, made of
+planks, which are nailed on to stout battens. They are held together by
+four pairs of posts 3 in. by 3 in., which are connected above and below
+with tie-bars of flat iron 1-1/2 in. by 1/4 in. The tie-bars have at
+each end a certain number of 1/2 in. holes punched in them to receive
+pins for the purpose of preventing the posts from slipping off. By
+changing the pins, walls of any given dimension can be obtained, wedges
+of hard wood, with longitudinal slots, are introduced between the posts
+and the pins, to adjust the breadth of the boxes to a standard gauge.
+After the boxes are fixed and adjusted, they are secured in their
+position by ropes passing over them, and tied to stakes on each side.
+Any deflection from the vertical should be corrected at the commencement
+of the work, as it is impossible to alter the position of a box after it
+is half full. Any earth which is suitable for brick-making will do for
+pise-work. On being dug out it is passed through a screen with 1/2-in.
+meshes, and thrown into the boxes in even layers of 6 in. in depth.
+
+    [Headnote: The Right Quantity of Water]
+
+"Generally fresh earth contains sufficient moisture to ensure good
+consolidation; but if it is found that it jumps up under the rammers, it
+should, on being thrown into the boxes, be sprinkled with a little water
+out of a tin can with a rose. The watering should be as uniform as
+possible, as if it is applied unequally it will liquefy the earth, which
+will commence oozing out under the rammers. Pise-work executed with too
+much water is worse than if done with dry earth, as, on account of the
+elasticity of the wet earth, the effect of the ramming is deadened, and
+the earth remains unconsolidated. The men should be prohibited to keep
+time in ramming, as it causes vibration, which is injurious to the
+stability of the wall. On working over a lower course, it is as well to
+let the lower tie-bars about 4 in. into the same to give the boxes a
+firm hold on the old work, thereby the joints become imperceptible, and
+the upper edge of the lower course is prevented from chipping off.
+
+"The implements used are three different kinds of rammers. The earth is
+first beaten down with a V-shaped rammer, and then surfaced with one
+with a flat bottom. The sides of the boxes are consolidated with a
+spade-shaped rammer. When commencing the pise-work at Etah, considerable
+difficulty was experienced in extricating the lower tie-bars. These
+were, therefore, supplied with holes 3 in. apart throughout their whole
+length. A pin was inserted, against which a crow-bar with a long slot
+and well bent at the end was made to work. An equal pressure could
+thereby be exerted against the tie-bars; they were thus extracted with
+great facility without injuring them or the face of the wall, which was
+not the case formerly."
+
+
+  _Supplementary Note by Mr. E. Battie, Executive Engineer,
+  5th Division, Grand Trunk Road_
+
+"The work at Etah has generally been concluded in the following manner:
+In the morning the boxes were taken down, and again put up and filled
+during the day; they were left during the night, so that the earth might
+detach itself from the sides. It is not advisable to allow a course to
+dry thoroughly, as the upper one will not bind well into it, but
+probably show a crack. If the earth is well rammed, and only the proper
+quantity of moisture admitted, a second course can be commenced
+immediately."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+The Report of the Rhodesia Munitions and Resources Committee issued in
+1918 contains an interesting paper by Mr. John Hynd on Pise-building,
+from which the following is extracted:
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pise Buildings at Empandeni]
+
+"_Pise de Terre Buildings_
+
+"_The Spectator_ took this matter up some two years ago and wrote as
+follows:
+
+"'Various schemes of land settlement are in the air. . . . All of them
+must, however, be concerned with cheap buildings. That is a _sine qua
+non_.' . . .
+
+"The material used for the walls at Empandeni is one-third sand,
+one-third ant-heap, and one-third soil, all pulverised and put through a
+sieve. Water is then added. The mixture must be neither too wet nor too
+dry, just sufficiently damp to bind; a good indication of the correct
+consistency being that when squeezed hard by the hand it shows a
+tendency to bind. Sufficient of the loose mixture is thrown into the
+form to fill it to a depth of about 3 in., and this is thoroughly rammed
+before the next layer is put in. Most thorough ramming is essential.
+When the frame is rammed full, it is taken apart and shifted along to
+make another section and so on until the first layer is complete. The
+first layer is, as a rule, sufficiently dry to permit the starting of
+the next about three hours after laying. Door and window frames are put
+in as the work proceeds, and must be well braced while ramming. In the
+top layer hoop iron or fencing wire is let in for fastening down the
+wall plates. Arsenite of soda or Atlas Compound is used in the first
+layer or two to keep out white ants. The floor can be made of timber,
+cement concrete, or rammed earth, and the roof thatched or covered with
+corrugated iron as is most convenient.
+
+"The following Pise de terre buildings have been erected at Empandeni:
+
+"A large schoolroom 75 ft. by 28 ft. by 12 ft. high, walls 14 in. thick;
+seven boys' dormitories, each 30 ft. by 20 ft. by 12 ft.; twelve
+single-room houses, each 16 ft. by 12 ft.; six fowl houses, each 20 ft.
+by 10 ft.; a large fowl house 250 ft. long, front walls 7 ft. and back
+walls 5 ft. high. This building is divided into fifteen compartments.
+
+"From the foregoing description it is quite evident that cheap and
+efficient buildings of this nature can be erected at a very low cost.
+
+"On a farm it is not necessary to employ any skilled labour, as the
+doors and windows can be purchased ready-made, and the frame-work,
+clamps, etc., put together by the farmer himself. For a roof of thatch
+all the necessary material, except iron ridging, if this is used, can as
+a rule be procured on the farm.
+
+"Should a cement concrete floor, which is cheaper than a wood one, be
+desired, there would be an extra expenditure for cement, the amount
+required being about two bags per twelve square yards. Such a floor
+should be laid before the walls of the building are commenced, and it is
+essential that the site is thoroughly well rammed and consolidated,
+particularly below where walls will come, before laying the concrete, to
+prevent cracks developing through settlement. The concrete raft should
+be carried at least 6 in. beyond the outside walls of the building, and
+if the work is properly done, a special ant-course will be unnecessary.
+The concrete can be left rough below the walls to give a bond, and it
+might be advisable to lay some pieces of hoop iron in it which would be
+left projecting to be bedded into the walls.
+
+"Another good type of floor would probably be that suggested in _The
+Spectator_, viz. road material laid down and tarred in the same manner
+as roads are now made in many places.
+
+"A number of rooms and houses have been erected on the Globe and Phoenix
+Mine on much the same principle as Pise de terre buildings, but the
+system developed there is different as regards the mixture, which
+consists of two parts ant-heap or ordinary dagga which must not be too
+sandy, and three parts ashes or clinker sieved free from fine dust.
+
+"A very full description of the method employed on this mine was
+forwarded by the courtesy of the Manager to the Committee, and it is
+interesting to note from this that the walls are made waterproof by
+first making them smooth with dagga plaster, then, when quite dry,
+giving one good coat of boiling hot tar. A coat of limewash is applied
+three days later. That this is effective is well evidenced by the fact
+that the buildings erected have successfully withstood our last
+abnormally heavy rainy season.
+
+"The Globe and Phoenix system is the result of a number of experiments
+carried out on that mine. Their mixture, which is stated to be
+ant-proof, contains more moisture than Pise de terre, and each course is
+reinforced with old wire rope, or other suitable scrap. The material is
+left in a heap for one or two days before being used.
+
+"Circular huts have been built on the mine of the same material, the
+forms being made of two rings of corrugated iron in three or more
+sections joined up with cleats at the end laps and held in position with
+cross bolts and distance pieces. The inner ring is 9 in. less radius
+than the outer one."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pise Buildings for Settlers]
+
+  _Extracts from a paper on Pise in the "Farmers' Handbook,"
+  issued by the Department of Agriculture, New South Wales, 1911_
+
+"Pise is a material readily obtainable by the settler, of which cheap
+and durable buildings can be easily and substantially erected.
+
+"For the construction of pastoral or agricultural buildings, especially
+in districts remote from railways, or from towns in which other building
+materials are cheap or easily procurable, pise is particularly well
+adapted. In the country earth is plentiful and readily obtainable; in
+the city or town such is not the case, and this fact, combined with the
+very bulky nature of the material, prohibits its use in such centres of
+population.
+
+"To the selector or settler, who, like many of our successful pioneers,
+is not burdened with a superfluity of hard cash, but who possesses an
+abundant capital of energy, combined with a certain amount of handiness,
+pise has an additional advantage (which it shares with slabs, wattle and
+daub, etc.) over most other building materials, in that it affords him
+an opportunity of erecting his homesteading largely as the result of his
+own labour.
+
+"As a building material, pise is infinitely superior and more durable
+than slabs, galvanised iron, or weather-boards. In fact it is
+questionable whether it is not more suitable for our climate, and
+therefore to be preferred to brickwork; for pise buildings, properly
+protected and finished, are quite as durable and much cooler than
+buildings constructed with solid brick walls. This statement may be
+questioned by some whose knowledge of pise is limited to buildings so
+badly planned that the very elementary principles of building
+construction have been neglected. This neglect, which is all too common,
+makes things bad enough, but when to it is added, as is sometimes the
+case, indifferent workmanship, combined with the use of unsuitable
+material, the result does not call for admiration, and it is not
+surprising that a bad impression is created. With no other knowledge of
+pise it is only natural to condemn it because of such specimens, but
+under similar circumstances other better-known building materials of
+proved excellence would also be condemned. Brickwork would just as
+readily be condemned if its building qualities had to be estimated by
+the appearance presented by a brick building which had been constructed
+of badly-burnt bricks laid by unskilful tradesmen on an imperfectly
+thought-out plan. Just as with other building materials, the
+possibilities of this material can only be judged by an examination of
+properly planned and constructed examples of the pise-builder's art.
+Such are found here and there throughout the country, pleasing to look
+at, affording comfort and satisfaction to their owners. A properly
+constructed pise building can be finished to suit the taste of the most
+fastidious. Even without plaster the walls can be 'floated' down and a
+'skin' obtained on them which, when limewashed, resembles stonework.
+When plastered inside and out they possess the advantages of a stone
+house, and are erected at a fraction of the cost.
+
+"Some idea may be formed of the durability of pise by the fact that
+there is a stable built of pise which has been in constant use for over
+sixty years, and which at the present time is in good order. The good
+condition of this stable is the more surprising because the external
+walls are unprotected from the weather, and it is generally recognised
+that pise-work, especially if unplastered, should be protected from the
+direct action of rain. Pise buildings are said to have a life of a
+century and a half.
+
+"The stability of pise buildings is beyond question, as is proved by the
+following instance:--At Lambrigg, a second-story brick building, with
+14-in. walls, and containing ten rooms, is built upon a lower story of
+pise. The bricklayer who had the contract for erecting the brick portion
+of the house refused, as it was built upon pise, to guarantee his work.
+Some time after the completion of the house he visited it, and after a
+thorough examination of the building, declared that it was the most
+substantial brick house in the district, as it had not a crack in it,
+a feature which was somewhat unusual in that locality. Another case
+bearing on the same subject is that of a residence at Temora. When this
+building was being constructed the workmen omitted to leave holes for
+the bolts which were to secure the verandah plates to the walls, as it
+was thought these could readily be bored out afterwards with an auger.
+On attempting to bore out these holes on the completion of the building,
+and when the pise-work had become drier, the operation of boring proved
+so difficult as to be practically impossible, and had to be abandoned.
+
+    [Headnote: Builders' Aversions]
+
+"The merits of pise-work have been recognised in France, India, Mexico,
+and California for years past, and seeing its equal suitability for our
+climate, it is surprising that these merits have not led to its being
+more extensively used. The principal reason for this seems to be because
+our builders are averse to undertaking this class of work, and in
+consequence the bulk of it is placed in the hands of untrained men, who,
+whilst quite fitted to carry out the pise-work, are not competent to
+undertake the other constructive work of a building. However, they do
+not hesitate to do this, as well as to undertake the more important work
+(though unrecognised as being so) of planning out the building. The
+result is in most cases an improperly planned and defectively
+constructed building, which appeals to no one, but has a tendency to
+bring pise into disrepute.
+
+"The reason for a builder's unwillingness to undertake pise-work is not
+far to seek. For the successful carrying out of his work a builder
+relies upon skilled tradesmen; our tradesmen are trained in cities and
+towns, and as pise is not a suitable material for such places, tradesmen
+do not become familiar with it. A good builder with a reputation to lose
+shrinks from placing that reputation at the mercy of a pise-builder, who
+is not recognised as a tradesman, and in whom, in consequence of this,
+a builder is likely to have little or no confidence.
+
+"The actual erection of pise-work presents so little difficulty that it
+can be done by any one who has sufficient strength to shovel earth and
+wield a rammer, provided he will exercise care to see that the moulds or
+boxes into which the earth is shovelled are kept plumb and in straight
+lines. The average settler, even with no previous knowledge of pise-work
+or building construction, need have no hesitation in undertaking the
+pise-work of his own buildings if he works to a well-thought-out plan
+drawn up by somebody competent to do so.
+
+"The necessity of having a plan prepared by some one who understands the
+principles and requirements of simple building construction, before
+undertaking the erection of any building, cannot be too strongly
+emphasised. This great need, which is often overlooked by the settler,
+cannot be economically dispensed with. The securing of a properly
+prepared plan is of the greatest value towards obtaining a building of
+the maximum strength and durability, combined with the best appearance
+and greatest convenience, for the least cost. Even when a settler
+undertakes the pise-work of his own building, it will only be in rare
+instances that he will not have the advantage of trained supervision
+during its erection. The services of a tradesman will invariably be
+found necessary to make doors and window-frames, construct the roof,
+etc. This workman can be engaged when the building is started, and
+whilst preparing the timbers of the roof, in readiness for the time when
+they will be required on the completion of the pise-work, can supervise
+the fixing of the door and window frames, and see they are set
+correctly, and in their proper places.
+
+"Pise walls are constructed in sections, the extent of which is
+regulated by the supply of casings available.
+
+"Into the moulds formed by the boxes the earth is shovelled in layers of
+4 or 5 in., and then rammed until thoroughly solid before another layer
+is put in. On the completion of the section, _i.e._ when the mould is
+full and well rammed, the keys or pins are knocked out of the 'bolts,'
+and the 'boxes' taken apart and erected on another portion of the
+building. The top of that portion of the pise-work on which it is
+proposed to erect another section should be well moistened and covered
+with wet bags some hours before the mould is formed. The bottom of the
+mould should overlap the top of the pise-work by about 6 in. After the
+'boxes' are put together, the top layer of pise should be loosened with
+a pick so as to form a bond with the section about to be built, and if
+this section adjoins one already built, the ends of the latter should be
+bevelled off so as not to form a straight joint.
+
+"Material which is too sandy will fret away, and one containing clay
+will crack when dry. Soils containing these defects should be avoided.
+There is, however, such a wide range of soils which are suitable that a
+holding of any size on which suitable soils cannot be found will be the
+exception. It is possible to remedy the defects found in one soil by
+mixing it with another soil, but very rarely will such a course be
+necessary.
+
+    [Headnote: Number of Men Required]
+
+"The plant required will depend upon the number of men to be employed.
+Three is the least number that can be economically employed--two
+attending to the boxes and ramming, and one carting earth from its
+location to the building and assisting generally. The plant required for
+this number of men is given below. If more are engaged, additional plant
+of the same character will be found advantageous.
+
+"The necessary plant will consist of--2 wooden rammers, 1 iron shod
+rammer, 2 straight boxes, 2 angle boxes, 3 casings for blocking up the
+ends of boxes, bolts and keys for same, 12 gauge rods, washers--a
+liberal supply of 3/4-in. washers, 2 shovels, 1 spade, a horse and dray
+or other means for transporting the material to the building (if
+required)."
+
+The following detailed instructions are taken from the same authority:
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pise in New Zealand]
+
+  SPECIFICATION CLAUSES FOR A PISE HOUSE (NEW ZEALAND)
+
+_Excavator._--Remove the turf to make footings, but not deeper at any
+place than 3 in. Step where required.
+
+  _Pise-Builder_
+
+_Walls._--Erect the walls as shown on plan, external walls 18 in.,
+internal walls 15 in., carried up plumb and true, with all cross walls
+properly bonded by continuing the pise-boxes around all angles; when
+necessary, the material for the walls is to be properly tempered with
+sufficient water. All sticks and vegetable matter are to be removed.
+
+_Suitable material_: to be a pipeclay loam, with a trace of small gravel
+evenly distributed through it.[8] The boxes to be filled in thin layers
+of 4 in. at a time, and well rammed until solid; the workmen are not to
+use their rammers in unison.
+
+    [Footnote 8: This was specified because it was the best material
+    near the site.]
+
+The whole of the internal angles, also door and window jambs, to be
+neatly splayed.
+
+_Floating._--Moisten well the outside and inside walls before the floors
+are laid, and float same to even smooth surface with wooden hand-float,
+using weak plaster, where required.
+
+_Bolts._--To hold down wall-plates, provide and build in 1/2 in. bolts,
+not less than 15 in. long, and spaced not more than 6 ft. apart.
+
+_Damp-course._--Below all walls lay a three-ply Ruberoid damp-course the
+full width of walls, to lap at ends at least 4 in.
+
+_Ventilators._--Insert below floors, where directed, four 9 in. by 6 in.
+galvanised iron air gratings, in wooden frames 1-1/2 in. thick by full
+width of walls; also insert at about 18 in. below ceiling similar air
+gratings and frames.
+
+_Plugs._--Insert plugs 3 ft. apart for skirting, chair and picture-rail,
+at the heights directed.
+
+_Frames._--Set all frames plumb and true, and secured in wall before
+removing head. Lintels and heads must be well and solidly bedded in
+mortar, at proper heights. The whole of the work to be done in a proper
+workmanlike manner.
+
+_Fillet._--Finish against intersection of floor and wall with neat 1-1/2
+in. quarter-round fillet, scribed to wall and floor and nailed to
+floors.
+
+The pise-builder will require to build into wall at all window and door
+openings 3 in. by 3 in. shaped plugs, spaced not more than 3 ft. apart
+to secure architraves.
+
+_Lintels._--For all door and window openings provide 6 in. by 4 in.
+well-seasoned pine lintels, to extend 12 in. into pise-work on each side
+of opening.
+
+_Skirting._--Provide and fix in all rooms, to plugs about 3 ft. apart,
+6-in. skirting, neatly scribed to floors, mitred at angles as required.
+
+_Picture-rail._--Provide 3 in. by 1 in. picture-rail to all rooms.
+
+_Plugs._--Prepare and tar for pise-builder 3 in. by 1 in. well-seasoned
+softwood plugs, 15 in. long, as per detail, for skirtings, picture- and
+chair-rail, to be inserted 3 ft. apart.
+
+
+  STUDDING, WIRE-NETTING, AND PISE
+
+"This is a modification of Pise, which provides a settler in a district
+where poles and saplings are available with a quick method of providing
+himself with a comfortable temporary residence without the expenditure
+of much cash. To construct buildings of this character, a framework of
+saplings or poles, at intervals of 3 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. apart, is first
+erected; this framework is covered on both sides with 1-1/4 in. mesh
+wire-netting. The two sections of netting are held together,
+strengthened, and prevented from stretching and bulging between the
+posts by means of wire hooks or loops, which are as long as the posts
+are wide. The spaces thus enclosed by the netting and the poles are then
+filled with earth, which is well rammed, thus making a solid wall 4 in.
+to 6 in. thick. This wall can be plastered, the plaster forming a key
+with the wire-netting, which holds securely. Buildings of this character
+can be made to look rather attractive, and, if neatly constructed, are
+very much superior, both in appearance and comfort, to slabs or wattle
+and daub."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pise Shuttering]
+
+  PISE SHUTTERING
+
+  I
+
+That the plant now commonly in use for pise-building is but a slight
+improvement on the anciently accepted model, may be seen by a comparison
+of modern examples with old engravings and descriptions. Pise-building
+lay off the great main stream of constructional activity, and the
+enterprise and ingenuity lavished on the perfecting of other building
+materials and methods passed Pise by, leaving it undisturbed in its
+quiet backwater, a primitive system still with its primitive tackle.
+
+Yet there were a number of very obvious and unnecessary shortcomings in
+the accepted shuttering that seemed to clamour for attention, defects,
+too, that were in no way inherent, but merely traditional infelicities
+reproduced in succeeding models that remained remarkably true to their
+primitive ancestral architype--the Pise plant described by Pliny.
+
+Here seemed to be a very promising field for an ingenious inventor,
+a field that is still "To Let."
+
+In the absence of any such inventive genius, the author has had certain
+ideas of his own embodied in the "Mark V" type of shuttering--a type
+that further experience and experiment will doubtless modify.
+
+The principle of the building-process remains unaffected. The
+improvements, such as they are, are merely improvements of mechanism.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  DIAGRAM OF MARK V PISE SHUTTERING]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Showing top cross-braces thrown back and free leg disengaged.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Showing screw-up securing tackle of exterior corner-piece
+  and its rounded interior. Also screw-cramp at interior angle
+  of shuttering.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  Shuttering about to be removed from a first section of Pise walling.
+  Top cross-braces have been thrown back and clamps to legs released.
+  It is now only necessary to detach the stays and lift away the
+  shutters. Where, as here, there is no masonry plinth, the
+  bearing-pins are only required for the succeeding courses of Pise,
+  and need not be inserted for the first.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Mark V Shuttering.+
+  The angle-iron stay with cross-brace raised, and the blocking-box
+  showing its internal clamping-gear.]
+
+Scientific research could doubtless, if it would, do much towards
+perfecting Pise-building.
+
+We know very little about the behaviour of different earths under
+compression, or of their several reactions to chemical treatment.
+Meanwhile, a few trifling mechanical modifications are all that
+distinguish our modern plant from that devised by the ancients. That
+said, a short description of the "Mark V" model may be of some interest,
+pending the future developments that may now be hoped for.
+
+
+  II
+
+The chief desiderata in designing a satisfactory Pise plant appear to be
+these:
+
+All constituent parts should be reasonably light and easy to handle. The
+shutters should be rigid and not liable to warp, without being
+expensively constructed. The shutters, when clamped in position, should
+be firmly and positively supported, without deviation from the vertical.
+
+The fairway between the shutters must be as little obstructed by the
+cross-braces as may be, leaving good room for the men on the wall to
+tread and ram.
+
+The through-pins by which the shuttering rests upon the base wall or on
+a completed course of Pise, must be easily withdrawn without injury to
+the wall.
+
+The shuttering must be easily disengaged and removed from the wall, one
+side at a time.
+
+The special corner-piece must have some means of rigid attachment to the
+ordinary shutters on the two meeting walls.
+
+There must be some means of blocking off the shuttering at any desired
+point, for the forming of door or window openings at any level.
+
+The whole apparatus must be as simple and as fool-proof as possible, and
+built to stand rough usage and exposure to the weather.
+
+
+  III
+
+The author has attempted to construct a plant embodying these
+essentials, and the working drawing and photographs shown will give the
+reader a tolerable idea of his "Mark V" model.
+
+The thing has, at the moment of writing, only been experimentally tested
+in one of the London parks. These trials were, however, sufficiently
+satisfactory to encourage a belief that the new plant will prove a very
+considerable improvement on the old. It has now been despatched to a
+site in Surrey, there to undergo the searching and very practical test
+of being used for the building of a small-holder's house and homestead.
+
+
+  IV
+
+To the second edition of this book a postscript must be added. Since the
+last paragraph was written, the small-holder's house has come into
+actual being at Newlands Corner, near Guildford, and has attracted a
+good deal of attention from the Press, both at home and abroad. It has
+been inspected by multitudes of people, including a great number of
+Colonials and prospective Colonists, and by many distinguished persons
+directly or indirectly concerned with the problems of housing.
+
+That "Good wine needs no bush" may be a true saying, but a novel system
+of building assuredly needs demonstration, however great its merits. The
+success of the experiment at Newlands is admitted by all who have made
+the pilgrimage thither. Often would critics come to scoff and remain to
+pray. Specially prized amongst the converts is a foreman-bricklayer once
+openly scornful in his unbelief. Of enthusiasm, perhaps, there has been
+almost over much; and it has been difficult to restrain the zeal of
+would-be pise-builders until the coming of spring, and the return of
+such weather conditions as the craft might reasonably demand.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Simple Mould for Pise Blocks.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Block-Moulds, Large and Small. The Latter shown opened out.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Sketch of a Pise House in Course of Erection.+
+  With acknowledgements to _The Sphere_.]
+
+For pise is a "dry-earth" method of building, and, as at present
+practised, that means it is a summer job, so far, at any rate, as
+England is concerned.
+
+The author is the last person to claim that pise-building may be
+successfully and economically carried out in all places, and at all
+seasons. He merely suggests that in a great many parts of the United
+Kingdom, pise offers possibilities of cheap yet permanent building that
+are very well worth exploitation.
+
+A wide and thorough trial of the method now seems assured under a
+variety of conditions in a sufficient variety of places. Pise is to be
+given its chance in Housing Schemes, in Government building
+demonstrations, on Ducal estates, and by ordinary private citizens in
+need of houses--by the rich (old and new), and by the poor.
+
+    [Headnote: If Reason Rule]
+
+If reason rule, pise will make good and all will be well.
+
+If pise-building is attempted where the conditions are unsuitable and in
+defiance of its physical limitations, the misguided enthusiasts
+responsible must blame only themselves. But it is not self-reproach
+alone that they will have to suffer, for the author and all true friends
+of pise will view their troubles with as much anger as sorrow.
+
+Nothing could be so well calculated to bring discredit on a new movement
+as the failures of a few enthusiastic incompetents.
+
+
+  THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION PISE DE TERRE HOUSE AT NEWLANDS CORNER,
+  NEAR GUILDFORD
+
+  _With acknowledgments to the "Spectator"_
+
+_Description._--The house has six rooms arranged on one floor, of areas
+and cubical contents as laid down in their higher "schedules of
+accommodation" by the Ministry of Health and the Board of Agriculture.
+
+The plan is an adaptation of the first type illustrated in the Board's
+new manual "designed for the guidance of County Councils and their
+architects" in the matter of buildings for small-holdings.
+
+The walls are of 18-in. solid pise-work, the roof of red Bridgewater
+tiles, and the chimney breasts and stacks of brickwork.
+
+The floors are boarded save for the back kitchen, which is tiled. The
+inner partitions are of 2-in. breeze blocks, the ceilings are plastered,
+and the casement windows are of steel.
+
+There are two good lofts for storage, one entered from the barn, which
+is an extension of the house proper.
+
+The pillars of the barn and the partition wall between scullery and
+veranda are of 18 in. by 9 in. by 9 in. rammed earth blocks; the angle
+pillar to the veranda is of similar blocks made from soft chalk.
+
+The rest of the structure is of monolithic pise, built up _in situ_
+without joints of any kind, either horizontally or vertically.
+
+_Cost._--The total cost of the whole of the outer walling of the house
+(in pise) amounted to less than L20. Had the walls been built in
+brickwork the cost would, according to estimate, have been about L200.
+
+    [Headnote: The Newlands Specification]
+
+_Specification._--The following is an abridged extract from the
+specification so far as it affects the pise-builder:
+
+(1) Excavate to a depth of 9 in. over the site, dumping the turf and
+surface humus where directed.
+
+This soil is not to be used for building.
+
+(2) Lay a 6-in. bed of cement and flint concrete 3 ft. wide under outer
+walls. Centrally on this, lay two courses of brickwork in cement, to a
+width of 18 in., or build up to the same extent in concrete.
+
+Lay on this an approved damp-proof course; if of slates, having a
+further course of brickwork or concrete above it to prevent fracture
+when ramming.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +The Newlands Corner Pise Demonstration Building.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Cottage from the South-east.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Garden Court.+]
+
+(3) Erect the walls according to the plan on the bases thus formed,
+carrying them up plumb and true and properly bonded by working round the
+building course by course, using the special angle-pieces at the corners
+to keep the work continuous and homogeneous.
+
+(4) All stones and flints above a walnut size to be removed by riddling
+and reserved for concrete.
+
+All sticks, leaves, roots, and other vegetable matter to be eliminated.
+
+(5) The soil immediately on the site to be used without admixture of any
+sort and to be thrown direct into the shutterings.
+
+No water to be added without the express permission of the architect.
+
+(6) The boxes are to be filled in thin layers of not more than 4 in. at
+a time, and well rammed until solid. The workmen are not to use their
+rammers in unison.
+
+(7) Rammed earth at box ends to be shaved down to a 45 degrees slope so
+as to splice in with new span of pise adjoining it.
+
+Where door and window openings occur, the special "stops" to be adjusted
+and firmly secured so as to withstand hard ramming. Two 4 in. by 2 in.
+by 9 in. plugs to be built in to each window jamb for the securing of
+the frames and three to each door jamb.
+
+Special care to be taken in the thorough ramming at the corners and
+along the box edges.
+
+(8) Insert below floor level, where directed, 24 3-in. field drainage
+pipes to act as ventilators through the thickness of the wall. Insert
+wire mesh stops to exclude vermin.
+
+(9) Set all frames square and plumb, and where in outer walls, flush
+with finished exterior plaster-face, the joint being covered by a 2-in.
+by 3/4-in. fillet.
+
+Where lintels occur, they are to be tailed in at least 9 in. on each
+side the opening.
+
+Provide plain picture-rail round all rooms at window-head level,
+providing plugs for fixing where necessary.
+
+Secure to floor round all boarded rooms a 2-in. by 1-1/2-in. angle
+fillet as skirting.
+
+(10) The smooth surface of the pise walling to be hammer-chipped to give
+good key to the plaster.
+
+Before rendering or plastering walls, any loose earth or dust to be
+removed with a stiff brush and the wall surface evenly wetted.
+
+  [Illustration: NEWLANDS CORNER PISE HOUSE. THE PLAN.]
+
+The rendering to be carried evenly round the walls--the minor square
+angles being roughly chipped down first so as to obviate sharp corners.
+The main corners of the house are ready-rounded off to a 9-in. radius by
+the special corner mould.
+
+(11) Bond brick and slab work to pise walls by driving iron spikes into
+the latter every few courses at joint level and bedding in.
+
+(12) Colour-wash walls with tallow lime-whiting tinted with ochre.
+Provide 2 ft. skirting of pitch, applied hot, to form base-course round
+exterior of building.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. The Backyard, showing Barn with Pise Pillars.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. Framing the Roof.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Newlands. An Interior, showing Fire-brick Hearth Fire.+]
+
+N.B.--The exterior of the walls of the Newlands Corner house have been
+finished in several different ways with a view to determining the most
+durable and economical form of epidermis.
+
+A trial pise-building adjoining has stood for four years without any
+external protection whatever. It has suffered no damage and grows
+continually harder. For the sake of appearances, however, and for the
+better preservation of the wall from chance injury whilst still "green,"
+a coating of some sort may be deemed necessary.
+
+
+    [Headnote: A Swedish Contribution]
+
+  THE THEORY OF PISE
+
+The Swedish scientist, Mr. Karl Ellington, of Nossebro, who is basing a
+book on pise (in his own tongue) upon the frail foundation of the
+present volume, has, in the course of a letter to the author, made some
+exceedingly suggestive "guesses at the truth."
+
+"I am very interested to hear that you are proposing to use an hydraulic
+rammer for making blocks. I have thought a good deal about this pressure
+business. I am trying to scrutinise the thing from 'the inside,' so to
+speak. I am trying to trace out how Nature makes rock. That helps us to
+understand pise. Nature made all the stratified rocks out of what was
+once fine loose earth and mud. Rivers carried the mud out to sea. Waves
+pounded and gnawed the shores and got down some more stuff. The tides
+went forth and back and shovelled and levelled at the sea-bottom. Some
+more mud on top of that, and a few hundred or thousand feet of the heavy
+water on top of that--and Nature's pise was in its making. But why do
+these mud particles stick together for ever even after that stratum is
+raised up high above the sea and the pressure is discontinued? That is
+the counterpoint of the whole problem. What is gravitation? Is it some
+form of magnetic or electric energy? We don't know. Do particles of mud
+grip and hold each other if they are forced together close enough to be
+united by some sort of magnetic or electric energy? Or do the particles
+only get a 'mechanical' grip on each other? However that may be, we seem
+to know now that we can make them grip by bringing them closely
+together. It would seem important, then, that we must bring as much of
+particle surfaces together within any given cubic space as we possibly
+can; that is, we must have as little of 'holes,' 'empty spaces,' pores
+and channels as possible in the mass, in the pressed wall. This, then,
+would in turn make it important that plenty of very fine (small)
+particles must be present in the mass--and so well distributed among the
+coarser particles as to be on hand close by wherever there can be one
+more chance for a small particle to fill a little chamber that the
+coarser particles would like to bridge over. We can think of how well
+Nature was fitted for this work of shuffling over all the particles at
+the sea-bottom and under great water pressure till she got every
+particle into the niche where it would exactly fit. She used waves,
+tides, and gulf streams as shovels and mixers and packers, and the water
+above as 'hydraulic rammer.' Looking at the pise matter in this way, it
+would appear that both the _mixing_ and the _shuffling_ are of vital
+importance. And by 'shuffling' I mean in this connection only that the
+smaller and larger particles get a chance to shift over a little during
+the process of pressing the earth together to hardness, so that the
+pressure may not work only and exclusively in a straight downward
+direction, but in a sort of wavy zigzag direction as well--much as when
+a street-roller is working the macadam and gravel a little forth and
+back at the same time as downward. I have a great respect for old tools
+which are the outcome of long-time experience and handed-down wisdom.
+I suspect the presence of some of that sort of experience in the rammer
+described in your book, p. 59. That tool would do the necessary shifting
+while attending to its _main_ intention: hammering the mass solidly
+together downwards. Now for your hydraulic rammer--is it advisable to
+make it blow or press only in a straight line downward? Maybe there
+ought to be two or three kinds of strokes alternating--one stroke with a
+rifled or wavy surface under the rammer--and the next stroke with a
+_plane_ surface. . . . What sort of witchcraft enters into the effect of
+_high frequency blows_ as compared with blows with a little longer
+intervals between? Do the strokes create also some 'magnetic' effect in
+the pounded earth-mass which helps to fasten the particles to each
+other? And does this magnetic charge or friction heat, or whatever it
+is, act more promptly if one keeps on 'striking the iron while hot,'
+instead of letting the charge 'evaporate' and sneak away between
+strokes? Two or three of my hairs are turning grey over these questions
+alone. You compliment me by insinuating that I might stumble across some
+fruitful idea for the forms or boxes if I speculate a little more on the
+key-problem. Well, the thing won't leave me alone, so I have thought out
+several foolish variations and rejected them too. But the last one seems
+to have a little more vitality, so if it will live till I write my next
+letter I will tell you about it. One is so apt to follow the temptation
+of 'perfecting' an apparatus--at the cost of getting away from keeping
+it cheap, simple--and 'fool-proof.' By this time the idea has grown ripe
+in my mind, so that I ought to write out a little book on the pise
+problem in Swedish and have it printed before springtime. Something
+ought to be done. . . . I have to ask you kindly to permit me to make
+use of the data contained in your book. To this I will have to add what
+special precautions we must observe as to foundations in a climate like
+ours. I intend to treat only the pise method. Cob and chalk methods are
+not applicable here, as we have such materials only in a few unimportant
+spots."
+
+Mr. Ellington has long been an admirer and a firm friend of England, and
+he is good enough to regard his country as indebted to ours for the
+introduction of pise-building:
+
+"Let me tell you that the help you are giving me now--not me, but my
+nation--will work as an additional bond that draws us more closely
+towards each other. . . . Some of our people here have always looked too
+much towards the South and too little towards the West."
+
+
+    [Headnote: A Pise-Builder's School]
+
+  PISE, PRACTICE AND PLANT
+
+Now that so many able architects and enterprising bodies are seriously
+taking up pise-building, the improvement in plant and technique should
+be both rapid and considerable. The School of Pise Building established
+at Hornchurch in Essex, by the Imperial Ex-service Association, should
+alone provide us with much new and valuable knowledge of a highly
+practical kind.
+
+It is there, for instance, that various types of shuttering and rammers
+are being experimentally tested side by side, and their relative
+efficiency under varying conditions ascertained. Under some conditions
+it is probable that the floor and roof timbers (destined for use in the
+house under construction) will be found the most economical and
+satisfactory form of temporary "shuttering" for the making of the earth
+walls.
+
+The pise "Test-House," built by Messrs. Alban Richards at their Ashstead
+works, was built in this way, and proved highly satisfactory.
+
+Another effective and more generally applicable form of shuttering
+(designed and manufactured by the same firm) is illustrated in the
+diagram reproduced below. It should be observed that wedges intervene
+between the movable shutters and the uprights.
+
+The method of employment of the "Mark V" shuttering is well illustrated
+by the bird's-eye view showing the Newlands cottage under construction.
+
+    [Headnote: Alternative Shutterings]
+
+In this matter of shuttering there is still, however, great scope for
+improvement, and it may be hoped that soon ingenuity and experience will
+jointly produce a complete pise plant perfectly fulfilling all the many
+conditions enumerated earlier in the book.
+
+Shuttering made by riveting plain galvanised sheet iron to one side of a
+corrugated sheet has the qualities of lightness, smoothness, cheapness,
+and rigidity, and the claims of the inventor and patentee are now being
+put to the test in actual building.
+
+  [Illustration: PATENT SHUTTERING FOR PISE DE TERRE
+  _By W. Alban Richards and Co._]
+
+There now seems little doubt but that pise blocks will be largely used
+for partitions and chimney stacks where the soil is good enough, and
+experiments are being made with a view to discovering the best and
+cheapest way of making earth slabs similar to those of coke-breeze and
+concrete.
+
+The size aimed at is 18 in. by 18 in. by 3 in., the edges to be tongued
+and grooved.
+
+Certain "concrete" machines seem to lend themselves to adaptation for
+the making of earth blocks, but it is necessary to remember that sharp
+blows are required rather than a steady pressure, and also that we are
+working with a _dry_ material. The ordinary primitive way of making pise
+blocks is indicated below.
+
+The hand-rammers are undoubtedly worth study and careful design. A set
+of three seems to meet all ordinary requirements, and those shown on p.
+101 may be taken as typical. They should be of hard-wood, smoothly
+finished, and provided with long handles. They should be 9 in. to 12 in.
+long, and about 5 in. by 4 in. at maximum cross section.
+
+In the sketch they are shown "narrow-ways-on." No. 1 is used for
+preliminary pounding and final finishing, No. 2 for general
+consolidating, and No. 3 for working along the edges, against window
+stops, and under cross-ties.
+
+A South African correspondent, Major Baylay, makes interesting comment
+as regards rammers and local pise practice:
+
+    [Headnote: South Africa]
+
+"My experience of all black labour is, that they won't put any 'guts'
+into it. They therefore want fairly heavy rammers, which they can lift
+and drop, say a foot, and which will do the rest for them. The heat of
+the sun and extreme dryness of atmosphere out here make it advisable to
+cover up completed courses at once with sacking, moist for choice,
+otherwise it is liable to dry out too quickly and crack. It dries out
+uncovered at night very well, when there is no rain.
+
+"The red loams of South Africa, where not too sandy, make excellent
+pise. They or their equivalent are found almost everywhere. In the dry
+state they set so hard that moisture added just before ramming is
+useless. A large heap must be made, well damped and covered over with
+moist sacking, and left until the moisture is distributed throughout the
+mass. When about four or five days old, in ordinary weather, the earth
+is ready to use--viz., just wet enough to bind when gripped in the hand.
+It should be passed through a sieve. I use a sort of 'chicken run,'
+8 ft. long, and throw the earth on to it before using. Six feet of it is
+1/2-in. mesh, and 2 ft. 1/4-in. mesh; the reason for this is that, if
+the earth is a little too dry, it does not always bind well with the
+previous layer. Therefore, put a few petrol tins of the fine earth into
+the shuttering first in order to ensure good bond, and throw the coarser
+stuff in after."
+
+  [Illustration: PISE HAND RAMMERS]
+
+
+  _Second Note by Major Baylay, Peter Maritzburg, Natal, South Africa_
+
+"I have completed a small building, and though weather conditions have
+been as bad as possible, it is sound and very satisfactory.
+
+"In my opinion, pise-building should not be attempted in the rainy
+season in Africa. Earth contains too much moisture, and the power of the
+sun dries it out too quickly and causes cracks.
+
+"_Re_ plastering. I covered the outside and inside with a mixture of 6
+earth, 2 sand, 1 blue (Hyd.) lime, the earth being the red, rather 'fat'
+earth found everywhere, and the same stuff the house is built of. It is
+put on thin with a trowel, after damping the wall. When it dries and
+cracks, rub all over with a sacking pad covered with the plaster
+mixture, but wetted to a thin cream consistency. It may sound an odd
+method, but the natives do this work well, and the result is as good as
+one can wish for. You can put tar or any wash (No. 6) on this."
+
+
+    [Headnote: Soils]
+
+  SOILS
+
+Were it not for the fact (often somewhat embarrassing) that soil quite
+incapable of making good pise will none the less produce enthusiastic
+pise-builders, a warning as to the vital importance of the earth being
+really suitable might seem superfluous.
+
+The author has found some of the staunchest champions of pise-building
+living on and valiantly struggling with stiff glutinous clay and almost
+pure sand.
+
+Even the most vigorous optimism can achieve little under such adverse
+conditions unless soil-blending be resorted to, and even so,
+pise-building begins to lose points in the matter of economy directly
+complications of this sort are introduced.
+
+Fortunately, however, England is well off in the matter of pise soils,
+the red marls being amongst the very best.
+
+A study of the country, or, failing that, of the geological maps, will
+reveal a great tract of this earth extending diagonally right across
+England, from Yorkshire down into Devonshire, where it ends
+conspicuously in the beautiful red cliffs about Torquay.
+
+There is a large area of the stuff in the Midlands, notably in
+Warwickshire, with lesser patches here and there about the country.
+
+Second only to the red marls come the brick earths, which, fortunately,
+are also widely distributed.
+
+"Brick earth" is merely clay that has been well weathered and
+disintegrated under the action of wind, rain, frost, and organic agents,
+the sulphides having become oxides, and what was a cold intractable
+slithery mass having become merely a "strong" and binding earth.
+
+It is probable that even stiff clay, if dug in the summer or autumn, and
+left exposed for a winter, would prove sufficiently reformed to be quite
+amenable for pise building in the spring.
+
+After the marls and the brick earths there is an endless variety of
+soils that will serve well for pise-building--some, of course, better
+than others, but all, save the extremes (the excessively light and the
+excessively clayey), capable of giving good results under proper
+treatment.
+
+Before putting pise construction actually in hand, however, the
+intending builder will do well to submit samples of his earth to some
+competent authority, that they may receive his blessing.
+
+A fistful taken from a depth of 9 in., and another from say 2 ft. below
+the surface, should give sufficient evidence as to the soil's
+suitability or the reverse.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+_CHALK_
+
+
+Sec. I. GENERAL
+
+Chalk, as a source of lime, has always been of high importance to
+builders, and, until improved transport brought alien materials into its
+old preserves, chalk was in general use for walling in the form of
+roughly squared blocks.
+
+Chalk again forms the basis of a compost that, used in the form of a
+stiff paste, has been largely employed for building from the earliest
+times down to the present.
+
+"Pise de Craie," or chalk consolidated by ramming within a casing, is a
+form of building that has been long held in high repute in France and
+elsewhere, but which has only recently been given a serious trial in
+England.
+
+Chalk in all these forms, if fairly dealt with and reasonably protected
+from the weather, is a most amenable and satisfactory material to build
+with.
+
+The last-named method particularly seems to promise results that should
+satisfy the most exacting critics of the unconventional, as it assuredly
+does those who inhabit the cottages so constructed.
+
+The several systems of chalk construction are fully dealt with in the
+pages that follow.
+
+_Chalk Compost: Historical._--At the Ancient British village on West
+Down, Chilbolton, some five miles south of Andover, delving
+archaeologists have brought to light undeniable fragments of chalk
+"Daub," with the wattle marks still clearly showing upon them.
+
+This discovery is chiefly of academic interest, though it is a pretty
+refutation to those who regard any building material save brick and
+stone as "new-fangled," and it should also serve to hearten the doubters
+and the timid amongst us who seek historic sanction for any departure
+from current building practice.
+
+_Composition and Uses._--In the Andover district Chalk Compost or "Chalk
+Mud," as it is called locally, is prepared and used as follows:
+
+The chalk is dug out in the autumn, and the frost allowed to play on it
+during the winter. In the spring building starts, and the weathered
+chalk is spread all around the outside of the walls. Straw is sprinkled
+on it and it is then well trodden, usually by the workers, but sometimes
+by horses. Sometimes chopped straw is added, sometimes unchopped straw
+is sprinkled on. The quality of the walls depends very largely on the
+preparation--that is, in getting the mud to the right consistency--and
+the old hands know by experience when it is ready.
+
+The compost is lifted on the wall by a fork and another man stands on
+the wall and treads it in. It is then chopped down straight with a
+spade. Some of the naked walls at Andover show traces of the courses,
+which are usually something under 2 ft. in height.
+
+Where a course has to be left unfinished it should be ended with a
+diagonal ramp so as to splice in with the work that follows.
+
+Some of the old builders seem to have been somewhat catholic in their
+conceptions as to what constituted "chalk," and vague patches of earth,
+loose flints and other stray substances not infrequently mar their work
+and sometimes seriously reduce its strength.
+
+As a general rule, the finer the chalk the stronger and more durable is
+the walling.
+
+What is aimed at is a conglomerate of small chalk knobs cemented
+together by a matrix of plastic chalk and straw, the whole forming as
+dense a mass as possible.
+
+Grinding in a mortar-mill would probably reduce all the chalk to an
+amorphous powder, which would not be desirable, and in any case such
+mechanical mixing is quite unnecessary.
+
+Building by ramming the moist compost between timber shutterings does
+not appear to have been practised in the past, though there is nothing
+against the method except its tendency to delay the drying out.
+
+The drying of each course takes several days, depending on the weather.
+A course is usually laid right round the building. It must be covered up
+at night in case of rain, and when it is hard another course is laid on,
+and so on till completion. The aim is to build during the summer and
+autumn, and when the moisture has dried out, to render the exterior.
+
+Where brickwork is used with chalk compost it is generally bonded in in
+the ordinary way, but block-bonding the depth of a chalk course is a
+better way of doing it.
+
+The exterior corners of chalk buildings are the vulnerable points, and
+these should therefore be well rounded off.
+
+_Timber._--In the old work nothing seems to have been done to prevent
+woodwork built in to the compost from decaying, though in many cases it
+has survived surprisingly. In any new work, however, proper ventilated
+air-spaces should be contrived or the timber ends treated with some
+preservative.
+
+The door and window frames are fixed to fairly large pieces of wood
+built in across the thickness of wall, and other woodwork is fixed to
+wood blocks built in in a similar way.
+
+Picture-rails should be provided in all rooms, as chalk walls are apt to
+flake and chip if nails are driven into them.
+
+Lintels are usually of wood, and when plastering is carried down over
+these some form of key must of course be provided to hold it.
+
+    [Headnote: Winter Work Barred]
+
+_Frost._--New work must not be exposed to frost or there will be danger
+of collapse, and winter work is barred out for this reason.
+
+_Repairs._--Chalk compost walls are not easily repaired in that
+material, and bricks are generally used, well bonded in.
+
+_Chimneys._--Chimneys, too, are usually of brick, though there would
+seem no reason against the flues being carried up in chalk, especially
+if clay pipe linings were used.
+
+The chimney-stacks above the roof might well be built in flint, the
+corners being rounded off in deference to the peculiarities of the
+material.
+
+_External Rendering._--It is of the first importance that a good
+weather-tight skin be maintained, and many old buildings have suffered
+through neglect of this precaution.
+
+The rendering was often of the poorest quality, more mud than lime, and
+the constant repairs that the indifferent materials necessitated has
+resulted in many of the old cottages becoming patchworks of variegated
+plaster blotches, when not whitewashed over, which give an impression of
+dilapidation by no means warranted by the facts.
+
+_Rendering._--Given a good skin, however, of cement or cement and lime,
+a chalk conglomerate wall will last indefinitely. So vital is the skin
+that it is as well to put it on in two good coats--rounding off all the
+corners and finishing it either with slap-dash or rough from the wooden
+float.
+
+Also, to ensure its proper adhesion throughout, wire-netting may be used
+as reinforcement--being secured to the face of the chalk wall by means
+of cross netting or wires laid on the wall as the building rises.
+
+If the netting be of a fine mesh it also serves as an absolute barrier
+to vermin, though pounded glass incorporated in the base of the wall is
+equally effective.
+
+_Strength._--Provided the wall has dried out thoroughly, any of the
+ordinary loads occurring in a two-storied house can be borne with ease.
+
+Chalk conglomerate walling, however, has no great lateral strength, and
+it should not be asked to stand up to thrusts.
+
+The roof, therefore, must be well tied, and should sit on the building
+merely as a lid.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Details of Chalk Construction at Amesbury.+
+  (From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of
+  the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Chalk Construction at Amesbury, Wilts.+
+  (From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of
+  the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)]
+
+_Roof._--Though thatch is the traditional roofing material of chalk
+cottages, any other will serve that is permanent and good of its kind.
+
+The only special demand that chalk walls make is that the eaves shall be
+generously overhung for their better protection from the weather.
+
+Where, in later years, the boldly projecting thatch has been
+thoughtlessly replaced by a slate roof with meagre eaves, or with none
+at all, the walls have suffered accordingly.
+
+    [Headnote: Garden Walls]
+
+_Garden Walls._--A chalk garden wall must be afforded just as much
+protection as the wall of a house and on both sides.
+
+The hat with which it is provided is of the highest importance to the
+health and longevity of the walling.
+
+Examples of garden wall copings are given in the sketches shown below.
+
+  [Illustration: WALL COPINGS.]
+
+_House Walls._--Chalk conglomerate walls rarely exceed 18 in. in
+thickness, and are usually the same upstairs as down.
+
+A plinth of the same thickness as the chalk wall it supports is usually
+carried up 6 in. to 18 in. above the ground level in rubble-work, flint,
+or brick, being known as the "Underpin Course." Any of the stock
+damp-courses are suitable, but they must be well and truly laid, as damp
+feet are nearly as deleterious to a chalk wall as a leaky or inadequate
+hat.
+
+No special tools are required for this method of building, an ordinary
+farm fork for lifting and a spade for the final chopping down of the
+wall faces being all that are necessary.
+
+A house built during the summer is usually fit for occupation the same
+autumn.
+
+_Old Examples._--Those who may wish to see buildings in chalk
+conglomerate, both old and new, would do well to visit some such typical
+chalk district as that lying about Andover in Wiltshire.
+
+It should, however, be constantly borne in mind that most of the old
+cottages were somewhat unscientifically erected by their original
+jack-of-all-trades occupiers, that damp-courses and Portland cement were
+unknown, and that the advantages of proper ventilation and the causes of
+dry-rot were discoveries yet to be made.
+
+Secondly, a large number of these cottages have been sadly neglected
+either recently or in the past, and they bear the disfiguring marks of
+their ill-treatment upon them now.
+
+But a chalk cottage that is well found in the beginning, and that is
+reasonably well cared for subsequently, has nothing to fear from
+comparison with cottages built in the most approved manner of the more
+fashionable materials.
+
+Mr. James Thorold gives the following particulars of a block of three
+chalk cottages recently built for Sir George Cooper on his estate at
+Hursley, near Winchester:
+
+"The chalk walling was done by Messrs. A. Annett and Son, of Winterslow,
+near Salisbury, where this method of building has been kept alive from
+olden days. It consists of working up the soft upper strata of the chalk
+by putting a bed of it 4 ft. 6 in. thick on the ground, watering and
+treading it to a sticky consistency with the feet, working in shortish
+straw at the same time. When thoroughly mixed by the builder's mate, he
+lifts up a forkful to the builder working on the wall immediately above
+him, the latter catches the chalk, dumps it down on the top of the wall,
+building an 18 in. course all round. As soon as the weather has dried
+this sufficiently he goes round with a sharp spade squaring up both
+sides of the wall. As this work is greatly dependent on the weather it
+is well if the men have other work to fall back on, and that building
+operations should be commenced in the spring or early summer. The wall
+is built 18 in. thick to the first floor joists and 14 in. above. Chalk
+in itself being very absorbent of moisture, the usual plan is to render
+the outside of the wall with a lime mortar, which, however, requires
+renewal every few years. To obviate this we fixed with long staples
+1-1/4 in. mesh wire-netting over the outside surface of the wall to give
+a reinforcement for a rendering of hair mortar and cement gauged in
+proportion of 1 to 2 respectively, and left rough from the trowel. This
+rendering was done at a cost of 3s. 3-1/2d. per square yard, which is a
+substantial addition to the cost of the walling, but so far there is no
+sign of a crack or hollow place behind it, and the cottages have kept
+very dry. The walls were finished off with a limewash containing Russian
+tallow and copperas.[9]
+
+    [Footnote 9: See recipes for Whitewash in Appendix (I).]
+
+    [Headnote: Cost of Three Cottages]
+
+"As regards the cost of this block of three cottages, the result is
+obscured by the fact that tall chimney-stacks with ornamental bricks and
+appropriate foundations were built and reinforced leaded lights were
+used in the windows to keep the building in character with the other
+cottages on the estate, but at the time we estimated that the chalk
+walling saved a sum of L54 as against the amount we should have had to
+have spent in carrying out the building with bricks made on the estate,
+and this had to include lodging money and profit, the builders being
+independent men. The ornamental chimney-stacks were put in for the sake
+of appearance, flues built up in the chalk being entirely satisfactory
+and fireproof. The foundations are either flint or brick with a slate
+damp-course.
+
+"I consider that for a chalk country this method of building has many
+advantages.
+
+  "(1) It saves cartage.
+
+  "(2) It can be carried out by a skilled labourer who can be
+    otherwise employed during unsuitable weather.
+
+  "(3) No fuel is required as in burning bricks.
+
+  "(4) If a suitable rendering is employed to keep it weatherproof,
+    and a good damp-course on the foundations, the cottages are nice
+    and dry and keep an equable temperature, chalk being a good
+    non-conductor.
+
+"Sir George wonders if any method could be devised by chemical means to
+harden the chalk and make it weatherproof; if this could be done it
+might save the expense of the cement rendering."
+
+
+  CHALK CONGLOMERATE
+
+  From _Country Life_, February 23rd, 1901:
+
+"Soft chalk is practically mud, yet Dr. Poore, one leading authority on
+rural hygiene, had his model hygienic cottage built with it at Andover,
+just outside the boundaries, in order to escape the tyranny of the
+bye-laws. In several other places this material has been used time out
+of mind.
+
+"The white cottages on the Wiltshire Downs are as good as any in
+England."
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Three Chalk Cottages at Hursley Park+]
+
+
+  THE WINTERSLOW COTTAGES
+
+  From _Country Life_, April 6th, 1901:
+
+"The white chalk cottages of the scattered straggling village are found
+in every sort of position. They must not be confounded with the cottages
+of rock chalk at Medmenham. You might almost call them mud cottages.
+
+"The house is generally both planned and constructed by the owner.
+
+". . . The soil is only a few inches deep, soft chalk lies close to the
+surface and can be dug out with a spade. This is a very suitable
+material in the district and costs nothing but the labour of
+digging. . . .
+
+"On the downs there is a constant lack of water; that which falls in the
+shape of rain is therefore very precious, and in some cases is indeed
+the only kind available. But a large tank or artificial well is needed
+to contain it, and the pit from which the chalk is dug out can be made
+to serve the purpose. . . . One was made watertight by means of a lining
+of concrete, and held enough water to keep the family going through all
+the dry season.
+
+"In another house . . . the chalk-pit had been utilised to form a large
+and convenient cellar. . . .
+
+"Most of them (the cottages) . . . are on two floors, with parlour,
+kitchen, back kitchen and so forth on one, and the bedrooms on the
+other. In the preparation of the chalk, the method followed is that of
+treading it into a kind of rubble, and adding a proportion of straw and
+a small quantity of lime.
+
+    [Headnote: Expensive Scaffolding Avoided]
+
+"There is a local builder who will run up the shell of a house for a
+matter of L100, more or less, according to its size. . . . Most of the
+cottages are literally hand-made. A skilful architect who visited the
+Winterslow cottages felt sure that boards must be used to keep the walls
+straight, but he was wrong. The chalk is shovelled up and the walls are
+kept straight without line or plummet. No expensive scaffolding or
+machinery is employed. Yet the walls come out beautifully in the end,
+the colour being an exquisite soft white. They are about 18 in. thick,
+and the slowness of their construction has one good effect, it gives
+them time to dry. No point is of more importance than this. It is
+advisable not to put on any rough-cast, plaster, or paper for at least
+twelve months, as doing so will prevent the moisture from exuding. One
+or two of the little cottages were slightly damp, but the majority were
+as dry as tinder. The thickness of the walls helps to render the cottage
+more comfortable, to make it cool in summer and dry in winter.
+
+"One word should be added in regard to soft chalk as a building
+material. Where it can be obtained in the garden at a few inches depth,
+and especially where the cottager is his own architect and builder, it
+can be most heartily recommended, but there are obvious objections to
+its transportation to districts where it is foreign.
+
+"The village itself is a very homely and irregular one without a single
+dwelling of any pretence. The country lying adjacent to Salisbury Plain
+consists of broken, sparsely peopled downland, and very ornate or
+finished cottages would be out of keeping, but they would not look so
+well copied in a very rich, heavily timbered country."
+
+
+  RATS AND CHALK
+
+_Note._--Conglomerate chalk is, like cob, vulnerable to the attacks of a
+really determined rat.
+
+The outer defences provided by the exterior rendering can be backed up
+by the mixing in of broken glass or sharp flints with the substance of
+the wall, where such attacks are likely.
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Marsh Court, Hampshire.+]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Brick-and-chalk Vaulting at the Deanery Garden, Sonning+]
+
+
+    [Headnote: Block Chalk]
+
+  BLOCK CHALK
+
+"Chalk" is a term somewhat loosely used to denote the soft white
+limestone--the "_Creta Scriptoria_"--that is cousin to Marl on one side
+and to Ragstone on the other.
+
+In its purest form chalk consists of over 95 per cent. of carbonate of
+lime in the form of fine granular particles held together by a
+calcareous cement, its organic origin being clearly traced in the
+remains of the minute sea creatures with which it abounds.
+
+Hewn blocks of chalk have been used for walling and vaulting from
+immemorial times, and, where not exposed to direct erosion by the
+weather, remain to this day as clean-cut as when they were first
+quarried and a very great deal harder.
+
+The filling in of the great vaults at Salisbury Cathedral and in the
+Bishop's Palace are of chalk, whilst innumerable lesser buildings of
+more or less antiquity still remain to us as monuments to the excellence
+and durability of this stone.
+
+Chalk, too, was often used in combination with flint or brick to build
+the engaging chequer-work walls that embellish so many downland
+villages.
+
+At Medmenham there are cottages both old and new of hewn rock chalk, and
+both the Berks and Bucks banks of the Thames have many buildings to show
+of this beautiful material.
+
+Amongst present-day architects Sir Edwin Lutyens was the first to give
+hewn chalk an opportunity of showing its quality in serious
+architecture, Marsh Court in Hampshire being an instance of more than
+local celebrity.
+
+In the great walls at the Bishop of Winchester's palace, Farnham Castle
+in Surrey, the old builders appear to have used bricks, limestone and
+chalk proper, according as the several materials were delivered, quite
+indifferently, and with results altogether delightful.
+
+Not all chalk is suitable for building, that near the surface being
+often far gone in decay and much too friable for such a purpose.
+
+Even when apparently sound blocks have been gotten they are not
+infrequently found to be crossed in all directions by planes of weakness
+along which they are apt to fall to pieces in the handling.
+
+From this cause the "waste" is sometimes considerable.
+
+The well-known building "stones" from the quarries of Beer, Sutton, and
+Tottenhoe in Devonshire are really chalk, but in a form not readily
+distinguishable from ordinary free-stone.
+
+The longer that chalk blocks are kept to dry before building-in the
+better, and the sun and wind of at least a year should be allowed free
+play upon them to dry out their natural sap and render them
+"frost-proof."
+
+During the drying-out process the chalk should, if possible, be
+protected from the rain.
+
+For years after being built into the walls of a house, chalk will
+continue to dry and harden.
+
+But it is essentially a somewhat porous material, and will quickly
+revenge itself on those neglecting its just demands for a sound roof and
+a proper damp-course.
+
+In exposed situations new chalk walling is liable to allow the
+penetration of moisture under the pressure of the wind unless a cavity
+is provided or unless the surface is treated with a silicate or other
+"vitrifying" fluid.
+
+Chalk, however, has one shining virtue in common with its great
+antithesis--it improves mightily with keeping.
+
+Chalk walls sometimes have youthful vices in the way of porosity that
+entirely disappear with advancing years through the closing up of the
+surface pores, which eventually makes a cavity and inner lining
+superfluous.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+_UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS_
+
+
+  SUN-DRIED BRICKS
+
+The use of sun-dried bricks in this country, is, for no very apparent
+reason, almost entirely restricted to East Anglia. There it has been
+used for generations with entirely satisfactory results.
+
+Mr. Skipper of Norwich writes of the material as follows:
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"Who, travelling from Norfolk to London, whether by the Ipswich or
+Cambridge line, has not noticed the numerous colour-washed or black
+(tarred) cottage, farmhouse and agricultural buildings scattered
+practically all along the countryside? Some of these are of studwork and
+plaster, some of wattle and daub, but many are built of clay made up
+into lumps, sun-dried, and built into the walls with a soft clay-mixture
+as mortar. No lime _need_ be used, though sometimes it is mixed with the
+clay mortar. The preparation, digging, exposure and mixing with short
+straw are similar to the Devonshire 'cob' work, but in these parts the
+worked clay is thrown into moulds, and lumps are formed of, say, 18 in.
+by 12 in. by 6 in., or 18 in. by 9 in. by 6 in. for large sizes, and for
+inside walling or backing to brick-faced walls, 18 in. by 6 in. by 6 in.
+The walls, naturally, are rough in texture and the joints are generally
+stopped up and besmeared with a thin coating or almost a wash of clay.
+This coating sometimes has lime mixed with it, but it is not necessary.
+This is all that is needed to complete the walling, and there is a
+building--a malting, that any one can see at Tivetshall Station on the
+Ipswich line, about 200 ft. long, 45 ft. or 50 ft. wide and three floors
+high, built of lumps 18 in. by 12 in. by 6 in.--that has stood the
+weather and weight of its roof for forty years built in this way; 12 in.
+is the thickness of its walls. A further stage in finish is to give the
+walls two or three coats of coal tar, but it is not essential, though
+desirable where stock are kept, as cattle are rather fond of licking the
+clay, and they do not use their horns much when walls are tarred. The
+highest finish in this work is to cast sand on the last coating of tar
+before it is quite dry, and then to colour or whitewash on this. This
+accounts for the variety of colourings seen in these buildings, some
+even of a kind of pink or red; while some yellow or buff, beside the
+white and the black or tarred buildings, and all huddled together or
+standing apart, whether covered with thatch or red pan or flat tiles,
+look remarkably in harmony with their surroundings. These lump walls
+are, of course, built on a base of brickwork, about 18 in. or 2 ft.
+high, to keep them free from damp. This kind of walling can be built for
+_at least_ 15 per cent. or 20 per cent. cheaper than ordinary 9 in.
+brickwork. Thin as these walls are compared with those of 'cob' houses,
+they are noted for being warm in winter and cool in summer. When
+suitable clay is procurable a local builder almost invariably uses clay
+lumps when building a house for himself, though to gratify a whim
+perhaps, he will case the outside walls--especially the front next the
+street or road--with brickwork. But clay lumps he carefully reserves for
+inside walls and weight-carrying linings to the outside walls, bonding
+the two together very much in the same way as two 4-1/2 in. 'cavity
+walls' are bonded. I am not suggesting that this walling is as
+interesting artistically as 'cob,' but I do suggest it is a practical,
+sensible and _dry_ walling, and if properly done it will 'last for
+ever,' as a local builder repeatedly said to me when speaking of it.
+One can easily see why the cost is light--the sun and the winds do the
+drying in the spring months, and no coals are required, and also the
+clay is often found on the building site, hence no cartage. Actual
+building work naturally goes quickly, as the lumps are large. There is
+another important point to notice. One may see a building complete with
+its roof on and occupied by its tenant while still awaiting an outside
+casing of brickwork to be built round it, either with a view to greater
+protection or for the mere vanity of the owner, for while thus left
+unprotected the lump walls take no harm from even winter exposure. Now
+to be quite practical in these extremely practical days, I venture to
+suggest that the use of clay lumps at least for inside walls and
+linings of outside walls would be an immense boon to the numerous
+cottage-building schemes now being projected. We must not forget that
+comparatively few bricks will be available this year, while the cottages
+are wanted at once. Can these few bricks be better used than by forming
+foundations and chimneys for the clay-lump walls of these cottages? I
+think not. The cottages could, of course, be occupied in the late summer
+or autumn of this year, and next year when bricks will be more plentiful
+perhaps the brick casings could be added, if brickwork _must_ complete
+them. I make this strictly utilitarian suggestion solely to meet a very
+urgent and deep national need. Personally, I prefer the sight of a
+cottage built and finished in the old-established method of the
+locality. Unskilled labour only is required, working under intelligent
+supervision, hence immediate employment for a great number of men would
+be provided."
+
+    [Headnote: Use for Unskilled Labour]
+
+   *   *   *
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Once Corn Hall, now Council School.+
+  Built about a hundred years ago. Still in sound condition
+  and quite dry.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +A Row of Clay-lump Cottages.+
+  The front has been plastered and panelled out. In the upper part
+  of the stable building, seen in the foreground, the clay-lumps
+  are shown exposed.]
+
+  [Illustration:
+  +Engineering Workshops.+
+  Built twenty years ago. The walls are thoroughly sound, despite
+  constant vibration, and are perfectly dry, except the brick face,
+  which was added for effect.]
+
+The use of sun-dried bricks for the interior partitions of cob and pise
+cottages is worth consideration, as the nature of these materials
+demands a thickness of wall which is too wasteful of space to be
+acceptable in mere partitioning.
+
+Of the strength of clay-lump walls, there is no question. It was
+recently necessary to cut a new doorway in the old clay-lump wall of a
+large traction-engine garage, and the blocks removed were thrown into a
+heap upon the ground.
+
+The clay happened to be needed for other purposes, for which it had
+first to be broken up.
+
+Ordinary hammers proved entirely ineffective, and it was not until heavy
+sledges were used that the lumps could be smashed.
+
+The tractor-house in question is a large building some 25 ft. by 100
+ft., carrying a heavy roof and constantly subjected to vibration by the
+coming and going of the tractors.
+
+The walls are only 12 in. thick, without piers or reinforcements of any
+kind, and yet the whole building, which is 26 ft, high at the gables, is
+as perfect to-day as when first erected some twenty years ago.
+
+In the same town as this tractor-house, East Harling in Norfolk, is a
+council school built of clay lump (converted from the old Corn Hall),
+apparently not a pin the worse for a century of hard wear.
+
+Near by there are a number of private houses built of the same material,
+some of them reputed to be upwards of 200 years old and certain of them
+having considerable architectural merit.
+
+
+    [Headnote: "Substantial and Cool"]
+
+(_Extract from "The Farmers' Handbook," issued by the Department of
+Agriculture, New South Wales, 1911_)
+
++"Adobe," or Sun-dried Bricks+
+
+"As their name implies, these buildings are constructed of sun-dried,
+but unburnt bricks. For buildings of this character, material like clay,
+which is unsuitable for pise-work, can be used. The bricks are made in a
+wooden mould, and are 16 in. long, 8 in. wide, and 6 in. thick. A man
+can mould about 100 per day. They are laid in a similar manner to other
+bricks, the mortar used being wet loam, or even the material of which
+the bricks are made. The cost of making and laying is estimated at about
+15s. per 100. Buildings constructed of these bricks are substantial and
+cool, and very similar in character to pise buildings.
+
+"A school-house built of these bricks eighteen years ago by Mr. Nixon,
+of Reefton, is still in an excellent state of preservation; in fact,
+little, if any, the worse for wear, despite the fact that walls are
+unprotected by verandahs or overhanging eaves. During its existence it
+has had, first one coat of oil-paint, and later a coat of coloured
+limewash."
+
+   *   *   *
+
+"Clay lump," then, is one of the many good old building methods that
+needs no proving, but only revival and perhaps improvement.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+  I
+
+  WHITEWASH
+
+Whitewashing has been frequently referred to in the foregoing pages as
+the most suitable treatment for the exterior of chalk and earth
+buildings.
+
+There is, however, a certain prejudice against lime-whiting amongst both
+owners and occupiers, owing to the frequent renewal that its adoption
+usually implies.
+
+With a view to removing this drawback from a treatment otherwise so
+effective, the following recipes are suggested as improvements on the
+usual practice.
+
+Ordinary whitewash is made by slaking about 10 lbs. of quicklime with
+two gallons of water.
+
+The following recipes are taken from "_White Paints and Painting_"
+(Scott), and are reliable:
+
+(1) "_Factory" Whitewash (interiors), for Walls, Ceilings, Posts, etc._:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1 bushel) quicklime, slake with 15 gallons water.
+    Keep barrel covered till steam ceases to arise. Stir occasionally
+    to prevent scorching.
+
+  (_b_) 2-1/2 lbs. rye-flour, beat up in 1/2 gallon of cold water, then
+    add 2 gallons boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 2-1/2 lbs. of common rock-salt, dissolve in 2-1/2 gallons of hot
+    water.
+
+Mix (_b_) and (_c_), then pour into (_a_), and stir until all is well
+mixed. This is the whitewash used in the large implement factories, and
+recommended by the insurance companies. The above formula gives a
+product of perfect brush consistency.
+
+(2) _"Weatherproof" Whitewash (exteriors), for Buildings, Fences, etc._:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1 bushel) quicklime, slake with 12 gallons of hot
+    water.
+
+  (_b_) 2 lbs. common table salt, 1 lb. sulphate of zinc, dissolved
+    in a gallon of boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 2 gallons skimmed milk.
+
+Pour (_b_) into (_a_), then add the milk (_c_), and mix thoroughly.
+
+(3) _"Light House" Whitewash_:
+
+  (_a_) 62 lbs. (1 bushel) quicklime, slake with 12 gallons of
+    hot water.
+
+  (_b_) 12 gallons rock-salt, dissolve in 6 gallons of boiling water.
+
+  (_c_) 6 lbs. of Portland cement.
+
+Pour (_b_) into (_a_), and then add (_c_).
+
+   *   *   *
+
+_Note._--Alum added to a lime whitewash prevents it rubbing off. An
+ounce to the gallon is sufficient.
+
+Flour paste answers the same purpose, but needs zinc sulphate as a
+preservative.
+
+The following are from "_1,000 More Paint Questions Answered_":
+
+(4) _Durable Whitewash for Outside Use._--A whitewash that will not rub
+off or wash off in rainy weather can be made by mixing one half-pint of
+flour to a batter with cold water, then stirring into this boiling water
+until it becomes a thick paste.
+
+While still hot it is poured into a pailful of ready-made lime whitewash
+and well stirred in.
+
+(5) Another simple method is to add to 2 gallons of ready-made lime
+whitewash one half-pint each of molasses and table salt. Must be stirred
+frequently while being used.
+
+_Whitewash for Exterior Surfaces._--A formula for a durable whitewash
+for out-buildings of rough lumber. The following is reprinted from
+"_Popular Mechanics_":
+
+(6) Place 1 bushel good fresh lime in a barrel with 20 lbs. beef tallow;
+slake with hot water and cover with sackcloth to keep in steam. When the
+lime is slaked, the tallow will have disappeared, having formed a
+chemical compound with the lime. Dry colours may be added to produce any
+tint desired.[10]
+
+    [Footnote 10: Experiments and tests carried out for the author
+    by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research place
+    this receipt at the head of the list.]
+
+It is better to add colour before slaking the lime, but if this is not
+feasible mix the colour with alcohol and add it to the strained
+whitewash. Thin to easy flowing consistency with clear water.
+
+    [Headnote: Distempers and Limewashes]
+
+_Cold Water Paint that will stand the Weather._--A formula for making a
+white outside coating that will resist the action of the weather and
+remain hard even under the influence of moisture and rain. Experiments
+with different brands of cold water paints have proved failures.
+
+A really effective cold water paint, in order to resist the elements and
+remain white, should contain a white pigment of good body and some oil
+in addition to the water, and with this purpose in view the following is
+suggested:
+
+(7) To make 100 lbs. of such paint, mix 10 lbs. white, pure in oil, with
+10 lbs. bolted whiting, 8 lbs. raw linseed oil, 6 lbs. soft soap (made
+with potash), and 26 lbs. soft water.
+
+One quart of pale copal varnish will improve the preparation. The
+formula given is of the right consistency to apply on dressed lumber
+with the brush. For application on rough lumber or with the spraying
+machine it requires more thinning with water and varnish.
+
+The following is taken from Pearce's "_Painting and Decorating_":
+
+(8) A London recipe for distemper has the following proportions:
+4 "balls" whiting, 2 lbs. Young's patent size, and sufficient water to
+cover the whiting.
+
+(9) A Scotch distemper is described as: 12 lbs. whiting, size as given
+previously, 2 ozs. alum, 2 ozs. soft soap. It is very fast, for
+passages, schools, etc. Tinting colours for limewash should be
+restricted to ochres, umbers, lime blue, lime greens, charcoal or lamp
+black, and earthy reds (as Venetian).
+
+(10) External limewash for farm buildings, etc., may be made as follows:
+Lime, 1/2 bushel, slaked with 1 gallon of milk and remainder of water,
+1 lb. salt and 1/2 lb. sulphate of zinc to make it withstand the
+weather.
+
+Experiments with and practical tests of these and other kinds of
+whitewash are being carried out, and the author hopes that he may find
+opportunity at some later date of announcing the results obtained.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Local Materials]
+
+  II
+
+  THE IMPORTANCE OF USING LOCAL MATERIALS
+
+  (_Extract from "Country Life," November 9th, 1918_)
+
+  300,000 COTTAGES WOULD ENTAIL THE TRANSPORT OF 60,000,000 TONS
+  OF MATERIAL
+
+In carrying out any considerable scheme of house building two
+difficulties will have to be met. The first arises from the scarcity of
+building material; the other from the cost and difficulty of transport.
+These, to some extent, can be obviated by the use of local material,
+which is to be commended on other grounds as well. Local material fits
+into the character of the neighbourhood in which it is found and
+maintains its traditions.
+
+Very few people realise the bulk of materials, and in order to help them
+the following statement has been prepared to show the materials needed
+for each cottage and the total for 300,000 cottages:
+
+  Materials.                                        Weight.
+                                         Per One Cottage. Per 300,000.
+                                         Tons. Cwts. Qrs.   (Tons.)
+  Ballast, sand, gravel                       78 17  0     23,655,000
+  Lime                                         5 18  0      1,770,000
+  Cement                                      12  8  0      3,720,000
+  Bricks                                      85  0  0     25,500,000
+  Slates for D.P.C                             0 10  2        157,500
+  Chimney-pots                                 0  0  3         11,250
+  Tiles                                        7  2  2      2,137,500
+  Carcassing timber                            7  0  0      2,100,000
+  Complete joinery timber                      1 12  0        480,000
+  Cast-iron rain-water goods and sundries      0  9  0        135,000
+  Stoves, copper, ash-bin, etc.                0  5  2         82,500
+  Nails, screws, etc.                          0  1  2         22,500
+  Hair for plaster                             0  1  0         15,000
+  Lead flashings, etc.                         0  2  1         33,750
+  Sink, waste pipes, draining boards, etc.     0  2  1         33,750
+  Sanitary goods                               0  1  0         15,000
+  Whitening, distemper and paint               0  3  1         48,750
+                                             ---------     ----------
+      Total                                  199 14  2     59,917,500
+                                             ---------     ----------
+
+It will be seen that to carry out the scheme for 300,000 cottages a
+total of close on 60,000,000 tons of material will have to be shifted.
+In addition to that, it must be remembered that the cost of material is
+very small in comparison with that of building. This will be apparent
+from an analysis of the items employed for actual cost and the
+percentage which that cost bears to the total cost.
+
+Cottages erected 1912 (semi-detached): total interior area of cottage,
+772 ft. super, (parlour, kitchen, scullery and three bedrooms, coal and
+W.C.):
+
+                                                 Per House.
+ No.          Item.                   Actual Cost.     Per cent. of
+                                                         Total Cost.
+  1. Sundries                                  8              2.66
+  2. Foundations                              16              5.28
+  3. External and party walls (_a_)           77             25.41
+            Windows and doors (_b_)           23              7.59
+  4. Internal partitions                      36             11.88
+  5. Ground floor                             18              5.94
+  6. Upper floor                              22              7.26
+  7. Roof and rain-water goods                34              1.22
+  8. Chimney and fireplaces                   30              9.90
+  9. Sanitary fittings, water supply and
+         drainage                             19              6.27
+ 10. Staircases                               11              3.63
+ 11. Fittings                                  6              1.98
+                                            ----
+      Total                                 L300
+
+These facts help to clarify the problem. The weight of the building
+materials required for an ordinary cottage with living-room, parlour,
+scullery, three bedrooms, etc., the house containing cubic contents of
+about 11,500 ft., would come approximately to 200 tons per cottage; and
+even assuming that there is only an average transport of fifty miles,
+this would give 10,000 ton-miles per rural cottage, which is taking it
+at a very low average. In each cottage the weight of the brickwork
+represents about 42 per cent. of the total weight. It is, therefore,
+apparent that every effort should be made to lessen the transit of
+materials required for the external walling. If, on the other hand,
+local materials are employed, this carriage would be saved and a great
+economy effected. Even if this utilitarian consideration were not so
+important as it is, the desirability of making all possible use of local
+materials is very great from other points of view. It would stimulate
+local interest in building and, in addition to retaining the traditions
+of the district, give greater hope of retaining and maintaining the
+proper architectural aspect of our villages.
+
+It is scarcely necessary to summarise the advantages that may fairly be
+expected to flow from this endeavour to make a real start at finding a
+solution for the housing difficulty. First and foremost must be placed
+the saving in transport. A casual reader may easily imagine that the
+difficulties of carriage will vanish with the end of the war, but that
+is not so in reality. Any one who has travelled in France must have
+noticed engines bearing such names as Liverpool Street, King's Cross,
+Euston, Birmingham, and so on. The meaning of that is that a great deal
+of our rolling stock was sent over to France, and at the best will not
+be available here for a long time to come. Even the ordinary work of
+upkeep and repair has necessarily been neglected owing to the scarcity
+of men and other causes incidental to war-time. Transport difficulties
+are bound to last for a very considerable period after the peace
+settlement, and it would not be at all advisable to delay the
+construction of houses so long. The returned soldiers will make us
+vividly conscious of the shortage. Nothing could be imagined more likely
+to make them look for chances of going abroad than to learn that there
+is not sufficient housing accommodation for them in the village in which
+they lived before the war, and to which they hoped to return on its
+conclusion.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Cost per Foot Cube]
+
+  III
+
+  EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF _COUNTRY LIFE_,
+  JULY 27th, 1918
+
+"Shortly before the war I had occasion to demolish some very old
+cottages at Clovelly for the reconstruction of the New Inn. I was so
+much struck with the stability of these (although by no means
+first-class samples of cob work) that I collected some facts and notes
+on the subject from different parts of the county of Devon. Where
+bye-laws have been adopted, cob is no longer being used. It is
+difficult, therefore, to give an accurate comparison of costs, but after
+careful investigation I did arrive at the following results for North
+Devon and Scotland. The prices were in 1913, and in both cases for a
+five-roomed cottage (assuming four to be built at the same time,
+including internal water supply, but omitting any special work necessary
+to procure supply, and omitting fencing).
+
+                    Cost per foot cube    Cost per foot cube
+                    cob at 2 ft. 6 in.    11 in. hollow brick.
+                    thick.
+  North Devon         6-1/2d.                  5-7/8d.
+  Scotland            6d.                   6d.
+
+These prices assumed suitable material on or near site, and allowed
+something for the difficulty of getting at least one experienced
+cob-worker to instruct the unskilled men. Since 1913 the cost of brick
+has risen so much that cob would now be much cheaper, probably as much
+as 1d. or 1-1/4d. foot cube in both cases, and this is likely to be the
+case for many years. Suitable material exists in many parts of the
+country. If reed straw cannot be had, other reinforcements can be used.
+I have seen various materials in use, of which heather was perhaps the
+best and most easily procured. I can endorse from experience the comfort
+of these old buildings, and the affection of Devon people for them. The
+thick walls give all that a house should--protection from heat in summer
+and cold in winter. For the contrast, visit the new Garden City at
+Rosyth. Many of the houses are attractive, but their thin brick walls,
+tile and slate hanging are not suitable to the north and east coasts.
+Ask the opinion of the occupants of these new houses. Many of them are
+Devon born and bred, and imported from the dockyards of the three towns.
+They nearly all complain of the cold, and their views form an
+interesting comment on modern construction."
+
+
+  IV
+
+  PISE TESTS
+
+  (_With acknowledgements to "The Spectator"_)
+
+Through the courtesy of Messrs. Alban Richards & Co. we are able to
+publish the results of certain very instructive tests that have been
+carried out on Pise during the past winter. Messrs. Richard's experience
+and Report bring out two points with especial clearness, (1) That Pise
+work, though not impossible under winter conditions, is not ordinarily
+desirable unless some means of artificially drying the earth be resorted
+to. (2) That the strength of Pise increases with surprising rapidity as
+the work dries out. It should be remarked that none of the samples
+tested were made from really good Pise soil, such for instance as the
+red marls or brick earths. With such materials or anything approaching
+them, the results would have been even better, as the Report points
+out:--
+
+"In conjunction with Mr. Williams-Ellis, we have made certain tests with
+a view to satisfying ourselves as to the practicability of _pise de
+terre_ for house construction. In order to obtain what we might term the
+minimum or 'worst' tests, we decided to erect walls for this purpose in
+the winter. This we have done for the last three months, which has been
+a very wet period, and the following is a short description of the tests
+we have made:--
+
+  "1. Two walls were erected measuring 14 ft. long, 9 ft. high and 18
+  in. thick, spaced 20 ft. apart, with short return ends to each wall.
+  Wall plates were placed centrally along the top of each wall, on
+  which were placed 9 in. by 3 in. wood joists, at 16 in. centres,
+  across the 20 ft span. In order to obtain the minimum results we
+  allowed the shutters to remain until the test was ready to be
+  applied, so that walls did not have an opportunity of drying or
+  hardening. This condition was thought necessary, as it is quite
+  reasonable to expect that if _pise de terre_ cottages are erected,
+  considerable weight might be placed on the walls immediately the
+  shuttering is struck. We then proceeded to test the walls to
+  destruction. The floor space provided for by the joists referred to
+  above measure 220 super. feet, the load was then applied gradually.
+  The load applied totalled 16-1/2 tons, which is equivalent of 168 lbs.
+  per super. foot of floor space, under which the wall collapsed,
+  which, in our opinion, provides a factor of safety of three to the
+  normal load which a cottage floor would have to bear.
+
+"We are convinced that very much better results can be obtained in this
+method of construction with walls which were first dried before the load
+was applied. Further experiments are to be made to procure further data
+on this subject. In addition to the above tests, we have submitted to
+the National Physical Laboratory, blocks made of _pise de terre_, from
+poor to medium soil, for testing purposes, and the following are the
+results which have been obtained:--
+
+"The following Report shows results of Tests made by the National
+Physical Laboratory.
+
+
+    [Headnote: Pise Tests]
+
+  "REPORT ON TESTS OF BUILDING BLOCKS OF PISE DE TERRE SENT FOR TEST
+  BY MESSRS. W. ALBAN RICHARDS & CO., LTD.
+
+"_Tests made on January 14, 1920._
+
+"First set of three blocks sent in November 1919.
+
+"These blocks were composed of a fine gravel containing very few and
+very small stones. The material was said to be similar to that used at
+Merrow Down, near Guildford, Surrey. It appeared to be very similar to
+Farnham gravel.
+
+"The blocks were tested in compression, one within twenty-four hours of
+arrival at the laboratory, and the others after drying for a time in the
+laboratory. For results of tests see Table I.
+
+  TABLE I
+
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+      |      |              |    |    |       |   LOAD.     |
+      |      |              |Age |Area|Density+-----+-------+
+      |      |              | in | in | lbs.  |     |in tons|
+      |      | Dimensions   |days|sq. | per   | in  |  per  |
+  No. |Marks.|  in inches.  | *  |ft. |c. ft. |tons |sq. ft.| REMARKS.
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+  UT1 |  3   |    9x9x9     | 1  |.562| 131   |0.70 |  1.66 |Cracked
+      |      |              |    |    |       |1.04 |  2.47 |Collapsed
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       |
+  UT2 |  1   | 8.9x8.9x8.9  | 9  |.550| 125   |4.27 | 10.50 |Collapsed
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       |
+  UT3 |  2   |8.95x8.95x8.95|16  |.556| 117   |2.31 |  5.57 |Small
+      |      |              |    |    |       |4.23 | 10.20 | cracks
+      |      |              |    |    |       |     |       | appeared
+  ----+------+--------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+
+    [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+
+"Second set of blocks sent in December 1919.
+
+"This set consisted of six blocks in three pairs, each pair having been
+rammed with a different quantity of water.
+
+"One of each pair was tested within twenty-four hours of arrival at the
+laboratory, and the others after drying in the laboratory for twenty-six
+days.
+
+"The material used was not homogeneous, and the mixture consisted of a
+very clayey loam, a fibrous loam, sand and large stones. The clayey
+material gave rise to surface cracks as the blocks dried.
+
+"For results of tests see Table II.
+
+  TABLE II
+
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+      |      |            |    |    |       |   LOAD.     |
+      |      |            |Age |Area|Density+-----+-------+
+      |      |            | in | in | lbs.  |     |in tons|
+      |      |Dimensions  |days|sq. | per   | in  |  per  |
+  No. |Marks.| in inches. | *  |ft. |c. ft. |tons |sq. ft.| REMARKS.
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+  VW1 |  1   | 8.9x9x8.5  | 1  |.555| 106   |0.45 |0.81   |Cracked at
+      | dry  |            |    |    |       |     |       | one corner
+      |      |            |    |    |       |0.51 |0.92   |Collapsed
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW2 |  2   |   9x9x9    |26  |.562| 105   |2.15 |3.84   |Collapsed.
+      | dry  |            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | quite dry
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | in interior
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW3 |  3   |9.1x9.1x8.9 | 1  |.570| 134   |0.55 |0.96   |Collapsed
+      | wet  |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW4 |  4   |8.8x8.8x8.9 |26  |.546| 110   |3.20 |5.86   |Collapsed.
+      | wet  |            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | quite dry
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | in interior
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW5 |  5   |  9x8.9x9   | 1  |.558| 126   |0.60 |1.08   |Bulged and
+      |medium|            |    |    |       |     |       | cracked
+      |      |            |    |    |       |0.69 |1.24   |Collapsed
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       |
+  VW6 |  6   | 8.8x8.8x7  |26  |.546| 109   |3.33 |6.10   |Collapsed.
+      |medium|            |    |    |       |     |       | Material
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | slightly
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | damp in
+      |      |            |    |    |       |     |       | the interior
+  ----+------+------------+----+----+-------+-----+-------+----------
+
+    [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+
+    Seal of
+  NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY _Signature of Director_
+
+"From the second set of blocks it would appear that it is better to ram
+with too much moisture than with too little. It will be noted that the
+density of the wet block was 30 per cent. more than that of the dry
+block, so that a wall could be carried higher with the dry material than
+with the wet, although such a wall would never gain the strength which a
+wet one would upon drying.
+
+
+  CONCLUSIONS
+
+"We are of opinion, having regard to the fact that the house at Newlands
+Corner (Guildford four miles) has weathered the winter, without showing
+any signs of dampness, that _pise de terre_ will make a thoroughly dry
+house.
+
+"We consider that the tests made are satisfactory, and prove that this
+form of construction is of a sufficiently sound nature to be employed in
+the building of houses. With really suitable material, such as a light
+brick-earth or marl, it is considered that the results already obtained
+might well be 100 per cent. better."
+
+We are informed that additional tests are now proceeding with regard to
+the water-proof and weather-resisting qualities of Pise, the results of
+which will be duly published.
+
+
+
+
+_INDEX_
+
+
+INTRODUCTION:
+
+  Chalk walls, 18
+  Cheap materials, the search for, 13
+  Pise de craie, 16, 17, 107
+  Pise, experiments with, 15
+    in moulds, 19, 20
+    in South Africa, 22, 23
+  Pliny on Pise de terre, 25
+  Rammed chalk, 16, 17, 107
+
+GENERAL SURVEY:
+
+  Building materials, shortage of, 26
+  "Ersatz" products introduced during the War, 26
+  House famine, the, 27
+  Local materials, use of, to avoid transport, 29
+  Lutyens, Sir Edwin, and Mr. Alban Scott, cottage by, 30
+  Rural housing, suitability of cob and pise for, 28
+
+I--COB:
+
+  Allen, Mr. C. B., his reference to Devon cob, quoted, 47
+  Baring-Gould, Rev. S., on cob, quoted, 47
+  Beauty of cob, 35
+  Bernard, Mr. Charles, his account of Sir Walter Raleigh's cob house,
+      45, 46
+  _Book of the West, The_, by Rev. S. Baring-Gould, reference to cob
+      in, quoted, 47
+  Building, 37, 38, 39
+  Carpentry and joinery, 41, 42
+  Chimneys, 44
+  Cob tradition, 52
+  Composition, 36
+  Cost, 35, 50
+  _Cottage-Building_, reference to cob in, quoted, 47
+  _Country Life_, letter to, relating to cob work, quoted, 115, 116
+  Design, 44, 45
+  Devon cob, 47
+  Drying, 39
+  Elizabethan cob houses still existing, 34
+  Former conditions returned, 52
+  Foundations and base, 40; result of bad, 34
+  Fruit walls, of cob, 47, 48
+  Fulford, Mr., of Great Fulford, on cob, 50-52
+  Gimson, Mr., his description of building cob, quoted, 35
+  Hayes Barton, Sir Walter Raleigh's house at, 45, 46
+  Hipped roofs, 41
+  Joinery, 41, 42, 43
+  Masonry and carpentry, 41, 42
+  Method of building, 36-45
+  Mixing, 37
+  Northcote, Lady Rosalind, her description of Sir Walter Raleigh's
+      house, 46
+  Primitive methods, 47
+  Protection, 43
+  Protective wash, 51
+  Raleigh, Sir Walter, his cob house at Hayes Barton, 45, 46
+  Rats, 44
+  Reed thatch, 46
+  Rendering, 51
+  Roofing, 51
+  Shuttering, 51
+  Strength, 44
+  Thickness of walls, 40
+  Traditional building material in Devon and Wessex, 33
+  Training of ex-soldiers, 52
+
+  II--PISE:
+
+  Bolts, 86
+  Bonders, 69
+  Building procedure, 71, 72, 74, 75
+  Capabilities, 57, 58
+  Corners, 68
+  _Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and
+      Literature_, on pise, quoted, 59-71
+  Damp-course, 86
+  Definition of Pise de terre, 57, 59
+  Durability, 82
+  _Earthwork, A Manual on_, quoted, 73-76
+  Empandeni, pise work executed at, 78, 79, 80
+  Excavation, 86
+  Etah Jail, pise work executed at, 76, 77, 78
+  Fillet, 87
+  Floating, 86
+  Foundations, 74
+  Frames, 87
+  France, introduction of pise into, 57
+  Gorffon, Monsieur, reference to his treatise on pise, 57
+  History, 57
+  Indian and Colonial practice, 73-88
+  Introduced into France by the Romans, 57
+  _Journal de Physique_, by the Abbe Rozier, quoted, 58
+  Lintels, 87
+  Locale, 58
+  Method of building, 58-62
+  Method of working, 60, 61, 62
+  New South Wales, pise work in, 81-88
+  Origin, 58
+  Picture-rail, 87
+  Plant required, 85, 89, 90
+  Plastering, 75
+  Pliny, references to his account of pise, 25, 57
+  Plugs, 86, 87
+  Protection, 75
+  Rain, 67
+  Rammer, the, 59, 60
+  Ramming, 62, 76
+  Rate of work, 63
+  Rendering, 70
+  Rods _versus_ bars, 75, 76
+  Rozier, the Abbe, his _Journal de Physique_, quoted, 58
+  Shuttering, 59, 88, 89
+  Shutter ties, 73
+  Skirting, 87
+  Soil blending, 64
+    preparation of, 66, 67
+    suitable, 63, 74, 86
+    tests, 63
+    to ascertain quality of, 65
+  Speed of building, 70
+  Stability, 82
+  Strength, 69
+  Studding, 87, 88
+  Theory and science of pise, the, 62-73
+  Ventilators, 86
+  Virtues of pise, 72
+  Wire netting, use of, 87, 88
+
+III--CHALK:
+
+  Block chalk, 117, 118
+  Chalk compost, historical, 107
+    composition and uses, 108, 109
+  Chalk conglomerate, 114
+  Chimneys, 110
+  External rendering, 110
+  Frost, 109
+  Garden walls, 111
+  House walls, 112
+  Old and modern examples, 112-115
+  Rats and chalk, 116
+  Rendering, 110
+  Repairs, 110
+  Roof, 111
+  Strength, 110
+  Timber, 109
+  Winterslow cottages, the, 115, 116
+
+IV--UNBURNED CLAY AND EARTH BRICKS:
+
+  "Adobe," use of, in New South Wales, 124
+  Age of clay-lump buildings, 124
+  East Anglia, use of sun-dried bricks in, 121
+  Method of making, 121
+  New South Wales, use of sun-dried bricks in, 124
+  Skipper, Mr., on sun-dried bricks, quoted, 121
+  Strength of clay-lump walls, 124
+  Thickness of clay-lump walls, 122-124
+
+APPENDIX:
+
+  Cold-water paint, recipe for, 129
+  Cost, an analysis of building, 131
+  _Country Life_, letter to, relating to cob work, quoted, 132, 133
+  Distempers, recipes for, 129
+  Local materials, importance of using, 130, 131
+  Weight of building materials, table of, 130
+  Whitewash, recipes for, 127, 128
+
+
+
+
+  Printed by
+  Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ld.,
+  London and Aylesbury.
+
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+between house and garden in a way never before attempted.
+
+  "The principle conveyed in the letterpress is that held by all great
+  gardeners and architects--that house and garden are, or should be,
+  intimately associated, and that the character of the possessors
+  should be reflected in both. The accounts of lovely garden after
+  lovely garden are most agreeable reading." --_Daily Chronicle_.
+
+
++Twenty-Five Great Houses of France.+
+
+By SIR THEODORE ANDREA COOK, M.A., F.S.A., with an Introductory Chapter,
+outlining the Development of French Domestic Architecture, by W. H.
+WARD, M.A., F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A., and illustrations by FREDERICK H. EVANS.
+Large folio, containing over 400 superb illustrations, plans and
+diagrams. Half-bound in buckram, 52/6 net; in half morocco, 60/6 net;
+postage 1/- extra.
+
+  "The Publishers of COUNTRY LIFE have touched few subjects that they
+  have not adorned, but here they have surpassed themselves. It is
+  seldom that we have seen so rich and communicative photographs of
+  great architecture." --_Daily News_.
+
+  "A book which will prove a source of endless delight to lovers of
+  architecture." --_Glasgow Herald_.
+
+
++Garden Ornament.+
+
+By GERTRUDE JEKYLL, with over 500 wonderful illustrations. Large folio,
+gilt edges, 63/- net; postage 1/- extra.
+
+  "Miss Jekyll's collection in this noble folio is a storehouse of
+  examples, styles and method in the decoration of gardens,
+  a compendium of the history and taste in English Horticulture and
+  a revelation of the treasures of beauty which our country holds."
+  --_Times_.
+
+
++Windsor Castle.+
+
+An Architectural History. Collected and written by command of Their
+Majesties QUEEN VICTORIA, KING EDWARD VII. and King GEORGE V. By SIR
+WILLIAM H. ST. JOHN HOPE, Litt.D., D.C.L. Imperial quarto, in Two
+Volumes, and a Portfolio. Bound in half sheepskin, L7 17s. 6d. net;
+whole sheepskin, L10 10s. net; full morocco, L13 2s. 6d. Carriage extra.
+
+
+Illustrated prospectuses of these invaluable books and a complete
+catalogue will be sent post free on application to the Manager, COUNTRY
+LIFE, LTD., 20, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+           *       *       *       *
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Pliny, _Natural History_, Bk. XXXV, chapter xlviii, quoted at end of
+Introduction:
+
+  "_Have we not in Africa and in Spain ... erected by Hannibal._"
+
+The standard numbering of this passage is XXXV.lxi. With punctuation and
+capitalization adjusted by transcriber to match translation:
+
+  Quid non in Africa Hispaniaque e terra parietes, quos appellant
+  'formaceos', quoniam in forma circumdatis ii utrimque tabulis
+  inferciuntur verius quam struuntur? Aevis durant, incorrupti
+  imbribus, ventis, ignibus omnique caemento firmiores. Spectat etiam
+  nunc speculas Hannibalis Hispania terrenasque turres iugis montium
+  inpositas.
+
+
+Illustration reproduced from 1819 Encyclopaedia:
+
+Immediately below the picture is the almost illegible text:
+
+  J. F. delin. / Lowry / Published as the Act directs 1817
+  by Longman Hurst Rees, Orme & Brown Paternoster Row.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+           *       *       *       *
+
+Errors and Inconsistencies (noted by transcriber):
+
+  [Headnotes]
+  Pise--a South African Lead
+  The Discovery of the Old
+    [_these two notes were transposed to fit the text_]
+
+  [Illustration: / +The Newlands Waggon-house.+ / Interior.]
+    [final . missing]
+  force of the south-westerly storms."  [single for double quote]
+  This requires no hair, and is easily applied."  [close quote missing]
+  have always been found perfectly sound  ["prefectly"]
+  "Strangers who have sailed upon the Rhone  [open quote missing]
+  "There is every reason for introducing  [open quote missing]
+  "Pise is a material readily obtainable  [single for double quote]
+  merely improvements of mechanism.  [. missing]
+  the misguided enthusiasts responsible
+    [line-end hyphen in "mis-/guided" invisible]
+  it is generally bonded in in the ordinary way  [not an error]
+  Chapter III. _CHALK_ / Sec. I. GENERAL
+    [there are no sections II, III...]
+  fixed to wood blocks built in in a similar way  [not an error]
+  [*: Age after arrival at laboratory.]
+    [duplicate footnote added by transcriber:
+    tables were printed on a single page]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cottage Building in Cob, Pis�, Chalk
+and Clay, by Clough Williams-Ellis
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COTTAGE BUILDING IN COB ***
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