Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1852-1852, 1852-03-02
An Essay OH Farmers Homes.
rY ION. GEO. NJ. FAIRBANKS, OF FLORIDA.

! In the general advancement Ut agricultural
pursuits and improvements in the culture Of the
! soil, while We find everything to commend, We
find cause to regret that our farmers homes nave
received little or no attention. While speaking
d;,ily Of home influences and home associations,
how few Ic;llizc what Il home should be, or III
what manner such influences Or associations may
be induced and preserved.
The migratory and homeless character OF our
people ll;ts been deemed by foreigners national
characteristic, and by no meails Il favorable one
TIE influence If pleasant home upon the de-
vclpmcnt Of youthful minds is not sufficiently
needed; and for the want of such influence at
taching the heart Of naScent youth to the home
and pursuits Of childhood, we find our farmers
sons and daughters impatient OF its confines, and
eager to plunge into other ways of life, and seek
ins to leave the pure and noble employment Of
aaricultursts for the more dependent and care
some life Of the town-cxchanging the free en-
joyments of the lifo-giving air Of heaven for the
rceking and stihcd atmosphere Of pcnt UP cities.
y continuous improvement i'll agriculture cam
not be expected amidst such constant changes;
/ the valuable experience transmitted from father
to son is lost, and each generation must learn
anew. Nor can agriculture assume the station
it deserves as an employment of the highest re-
spcctabil;ty so long as farmers sons and daugl,-
tcl's are everywhere strivin" to enter other EN-
plovments, and dccked in fine attire and assum-
inw more luxurious habits, look down upon the
rural pursuits of their parents.
Again, as respects the moral education Of our
youth, the influences Of 4 pleasant home, when
without and within, the heart finds satisfaction i'll
! the development of its aspirations for the beau
tful, when the social glow Of the evening fire
side, and the Ginning vine and the swcetsccntcd
! flowers, the green meadow and the waving field.
the rustling corn and rippling stream, and home
| the point Of the greatest attraction, where the
lessons Of truth and morality was first imbiIed,
will remain implanted and fixed with every fond
association Of home, its affections, its pleasures,
and its interests.
The sense Of beauty exists i'll every heart; but
for want Of the knowledge to produce forms Of
beauty, our asriculturiSts have been content TO
! live in homes with which, 50 far as art WIS con-
ccrned there can be no association Of comfort,
beauty. or pleasantneSs
Without fitness Of proportion, or convenience
of arrangement, thrust out upon the dusty high
|
foliage which nature SO freely furnishes a bold,
ball,. disproportioncd rcctangle or square, too
larGc for Il cottage, 900 small for malsiUll paint
cd yellow, rcd or glaing white We cannot feel
that such residences arc adopted to the climate,
the occupation Or the convenience of the proprc-
! tor. Bat we would rather say farmers home
should be withdrawn from the dusty thorough
fare, with Which he has little connection. located
with reference t. his farm. emboSomcd in 4 s.:a
hy grove whose foliage should be a protection
against the heats Of summer and the blasts Of
winter, surrounded with an ample plat of green
sward, with cumps of native forest trees, with
its garden filled with fruits and trclliScs covered
by the vine its plants devoted to simple flowers,
roses and other hardy shrub5cy, which seem to
! have natural proximity to the presence Of the
imitation of some >howy village mansion, with
portcocs and Ionic columns, or Of some cooked
hat cottage, all gables and no house; but should
be moderate in proportion, co!orcd with some
nature resembling tint suited to the location in
which it is placed that its construction should
! cy,cc taste and modest elegance, accompanied
with no expense for mere ornament: planned
within, not for useless show, with folding doors
and double rarl'rs, but every part to the con-
vencnce and comfort of IT. occupants: It's veran-
das covered with flowers and fruit. bearing vines
its roof projecting for protection and its CHM
news modelled with graceful forms. neatly cnclo
scl by itself with light paling. and a carriage
way sweeping across a lawn from the distant
highway Its out-buildings cvincing the same
orderly arrangement and convenient adaptation
! to their various uses.
! Not one of lis passing by such home but
would be delighted with its cheerful pleasant Us
pcct-not one but would wish that his was such
4 home and yet there is scarcely one who could
not thus make his home worthy of his occupa-
ton. 4 house constructed with elegance and
good taste, costs no more than one badly pro-
portioned and badly located.
How often do we see Il large stone house, cost
" in its construction, without any thing better
than rail fence enclosure, without door steps,
with uppcrrooms unturn<hed and looking cheer
less aud desolate, when one half of tho money
would have built Il snug, convenient end taste
full cottage, pccpng out of its leaiy screen, and
dcnotine the good taste of its occupants.
4 farmers home, such as it should be, placed
upon the thousands of beautiful farms i'll this
country, would elevate the character and emo
bic the occupation Of agriculturists i'll the public
mnd-would lead to Il greater appreciation OF
its dignity and Importance, throw around the
Young, pleasant and cheerful associations, stop
the deporulation of farming towns, and raise up