Hired in 1916 as South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Extension Service’s first agricultural engineer, Ralph Patty took an ancient construction method, scientifically studied it to benefit the farmers of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã and in turn influenced rammed earth architecture world-wide. Beginning in the 1920s, Patty conducted research on rammed earth construction at South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University to improve poultry barns. The high humidity within poultry barns was causing the birds to die from pneumonia in the winter. Patty built a wood barn, a concrete barn and a rammed earth barn. The only turkeys that survived that winter were the turkeys in the rammed earth building. The building allowed the moisture to transfer out while maintaining a constant temperature.