_Trial by Experiment._--"Take a small wooden tub or pail, without a
bottom, dig a hole in the ground of a court or garden, and at the bottom
of that hole fix a piece of stone, flat and level; place your tub upon
the stone, fill around it the earth that has been dug out to make the
hole, and ram it well, that the tub may be enclosed, to prevent its
bursting. Then ram into the tub the earth you mean to try; putting in,
at each time, about the thickness of three or four fingers' breadths:
when this is well rammed, add as much more, and ram it in the same
manner, and so the third and fourth, etc., till the earth is raised
above the brim. This superfluous earth must be scraped off extremely
smooth, and rendered as even as the under-part will be, which lies on
the stone. Loosen with a spade the earth around the tub, and you will
then be able to take it out, and with it the compressed earth that it
contains; then turn the tub upside down, and if it is wider at the top
than at the bottom, as such vessels usually are, the pise will easily
come out, but if it should happen to stick, let it dry in the air about
twenty-four hours, and you will then find that the earth is loose enough
to fall out of itself. You must be careful to cover this lump of pise
with a little board; for though a shower of rain, falling in an oblique
direction, will not injure it, yet it may be a little damaged if the
rain falls perpendicularly, and especially if it remains upon it. Leave
the lump exposed to the air, only covered with a board or flat stone,
and if it continues without cracking or crumbling, and increases daily
in density and compactness as its natural moisture decreases, you may be
sure that the earth is fit for building. But you must remember that it
is necessary that the earth employed should be taken from a little below
the surface of the ground, in order that it may be neither too dry nor
too wet; it must be observed also that if the earth is not well pressed
around the outside of the tub before it is filled, though the hoops were
of iron, they would burst, so great is the pressure of the beaten earth
against the mould, of whatever size it may be."
_The Earth-ball Test--An Experiment which may be made at any
time._--"Every person in walking on his ground may make little balls of
earth and press them as tight as he can between his hands. If he brings
them home and puts marks on them, he will by that means know the quality
of every piece of land, and also be a judge of the mixture it will be
necessary to make."
[Headnote: Preparation of the Earth]