674 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



" The farmer's wife has her day of cleaning the dooryard, and she 

 should be seconded in her efforts by the men folks. The whole premises 

 should be cleared of debris that has been accumulating these many years. 

 There is that old brush heap you left last spring or the year before, intending 

 to burn it next day; there is the old wagon box, the old hayrack, perhaps a 

 woodrack, and the old crate in which the pig was shipped, all thought to 

 be too good for fire wood or kindling, but now too rotten for that purpose, 

 and only good for bonfires. Perhaps there is little time to spare at this busy 

 season, but if care is taken to keep things cleanly much of this yearly work 

 will be avoided. 



' ' The general appearance of town and country is improved by this 

 organized effort, and the influence upon others is of importance. 



' ' The lawn should not be a combination of flower garden, orchard and 

 nursery. A few trees that are neat in habit of growth may have a place in 

 front and at the sides of the house, but a good expanse of lawn should be 

 in view from drive and street. The lawn mower should be used often and 

 the rubbish picked up; hedges trimmed in their season, vines trained, and 

 trees watched for vermin. This care, while it takes time, causes us to study 

 nature's laws in growth of branch and leaf, gives us a better appreciation 

 of country life, and we are encouraged by the expressions of commendation 

 of friends and travelers. 



"We should not forget the flowers, for a taste for flowers should be en- 

 couraged in every household. It has been said that a person that loves 

 flowers can not be really bad. Flowers, like children, thrive best when 

 loved and given the care and watchfulness that goes with love. Flower beds 

 may be at the side or in the back yard, while for cut flowers they are better 

 grown in the garden. There is more pleasure in growing flowers in the back 

 yard than elsewhere, for they are within view of the busy housewife and are 

 nearer a water supply, and are more certain to receive frequent attention. 



' 'Anything that is worth having costs money and labor, and this is true 

 in beautifying our homes, but I think it is well expended, and it is our duty 

 to spend all we can afford for the conveniences and some of the luxuries 

 that make farm life enjoyable. With the modern methods of heating and 

 ighting our houses, with free rural delivery of mail, bringing daily papers 

 to our door, with telephone connection of town and country, and electric 

 railroads reaching every hamlet, our position would indeed be enviable." 



SHALL I MOVE TO TOWN? 



Wallace's Farmer. 



The practice of selling or renting a farm and moving to town has become 

 quite general over almost the entire Mississippi valley. Farmers who do 

 this are called ' 'retired" farmers, and it is no small tribute to the resources 

 of any State or country that the farmers are about the only class of men 

 engaged in active employment who are able to retire after they have passed 



