572 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



NEAT HOME SURROUNDINGS. 



Wallaces' Farmer. 



At the Round-up Institute held at KauKauna, Wisconsin, recently Del- 

 bert Utter read a paper on the value of neat home surroundings, as follows: 



''Our reputation as individuals, or as communities, for thrift, culture, 

 and character, depends largely upon our home surroundings. The passerby, 

 be he neighbor or stranger, forms his opinion of us by observing how well 

 our roads are constructed and maintained; how well our fields are fenced 

 and cultivated, and how well our live stock is bred and housed. He notes 

 with particular interest how our buildings are located and arranged and our 

 manner of planning and caring for our home grounds. 



' 'The influence of good home surroundings, exterior as well as interior, 

 has an appreciable effect upon our lives, and has much to do with forming 

 the habits and molding the characters of our boys and girls. The boy or 

 girl brought up where thrift, order and refinement is noticeable on every 

 hand, will be more likely to choose farming as an occupation than where 

 conditions are the opposite, and the boys or girls who choose some other 

 cccupation, as many of them must, will leave the farm with a better train- 

 ing and with a love for the home that will make them stronger and better 

 men and women, and they will look upon the old homestead as the dearest 

 spot on earth. 



"Financially considered, the improvement of the appearance of one's 

 home is a good investment, as the prospective purchaser of a farm will be 

 attracted to a locality where there is an appearance of thrift and the home 

 grounds are well laid out and kept in a neat and tidy manner, and he will 

 pay more for a farm than he would where such conditions do not exist. 



"The farmer is largely a creature of circumstances — he is seldom a 

 chooser of his home; he may be heir to the old homestead or may be 

 obliged to purchase according to his ability to pay. As a consequence, 

 buildings have been located and built by others, often with little regard to 

 appearance, and ofttimes with little attention to convenience. 



''The early settler had little thought towards beautifying his home; his 

 whole intent and purpose was in making the land available for the growing 

 of crops; his whole energy and strength was applied to the destruction of 

 the forests. Every tree seemed an enemy to be ruthlessly cut down, 

 and, as a consequence, he has not a love and appreciation of what nature 

 had done to beautify his home. The result is a barrenness about some of 

 our Wisconsin homes that gives the traveler a bad impression of farm life. 

 The generation that follows the pioneer has more time and should have more 

 wealth and culture, and, what is better, an inclination and taste to make its 

 home surroundings as beautiful as its means will permit. 



"It is not so much a matter of expenditure of money, as it is of planning 

 and arranging buildings, fences, drives, trees, and shrubs, so that they will 

 harmonize with the natural environments. Our aim should be the same as 

 that of the artist, as landscape gardening is picture building, and we should 



