16 RANCHING IN THE CANADIAN WEST 



or less all over the prairie country) pressed well in on 

 both sides with a trowel. Cow-dung, mixed into a 

 thick paste with water, and put into the crevices, 

 also makes a good chinking material, which dries 

 hard, but it requires more frequent renewal than 

 the other two processes I have named. The very 

 best composition I know for this purpose is made 

 by using equal quantities of wood-ashes and quick- 

 lime to three times the amount of sand, mixing it 

 well together with salted water, to the proportion of 

 1 pound of coarse salt to a gallon of water, which 

 must be applied at once. It soon dries almost as 

 hard as concrete, and lasts for a great length of time- 



The easiest " shack " (hut or cabin) to build, and 

 decidedly the most economical — to say nothing of its 

 being the warmest — is that constructed from large 

 sods cut out of the prairie and piled up to the desired 

 height, on the same principle as the majority of the 

 poorer farms in Iceland. Banking earth up round 

 it to 3 or 4 feet high will insure additional warmth in 

 winter, as well as coolness in summer. Take care, 

 though, to leave sufficient space for door (or doors) 

 and windows, as well as a hole for the stove-pipe to 

 pass through, in the process of building, either with 

 logs or turf. 



Another system which I can recommend the man 

 to whom money is an object, and who does not want 



