THE FARM AND THE HOME. 



87 



The influences of a home surrounded by tastefully arranged trees, 

 shrubbery and flowers, is not confined to the inmates of that home, 

 but extends through the community, and to every passer-by. Do 

 not say that 3-ou cannot afford time for these things, that they will 

 not pay. You certainly cannot afl^ord to have ^our children alienated 

 from you — from the old homestead and farm. If, by your inatten- 

 tion and neglect, you suffer them to be drawn away from you and 

 from their childhood's home, j'ou will find plenty of time for regret. 

 Parents who will, may interest their children and develop a love of 

 home that will grow and strengthen through all their future years. 



There is nothing that will bind a family more closely to each other 

 and to their home, than a united effort in search of knowledge, and 

 in collecting and arranging all the available loveliness of nature and 

 art within and around the home. Children also need recreation and 

 amusement. Let these be, as much as possible, within the refining 

 influences of home. Every consideration, for the well-being and 

 happiness of our children, demands that we do not force them from 

 us in search of pleasure. Frequent family excursions to the sur- 

 rounding fields and forests, family or neighborhood picnics, in some 

 favorite grove by the brook or lakeside, will be found delightful and 

 entertaining sources of present amusement, and pleasant memories 

 to recall in after-life. The social influences are important aids in 

 moulding youthful character — aids too much neglected in the past ; 

 but happily the light of improvement is dawning in this, as in many 

 other matters connected with the advancement of rural life. 



The social feature of the Grange, that noble order which eml)races 

 much of possible good for the j-eomanry of our land, is sowing- 

 seeds of social reform in rural life, from which we and our children 

 shall reap a harvest of blessings. 



Farmers, as a class, are not familiar with the sciences that teach 

 a true system of agriculture. They fail to work in harmony with 

 nature's foi'ces. The}- often labor in ignorance and so reap the 

 ■wages of ignorance. Worn and weary and disheartened by the 

 meager returns of misdirected effort, they become discouraged and 

 lose all hope and ambition beyond supplying immediate wants. In 

 this class of homes children find but little encouragement. Tlun' 

 toil on in the monotonous round of drudgery-, until life's visible hori- 

 zon is bounded onl}- by work. 



The future prosperity of agriculture demands that farmers provide 

 the best possible educational advantages for their children. It is 



