COT 



COT 



modes, viz., in the pise manner, by 

 lumps moulded in boxes, and by 

 compressed blocks. Sandy and grav- 

 elly soils may be always made into 

 excellent walls, by tbrming a frame 

 of boards, leaving a space between 

 the boards of the intended thickness 

 of the wall, and fdling this with grav- 

 el mixed with lime mortar, or, if this 

 cannot be got, with mortar made of 

 clay and straw. 



" ' In all cases, when walls, either 

 of this class or the former, are built, 

 the foundations should be of stone or 

 brick, and they should be carried up 

 at least a foot above the upper sur- 

 face of the platform. 



" ' We shall here commence by giv- 

 ing one of the simplest modes of 

 construction, from a work of a very 

 excellent and highly estimable indi- 

 vidual, Mr. Denson, of Waterbeach, 

 Cambridgeshire, the author of the 

 Peasant's Voice, who built his own 

 cottage in the manner described be- 

 low : 



" ' Mode of building the Mud Walls 

 of Cottages in Cambridgeshire. — After 

 a labourer has dug a sufficient quan- 

 tity of clay for his purpose, he works 

 it up with straw^ ; he is then provided 

 with a frame eighteen inches in 

 length, six deep, and from nine to 

 twelve inches in diameter. In this 

 frame he forms his lumps, in the 

 same manner that a brickmaker forms 

 his bricks ; they are then packed up 

 to dry by the weather ; that done, 

 they are fit for use, as a substitute for 

 bricks. On laying the foundation of 

 a cottage, a few layers of brick are 

 necessary, to prevent the lumps from 

 contracting a damp from the earth. 

 The fire-place is lined and the oven 

 is built with bricks. I have known 

 cottagers, where they could get the 

 grant of a piece of ground to build on 

 fur themselves, erect a cottage of 

 this description at a cost of from £15 

 to £30. I examined one that was 

 nearly completed, of a superior o.r- 

 der : it contained two good lower 

 rooms and a chamlier, and was neat- 

 ly thatched with straw. It is a warm, 

 firm, and comfortable building, far 

 superior to the one I live in , and 

 194 



my opinion is that it will last for 

 centuries. The lumps are laid with 

 mortar, they are then plastered, and, 

 on the outside, once roughcast, which 

 is done by throwing a mixture of 

 water, lime, and small stones against 

 the walls before the plaster is dry, 

 which gives them a very handsome 

 appearance. The cottage I exam- 

 ined cost £33, and took nearly one 

 thousand lumps to complete it. A 

 labourer will make that number in 

 two days. The roofs of cottages of 

 this description are precisely the 

 same as when built with bricks or 

 with a wooden frame. Cow-house 

 sheds, garden walls, and partition 

 fence are formed with the same ma- 

 terials ; but in all cases the tops are 

 covered with straw, which thethatch- 

 ers perform in a verv neat manner.' " 



COTTON. The hairs surrounding 

 the seeds of several varieties of Gos- 

 sypium, which are cultivated for the 

 staple in the Southern States of 

 America and elsewhere. 



Varieties. — The most common is 

 the green seed (G. hcrbaceum) or up- 

 land cotton. The black seed, or Sea- 

 Island, is of longer and finer staple, 

 and supposed to be a variety of G. 

 arborcum ; it rises often to eighteen 

 feet, and bears well for four or five 

 years. The Nankin is the variety 

 suited for the manufacture of the im- 

 itation nankin. The Mexican and 

 Pettit Gulf are also upland kinds, 

 and in great favour, especially the 

 last ; they are varieties of G. hirs2i- 

 tum. Aldridge or Okra cotton is a 

 new Alabama variety, growing with 

 very short stalks, tall, and yielding 

 largely. 



Cultivation. — The following by Dr. 

 Philips, from the American Agricul- 

 turist, gives a full account of the 

 management of the upland cotton : 



" If the land was in corn or cotton 

 the previous year, I run olftlie rows 

 in the old water furrow with a short 

 plough, this year using two horses to 

 it, and running deep. With a turn- 

 ing plough I then throw to this two 

 furrows, one from each side, intend- 

 ing to reverse the last beds. 



" I leave the ground in this condition 



