5 



ought to be, as much in advance of us of the present day, as 

 we are ahead of our fathers of a hundred and fifty years ago. 

 Make improvements ; commence at home. Is there noth- 

 ing about your house which can at a trifling expense be made 

 more attractive and beautiful? A new coating of paint — 

 the old chimneys modernized and repaired ; a bay window 

 here to contain the flowers, or a portico there both for com- 

 fort and ornament? Have your family all the conveniences 

 they require and deserve? Are the best modern improve- 

 ments in kitchen, pantry and living room? Is a good supply 

 of dry fuel always on hand in a convenient place? Is pure 

 healthful water accessible at all times to the house and stable ? 

 Have you carefully examined the drainage about your premi- 

 ses, to see that no subtle undercurrent is gradually destroy- 

 ing the health of yourself and flmiily? While this subject 

 has received so much attention from sanitary committees and 

 physicians in our larger cities, I think it has been very much 

 neglected in our country homes. Have you good ventilation 

 in every apartment of your house ? If not, secure it as soon 

 as possible. Make home pleasant for the children — while 

 they have their books, their papers, and their games for win- 

 ter, they should also have their croquet ground, their pet 

 animals, and their flower garden. Who of us that are older 

 does not remember with pleasure the old cherry, pear, or 

 early apple tree in our father's garden ? What boy who has 

 ever owned a pet colt, or a pair of steers, and called them 

 his, if he lives to be a man and becomes a farmer, will not 

 love his profession better, and be a better farmer for having 

 owned them? 



Many a boy has been driven from his paternal home, who 

 would otherwise have stayed and adopted the profession of 

 his father, had not that father, Avith too close a grasp and 

 too arbitrary a disposition, treated him merely as a hireling — 

 not consulting with him in his plans and purposes, and finally 

 threatening to disinherit him if he should leave his home, and 

 not become a farmer. You fathers, who have children grown 



