First erect two forked uprights and then steady them with two braces.

Next, lay four more logs or sticks for the side-plates with their butt ends on the ridge-pole and their small ends on the ground.

Support these logs by a number of small uprights—as many as may be necessary for the purpose. The uprights may have forks at the top or have the top ends cut wedge-shaped to fit in notches made for that purpose in the side-plates as shown by A.

The shortest uprights at the end of the roof should be forked so that the projecting fork will tend to keep the roof logs from sliding down. The roof is made by a number of straight rafters placed one with the butt in front, next with the butt in the rear alternately, so that they will fit snugly together until the whole roof is covered.

The sides are made by setting a number of sticks in a trench and slanting them against the roof; both sides, front and rear of the building, should project six inches above the roof in order to hold the sod and dirt and keep it from sliding off.

Up in the woods you must not expect to find green, closely cropped lawns or even green fields of wild sod in all places. Although in some parts the grass grows taller than a man’s head, in other places the sod is only called so by courtesy; it normally consists of scraggy grass thinly distributed on gravel and sand, loose soil, and consequently the sod must be secured by having the walls project a little above the rafters all around the building.

During the summer this roof will leak, but then you can live in a tent; but when cold weather comes and the sod is frozen hard and banked up with snow, a sod house makes a good, warm dwelling.

KNOTS AND ROPE WORK

Before taking up the matter of knots in detail, it may be well to take a look at cordage in general. Cordage, in its broadest sense, includes all kinds of rope, string, twine, cable, etc., made of braided or twisted strands.

In making a rope or line (A) of hemp, jute, cotton, or other material the lines are loosely twisted together to form what is technically known as a “yarn” (B). When two or more yarns are twisted together they form a “strand” (C). Three or more strands form a rope (D), and three ropes form a cable (E).

To form a strand, the yarns are twisted together in the opposite direction from that in which the original fibers were twisted; to form a rope the strands are twisted in the opposite direction from the yarns of the strands, and to form a cable each rope is twisted opposite from the twist of the strands. In this way the natural tendency for each yarn, strand, or rope to untwist serves to bind or hold the whole firmly together.

Rope is usually three-stranded and the strands turn from left to right or “with the sun,” while cable is left-handed or twisted “against the sun” (E). Certain ropes, such as “bolt-rope” and most cables, are laid around a “core” (F) or central strand and in many cases are four-stranded

The strength of a rope depends largely upon the strength and length of the fibers from which it is made, but the amount each yarn and strand is twisted has much to do with the strength of the finished line.

Roughly, the strength of ropes may be calculated by multiplying the circumference of the rope in inches by itself and the fifth part of the product will be the number of tons the rope will sustain. For example, if the rope is 5 inches in circumference, 5 X 5 = 25, one-fifth of which is 5, the number of tons that can safely be carried on a 5-inch rope.

To ascertain the weight of ordinary right hand rope, multiply the circumference in inches by itself and multiply the result by the length of rope in fathoms (six feet) and divide the product by 3.75. For example, to find the weight of a 5-inch rope, 50 fathoms in length: 5 X 5 = 25; 25 x 50 = 1,250; 1,250 ÷ 3.75 = 333.33 lbs. These figures apply to Manila or hemp rope, which is the kind commonly used. Cotton rope is seldom employed except for small hand-lines, clothes-lines, twine, etc.

For ease in handling rope and learning the various knots, ties, and bends, we use the terms “standing part,” “bight,” and “end.” The Standing Part is the longest part of the rope; the Bight is the part curved or bent while working or handling; while the End is that part used in forming the knot or hitch. Before starting work, the loose ends or strands of a rope should be whipped to prevent the rope from unraveling. It is a wise plan to whip the end of every rope, cable, or hawser to be handled.

To whip a rope-end, take a piece of twine or string and lay it on the rope an inch or two from the end, pass the twine several times around the rope, keeping the ends of the twine under the first few turns to hold it in place, then make a large loop with the free end of twine, bring it back to the rope and continue winding for three or four turns around both rope and end of twine, and then finish by drawing the loop tight by pulling on the free end.

All knots are begun by loops or rings commonly known as necks.

These may be either overhand or underhand, and when a seizing or fastening of twine is placed around the two parts where they cross, a useful rope ring known as a Clinch is formed.

If the loose end of the rope is passed over the standing part and through the neck, you have made the simplest of all knots, known as the Overhand Knot.

The Figure-Eight Knot is almost as simple as the overhand.

Just a step beyond the figure-eight and the overhand knots are the Square and Reefing knots. The square knot is probably the most useful and widely used of any common knot and is the best all-around. It is very strong, never slips or becomes jammed, and is easily untied. To make a square knot, take the ends of the rope and pass the left end over and under the right end, then the right over and under the left.

Learn the simple formula of “left over right, and bring it under” then “right over left, and bring it under,” and you will never make a mistake and form the despised Granny. The true Reef Knot is merely the square knot with the bight of the left or right end used instead of the end itself. This enables the knot to be “cast off” more readily than the regular square knot.

Neither square nor reef knots, however, are reliable when tying two ropes of unequal size together. For under such conditions they will frequently slip and sooner or later will pull apart. To prevent this, the ends may be tied or seized.

A better way to join two ropes of unequal diameter is to use the Open-hand Knot. This knot is quickly and easily made and never slips or gives, but it is rather large and clumsy.