jassj 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



823 



which I ili't'cribed in my tbrmcr article in the Airri- 

 cultijrist. It turns oni tlic wori< in one coiiiinucd 

 inasi?, as iC chiseled Troni a roci<, and by this liie 

 work is reduced to three-lburths of the labor, and 

 much more [ilanished and perpendicular. In this 

 manner, a pis^e house can be built as eletrant. du- 

 rable, slronij and incombustible, as oC any other 

 material allowed to be used. Its expense will de- 

 j)end nmch on the locality and vicinity of the clay, 

 to tlie place it is erected. Having the clay at 

 hand, my pisadore (or rammer) and one atten- 

 dant, carried up sixteen inches of a wall, sixteen 

 inches thick, in four days, all round a house, 48 

 leet lonn;, and 24 feet wide. Now, if to build such 

 a wall sixteen inches high, requires four days, 

 how many days will it take to build it thirty-six 

 leet high, 'the full height of a three-story house? 

 Answer lOS days ; which, at one dollar per day, 

 would be equal to §'216. 



A brick house of this size would re- 

 quire 100,000 bricks, which at $15 

 per M., will amount to - - ^1500 00 



Lime at 25 bushels per M., is 2500 

 bushels, at 20 cents, - - - 500 00 



Laying the bricks at §4 per M., is - 400 00 



Cost of the walls of the dwelling 



house only, . - - - §2400 00 



Deduct the price of building the pise 

 Jiouse, 21G 00 



In (avor of the pise house, - - §2184 00 

 But this is not all, for in a brick house you have to 

 build a wood one within to make it fit to be inha- 

 biled; [)lasler and studs, laths, lime, nails and 

 stucco, will amount to .§1200, making the round 

 sum of §3.384. In opposition to this, I will state. 

 the pise walls require no plaster, but only to be 

 smoothed and painted plain, or penciled, as taste 

 may dictate. The pise liouse being painted as it 

 comes out of the mould, is fit to be inhabited as 

 soon as finished. 



But the difficulty of procuring clay is objected 

 to. This will cease when we are informed, that 

 all the bluffs about our harbor and rivers, contain 

 it in abundance, and may be waited over in light- 

 ers, and sold at a low price. Our harbor, and the 

 rivers and creeks around us, contain inexhaustible 

 banks of dead shells, which, if rammed in such a 

 mould, will produce a fine wall equal to Tabby, 

 well known to many of us. The banks of Ash- 

 ley river abound in a concretion of calcareous 

 matter fit lor such buildings. To this imporianf 

 hint I call your attention. The doctrine that I 

 have been endeavoring to inculcate, admits ot' the 

 clearest demonstration, actual experiment. Take 

 a box of a handy size, ram it with clay as de- 

 scribed. When so filled and rammed, turn it up 

 on a board, and lay it in the sun to dry, so as the 

 box or mould may be lifted ofl' without injury to 

 the pise-ed work. When dry, indurate it with lin- 

 seed oil, and when it is dry, paint it on either side 

 with any color you please. This experiment will 

 satisfy you of the strength of the walls, the effects 

 of the oil as an indurator, and the beautiful ap- 

 pearance of the paint. 



I remain, with best wishes, yours, &c. 



Barth w. Carkoll. 



From tliu Tciuicsscc Farmer. 

 BEAVlCll Ol' NOUTII AlUKUICA. 



The natural habits of the beaver are topics so 

 generally, though olten so imperfectly handled, 

 that we will rather speak at present of the man- 

 ners which it is found to display in a domestic 

 state, and of one or two other particulars less ge- 

 nerally known. 



We have domesticated certain animals, and 

 most of those only to a certain extent, and are 

 therefore apt to fiuicy that those are the only ani- 

 mals susceptible of domestication, and that they 

 surpass all others in sagacity and companionable 

 aficctions. But there is a very long list indeed, of 

 animals, apparently the last to be thought of for 

 domestication, but which, nevertheless, would 

 please, and be pleased, if they, like others, lay in 

 our bosoms, ate out of our dish, and sal at our 

 firesides, and that would make manifest their un- 

 derstanding, and more than answer our caresses. 

 An example presents itself in the beaver, whose 

 habits in domesticity are pictured by a North 

 American trader. 



" I have kept several beavers," says Hearne, 

 "till they became £0 domesticated as to answer to 

 their name, and to follow those to whom they are 

 accustomed, in the same manner as a dog would 

 do, and they were as much pleased at being fon- 

 dled as any animal I ever saw. In cold weather 

 they were the constant companions of the Indian 

 women and children, and were so fond of their 

 company, that when the Indians were absent lor 

 any considerable time, the beavers discovered 

 great signs of uneasiness ; and, on their return, 

 showed equal marks of pleasure, by fondling them, 

 crawling into their laps, lying on their backs, sit- 

 ting like a squirrel, and behaving like children 

 who see their parents but seldom. In general, 

 during the winter, they lived on the same food aa 

 the women did, and were remarkably fond of rice 

 and plum-pudding : they would eat partridges and 

 fresh venison very fieely, but I never tried them 

 with fish, though I iiave lieard that they will at 

 times prey on them, in fiict, there are fi^w gram- 

 nivorous animals that may not be brought to be 

 carnivorous." 



Of the things usually eaten by the beaver, the 

 same writergives thelbllowing account : — " 'J'heir 

 Ibod consists of a large root, something resembling 

 a cabbage stalk, which grows at the bottom of the 

 lakes and rivers. They also eat the bark of trees, 

 particularly those of the poplar, birch, and willow- 

 but the ice preventing them li'om getting to the 

 land in the winter, they have not any bark to feed 

 on in that season, except that of such sticks as 

 they cut down in summer, and throw into the 

 water opposite the doors of their liouscs ; and as 

 they generally eat a great deal, the roots above- 

 mentioned constitute a principal part ol' their food 

 during the winter. In summer they vary their 

 diet, by eatnig diirereiu kinds of herbage, and 

 such berries as grow near their haunts." 



Beavers having reiurned in considerable num- 

 bers to Nottoway river and its tributaries, Mr. 

 Hufiiii, of the Farmers' Register, suggests the 

 propriety of an experiment to domesticate them, 

 witli a view to the annual procurance of their rich 

 furs, without deslioying iheir lives. As this inof- 

 fensive and valuable animal is rapidly disappear- 

 ing before the stratagems of the trapper, and the 



