1846. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
185 
and little liable to speedy decay—that the purse may not 
In town-houses, and ornamental villas. 
Fig. 54. 
the violence of wintry storms. It ought to be stron 
be called on for frequent repairs. 
The flat roof comes to us from southern countries and mild climates, 
in the classical styles let the architect 
satisfy the demands of art with such a 
covering to his house. But in the ex¬ 
posed farm-house, in our blustering, stur¬ 
dy weather of the north, the farmer should 
have none of it. He must nestle under 
the high and broad roof which properly 
belongs to a northern climate. (Fig. 55.) 
This has all the beauty of thoroughly an¬ 
swering its purpose, and conveying at a 
glance the most complete notions of com¬ 
fort. 
When it is desired to render a farm¬ 
house ornamental, it is the most fatal, 
though the most common of all mistakes, 
to suppose it should be done by the imi¬ 
tation—the meagre imitation of some 
gentleman’s fine house. It is a mode that 
is never successful. It is the old story of 
the jay in his borrowed peacock's plumes. 
Every one detects and exposes the want 
of fitness and propriety. Fluted columns, 
ornamental pediments, moulded friezes, 
and the like, have little or nothing to do 
with farm-houses. They will give an 
ambitious and flashy character to the 
front; it will be belied by the useful and every-day character of the rear. 
The truth is a farmer's house looks as ill when bedecked with the stolen ornaments of a highly architectural 
villa, as the honest dignified, plain farmer himself would, if tricked out in the fashionable finery of the reigning 
Paris exquisite. The beauty of 
propriety is a species of moral 
beauty even in houses and clothes. 
There should be a kind of 
homely country-like air about 
every genuine farm-house. It 
ought at the first glance to be 
recognized as belonging to the 
open meadows, orchards and pas¬ 
tures, that surround, and the fresh 
luxuriant trees that wave over it. 
It should be neat and strong, and 
capacious and comfortable. If 
something is wanted beyond this 
—and we are sure our farming 
countrymen will more and more 
desire a manifestation of the 
agreeable about their houses— 
then should something ornamen¬ 
tal combine itself with the most 
important and useful features of 
the house. Let a verandah be 
added, which may be adorned, 
not so much with expensive pil¬ 
lars, as with beautiful and fra¬ 
grant climbing plants. Let the 
porch be made a suitable cover¬ 
ing to the principal entrances. 
Let the gables be enriched with 
simple ornaments, and the chim¬ 
ney stacks be built in some pleas¬ 
ing forms. These are the first 
points that really demand attention in a farmer’s house, which we wish to raise to its highest expression of fit¬ 
ness and beauty. Some examples of this kind of rural architecture we hope to be able to offer at no distant time. 
These trifling hints may perhaps lead some agricultural friend to consider what is essential to the character of a 
Fig. 55 . 
farm-house, and thus at least prevent his marring the beauty of simplicity and propriety. 
Highland Gardens, Newburgh , Jan., 1846. 
A. J. Downing. 
Industry. —The people of Massachusetts annually 
produce 50 per cent, more property or wealth than any 
equal population in the United States, according to the 
most accurate returns. Though not one sixth of New- 
York in extent of territory, that state has seven hun¬ 
dred miles of railroad in operation. 
Clover Seed exhausting. —A correspondent of 
the « Genesee Farmer ” says that he has found raising 
the seed of clover to be very exhausting to the soil. 
What is the experience of other farmers? 
Wheat. —The total amount of wheat imported into 
Great Britain in 1840, from all other countries, was 
1,993,405 quarters. Only one twenty-fifth of this 
amount was sent by the farmers of the United States, 
though possessing equal advantages as to duty. 
Shrinking of Corn —The Genesee Farmer says 
that a bushel of shelled corn will shrink, from the time 
it is usually harvested till thoroughly dry, about 22 per 
cent, in bulk. Hence in statements of large crops, you 
must usually discount about one-fifth. 
