Part 2 (1/2)

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PLINY ON PISe DE TERRE

Now for so which I have kept as the _bonne bouche_ of my earthy story At the end of ot it all in his _Natural History_ in six lines! There is no need for more words

”_Have we not in Africa and in Spain walls of earth, known as 'formocean' walls? From the fact that they areearth within a frame of boards, constructed on either side These walls will last for centuries, are proof against rain, wind, and fire, and are superior in solidity to any cement Even at this day Spain still holds watch-towers that were erected by Hannibal_” --_Pliny's ”Natural History,”_ Bk xxxV, chapter xlviii

J ST LOE STRACHEY

Newlands Corner, Surrey

GENERAL SURVEY

Always necessity has been the mother of invention The war has proved her prolific indeed, and her tee are seen in thearray of substitutes for the once cos of our daily life Where necessity has been ly co ”Ersatz” products to replace the vanished originals

At any rate it pleases us to attribute the truly astonishi+ng feats of the Gerreater need rather than to any superior ingenuity or enterprise on their part

That their success was often no more than moderate will be readily admitted by anyone who, for instance, has ars or ration coffee

Still, need did at least awaken prodigious effort, ingenuity, and enterprise--all co-ordinated and concentrated on the business ofdeficiencies

[Headnote: The House Fa the shortage of all the generally recognised building rave Effort, ingenuity, and enterprise in overcoently and vitally necessary to England in Peace as ever they were to Germany in war Little will be said here of the direct and intiood citizens

It is assu this book have at least glanced at the Housing Reports, and drawn certain disquieting conclusions from the criminal and vital statistics hich the case for reforistrar-General said: ”War does not only fill the graves, it also empties the cradles” This is no less true of bad and inadequate housing

Only the most reckless and thick-skinned of the poorer population will adventure on ainst decent and reasonable housing persist as at present

True, ”Housing” is very properly being given considerable prominence in the press, and scarcely a day passes but there appears an article or letter dealing with this question

Usually we are left but little wiser than ere, whilst if we chance to know soue cheerfulness that pervades the is easier or pleasanter or more popular than to make airy pros” that, somehow, are to be prepared for our returned soldiers, and for all those others who are housed miserably or not at all It is very easy to predict and promise, but without adequate materials performance is not merely difficult, it is ie of almost every manufactured or cultivated product; there is also a labour famine, a money famine, and a transport famine

In this country, closely connected with these deficiencies and loo ominously over them all, is, as we have said, our house-famine

To relieve the last in face of the others, and without further aggravating the of the many problems that confront us

Briefly the proble with a minimum expenditure of labour, money, transport, and , so far as rural housing is concerned, the solution h the use of naturalon the site, ht into the fabric of the building, without any elaborate or costly conversion, and that by local labour

”Pise de Terre,” ”Chalk Compost,” and ”Cob” are three alternative forms of construction, one of which will usually fulfil the above conditions in any given situation