and not find more beauty than the hills and valleys of New England offer, from 

 the freshness of its magic Spring to the blaze of splendor that mantles her 

 forests with crimson and gold, as Autumn is ready to yield to the reign of 

 Winter. Clear skies, invigorating air, green fields and crystal springs, cer- 

 tainly, New England has to offer in almost every portion of it. But the hard 

 soil of New England has rendered so much labor needful that on many a farm 

 where taste has found no home, and where, as Whittier intimates, " they save 

 their pork and souls with the least possible amount of salt and sanctity," 

 the home has become repulsive to the children. They remember it kindly it 

 may be, but they remember the continuous labor that made them mere drudges, 

 leaving little time for study and less for recreation. They were hardened by- 

 exposure according to the wisdom, or rather the folly of the times, and need- 

 lessly subjected to hardships. No wonder that such farms are deserted by 

 those born and reared on them. They seek in some other land a home which 

 they are sure cannot be worse than that which has ground all enjoyment and 

 almost the life out of them. We are glad to feel that much of the austerity of 

 the New England farmer's home has passed away ; but too much of it still 

 remains. And the first thing to be done, if we would build up the New Eng- 

 land farmer's home, is for the fathers and mothers who now rule in them to 

 throw around them all the beauty and refinement which a cultivated taste can 

 give, that the childhood of our children may be pleasant, so that only the 

 restless shall willingly wander away. There is wisely implanted in man a 

 desire to go out into the world, to settle in new places ; and the scattering of 

 New England men has been a blessing to the country. But the tendency is 

 strong enough without our giving it strength by marring the beauties which 

 nature has lavished upon New England, or by making the home simply a place in 

 which to eat and sleep, when it should be the centre of every refined enjoyment. 



It is claimed that New England has too severe a climate for comfort or health, 

 and so many are driven from it who would gladly make there a permanent 

 home. That the climate is severe we cannot deny, and the inroads of certain 

 forms of disease have been too marked to pass unnoticed. But the very process 

 that beautifies the earth will render it more healthful. The farmer has but 

 begun to learn what draining will accomplish for the improvement of soils, and 

 this same draining, removing the serface water, is the best of all means for 

 securing health. In fact, the statistics of consumption are found to vary as the 

 amount of undrained lands in every town. 



I think it may safely be asserted that such cultivation of the earth as shall 

 make it most productive in the great staples of human food, and most beautiful 

 to the eye will render it, at the same tune, most healthful. Life and health are 

 the condition of all enjoyment, so that with our abundant products we must 

 seek for the conditions of the best physical activity and the greatest longevity. 

 That these can be secured in New England for the mass of men, as well as in 

 any other portion of the world, I fully believe. 



We can but look forward to the time when all the land of New England 

 shall be subdued, except that required for forest growth — when the marshes 



