SEPTEMBER 117 



ground on its northern side, and consists of a double 

 dry wall with earth between. An old hedge bank that 

 was to come away was not far off, within easy wheel- 

 ing distance. So the wall was built up on each side, 

 and as it grew, the earth from the hedge was harrowed 

 in to fill up. A dry wall needs very little foundation ; 

 two thin courses underground are quite enough. The 

 point of most structural importance is to keep the 

 earth solidly trodden and rammed behind the stones 

 of each course and throughout its bulk, and every two 

 or three courses to lay some stones that are extra long 

 front and back, to tie the wall well into the bank. A 

 local sandstone is the walling material. In the pit it 

 occurs in separate layers, with a few feet of hard sand 

 between each. The lowest layer, sometimes thirty to 

 forty feet down, is the best and thickest, but that is 

 good building stone, and for dry walling we only want 

 " tops " or " seconds," the later and younger formations 

 of stone in the quarry. The very roughness and 

 almost rotten state of much of this stone makes it 

 all the more acceptable as nourishment and root-hold 

 to the tiny plants that are to grow in its chinks, and 

 that in a few months will change much of the rough 

 rock-surface to green growth of delicate vegetation. 

 Moreover, much of the soft sandy stone hardens by 

 exposure to weather; and even if a stone or two 

 crumbles right away in a few years' time, the rest will 

 hold firmly, and the space left will make a little cave 

 where some small fern will live happUy. 



