FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE 103 



buildings and parts of a farm to their appropriate pur- 

 poses, so that whatever is fixed and permanent in its 

 character, may be so arranged as best to facilitate the 

 labor of the farm and best to subserve the comfort, 

 convenience and success of the proprietor. Our ideas 

 upon this subject may be best collected from inspec- 

 tion. 



If our fellow farmers please, we will therefore in 

 imagination adjourn for a few moments, and take our 

 stand first at the door of the farmhouse. I say "at the 

 door." Far be it from me to enter within it. Far be it 

 from me to criticise the department of the other sex, 

 or to suggest that anything peculiarly subject to their 

 management can be either ameliorated or amended. 

 Nor is it necessary; for I believe it is a fact almost 

 universally true, that where the good man of the 

 family is extremely precise and regular and orderly in 

 his arrangements, without doors, he never fails to be 

 seconded, and even surpassed, by the order, the regu- 

 larity and neatness of the good woman within. 



Let us cast our eyes then about us, from the door of 

 the farm-house. What do we see? Are the fences on 

 the road in good condition? Is the gate whole, and on 

 its hinges? Are the domestic animals excluded from 

 immediate connection with the dwelling house, or at 

 least, from the front yard? Is there a green plot ad- 

 joining, well protected from pigs and poultry, so that 

 the excellent housewife may advantageously spread 

 and bleach the linen and yarn of the family? Is the 

 wood-pile well located, so as not to interfere with the 

 passenger, or is it located with especial eye to the 

 benefit of the neighboring surgeon? Is it covered, so 

 that its work may be done in stormy weather? Is the 

 well convenient, and is it sheltered, so that the females 

 of the family may obtain water without exposure, and 

 at all times, and in all seasons? Do the subsidiary 

 arrangements indicate such contrivance and manage- 

 ment as that nothing useful should be lost, and noth- 



