FARM BUILDINGS. 619 



As a second suggestion, we say, locate farm buildings where the sun will shine the most 

 hours of the day and the most days of the year. The value of sunlight, both for man and 

 beast, has never been fully appreciated. There are life, health, and elasticity of spirits in sun 

 shine. Show me a woman that has worked for years in a dark, gloomy cellar-kitchen, and 

 in all probability you ll show me one, the corners of whose mouth are turned down, whose 

 constitution is impaired, and who has lost all buoyancy of feeling. Show me an ox that is 

 stalled in a dark cellar-stable, and yarded on the north side of a barn, and I will show you 

 one whose eye is dull, hide inelastic, hair bristling, and step heavy. Physicians tell us that 

 patients located on the south or sunny side of hospitals are more likely to be cured than 

 those on the north side, and heliopathy is as much in fashion as hydropathy once was. &quot;What 

 the exhilarating and invigorating effects of a sun-bath are we can conceive from the change 

 that comes over our feelings and powers when the sun shines out clearly after having been 

 hidden for a long time behind the clouds. 



Very nearly allied to the location of the house where the family may enjoy the full 

 benefit of the sun s rays is our next suggestion, that the house be not surrounded by too 

 many shade trees. A tree is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, and we would by no means 

 discard all trees around the farmer s premises; but it is possible to have too much of a good 

 thing. A house without any shade trees looks naked, and is naked. A few well-located 

 elms, maples, mountain ashes, and white pines, add much to the beauty and comfort of home, 

 but no one should live in a forest. Musquitoes may live and thrive in such a dense shade, 

 but man finds his true development where air and light find free access. We never desire to 

 see so many trees around a house that the grass will not make a velvety turf on the lawn. 

 Beautiful as are trees, and exquisite as are the forms and colorings of flowers, there is no 

 thing that pleases the eye more, day after day, than a well-kept lawn. A stately elm here, 

 and a cluster of evergreens there, adorn and protect a rural home far better than a perfect 

 swamp of trees. 



We cannot dismiss the trees without alluding to the protection from winds and the 

 healthful influences which evergreens rightly planted furnish in this cold climate. Clusters 

 of balsams and white pines placed between the house and barn, and pig-pen, ward off all 

 noxious effluvia from the latter, and if there is any swamp near the premises, the same 

 trees, with their millions of leaflets, will absorb or turn aside the spores of disease which 

 are constantly exhaling from decaying vegetable matter. Planted on the north of the 

 house and garden, which is generally the windward side, evergreens not only protect from 

 the cold winds, but they fill the air with a most healthful balsam.&quot; 



The southern slope of a hillside is a desirable site for a house, as it furnishes the op 

 portunity for the enjoyment of the full sunlight during most of the day. The northern 

 side of the road should also be chosen if practicable. The house should also be located 

 near the highway. We have seen houses in the country located in such a manner, 

 and so far from the road, that it would be almost impossible for the inmates to catch a 

 glimpse of what was passing on the highway, and with the exception of going from the 

 premises, or the receiving of visits from friends, they would seem almost as much isolated 

 from the outer world as though they were behind prison bars. The farmer and his sons 

 would not be as much affected byjthe unpleasant location of the farm-house as the wife and 

 daughters, since their business calls them away into the fields and broad sunlight so large a 

 portion of the time; but it does very materially affect the health and happiness of those com 

 pelled to spend the most part of their time in such a location. 



The house should be so located and planned that the rooms most occupied in the daily 

 tasks of the home duties should be upon the sunny and most pleasant side of the building, 

 commanding the best view of the highway and neighboring farm-houses. To persons pos 

 sessing certain temperaments, the isolation and retirement which some localities in the 



