232 OSTRICH-FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA, 



the cooler the building will be ; whilst a flat roof in this 

 country is only another name for being roasted alive. 



In using cement for tanks or stoops, &c., unless 

 the sand is very good it should be washed in tubs with 

 two or three waters, and then for most purposes one part 

 of cement to three of sand is strong enough ; but for 

 tanks it should be one to two. 



In making bricks on farms the clay is generally 

 tramped with horses or natives, but it is seldom 

 thoroughly done. The best ground is a fair clay, free 

 of brack ; it is brack that ruins half the farm buildings. 

 The price paid is generally 18s. a thousand for burnt 

 bricks, the master finding the wood, and the maker 

 all labour. But it is always best to stipulate only to 

 pay for the bricks when counted out of the kiln, as if 

 not, and if proper attention has not been paid to the 

 burning, when the kiln is opened the number will be 

 far short of what was expected. To burn them j^roperly 

 the man must be up all night to close the weather-eye 

 of the kiln with the shifts of wind ; about three days and 

 nights' burning will make a good kiln. 



A little calculation will tell you how many bricks 

 you require. Allow 130 bricks to a yard of fourteen- 

 inch wall, and 90 bricks to a yard of nine-inch wall. 



