FARMERS' HOMES. 35 



sun-bath, apparently asleep, but the hunter always finds him 

 dozing with one eye open, and he is very apt to slip into the 

 shade when he hears the click of the gun. Even the mud- 

 turtle, that is commonly supposed to love darkness rather than 

 light, is found basking on some log or rock, each sunny day. 

 The same love of sunshine is manifested by all the inferior 

 animals. Why should man, endowed with reason, be less 

 wise than the beast, with only instinct for his guide? 



We would by no means convey the idea that the home 

 should have no trees to shelter the location from the summer's 

 heat and the winter's cold. We would plant trees for both 

 these purposes, but in this cold climate, more for the latter 

 than the former. If a house is situated on a bleak hill it may 

 be sheltered from the prevailing winds by a belt of white pines 

 or other evergreens, planted on the windward side, which, 

 even in winter, will give it a cosy, comfortable look, and really 

 add much to the warmth of the location. A few stately elms, 

 with here and there a maple or an oak, and scattered clusters 

 of evergreens placed in front and on either flank, will give to 

 the home a retired, sheltered look, such as the word originally 

 signified ; but they should never be planted so as to shut out 

 the sunlight from any room in the house. From May to No- 

 vember there is nothing in the externals of a rural home so 

 pleasing to the eye as a green, velvety lawn, and this we can- 

 not have with an overhanging forest. But at all events let 

 the sun strike fairly upon the house, and from the living- 

 rooms let no blinds intercept the rays. In light there is color, 

 energy and life ; in dark there is pallor, lassitude and death. 

 The houses of our city cousins are so sandwiched between 

 each other that light can only be admitted from the two ends, 

 and we are sorry to add that they generally prefer darkness to 

 light, and keep their blinds closed and curtains drawn, lest the 

 sun should fade their carpets, or color their cheeks. Let city 

 children grow pale and feeble in the " dim, religious light " in 

 which they are brought up, but country lads and lasses have 

 a birthright to more light and life. 



The house should be built with two or more stories. Why 

 our fathers built so many low, squat-looking houses, with hot, 

 dark, ill-ventilated and inconvenient chambers, has ever been 

 a mystery to us. Probably it was done, partly from motives 



