No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 325 



HOME. 



BY MISS ANNA B. ROUGEBS, Mexico. Pa. 



READ AT PORT ROYAL INSTITUTE, JUNIATA CO., Feb. 6, 1901. 



It has been said tliat Mother, Home and Heaven are the three 

 sweetest words in the English language. Be that as it may, the 

 v.orld is full of precious words, grand thoughts and uoble deeds. 

 Life is broad, comprehensive and complex, yet all the interests of 

 human life centers in the home. It is the centre and circumference 

 of our existence. 



It ie for the betterment of our country homes that all these ques- 

 tions of dairying and farming are being discussed here, and every 

 question of public or private policy should be weighed as to its re- 

 lation to the country home. Every advantage within reach of the 

 home must be laid hold of. 



First of all, the home must be worthy of its sacred name. The 

 memories of home are never forgotten. No after-separation can de- 

 stroy the love of brother or sister. The prayer learned at the 

 mother's knee is never forgotten in manhood or old age, and the 

 memories of home come to the soldier in his dreary night watch on 

 the battlefield, in the hospital, or dying at his post. 



A lost home can never be replaced. No public halls, no scenes of 

 pleasure can ever fill that gap, and so we should all try to be cheerful 

 and kind in our homes. We know that cheerfulness is not only a 

 blessing to ourselves and others, a valuable social quality, but a posi- 

 tive duty we owe to our family, our friends and acquaintances. All 

 may possess it. It is the germ that will enrich talent and beauty. 

 Cheerfulness brightens the home. The gloom and shadows that 

 pass over the mind makes us miserable, but the influence of cheerful- 

 ness in the home passes over it like pleasant summer breezes, 

 making creation glad. Our homes would be cold and desolate were 

 they not warmed by the genial, sunny rays of cheerfulness. 



Kindness in the home is another important thing. It will go fur- 

 ther and yield more happiness in this world than all the haughtiness 

 we can assume. A kind, sympathizing word falls like oil upon the 

 I'uffled w^aters of the human breast. 



Every kind act we bestow will have its influence, and eternity will 

 reveal it. Let us cherish then the kind heart, full of love for our 



