692 BOARD OF AGRICUI/rUKE. 



plow and corn binder, etc. Tlieu is tliere any reason wliy the wife should 

 not have a good sewing machine, washer and wringer and a first-class 

 cream separator? While the cost of these articles is insignificant when 

 compared with machinery to lie used on the farm, yet they are just 

 a.s essential to the health and comfort of the family, and every ^Yife 

 should rightly demand her share of household conveniences, feeling con- 

 fident that she rightfully and lawfully deserves them. 



MAKING FARM HOMES ATTRACTIVE. 



J. 0. GARR, KOKOMO, IND. 



[Read before Howard County Institute, January 25, 1902.] 



There is a greater call now than ever before for men and women of 

 brains and business ability to own and manage the farms of this country. 

 The gi'owing scarcity of good lands and the -advance in the price of farm 

 products has placed the productive farm at a high value, and more careful 

 tillage and skillful management is required to make a 5arm investment 

 profitable. 



Heretofore the best talent of the farm has been drawn from to sup- 

 •ply the profession, and the various I)ranches of trade, and it now becomes 

 necessary to consider the best. means of keeping the bright boys and girls 

 from leaving the old home. 



The young people, on going to high school or college, are charmed by 

 the activities of city life. They have access to homes of culture and re- 

 finement, and, looking back on the old farm life, it seems too dreary and 

 monotonous. To obviate this we must change some of our farm methods, 

 make farm life more attractive, and demonstrate to our children that all 

 the brains necessary for the professions, all the shrewdness, tact, and 

 business acumen of mercantile life can find abundant room for use in .the 

 management of the farm. 



There is no better w;iy to cultivate a love for home tlian to mal<e it 

 l)eautiful and nttrMctivc: ;iiid in this mjittci- there is I'oom for v;ist im- 

 provement in om" country lioines. It is no excuse to say (tne li:is not the 

 means to apply to such work, foi' tlic liunil»lest liomc can l)e made. to look 

 better by a little laltor and tact; and the i)lnin('st cottage, with neat sur- 

 roundings, often presents a cliarniing picture to tlie piisserl)y. 



The ordinary farmer is, of necessity, his own nicliitect and landscape 

 gardener. His limited means are so sorely needed elsewhere, that he can 

 devote but little for ornamental purposes, and yet, with his labor and 

 natni'al resources, much c;in 1>e done witli that little. 



