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The preparation of the land before the erection of the house was an important
part of the buUding process as it provided the materials used in constmction. It was
necessary first to remove the trees from the mountain slopes, uproot aU the tree
stumps, level the area to be built on, remove the stones and eradicate the weeds and
bushes. The area thus became grassland and suitable for feeding small numbers of
cattie. The stones were piled up ready for use in the walls and the tree tmnks set aside
for the roof rafters, beams and the hayloft. Dried branches and twigs were used for
firing the stones to get quicklime, the mortar used to hold the stones together.
(Sometimes the quicklime was kept for years in underground holes which had been
Uned wdth clay.) A stone stable, which later became the basis for the house, was
constmcted first followed by a kitchen, cheese-room and other working areas.
Appended at the sides and (later on) above were the family's bedrooms, A loggia
(open gaUery) could be attached to the property to house the agricultural products for
drying, along wdth an area for storing the wood and a hayloft.*^
In AustraUa the Italian speakers built and uesigned similar homes, making only
those adaptations which a different climate and geography demanded. The Selection
Acts of the 1860s (cf above Settiing section) enabled them to acquire suitable blocks
of land and they discovered the Jim Crow region rich in sandstone and Umestone, both
good buUding materials. They immediately set about the arduous task of clearing their
land, accumulating the waste stones and tree stumps for the building process. Next
they dug a hole for the cellar, lining it with the waste stones. Many such cellars are
still to be seen around the Daylesford district, providing evidence of superb dry-stone
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