No. 4.] EXHAUSTED FARMS. 385 



within reasonable and convenient distances, thus comljining 

 all the real advantages of ur]>an life with the quiet of a 

 country home. Farms intended for Jiomes should never be 

 purchased solely because they are thought to be cheap ; for, 

 if possible, such selections should be made that not only the 

 owner but his family as well will be satisfied with their sur- 

 roundings, and be pleased to call the place their home. 

 Then it will be no burden to add improvement to improve- 

 ment, all working together towards the ideal result. 



One undertaking the reclaiming of an exhausted farm 

 must not expect to transform it to his mind in a day, or a 

 single year even ; the changes must be gradual. In short it 

 is the work of a lifetime, a never-ending labor, and, as all 

 the desired improvements cannot be accomplished at once, 

 neither are all the expenses to be met at a single payment. 

 As in every other undertaking, some well-matured plan or 

 system should be adopted. We dwell at some length on 

 these preliminary points from the fact that we have known 

 several instances where the inexperienced have made sad 

 failures by purchasing cheap farms, supposed to be exhausted, 

 when in point of fact they were naturally poor and rocky, — 

 made so on the morn of creation and never intended to be 

 cultivated. A mistake was made when they were cleared 

 of their forest growth. 



Having secured a location to one's mind, with natural ad- 

 vantages and surroundings adapting it for the purposes in 

 view, the first object to claim attention will be the house ; and 

 here not always the most expensive outlays bring the 

 greatest comforts. Yet a few essentials there are in order 

 that a house may truly be a home. There must be ample 

 opportunity for the sunlight to reach the house, with plenty of 

 windows through which it may enter, to warm and cheer the 

 rooms occupied by the family. We can call to mind a score 

 of farmhouses, familiar to our youth, where the work and 

 living rooms were on the north side of the house, with one 

 or possibly two small windows, with not an aperture through 

 which a ray of sunshine might enter, unless carried in upon 

 the countenances of the farmer's wife and daughters. An 

 abundance of pure water should be convenient and accessible 

 at all times. With the many modern contrivances for 



