■ 
t 
I 
Farm Cosmetics 
Brighten Up the Home Grounds 
PPOItTUNITY FOB BEAUTY.—Probably no 
otbor si)ot on oai-th ofiors more opportunitie.s 
for beauty than does the average fai-m home, d’ho 
surrounding trees, grass and wide open spaces make 
a setting tlutt it is hard to transform into ugliness. 
It is a lamentahle fact, however, that many of our 
farmsteads suffer from comparison with the aver¬ 
age village home: this can he easily vei-ilied on your 
next ti'ij) to town. We fai’mers are not altogether at 
fault foi' this comlition. We lun'e been importuned 
to “spe<‘<l up” our work and feed the starving woi-ld 
—all this with little or no suitable help. Itesponse 
cared-for i)lace is the loser. In the count?\v, be¬ 
cause of greater distance between homes, differences 
in condition are not so easily noted and the rivalry 
above mentioned is not so potent a factor in ki'oping 
them up to the mark. The local Grange could do a 
worthy work here by stimulating competition 
through offering prizes for the best kept homes 
among its members. Then, too, the town dweller 
has more time to devote to this work. Not only are 
his hours of labor usually actually shorter than 
ours, but the work out of door.s, about the lawn and 
garden, comes as a complete change from the work 
he has been doing throughout the da.y, and there¬ 
fore is a j'('st t.. him. With us it is simply u con¬ 
tinuation of the day’s work. 
lion of paint. There is something about the spick 
and span newness of fresh paint that improves a 
place wonderfully—like charity, it covers a multi¬ 
tude of deleds. Not only is it a beautitier, but it is 
a protection as well. A coat of good oil i)aint well 
applied to a buihling, by stopping up the pores and 
preventing the absorption of water into them, serve.s 
the same purpose that shingles do o« a roof, a well- 
l»ainted building lasting much longer and recpiiring 
loss repairs than an unpaintod one built of the same 
materials. Paint also has a i»sychological (‘tfect. 
Welbi)ainted huildings and clean grounds t(‘nd to 
I)rodnce cleaidiness and tidiness in the men woi-king 
about them. The ov/ner of well-kept buildings has 
better credit, other things being equal, than does 
A Well Patronized Farm Yard Water Tub. Fig. 394 
to this call lias left little time for beautif.ving the 
home. It seems to have been lost sight of that a 
well-cared-for place is a sanitai’y jdace conducive to 
good health; that its beauty tends to produce happi¬ 
ness, and that a haiipy, healthy man is in a much 
better condition to “.sjieed uj*” his work than one 
who lacks both of these qualities due to poorly- 
<‘ared-for surrounding.s. 
THE PENALTY OF LSOLATION.—We lack the 
stimulus of rivalry that is pro.sent in town. If our 
town Iriend Smith makes an impruv'ement on his 
hou.se Neighhor .tones must follow suit or his place 
will suffer by compari.son. q'his is due largely be¬ 
cause they are so close together. Because of their 
proximity compari.son is easily made and the poorly 
^\()BK NEEDED.—Above I have tided to set 
forth a few of the rea.son.s, as they appear to me, 
why our places are not always as smart looking as 
tho.se of our town fidend.s. It .seems to me that the 
only way for us to bring them up to this well- 
groomed condition is for each one of us to take the 
role of a beauty doctor and give a thorough treat¬ 
ment of paint, polish and mas.sage to our home and 
surroundings. After once getting the place in shape 
a very little care exerci.so<l daily will keep it in 
condition. 
ADVANTAGEH OF PAINT.—Among the improve¬ 
ments possible on (he farm paint stands foremost. 
Probabl.v nothing el.se will give a greater return for 
the money and time invested than will an applica- 
the man who takes no care of his home, not Ix'c.au.so 
they are more valuable, but because they arc evi¬ 
dence of the owner’s greater care and thrift—quali¬ 
ties that a creditor likes to have in a man to whom 
he lends. 
WHITE I.EAD FOR QUALITY.—For exterior 
painting of buildings there is probably nothing bet¬ 
ter than white load. It has good covering (lualities 
and forms a long-wearing elastic coating over the 
object jiainted. It finally perishes by “chalking”— 
wearing away as a line white iKiwder. This is a 
distinct advantage over .some paints that blister, 
chip and scale off, nece.ssitating complete removal of 
the old paint by burning and scraping before a new 
coat can be put on—a costly and laborious proce.s.s. 
