Cob: Kind of a cob

[Darel Henman]

I found this delightfully interesting article about a building material
while looking about for moss applications.  The following is a mud
mixture call "bousillage", by the Creols. 

Source:  http://www.nps.gov/cari/adventure/bousillage_make.html

You can make your own bousillage to build with.  Here's what you'll
need:

       2     cups of clay or mud
        1/4  cup of doll hair, animal hair, or people hair
       1     cup of Spanish moss 

Proceudre:
  1. Soak the Spanish moss in hot water for about 1 hour. 
    (note: if you don't have Spanish moss around where you live, you can
use pieces of thread cut into 3 inch strands.)

  2. Mix the moss, mud, and hair together until they are blended pretty
evenly throughout.

  3. Use your bousillage to hold twigs or sticks (even popsicle sticks)
together to make walls, fences, or even an entire house!  

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". The walls were covered with a mud and moss mixture (bousillage) about
six inches thick, then covered on the outside with palmetto. Constant
repairs were needed for their upkeep. They provided little protection in
hurricanes and none during flooding. Some of the elders now living
remember those early houses and said when the mud and moss mixture dried
it was as white as if painted. source:
http://www.biloxi-chitimacha.com/isle_de_jean_charles.htm


Hair sounds good.  I remember Charmaine mentioned that it was used in
earthen plasters. 
Maybe for a larger project to to a beauty parlor (beauty college) or a
dog barber, for materials

Ripped up gunny sacks or old fibre ropes  (burlap, hemp, jute) should
work as well I think.

Darel