permaculture

[Jeffrey Newman <newman@bcinternet.net>]

Sonja Brodt wrote:

> I recently spent one year in rural India studying village tree management,
> and noticed that villagers use cowdung as "stucco" for their houses.

> They gather the dried cowdung paddies from the streets and where ever else

> they find them.  It seems that they mixed these with some water to make a
> thick paste which was then spread in a thin layer on walls.  I believe
> they also use this same material to make a paved area in front of their
> houses to make a clean area (it is firm when it dries and thus easy to
> sweep) for guests to sit, women and children to do housework, and so on.
> Cowdung is considered clean for such uses and it is often the job of young
> children to gather it.  A new layer is often added to houses right before
> important festivals.

Ditto in South Africa among the Bantu for their hut floors. I've been in a 
number and
it is sweet-smelling, warm and pleasant to the touch. No-one, even amongst 
the more
sophisticated white community mentioned dangers of plague-like flu. The only 
problem
I remember was insects eventually eating their way through and therefore 
these floors
are traditionally replaced every few years.

Jeffrey

                       *******************************

Jeffrey Newman
My personal web site is at     http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/5759/

My ICQ number is: 9879310