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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1907 



Monthly Comment 



^P^^^^^^^n^ GUIDES to country living there is an 

 ^fa^^^^^^^ ample abundance. People who have moved 

 it^^^SW '^^^ ^^^^ country and succeeded in win- 

 aM\A^^^^^ ning a livelihood from the soil, or other- 

 ^^K^^^^^^ wise gratifying their ambitions, have re- 

 gJSi^^^y^^^ corded their experiences in more or less de- 

 tail. Those who have failed have been 

 somewhat more coy in putting their adventures into print; 

 but even on this point there is a sufficiency of material. Ap- 

 parently one has but to buy the right book, or subscribe to 

 the right paper to find out all that one need to know on 

 country life. Knowledge of this subject is before the pub- 

 lic in generous form; it only remains to properly assimilate 

 it and adapt it to personal uses. Yet notwithstanding the 

 abundance of material and of information there are many 

 subjects of vital importance to the newly arrived suburbanite 

 and ruralite on which barely a word has appeared in print. 

 Where, for example, will one find a stimulating, helpful, 

 cheering and comforting chapter on the vagaries of railroad 

 transportation in below-zero weather? Weather of this de- 

 scription is the commonest sort of phenomenon in the open 

 country, even close to the great cities; yet railroads which 

 have had it for years always greet it with the utmost astonish- 

 ment and surprise, and without a single apparent step of 

 necessary preparation. A book that would help the unfor- 

 tunate suburbanite in such contingencies would not only find 

 a ready sale, but, and this is much more important, greatly 

 help in ameliorating the condition of a considerable body of 

 the human race. 



Many parts of America are now disturbed over the in- 

 crease in commutation rates on a number of important rail- 

 roads. Here is a spick-and-span new topic that no one has 

 yet had time to write about because no one ever thought so 

 horrible a catastrophe impending. The commuter will in- 

 form you that there is but one point of view in this matter, 

 and that is his own. It is true Governor Hughes gave this 

 idea somewhat of a jolt in his famous veto of the two- 

 cent-a-mile law; but the commuter still has much to say 

 on this subject that can never find its way into print. But if 

 anything of value could be said from that standpoint, it 

 would not only be stuff editors and publishers should be fall- 

 ing over each other to obtain, but it would relieve many 

 anxious souls, and shed a flood of happiness upon their lives. 



And this makes clear the point that what may be termed 

 the psychology and sociology of country life is as yet almost 

 unwritten. The material side of this fortunate form of ex- 

 istence has been well written about. There are countless 

 manuals on farm and suburban life, telling you how to do 

 almost anything, from sinking a fortune in it to obtaining a 

 fortune from it. Of course, the latter books have the largest 

 sales, and the journals devoted to that aspect of life have the 

 largest subscription lists. But there can be no quarrel on this 

 point. It is a fine thing to succeed in life; and if one can suc- 

 ceed in making a competency and more in raising cats, dogs, 

 chickens, geese, ducks, goats, calves, sheep, horses, to say 

 nothing of growing bush beans, strawberries, apples, cab- 

 bages, cauliflower, kohl-rabi, brussels sprouts, kale, melons, 

 currants and all the various fruits and vegetables that inhabit 

 the countryside, either naturally or by importation and emi- 

 gration — if one can make a success — a financial success — 

 growing, cultivating, raising and marketing these products, 

 and does so from book knowledge only and without any 

 previous and costly experience, such a person is entitled to 



more credit that he is likely to receive in this world, and 

 should rank among the heroes of achievement and of 

 industry. 



Quite a book might be written on the purchase of rural 

 real estate. Ordinary advice is, of course, quite available. 

 Thus, even commonplace books will solemnly tell you not to 

 buy wet land, but to seek out the dry spots; you will be told 

 to examine and test the soil; to have regard to the winds; 

 to study the crops of neighboring lands and other matters of 

 great import, it is true, but still leaving much unsaid on such 

 permanently abiding questions as the proximity of the former 

 owner to the new. Or, what are the social relations, if any, 

 between the old settlers and the new? The singular thing 

 about old owners is that they are dying to sell, and then, 

 having sold, wish they had not, or at least demanded more 

 for the acres whose value has really been determined by the 

 price paid by the purchaser. A very profound study could 

 be written on this subject, and there is surely much interest- 

 ing material relating to it abroad in the land, unknown, un- 

 recorded and unrelieved. A book that would show how each 

 party could be completely satisfied, or how each got the 

 better of the other, would be a genuine "thriller." 



Another wholly new and unchronicled subject is the re- 

 lations the newcomer in a suburban region may find to exist 

 between himself and the government authority of the district 

 he has been rash enough to venture into. It is a popular be- 

 lief that the Americans are a free and untrammeled race, 

 every citizen being an independent sovereign of equal rank. 

 As a matter of fact, we are a very much governed lot, with an 

 assortment of styles, manners, modes and sorts from which 

 there is no escape. Quite at the bottom of the heap is the 

 government that is nearest the people. This has various 

 names in diflerent parts, and may be a borough, district, town- 

 ship or village government. Whatever the name, it has this 

 in common : there is nothing below it but the people. 



The poor people! The lowest government is the most 

 obnoxious because it is closest at hand and is concerned with 

 the things that most affect the property owner. It fixes his 

 taxes; it determines the kind and nature of the roads; it de- 

 cides what part, if any, of his property shall be taken for 

 public uses; it places the fire hydrants; it provides the schools; 

 and it attends to the many little matters that are necessary or 

 unnecessary to existence. And, of course, such a govern- 

 ment may be a very painful government, doing all sorts of 

 things in the name of the public which the public may not 

 desire, and inflicting many an unexpected hardship and injury 

 where none was expected. 



The newcomer stands small chance before the awful 

 majesty of this petty government. It hovers over the land 

 like a gigantic bird of prey seeking the innocent and the 

 unwary. The old timers have either been plucked, or, for 

 reasons of policy, if not of state, are better left alone. But 

 the newcomer is grist for every mill. The countryside awaits 

 him with joy. The butcher and the grocer hoist their prices 

 because he is new or because he does not buy as much as they 

 think he ought to; his taxes are put as high as prudence and 

 poor guesswork permits; and then the government, right- 

 eously clad in a garment of law, proceeds to administer to the 

 unfortunate and helpless victim a variety of things that, at 

 least, do not add to his peace of mind, nor help to satisfy him 

 with the state he has rashly committed himself to. 



