38 The Bulletin. 



During' the past summer (1907) I rode for a distance of about fifteen miles 

 tlvrougli a typical farmiug locality in the Piedmont section of the State. As 

 I sat by the car window I made note of the painted and unpaiuted houses 

 along the way, not counting houses which were evidently of negroes. I 

 noted si.xteen unpaintod houses to six painted ones. Now, I do not mean to 

 say that every one of those houses should have been painted, for some of the 

 people are not able to afford it — simply cannot do it — but it does seem to me 

 that a larger proportion might bo painted. In my trips over the State, I fre- 

 quently meet people from the West and North who criticise this slovenly 

 habit of leaving our houses unpainted, and I always excuse it on the ground 

 that the large proportion of negro population, who cannot reasonably be ex- 

 pected to have painted houses as yet, causes the whole country to look back- 

 ward in this respect. This is what I tell them, but we know among our- 

 selves that lots of our white people live in these same untidy houses, and 

 some of them might do better if they only icould: 



SinTOinidiuffs. — Near at hand to this comfortable farm home should be all 

 the things necessary to supply not only the meagre necessities of existence, 

 but something for mere pleasure as well. Immediately around the front 

 there should be, if possible, a good growth of grass on the lawn, rose-bushes, 

 flower-beds, and enough trees to furnish plenty of shade, at the same time 

 not excluding the sun too much. For the cooler sections, where there is 

 sufficient rainfall, as in the higher Piedmont and mountain sections, many 

 yards are nicely sodded with Kentucky blue-grass, and this remains green 

 practically all the year. In the hot, dry, sandy sections the much-despised 

 Bermuda grass will do well for the lawn, though heavy frost kills it down 

 for the winter. The religiously swept, perfectly bare sandy yards so often 

 seen in the eastern section may suit those who have never seen anything 

 else, but they are an eye-sore to those accustomed to a velvety, green sod. 

 The bare yards may do all right, if ive can't do better, but the green sod 

 lawn is better if we can get it. For shade trees there is a great variety 

 offered by the nurseryman, ranging in cost from 25 cents to 75 cents each, 

 and some can no doubt find fine young seedling trees along the borders of 

 forests which they can themselves easily transplant. Among the most desira- 

 ble trees for permanent planting may be mentioned the various varieties of 

 oak, maple and elm. For a very quick grower there is nothing to excel the 

 Carolina poplar, but it is not a good tree for permanent planting. 



In planning the home grounds provision should also be made for the loca- 

 tion of the garden, orchards, and barns for all the farm animals. Strive to 

 have a full variety of vegetables and fruits in their season, and milk, butter, 

 eggs, poultry, etc., all the year round. How many farm homes there are 

 where the table fare is monotonously the same all the year round. 



LITERATURE IN THE HOME. 



The man who has provided a good home in good surroundings and furnished 

 it with the best conveniences he can afford, will surely want to provide books 

 and magazines for family i-eading, and in this matter he cannot afford any- 

 thing but the best. Cheap love-novels, detective stories, sensational stories 

 of murder, robbery, and horrors of all descriptions, had better be cut out. 

 One good daily paper, if you can afford it, at least two good farm papers 

 (whether you think you can afford them or not), one or two monthly or 

 quarterly magazines, all these should be taken if you can possibly afford 

 them. Sometimes your county newspaper can, arrange to get you subscrip- 

 tion to a combination of several periodicals at a greatly reduced rate, or 

 your farm paper can often arrange it for you. Several neighbors may join 

 in a reading club, each taking one or two publications and then exchange 

 from one to another so that all get the benefits. If possible there should 

 also be a good assortment of books on the shelves relating to various outdoor 

 subjects, as well as a few on history, etc. In short, I should want (always 

 remember, // / could afford it) to have at hand the books wherewith my boys 

 and girls might learn something of the flowers, rocks, insects, birds, beasts or 

 other objects around them in which they might find an interest. 



The poor farmer may truthfully contend that all these books, magazines 

 and papers are not for him, that he simply cannot afford to take them. To 



