158 
AGKICULTUEIST, 
[April, 
The Far-West Pioneer’s Home. 
R. G. NEWTON. 
The first great need of the pioneer settler is a shelter 
of some kind for himself and family. This house will 
depend very mucli on the amount of money on liand and 
the distance lumber has to be brought from the railroad. 
With a few feet of lumber and a little tarred paper one 
Lay the sods grass side up. After a layer is down, fill up 
any holes or spaces with the pieces trimmed off from tlie 
ends. Then with the mallet or the side of the axe go all 
over the course and level it dow’ii, especially on the 
joints. Pill up and pound down any hollow or open 
spaces. Lay three more courses in the same way, break¬ 
ing joints w’ith the course below, carefully pounding 
down every course and filling in with small pieces where 
necessary. The next course should be laid across the 
to which the rafters are nailed. The object of these is 
to fasten the roof down firmly, and prevent the winds 
from lifting it up and carrying it off, as it might do some 
stormy night. After the top of the sods is leveled 
and hammered down, place on the roof, which may be of 
inch boards. Nail them firmly to rafters and plates on 
the side walls, and cover with two thicknesses of tarred 
paper, running them up and down, and lapping the 
joints in each layer about three inches. Lay the paper 
Fig. 1. —A PRAIRIE SOD-HOUSE. Fig. 2. —A LARGER SOD-HOUSE. 
can build a w'arm and comfortable shanty from the ma¬ 
terials to be found on every prairie farm. Sod walls, if 
rightly made, will keep out cold very well. Select a 
piece of level ground, with a good turf—if the grass is 
high it will require mowing—and free from gravel and 
small stones. Set the plow so that it will turn a sod 
about four inches thick and as wide as the plow will cut 
out clean. This should of course be done as near where 
you wish to build as possible. You must have your 
door and window frames all ready before commencing 
the wall. The door frames should be made of two by 
eight joist; two pieces cut thirty inches long and two 
pieces seventy-six inches long. Nail them together 
with spikes or twenty-penny nails, setting a short piece 
at each end between the long ones. This makes a frame 
thirty inehes wide by six feet high inside. On the out¬ 
side of these joist, sides and top, nail a strip three 
or four inches wide on edge-wise about two inches 
from the outside edge. The window frames may be made 
of inch boards ten or twelve inches wide, and such a size 
inside as will nicely fit the sash—the bottom board slant¬ 
ing out to shed rain. The frame requires a strip nailed 
on the top and each side similar to the door frames. In 
laying the sods you will need a hatchet with a blade 
about six inches wide, to cut the sods into lengths; a 
carpenter’s mallet, and an old butcher or case knife. 
Mark out the size of the building inside, set the door 
Fig. 3. —GROUND PLAN OF HOUSE. 
frames in their places, staying them firmly upright, with 
the inside edge flush with the inside wall. Cut the sods 
into lengths about eighteen to twenty-four inches long. 
Lay a course lengthwise as shown in figure 6, fit¬ 
ting the ends closely together by paring them ofl’ with 
the knife when required. Keep the inside edge of this 
course close to the line of the inside of the building. 
Outside of this lay two or more courses, depending on 
the hight of the wall. Four feet wide is none too much 
for a wall eight feet high, unless on a very small building. 
Be careful to fit the courses closely together, and break 
joints with each course. Place one layer all around the 
full width as shown in figure 4. These will be found of 
great service, especially each side of the doors, and may 
be about thirty inches wide and project four to six feet. 
wall to bind the sods firmly together. If the wall is four 
feet wide, cut one piece thirty inches long, the other 
eighteen inches, and lay them as in figure 4. Next lay 
four courses lengthwise, same as at first, carrying up the 
abutments with the wall, until within four inches of the 
bottom of a window. Cut a piece of two by four scant- 
Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 
ling about a foot longer than the width of the window, 
and lay it on the wall so it will come about two inches 
from the outside of the window frame when it is set in its 
place. If the walls project into the room about two 
inciies more than wanted, they may be trimmed off 
smooth when finished. After laying the scantling as di¬ 
rected, place on another layer of sods all around, level 
with top of scantling. Outside of the scantling pound 
the sod down, slanting it towards the outside of the wall, 
so that an inch board laid on will come level with the top 
of the scantling and project about three inches over the. 
wall as in figure 8. This will carry off all water that may 
drive against the window. Set tiie window frames in 
their place and nail them to the board and to the two 
by four pieces. The frames should then be braced, and 
the wall carried to the desired hight. 
When getting up to about two feet of the top it is well 
to take some pieces of one by six, about two and a half 
feet long, and nail them to a piece of two by four, scant¬ 
ling a foot long (see figure 5). Set one of these in each 
corner, as at a in figure 6, also one in each gable end if 
the house is built like figure 1. If the building is sixteen 
feet or more long or wide the pieces may be set in on the 
walls about four feet apart, then carry up the wall to the 
hight wanted, lay a scantling on flat, bringing it up 
tight to the pieces just built in the wall, and nail them 
solidly together, putting the two by six scantling, 
so that the inside edge will come flush with the inside 
of wall. Cut the ends of the sticks off when they project 
above, and lay on another course of sod to bring the wall 
level with top. 
If the house is built as in figures 2 and 3, set in two by 
Fig. 7. —SECTION OF WINDOW. 
six-inch rafters every four feet, setting them up edge¬ 
wise. You can cut down into the wall with a knife after 
it is aUdone, and it will be well to build in some pieces 
over the ends of the roof boards, which should be cut 
off true, and tack on lath or battens every eight inches 
apart, running them up and down. Such a tarred paper 
roof will shed water for a year without any repairs, if 
you have been careful not to cut or tear the paper, and 
if it projects over the sides about a foot, as it should. 
the sod building will stand for a number of years and 
furnish a comfortable shelter for a family. 
After the house is all complete, pare off the sods on 
the outside, so they will look as smooth as a well-laid 
brick wall, using the hatchet for this purpose. The 
wall may be drawn in as it is built up, until it is only 
about half as thick at the top as at the bottom. Pound 
the outside edges of the sods so they will slant down 
and help shed any rain that may strike on them. After 
the inside is all pared off smooth, nail some four-inch 
Fig. 8.—A WINDOW CAP. 
boards up and down, fastening the upper ends into the 
plates or rafters. Saw off blocks about a foot long, 
drive them into the wall about three feet apart and nail 
the strips to these. By tacking on common brown build¬ 
ing paper and pasting old newspapers over this, the inte¬ 
rior is made as neat as if built entirely of wood. Nothing 
short of a cyclone will have any effect on such a sod 
house. Many of the points spoken off may seem small, 
but they all go towards rendering the building wind- 
proof. Stables and out-buildings may be built in the 
same way, saving many dollars in lumber that can prob¬ 
ably be invested to good advantage, by many who will 
make humble homes in the Far-West. 
Prairie Pests. — The prairie settler will find some 
new pests to contend with, when he gets in his new 
home. Among Ihe smallest but not the least trouble¬ 
some, are the field mice, which enter the house at any 
point, where they can find or make a hole to crawl 
through. When I built my shanty, I made it perfectly 
tight and mouse-proof, as I thought, but looking up one 
night I saw a ball of twine roll down from over head. 
