"I have followed the author you mention in the pizé buildings I have constructed. The foreman of my carpenters is a very intelligent man, and after frequently reading to him what appeared necessary for him to know, he made the frame & piroirs with great skill, & proceeded to build a large barn, the walls of which he completed with about 5 hands, in a day less than a month to the best of my recollection. He may sometimes have had a hand or two more than I have mentioned. Believing it to be almost impossible for dry dirt to be formed into a compact wall, we sprinkled the dirt with some water, but a longer experiment has proved that we were wrong. I have since built another barn, an ice House above ground, two Porter's Lodges & a green House 50 feet by 18, Just covered in, without having ever moistened the dirt in the slightest degree. We have in some instances used clay & in others a soil more mixed with sand; the latter we found the best. Johnson however is full upon this part of the subject. A stone or brick foundation is absolutely necessary, and not only so, but it should be laid 2 or 3 feet below the surface, as otherwise, the great weight of the wall would cause it to settle & might occasion cracks. We put a layer of about 4 Inches of dirt at a time into the frame, which is beaten with the piroirs until no further impression can be made—then another layer & so on till the frame is full.

     Thus, my dear Sir, I have endeavored to answer all your questions, & it will give me pleasure to afford to your friends any further information in my power. I wish to hear of these buildings becoming common in our state. They are so cheap that I make them sometimes in order to give employment to my carpenters, and they must be comfortable for dwelling Houses, being cool in summer & warm in winter. What houses can be better suited for the habitation of our negroes?"