NEW ENGLAND FARM-LIFE. 13 



" Ah ! here it is, that dear old place, 



Unchanged through all these years ; 

 How like some old, familiar face 



My childhood's home appears. 

 The grand old trees, beside the door, 



Still spread their branches wide ; 

 The river wanders, as of yore, 



With sweetly murmuring tide ; 

 The distant hills look green and gay, 



The flowers are blooming wild, 

 And everything looks glad to-day 



As when I was a child." 



Home is the largest part of this earth, if we choose to make 

 it so. The French have no such word as " home " in their 

 language, and certainly have not, as I can testify by observa- 

 tion, in their experience and habits of life. 



The ownership of a home is something of which neither the 

 Irish peasant nor the German laborer has any conception. 

 The desire to own the roof under which one sleeps is distinctly 

 an American characteristic, and seems, by nature, adapted to 

 the growth which is raising us, as a nation, to importance in 

 the scale of nations. Our American homes can be made still 

 more attractive. The truest and pleasantest homes are often 

 houses not especially " well kept," as some would term it, 

 but where the comfort and happiness of the inmates are best 

 secured. The pleasantest room in the house should be used 

 as the living-room, with free access to all the members of the 

 family. Some housewives think that certain things and apart- 

 ments are too good for daily use ; hence, furniture is covered ; 

 the parlor is closed, except for company and special occasions, 

 and there is a kind of. sacredness about that dark and musty 

 room, which, when entered by the children, they feel as if 

 they were treading on holy ground. If the blinds are opened, 

 the carpet may fade ; if the windows are opened for fresh air, 

 a fly may appear. Lavish expenditure in decorating the 

 house with costly furniture, — too good to be in constant use, 

 — is not, necessarily, evidence of taste, refinement, intelli- 

 gence or happiness. It is the duty of the farmer to study his 

 home, as well as the soil and elements of his farm, searching 

 in every direction for appliances to improve and beautify it. 

 A few dollars spent in the purchase of pictures, plants and 

 flowers, will add much to the soul and pleasure of what we 

 call home. External adornments are in the province of the 



