Cob: soil tests

[Darel Henman]

We have all hear of the jar method to get an idea of how much clay is
present.  

If the contents were allow to dry and shrink the idea would be more
accurate, but the jar method is an 
easy one and available to us all.

Another method I heard of for determing a desirable characteristic in a
soil for a wall is its ability to not break down easily in water.   A
handful of the soil to be used would be squeezed into a ball and it
placed in a bucket or some container of water to see how well it will
stand up to pure saturation.

Does anyone have any other handy test ideas.

Later we should discus, how to fix soil that isn't suitable for a good
strong cob as it is.

Darel