Fig.198 - Corn-cob log for pioneer log cabin with notches cut and marked.
Fresh, green, uncooked corn-cobs from which the corn has been cut and scraped make delightful pioneer log-houses. Cooked cobs are too hard to cut. Choose slender cobs, long ones for the front and back of the house, shorter ones for the sides. Cut a notch, or saw it, if the cobs are dry and hard, on the tops of the ends of each of the two foundation logs ([Fig. 198]). Cut a notch on both top and bottom of each remaining log as indicated by the black lines in [Fig. 198].
Always make a larger notch in the small end of the cob than in the large end, so that the large end of another cob may fit in it; for, when building, it is necessary to place small ends and large ends together, and never two large ends or two small ends, or the house will be unevenly balanced.
Lay the two foundation cobs down parallel to each other and a short distance apart; then bridge across the ends with shorter cobs, fitting the notches into each other. Continue building in this log-cabin fashion until the house is of sufficient height.
On the front of the house draw two straight lines down across the cobs, one for each side of the doorway. Then take your house apart and cut the doorway out from the marked cobs. Rebuild the house, gluing layer upon layer. Make the doorway jambs of straight pieces of corn-stalk, and glue them on each side of the open doorway.
Pioneer log cabin made of corn-cobs.
Before the roof can be added, corn-cobs, graduated in length and without notches, must be laid at each end of the house to support the roof and give it its gable ends. These graduated cobs are the "trap-logs." They rest upon long strips of corn-stalk, called "ribs," which are placed across from one end of the house to the other. Build the roof log-cabin fashion as you built the body of the house, laying a rib between the ends of each layer of graduated cobs, and as you build, fasten the parts together with glue.