50 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



enters into the construction. Built three or five, or even ten 

 centuries ago, it is almost impossible to introduce modern im- 

 provements. Tlie old house, and the old clumsy furniture 

 which belonged to the fathers and grandfathers, are transmitted 

 unchanged to the children. Some writer, I believe it was 

 * Thoreau, says in substance, that it would be a blessing to the 

 world if all houses could be torn down once in fifty years, in 

 order that in rebuilding men might build better than their 

 fathers. I have often felt what a curse it was, in almost every 

 country in which I have travelled, that the present generations 

 should be saddled with those old antiquated absurdities in the 

 way of houses, too strong to be remodelled, and too inconvenient 

 to be really enjoyed. 



In the old countries, houses are concentrated into villages and 

 towns much more than with us. This was required for safety 

 and protection hundreds cW years ago, and so fixed and stable 

 are all customs that it continues so to this day. One of the 

 results is, that men and women often live at a great distance 

 from the land they cultivate. The houses are huddled together, 

 and are gloomy and monotonous. Very beautiful and sacred is 

 the tie that binds one to the house in which he was born, and in 

 which his ancestors for hundreds of years have lived ; but those 

 associations are often bought at great cost. We have nothing of 

 that stability with us. We love the new more than we rever- 

 ence the old. We are constantly seeking how we can tear-down 

 and alter and build anew, for the sake of securing greater con- 

 venience. So far as my observation goes, the people of no 

 nation are on the whole better housed than we are. One of the 

 special charms of our landscape is the neat and comfortable farm- 

 houses that dot our hillsides and nestle in the valleys, and yet 

 we have by no means reached the summit of excellence in our 

 domestic architecture. I speak now not as regards taste, not as 

 to what is well pleasing to a cultivated eye. I think we have a 

 great deal to learn in this direction. But I speak of the defects 

 of our domestic architecture as affecting the health of our people. 

 We are often told that the New England farmer and mechanic, 

 if he secures nothing else, has it in his power to secure health 

 and a home. 



And now I have reached at last, beyond the middle of my 

 address, the subject I want to talk with you about — " our homes 



