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iVTO'TOTA, GA : 
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€«»(€KBTE,‘OR ARTJ'FICIAE HOl?S 
vj^ answer to.' iery 'Wn y 1 n q^uiries , and sis a prgind e to 
;a inpre . e^tendejd article on this subject hereafter, 
;jfeiie fly f describe tJie\-meAdd:.xit constructing a ;CcEncrete- 
House, such as. we have recently built, and how 'ticcu^^jr 
7* ''^Ist.' LotA^ioN, <fcc.— Selc^ if nosssible, a higfi and.dry 
’htihatlon, and get \ your 'Heavy materials, 'sueh as rbck’j 
"sand, dime, gravel, &ci| on the spot as early iii tfie season 
"as possible I sayhy the' first or middle of J^fay, in, prdler 
that ..you tnay avail yourself of the long, Warm days of 
’ suriimeri for successfully carrying on your ppierafioris. ! 
Materials. —d^he proper waih?7h/5 are 
TCOarse and fine large: and small and, Wat<^r\ 
The lime may be from any godd, pure rimstohe, hhat will 
slack readily and ^^setV^ or harden fhoro'ughly, when' dry ; 
the sand should be^hai-p, and as fi-ee from clay loam, and 
other earthy matter as , possible ; and the Gravel and 
triUiuk tnay h© P:f uny, size, frona -that of a boy’s .piarble,: up 
tp IB inches or two feet square, according ;to, the thick- 
,n^S,of .your.w.aUs, 1.. , , . >,. ■ - ‘ 
3d. FouNDATioN\?-Haying fully anatured yoiir Plani 
' iay 'off - your and eommenee by digging 4 
jtrenclitWo feet wide andawo feet deep, the. area or full 
size pf your outer) walls. With., a heavy piece of hard 
wood, squared or rounded at the lower end, pound or ram 
^^oWh'thh earth in the bottomjof this trench, going’ over it 
repeatedly, mntil il is solid and compact. A layer of hy4 
draulic cement mortar,' two ihches thick, spread evenly 
over the bottom of thO trenches thus compacted, gi\-es 
"you a solid foundation to start on,- as soon as it ^^sctis,” or 
''becomes hard. If you intend, carrying up inside division 
of concrete, the foundation for these should be I'tiid 
in the same way. Good hydraulic cement will take at 
'l^§t three parts of sharp sand; but it must be used^ as 
■'soon ae mixed, or ft 'will “se(tf and become useless. 
4th. Frame and Boxing. — Cut common 3x4 scantling 
two feet longer than you -wish your highest story to be ; 
'set up a double row with the lower end resting firmly 
spon the edge of the hardeny cement in the bottom of 
of the trench; range them "true" ernd “plumb” them; let 
7ting them stand three or four inches farther apart than 
you desire your wall to be in thickness ; then nail cleats 
across, above and below, to keep them in place, adding 
also “stays” or “braces,” driven slantingly into the ground, 
and nailed to the scantling at the upper end. Your skele- 
.ton or frame — work of scantling, being all set up and 
.“stayed” firm and “plumb,” proceed toarrange your “box- 
ing” for holding the concrete, and keeping the walls in 
shape. This is done by cutting sound inch or U ipch 
plahk of 10 inches or a foot wide, so to fit inside of the 
tworows of scantling and fornvtwo sidesr>f a box; tMove- 
able pieces, the thickness'hf the wall are dropped in be- 
tween," at intervals to keep the box of the proper 'yddth; 
and wedges driven in between the boxing and the^cant- 
ing, on the outside, prevent it spreading by the pr^sure 
of the concrete. Wooden “clamps,” to slip down, here and 
there, over the upper edges of the box, will also be fpund 
very servkeable. " . — 
5th. MixiNd Concrete, Laying- -fp, -willbe 
wfell to have at least four large mortar beds, one on 'each 
side of the fiduse, made of strong plank, in the Usual way. 
These should be surrounded by casks of Water i(oil casks 
cut in two, are excellent); piles of rock, sand, gravel; '&c, 
—the ifme of course,- to be kept under cover.andused as 
Wanted. Slack up your lime until it forms a thin, smoothe 
creamy mass, then add four or five parts of clean, sharp 
sand, stirriiig and mixing constantly, and 'msing water 
sufficiently to bring the Whole, when thoroughly tming led, 
to the consistency of 'a ’thick batter. Into this ‘‘Batter,” 
mix coarse and- fine gravel (that has previously: Been 
screened and well dampened) until the mass -is -thick 
enough to be lifted oh' a cOmmon shovel, '[Thed proper 
and careful ftiixihg of -the sand with the- lime,; - and the 
gravel with the fndrtar afterwards, is very importanVund 
should - only be entrusted' to your most careful hands.] 
'Having one dr two “beds,” full of ' this mixture^ you .are 
rteady to begin your wall. Wheel the mortar to the&iun- 
datidh in common Tail road wheelbarrows, letting the 
'commoiVbands shovel it into the bottom of-the tcenehes,. 
while the superintendant oT “boss” -workmam-spreads it 
evenly with his trowel. When the bottom layer oftnor- 
tar, 3 ihehes thick, is laid in, wheel large and sinalhrock 
(previously sprinkled with water) to the wall, rmd press 
it' into the soft mortar at every available point, leaving a 
small space- between each piece of rock, and working tiie 
soft mortar 'against the plank boxing, to preserve a 
smoothe surface on the wall. When you can press mo 
more rock into the mortar, pour another layer- of the lat- 
ter' Oder and through the rock, then add a layer of rock 
ds before, arid so on, Until yOur boxing all round is full. 
You have now 10 inches or a foot of wall,- allround, built ; 
arid if the lime is good and the weather dry^.it will be 
hard enough in 24 hours,' to raise your boxing another 
tiefi This is readily done by knocking out the wedges^ 
between the plank and the scantling, raising.' up tihe plank 
and sustaining it implace by “cleats” nailed on the scant- 
ling. In raising the boxing, begin at the -point where- 
you comlnenced layingiup ihe day previous, as that por- 
tion of the wail -Willvof-Gourse, be the hardesL It is not 
necessary to fai§Q,< 2 ^(.t,hefkP^iug at once, or go entirely 
around the, waj.l in a day^: ^ A foot or yard of the wall can 
be completed at a time, if advisable ; but if the complete 
, round can be made, so much the better. Planks to cover 
up with, ip case of a sudden shower, or wht-.n a storm is 
apprehended, should , be provided, and placed within 
reach. •n; ' 
6th, General-Details, Floors, Windows. Doors, &c. 
— 'We prefer a cement floor for a basement, on many ac- 
cGunts; but those whb desire a wooden floor, should 
leave air-holes in the .outer walls, under the lower floor, 
six inches above the surface. This maybe easily done, 
by inserting wedge-shaped blocks or pins through the 
wall, to be knocked. out afterwards. When you are leady 
to lay the floors, level up your walls and run one course 
of brick ail around, the thickness of the wall, for the 
ends of the flooring-joists to rest on— Ailing in around 
these ends with concrete, when they are ft.-ced in tlieir 
proper places. The door and window frames should be 
made gf 3-inch yellow pine, the full thickness or width o! 
the walls, and may be set up and built around, like those 
in a brick house, as the wall progresses. A piece of com- 
mon inch plank, “cut in” all around them, to prevent the 
