LECTUKES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 343 



aud count the cost? Ought it not to be our first duty to provide for the 

 developmetit of a true home, where may be found the graces, accomplish- 

 ments, and qualities of mind that constitute ideal manhood? 



The farmer has many advantages that aid to make the perfect home. His 

 is a home removed to a large extent from the evil influences ever lurking 

 around and making deep inroads of blight into that of the most guarded and 

 cultured city home. Again, there is much time for quiet thought and medita- 

 tion. And, above all, there is that development of the physical man so essen- 

 tial to the intellectual. The farm is the work-shop that furnishes the iron con- 

 stitutions which, combined with culture and intelligence, make the ideal man. 

 From the free, bracing, health-giving atmosphere of the farm have been 

 reared the foremost men in trade, manufacture, and the professions. It has 

 nurtured the youth of the noblest statesmen of the nation. Men whose strong 

 constitutions enabled them to battle heroically and successfully in life's field 

 of action. 



It lies with us farmers whether we will improve these advantages. May we 

 not add to strong frames cultivated and refined minds, thus realizing the high- 

 est, noblest state to which man may attain? Are we Justifiable, then, in idly 

 excusing ourselves for not providing and using all those means that contribute 

 to an ideal farmer's home? One where peace reigns; love for the good, true, 

 and beautiful abound ; and where intellect, that powerful agent in society, is 

 administered to, yielding an abundant harvest of rich thought. 



Let us then be astir. Eradicate foul weeds that may be choking that good 

 crop the home is designed to bring forth. Let in the sunshine of kindness 

 and love, dispelling the blight of discordant words and deeds. Plant the seeds 

 of honesty aud uprightness. Finally, provide nourishing food for the symme- 

 trical development of both mind and body. A rich reward awaits our every 

 elfort in this field of labor. The blessings of society, the State and the nation 

 will be showered upon us, and we shall have contributed to the rich store of 

 knowledge and refinement that marks the onward march of civilization. 



WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR STRAW? 



BY GEORGE L. SHELDON, OF CLIMAX. 

 [Read at Galesburg Institute.] 



I think you will all agree with me, that dry straw is the most valuable. In 

 that case, if this paper proves rather dry and uninteresting, remember that 

 the subject assigned me must be a dry one. There are several kinds of straw : 

 oat, barley, wheat, and rye ; their nutritive value in the order named. To 

 feed, wheat chaff is twice as valuable as the straw; oat and barley chafE are 

 not quite equal to their straw, by analyses which have been made. The writer 

 thinks that there is but one answer to this question, " What shall we do with 

 our straw?" And that is to convert it into as rich manure as possible. 



We, as farmers of Michigan, must grow larger crops per acre each year, in 

 order to compete with the West. Barnyard manure is the cheapest and best 

 mode of doing this, and our straw stacks, when properly handled, afford the 

 best means of making this desired increase in our crops. English farmers 



