228 OSTRICH-FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



farmer's homestead, if he has lived there any length 

 of time, will give you a very good idea of his farming 

 powers. 



But bricks and mortar are often a synonym for 

 ruin, and it is only by bearing in mind that building 

 to accommodate animals means laying one's money out 

 to be reproduced, whilst building an unnecessarily good 

 dwelling-house means money sunk not to return again, 

 that regret in the future will be avoided. To the farmer 

 the quality of the sheds, stable, rearing-rooms, &c., 

 should be of far greater moment than the quality and 

 size of the dwellinof-house. 



"When buildings of any extent are to be erected, by 

 far the cheapest and best method is to have plans and 

 specifications drawn by an architect, instead of the 

 common j^lan with farmers of going to work on a half- 

 formed idea, or letting some builder undertake to build 

 a house of so many rooms, with possibly no stipulation 

 as to the thickness of the walls, the amount of timber to 

 be used in the roof, the size and quality of the windows 

 and doors, or the hundred and one things that go to 

 make up the difference in the quality of the house, and 

 which, if not defined, must lead to disputes in which 

 the farmer will be worsted^ and will have to pay far 

 more than he could have got it done for if there had 

 been a full and definite contract in the first instance. 



