212 
HOUSING MANURE. 
powerful ties to bind them to the pure and the 
true. Such being the case, ought not every pa- 
rent to do all in his power to cherish this feel- 
ing in the hearts of his children ? Most cer- 
tainly, yes ! And how can it be done ? By 
farmers, I mean, for it is for them particularly 
that I am writing. 
And first, by way of illustration, let me here 
briefly sketch two pictures. In the foreground 
of the first, you will behold a two-story " shingle 
palace," standing close by the roadside, afford- 
ing a fine passage for the dust at all times in 
summer through the open doors and windows. 
A dark-red fence most securely incloses a 
small space, perhaps six feet wide, and just as 
long as the dwelling. Some remembrance of 
" long ago," in the shape of antique hog troughs, 
are carefully thrown down by the fence a few 
feet from the yard ; while a troop of " aligator " 
pigs vigorously testing the strength of their re- 
spective lungs, wear off what little fat they other- 
wise might have had by their incessant journey- 
ings from the front door to their eating logs. 
No trees are guilty of overshadowing the spot ; 
the house stands " alone with its glory." On 
every side is shown the most deplorable disor- 
der and negligence. The backside looks, if 
possible, worse than the front ; and with its liv- 
ing ornaments of chickens, geese, and turkeys, 
presents a very moving spectacle. Uneven 
stones, laying upon slop-washed ground, devoid 
of grass, facilitate the ingress and egress of the 
inhabitants of this, alas, too-often-to-be-met-with 
home ! 
But, kind reader, let us turn our attention 
from this unattractive picture, and gaze through 
those broad, green trees, upon that humble cot- 
tage, which stands a few rods from the roadside. 
You can just recognise its windows peeping 
forth from beneath the luxuriant vines that 
almost conceal them, and the rustic portico is 
entirely covered by that beautiful trumpet vine, 
which, with its rich verdure, forms such a cool 
summer resting place. What a velvet appear- 
ance the little lawn has, as it lays spread out 
before the door, dotted here and there with 
flower-covered beds, cut in the turf and shaded 
so beautifully by the mellow sunbeams, as they 
cast bright shadows over it from between the 
broad branches of the trees that stand around it ! 
How beautiful the whole appearance, as we 
stand here and breathe the fresh, pure air, which 
seems fresher and purer from having stopped a 
moment to play with those dark-green leaves, 
and kiss away the perfume from those beautiful 
flowers! Parent, bring your little child with 
you here, show him the two scenes, and judge 
by his actions which is most likely to cultivate 
a home feeling in his mind. 
But do you exclaim, " Yes, this is all very 
well for those who can afford it, but I arrr poor, 
too poor to go to such an expense." Why, 
friend ! there is no farmer too poor, in our free 
land— too poor to have a beautiful home of his 
own ; for it needs not wealth to make it peace- 
ful and happy. God has scattered the means 
all around us, and a little pleasant labor will be 
sufficient to beautify and adorn it. Spare a 
little ground around your dwelling for a lawn, 
trees, and flowers. You can find leisure to 
plant the trees, and your wife and daughters will, 
I trust, gladly attend to the vines and flowers. 
It will take but a little time, and once engaged 
in the work, you will reap a rich reward in the 
labor itself, and feel within you the happy feel- 
ing which can only be felt in adorning and 
making more pleasant your home. True, the 
ground thus devoted, might be more useful, in a 
mere dollars-and-cents point of view, planted 
with corn; but if refinement of feeling and an 
increased love of home are any recompense for 
a few paltry dollars and cents, then this little 
spot will pay most usurious interest upon all the 
capital invested. If keeping your children from 
vicious influences, and teaching them to love 
their birth place, and care for its appearance is 
aught gained, then rich will be the yearly, yea, 
and daily return from this small spot ! Gladly 
as they grow older will they tend, and still more 
beautify it ; and " Home Sweet Home," will ever 
in their after life, exert its purifying influence 
upon their feelings, leading them to toil earn- 
estly to make for themselves, in their second 
childhood, such a sweet resting place as that in 
which their earlier years were passed. 
But while I know that the external appear- 
ance of home, will not of itself be sufficient to 
do all this, yet I do contend that if seconded by 
the amount of internal happiness which usually 
characterises our farmers' homes, it will do far 
more than is generally believed. It will throw 
such a charm about home, that it will prove 
pleasanter to our sons than the tavern or the 
grocery. It will present pleasures and amuse- 
ments at home, sufficient to satisfy the minds 
of our children ; and they will grow up with 
larger hearts — with more refined feelings — with 
a stronger love for agriculture. In short, better 
and purer for having lived in a home made 
beautiful by rural embellishment. And believ- 
ing this, we believe the conclusion to which it 
inevitably leads, that it is a duty which every 
farmer owes his children, thus to beautify his 
home. Luke Derwin. 
Clinton, N. Y. 
o-C-> 
Housing Manure. — It is miserable economy to 
throw manure out into the open air, and leave it 
exposed to all the variations of the weather till 
it is wanted for use. Some build sheds over 
their hovel windows, to protect their manure 
heaps. This is a good improvement, but a ma- 
nure cellar is better. 
To Clean Guano Bags. — Put one gallon of 
salt to four gallons of lime, in eight gallons ol 
water, and after rinsing off all the loose guano, 
in clean water, put the bags in the mixture, well 
stirred up, and let them remain 24 or 36 hours, 
and they will wash white and perfectly clean. 
Don't wast© the liquid ; it is a valuable fertiliser 
»_•-• 
Large Dairy Products. — Mrs. Hines, of Mas- 
sachusetts, keeps five cows which produced her, 
last year, for butter, cheese, milk, and calves, an 
average of $67.37 to each cow. Who has a 
larger story on dairy products? 
