2 The Farmstead 



body and soul. In rural life, however tame and 

 lonely, the home is not merely a few square 

 feet hedged in by brick walls, but the whole 

 wide countryside : the barns, the fields, the 

 woods, the orchards, the animals wild and do- 

 mesticated, the outlook over hill and valley — 

 these all constitute the farmer's home. 



The manufacturer locates his factory in some 

 by- street or suburb where land is cheap, and 

 as far as possible from the residence part of the 

 city; his home is far removed from these un- 

 sightly surroundings. But the farmer must live 

 within a few hundred feet of his barns and out- 

 buildings, and if these be ugly and dirty, the 

 beauty and comfort of the home are sadly 

 marred. If the farmer, then, has the whole 

 landscape as a background for his home, he 

 must on the other hand modify his immediate 

 surroundings so as to overcome their almost in- 

 evitable unsightliness. 



Besides the ever-present beauties of nature, 

 country life has certain other advantages over 

 the city: it is the place to develop the strong 

 health -physique. The luxury of rich and popu- 

 lous communities tends to produce puny and 

 enervated citizens; the excessive toil, bad air, 

 limited space and scant food of the poor tend 

 to degrade and destroy body and soul ; but the 

 comfortable simplicity, space, air, sunlight and 



