182 
WISCONSIJS' STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Gentlemen, there are some, yes, many pleasant and beautiful 
homes amon^ the farmers. I wish I could honestly say that they 
were the rule, and the lonely, lonesome, desolate house, standing 
like a sentinel and seeming to say, “ I am comfortless and homeless; 
come not near me,” the rare exception. "VYe of the northwest oc¬ 
cupy the best portion of this continent. It may well be doubted 
•whether there is another territory of equal size upon this globe, 
that combines so many and such favorable advantages for farmers 
as these northwestern states. And shall we not make our homes as 
attractive as our country is rich and beautiful? Let us not fail to 
do our share to the very best of our abilities. If we but make our 
homes what they might be, what they should be, and what we 
really can make them, heaven would be much nearer earth, much 
nearer our homes than it is to-day. The millennial morn will dawn 
much sooner, and its glories will linger much longer among beau¬ 
tiful and happy homes than it will where families only meet together 
to eat and sleep and be sheltered from the cold and the storm. 
Let us make our homes, humble though they may be, pleasant 
and attractive. Let us make them cheerful and happy. It can be 
done without much money, but it will require that husband and 
wife shall work in harmony, and work together. If we but do this, 
I have no hesitation in saying that the time will soon come vvhen 
the complaint would cease to go forth that the sons are all leaving 
the farms for other business. We should no longer hear educated 
and refined young ladies declare their intentions never to marry 
farmers. 
Mr. Boyce, Madison, desired Mr. Smith to tell us how to spend 
the time to make homes so attractive, when so much work must be 
done to produce the absolute necessaries of life. 
]Mr. Smith. — A little time each day will bring these attractions. 
The rich can have more attractive enjoyments; but the poor may 
have cheap but equally enjoyable pleasures. Farmers perform too 
much physical labor — can accomplish more by less physical and 
more brain force: thinking, planning and supervising. Believed 
that every one could find time to tastefully fit up their homes and 
make their surroundings pleasant and attractive. 
Secretary Field agreed in the main with the writer of this excel¬ 
lent paper. He believed the homes of most of the farmers could be 
