THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



FiCx. 1331.— A. E. OvERELL, Secretary. 

 "Our Homes." 



In these days of competition and low 

 prices and bad seasons the material 

 view of farming must be kept in view, 

 if the farm is to be kept free from mort- 

 gage and a surplus secured for old age 

 or the wherewithal to give our sons and 

 daughters a fair start in life. But is the 

 question of money and getting rich the 

 only one to consider ? I think all pre- 

 sent will agree with me, when I say that 

 a man whose only object in life is the 

 acquisition of money, and whose sole de- 

 light is to tug and slave from early morn 

 till late at night, is a miserable creature. 

 We have souls as well as bodies, yea of 

 infinitely more value than our bodies. 

 These minds of ours have wants that 

 cannot be satisfied with mere gain. Let 

 us, by improved methods and scientific 

 agriculture make all the money we can, 

 but let us not neglect to cultivate the 

 better part of our natures and enjoy all 

 that is beautiful and elevating around 

 us. I may be met with the objection, 

 " We have no time for anything but hard 



work. After the day's work we are too 

 fatigued for reading or music, or cultiva- 

 tion of flowers, and we have no taste for 

 such things." I reply that the average 

 farmer works too hard. I have known 

 young men of twenty years of age whom 

 hard work has deformed and stunted, 

 who have never had a chance to grow 

 up lusty, graceful men, who know but 

 little except to plow, to sow and reap. 

 No wonder they become tired of the 

 farm and crowd our cities, often to fall 

 into evil ways or to gain but a poor liv- 

 ing. The farmer's wife also suffers in the 

 struggle. She becomes prematurely old 

 and loses the grace and comeliness of 

 early womanhood. Induced by these 

 thoughts I have decided to say a few 

 words to you about uur homes. I have 

 travelled a little, and I can say that the 

 farm houses in Ontario and in most of 

 the County of Dundas are not surpassed 

 by those of any country in the world. 

 The past twenty years has witnessed a 

 great improvement in this respect and 

 in no other section more than in your 

 own fair township. 



But I have this criticism to offer that 

 while a good deal of money has been 

 spent in the buildings and their furnish- 

 ings, too little attention and outlay have 

 been devoted to the surroundings, as 

 lawns, fences, trees and flowers. Allow 

 me, then, to make a few suggestions 

 about the " outside " of our homes. The 

 site should, if possible, be on the higher 

 ground of the farm front, in order that 

 proper drainage may be afforded to 

 secure a dry cellar and dry yards in wet 

 seasons of the year. The barns and 

 stables should be at sufficient distance 

 to avoid unpleasant and unhealthy odors, 

 and at a lower elevation to hinder, in 

 rainy seasons, impure water from ap- 

 proaching the house or contaminating 

 the well, from which the family supply 

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