The through-pins by which the shuttering rests upon the base wall or on a completed course of Pisé, must be easily withdrawn without injury to the wall.
The shuttering must be easily disengaged and removed from the wall, one side at a time.
The special corner-piece must have some means of rigid attachment to the ordinary shutters on the two meeting walls.
There must be some means of blocking off the shuttering at any desired point, for the forming of door or window openings at any level.
The whole apparatus must be as simple and as fool-proof as possible, and built to stand rough usage and exposure to the weather.
The author has attempted to construct a plant embodying these essentials, and the working drawing and photographs shown will give the reader a tolerable idea of his "Mark V" model.
The thing has, at the moment of writing, only been experimentally tested in one of the London parks. These trials were, however, sufficiently satisfactory to encourage a belief that the new plant will prove a very considerable improvement on the old. It has now been despatched to a site in Surrey, there to undergo the searching and very practical test of being used for the building of a small-holder's house and homestead.
To the second edition of this book a postscript must be added. Since the last paragraph was written, the small-holder's house has come into actual being at Newlands Corner, near Guildford, and has attracted a good deal of attention from the Press, both at home and abroad. It has been inspected by multitudes of people, including a great number of Colonials and prospective Colonists, and by many distinguished persons directly or indirectly concerned with the problems of housing.
That "Good wine needs no bush" may be a true saying, but a novel system of building assuredly needs demonstration, however great its merits. The success of the experiment at Newlands is admitted by all who have made the pilgrimage thither. Often would critics come to scoff and remain to pray. Specially prized amongst the converts is a foreman-bricklayer once openly scornful in his unbelief. Of enthusiasm, perhaps, there has been almost over much; and it has been difficult to restrain the zeal of would-be pisé-builders until the coming of spring, and the return of such weather conditions as the craft might reasonably demand.