The oldest part of our house, built  before 1720 but probably not much
earlier than that, has unfired mud brick nogging in the walls.  This house
was the original De Ridder farm just west of Cohoes Falls, in the area called
the Boght.  That really is 1720, not an error for 1820.

    The bricks are made of unfired clay or mud.  They are especially
interesting because they are the size of small 17th-century Dutch yellow
klincker bricks.  Also, they look yellow or buff colored.  When I did some
insulating, I had to remove a few of them.  Some broken pieces that were left
on the sidewalk got rained on, and they dissolved entirely by themselves into
little mounds of mud.  Carefully looking at the mud, I noticed mixed in were
many small seeds or kernels that looked like kernels of wheat or grain.
These unfired mud bricks were used to fill the walls of the house between the
timber posts of the structure.  Over the inside surface of the wall the
interior plaster was applied, giving an uneven surface.

    I would be interested in knowing of any other examples of this technique
this early.

Paul Huey