628 State Board of Agricultdre, &c. 



ing, sometimes both, and from anything heard at his table, 

 — we always ate witli tlie family, — you could not tell what 

 the men were doing. Yet after dinner they all slipped 

 quietly out, and went about their business. That man's 

 help always had the name of doing well for him. There 

 was always an air of cheerfulness nnd respectability all 

 around there. 



Give the hired men a scraper, mat, and broom for their 

 boots. How often do they come up to the house for their 

 meals, from some muddy place where they have been at 

 work, and look in vain for either. I am sorry to say there 

 is once in a while a man who inclines to mud, but most 

 men would be neat and clean if they could. 



Tliere are few ladies who will not notice a muddy boot 

 when it comes into their dining-room. If the wife has suc- 

 ceeded in making her husband neat and tidy in his habits, 

 she can make liim furnish tools for cleaning the hired 

 men's boots. 



Give the men also good conveniences for washing, wiping 

 and combing. Such conveniences cost but little, and the 

 men will feel better, look better, and do enough better to 

 pay for them ten times over. Think of half a dozen men 

 waiting to get at one little greasy skillet to wash in, and 

 then takinsc their turn at a hand's breadth of towel that 

 used to be dry and clean. 



Allow me to tell a bit of pleasant experience relating to 

 this branch of the subject. John and I worked for a far- 

 mer once. John is a fellow mason. The farmer wasn't 

 rich, but he was able to furnish a large maple block to set 

 the wash -dish on, castile soap, a pailful of warm water for 



