. Industries of to-day. used in place of kiln-seasoned bricks and stone, and for many purposesfor which lumber is used in a wooded , for instance, are largely made of adobes;corrals, gardens, orchards, yards, churches, schools,and convents are inclosed by walls built of adobes. These mud walls are often seen with cactiplanted thickly on their tops, as a double securityagainst thieves and other trespassers. When cactiare not easily procurable, the walls are defendedby broken glass bottles imbedded in the topround of bricks before they are thoroughly dry. On lines where protection
. Industries of to-day. used in place of kiln-seasoned bricks and stone, and for many purposesfor which lumber is used in a wooded , for instance, are largely made of adobes;corrals, gardens, orchards, yards, churches, schools,and convents are inclosed by walls built of adobes. These mud walls are often seen with cactiplanted thickly on their tops, as a double securityagainst thieves and other trespassers. When cactiare not easily procurable, the walls are defendedby broken glass bottles imbedded in the topround of bricks before they are thoroughly dry. On lines where protection is not called for Ihave seen the tops of these fences picturesquelyornamented with bright flowering plants, such asscarlet and yellow cacti, the wild sunflower, theSpanish bayonet, and the Mexican lily. [98] Adobe and its Uses When a house is to be built, an addition to bemade to one, an oven or a fireplace to be shaped, ora piece of ground to be inclosed, the enterprisingMexican assembles his helpers as at a primitive. Making Adobe house-raising. The first move is to spade up a patchof ground, often a portion of his own front , as an act of friendliness, the adobemaker gets permission to spade up a neighborsyard or a vacant lot near the building site. Industries of To-Day The ground being well broken, water is broughton and the mixing is begun. As the surfacebefore the breaking was in all probability butcarelessly swept, many bits not essential to goodbricks get mixed in the mud, — bits of glass, stone,pottery, tin, wire, chips, rags, etc. But it is notin the purpose of the adobe makers to use othermaterials than water and the soil everywherefound. There is a little preliminary mixing with hoeand spade, but shortly the workers strip to thewaist, bare the feet, roll above the knees whateverthere may be of trousers legs, and walk bravelyinto the mud. Standing in the brown mixture ofprecisely his own color, the expressionless, statu-esque Mexican might by an easy
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