THE FARMER'S HOMESTEAD. 131 



THE FARMER'S HOMESTEAD, AND ITS RELATION TO FARM 



THRIFT. 



BY DONALD G. MITCHELL. 



We may as well begin at the beginning, in this matter, and 

 talk, first, of the proper situation for a farmer's homestead. 



It must be convenient, of course, and, to this end, centrally 

 placed ; not too near the highway, lest it forbid all homely 

 privacy, and not too far away from it, lest it involve the costs 

 of private road-making and of repairs, which, on many farms, 

 foot up uncomfortably large. The shelter of some flanking 

 hill is an excellent thing ; but this may be gained by adroit 

 establishment of outbuildings, by an old wood, or by judicious 

 planting. Dryness of site, and facilities for drainage, are 

 indispensable. I think it was Thoreau who said that it was 

 safe to build where a woodchuck dug his hole. He certainly 

 never runs the risk of having water settle in it ; he gets in a 

 good lee, and he secures a chance to bask in the sun near by. 

 A permanent, good view is worth having ; but it is paying 

 too dear for it, to climb to the top of a windy hill. The high- 

 road is a good neighbor, as I have said, if well kept ; but the 

 frontage of a house, in the country, should not be governed 

 by it. There may be a passer-by you may like to look out 

 for; but whoever it may be, the sunshine is a better man than 

 he, and the best windows should be opened to him freely. 

 The outer doorway, through which inmates pass oftenest, 

 should have a sunny aspect and a lee of shelter. Northern 

 doors, unprotected, and where ice forms easily upon the step, 

 and an aguish blast smites every outgoer, are great breeders 

 of domestic wrath, and the man who tolerates such deserves 

 — what he is sure to get. 



Easy access to water is, of course, a matter of prime 

 importance in determining site. A spring, which will take 

 water into the house, is best of all ; a near brook, which will 

 admit of the same result, — by a ram, — is next best ; and an 

 unfailing well, next. Of the adequacy of such supply, and of 

 dealing with it, I shall have more to say when we come to 

 talk of the interior. 



Second. After site is determined, the question of material 

 is in order. "Wood is cheap, is manageable, is dry, and, with 



