4 
Colorado Experiment Station. 
is to be used it will be necessary to make forms for the foundation. Then 
set good straight posts in each corner and at intervals of 14 or 16 feet 
on the inside of the wall. Line and plumb these posts very carefully. 
If desirable, short stakes may be used instead of posts until the walls 
get above the stakes, then these may be replaced by posts as high as 
the walls are to be. Good, straight 2x4 posts are all right. The stakes 
being lined and plumbed carefully, you are ready to begin the wall. 
Now, take your sod plow, select a patch of prairie where the grass 
is thick and tall—if possible, (avoid sandy soil) and plow a thin sod. 
You may plow enough at one time for the entire building, if desired. 
Select a place tor mixing the adobe near your water supply, if possible. 
With small buildings, it may be desirable to mix the adobe in the center 
of the building, but it will not pay unless your building is so located that 
you cannot drive around it. Haul your sod and spread it in a circle 
not to exceed twelve to fourteen feet in diameter. Make the pile 
about eight inches deep. Now, throw water on this pile until you 
think you have enough to wet the whole pile thoroughly. Then, get on 
a horse and lead one or two others (see cut) and make the horses 
tramp around and around, turning very short. If they are allowed 
to go in a larger circle they will avoid stepping on the higher places. 
After you have tramped a few rounds, you will discover dry places in 
the pile. Throw more water on these places, and continue tramping 
and throwing on water until the whole mass is mucky. The pile will 
have a tendency to spread out and some places will be sloppy while 
others are not wet enough. Then, lead your horses out and take a 
manure fork (a six-tined fork is best) and throw the outer edges of the 
mass toward the center, taking care to throw the drier parts to the wet 
places and vice versa. Tramp again, adding water if needed. It is 
usually best to throw the edges in the second time in order to get the 
mass evenly mucked. 
If you have been unable to get sod with plenty of grass and roots 
to form a fiber in the mud you should add a small amount of straw, 
hay or trash of some kind. Spread it over the mass after it is mixed 
as above described and tramp again until the straw is all tramped into 
the mud. When the mass is thoroughly wet and thoroughly mucked, 
and of such a consistency that it can be handled with a manure fork it 
is ready to be put into the wall. Throw this on a wagon or sled, dis¬ 
carding any chunks that have not been mucked, draw it alongside the 
wall and place it in the wall with a fork. Drop it into the wall with 
sufficient force to make it settle together solid, leaving no holes or 
spaces. Make as thick a layer as you can without its spreading out too 
wide. Let it spread over the edge of the wall an inch or two on each 
side. Be sure that the mud comes out to the edge of the wall at all 
