55 COMMODIOUS HOUSES WITH EARTHEN WALLi. 



degree. The labour of moving was great, and when the 

 frames were set, the cross ropes and uprights above thesidei 

 were much ill the way of the workmen. 

 Advantages of On examining the model I have the honour to send, it 

 t ie new mo e. jna y ^ e se en, that these frames being once set true, they re- 

 quire very Little care afterward : being kept together by 

 iron bolts no elasticity can occur, and the earth will be as 

 firmly compressed, as if rammed between two walls. No 

 cutting away for cross pieces is required, nor any holes but 

 the small bolt holes to make good ; and as nothing sticks up 

 above the frames, the workman cannot be impeded. In 

 consequence of these alterations the work may be more 

 cheaply and truly executed than with the old sort of 

 frame. 



Previously to entering into the expense of this sort of 

 work, or my conceptions as to its advantage,, it may be ne- 

 cessary briefly to state whence such are collected. 

 Trial of the old About sixteen or eighteen years ago, the late Duke of 

 mode, Bedford directed a foreigner, who was then making some 



walls in Lancashire, to come and make some specimens here; 

 and wishing to know how far it might be usefully introduced, 

 I was directed to give attention, and every aid, to the man 

 employed. Accordingly frames of the old sort were made, 

 exactly like those before described, and with them some 

 specimens being made, the man returned. These specimens 

 I considered were very bad walling, and in attending to the 

 execution thereof, seeing sufficient room for improvement, 

 and of the new. I was directed farther to practice it. Frames were then con- 

 structed like the model, and several walls erected, among 

 which were some cottages now standing, and lastly, the 

 house I now live in. This has been bwilt about twelve 

 years, and is a sufficient proof of the utility of the practice : 

 the house being as close, warm, and dry in the walls, as if 

 built of any materials whatever. 

 Expense. With regard to the expense of the walls of this sort, as la- 



bour is the principal part of the expense, and as in some 

 places labour is dearer than in others, the best mode of 

 estimating it at different places will be from the quantity 

 that a man should do in a dav, and which I have found to 



be 



