MAKE HOME ATTRACTIVE. 9 



premises to see that no subtle under-current is gradually 

 destroying the health of yourself and family ? 



While this subject has received so much attention from 

 sanitary committees and physicians in our larger cities, I 

 think it has been very much neglected in our country homes. 

 Have you good ventilation in every apartment of your house ? 

 If not, secure it as soon as possible. Make home pleasant 

 for the children : while they have their books, their papers, 

 and their games for winter, they should also have their 

 croquet-ground, their pet animals, and their flower-garden. 

 Who of us that are older does not remember with pleasure 

 the old cherry, pear, or early apple tree in our father's gar- 

 den ? What boy who has ever owned a pet colt, or a pair of 

 steers, and called them his, if he lives to be a man, and be- 

 comes a farmer, will not love his profession better, and be a 

 better farmer, for having owned them? 



Many a boy has been driven from his paternal home, who 

 would otherwise have staid, and adopted the profession of 

 his father, had not that father, with too close a grasp and 

 too arbitrary a disposition, treated him merely as a hireling, 

 not consulting with him in his plans and purposes, and 

 finally threatening to disinherit him if he should leave his 

 home, and not become a farmer. You fathers who have 

 children grown up to years of discretion, why not lot out 

 your property to them, or at least have it understood what 

 part, in case of your death, each one is to have, — whether of 

 land or money, — that they make improvements upon and 

 take an interest in what is to be theirs, and not feel that 

 only at death will it be released from your tight grasp, and 

 look forward to that event with pleasure rather than with 

 sorrow ? 



Next to the house, the barn should receive special atten- 

 tion. It should be convenient and airy, at the same time 

 tisrlit and comfortable for the domestic animals. There 

 should always be a cellar under it, if practicable. Plenty 

 of dry muck and loam should be on hand to mix with the 

 manure, and absorb the ammonia. Every thing about the 

 premises should be kept sweet and clean. The wash from 

 the house and sink-drain should all be utilized and saved ; 

 mixed with dry earth, it contains very much of fertilizing 

 material. Good water at all seasons of the year is indispen- 

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