Re: Mud brick nogging:

I measured the Van Der Zee house in Feura Bush this past summer.  The older portion of the house dates to the mid-1750s, and a large addition dates to the first decades of the 19th century.  The wall which divides the two portions of the house is lined with unfired brick, matching that noted by Paul Huey in his house- that is, it appears to be the size of the yellow brick, and is buff in color.  While I didn't note any seeds, the brick clearly had a lot of organics in it- they appeared to be grasses.  The position of the wall (under the stairs to the second floor- original to the older part of the house) suggested to me that it formed part of the 1750s house.  I collected a sample, thinking that it would be good to do analysis on its components at some point....

Walter R. Wheeler
Architectural Historian
Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc.
Rensselaer, NY