Art. IX.] Herrick-Johnson, Geology of the Albuqucrque Sheet. 231 
In the mountains east of the city is found an abundance 
of granite building rock that is used for foundations but it is so 
hard that the difficulty of dressing it prohibits its use in any- 
thing but ordinary rubble work and door sills. Sandstone may 
be obtained in any quantity and of various qualities and colors 
within a comparatively short radius from the city. 
As to the brick problem, it has not yet been solved to the 
satisfaction of those who have given long years to the faithful 
study of the clays and the best way of mixing them and the 
drying and burning of the brick. Most of the brick buildings 
are built of a hand made mud brick, the fuel for burning being 
wood. There are some buildings faced with a handsome pressed 
brick, brought from either Kansas City or Golden. A sample 
of Santa Fe brick has been shown here but at this date there are 
no completed buildings made from it. Socorro bricks are coming 
more into favor because of the improvement in the evenness of 
their color. They have always received the highest award as a 
hard, homogenous, well-burnt brick, but the uneven color has 
been against them. Once this is overcome they will furnish as 
fine a building material as could be asked for. 
Adobe is made from a clay that is wet and pressed into 
moulds, the usual size being 4x8x16 inches. They are turned 
from the moulds upon the ground and sun dried. Sometimes 
straw is put into the mud. These adobes are laid up, for the 
most part, in mud mortar and plastered over with the same ma- 
terial ; but in some cases they are laid up in lime mortar and 
plastered. The outside walls are made 16 inches thick while 
the inside partitions are laid the eight inch way. 
A good supply of fresh burnt lime can be had from kilns 
near the city and any standard brand of plaster can be obtained 
through local dealers. Frame houses, properly built are very 
comlortable and durable but where the siding is put directly on 
the studs and the sills rest on posts the result is a very hot 
summer house and a cold winter one. In brick veneer 
houses the same may be said, that is, if properly constructed 
they make a fine appearing structure and are perfectly solid ; 
the unseemly cracks showing in some cases are due to faulty 
