Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-05-21
From the Country Gentleman.
The rarmer's Home.

The Farmers Home.
The home of the American farmer should
he and may he the pleasantesl and happiest
home in the land II is generally his Osoa
home--he is not there by favor Of land
lord. The house, he 1t large or small, is
his own house. II stands on his own land,
is surrounded by his own fields, shaded by
bis own trees, and furnished and adorned
according to his own taste. 1t is not
crowded by other buildings in narrow
street, hut has ample room, and stands out
IN the free, fresh air, and under the unoh-
strueted sunlight of the open country. 1t
is the home of plenty. His fields and or
ehards furnish his tables with sweet and
wholesome food. He labors Within sight
of his chimney smoke, business seldom call
ing him away from his family. His sons
aid him on the farm and his daughters are
their mothers "help" in the house. They
all gather around the same fresde when
the labors Of the day are over,
Here are the material foundations for
happy home-ownership, comfort, plenty,
family union. SO far it is well bat the
the farmers home should also be-
list a Home of Idste.--Thrift and econ
omy are highly commendabe. Farming
should be made to pay" Crops should
be increased cattle multiplied, and land
continually improved. But this is not all.
Life has ends beyond these. The home of
thrift, comfort, and plenty, should also be
the home Of taste. Because the labors Of
the farm are rude, il does not follow that
he should live in barn-like red house, or
q white square box with holes in the walls
for doors and windows, and with not an Or
namental tree or shrub abeut il. There
is no reason why his house should not be
as handsome as that of his neighbor, the
doctor or the lawyer. 1t should have its
verandas and porches, its balconies and its
bay windows, and, if the means of its owner
permit, its conservatory and its library !;
and should be surrounded by handsome
trees aud shrubs, and have its beds and
borders for flowers. Within, the same
taste should be manifest in the handsomely
finished and furnished rooms---6nlshed and
furnished to ire i9p and not to be shut up,
and only exhibited half dozen times q
year to company"
I'd A Home of Culture and Refinement
First of all. no doubt, the farmer should
understand his business-should know how
to cultivate bis farm properly. If culti-
waiting his farm were the only object of bis
existence, this would be enough but he
has a mind and heart to be improved and
developed-a life beyond the work which
furnishes the means Of sustaining life. To
make his life a happy and truly satiSfac-
tory one, he must have fund of general
knowledge, and taste for books and the
re6nemeRts of civilization. Without this,
he grovels upon the clods among which he
delves, and sinks his manhood to british
level A welI-6Iled bookcase should be
considered as indispensable as a complete
set of farm implements. The newspapers
and magazines of the day should always be
found on bis tables, ard taste for reading
encouraged in his children.
The farmhouse kitchen is an important
apartment, aud if it be made to serve, a
is often the case, for diningroom also
much of the time Of the farmers family i
necessarily spent there. II should be {
large. well ventilated and comfortable room
But 10 is not. at best, a fitting place il
which to spend ones whole life Their
should he another apartment-sitting room
parlor, on whatever il may be cale,l-fur
nished with taste, and constantly open fo
occupation when the duties of the house
hold and the farm do not cali the member
Of the family elsewhere. Here should b,
the bookcase aud the piano or melodeon
the newspapers, the magazines and the mu
sic; and here, when the labnrs of the day
are over, the whole family should gather Il
read. balk. or sing. The walls of this room
should he adorned with engravings. and i
should he made in every way, pleasant anC
attractive to old aud yOung-a fitting plac
for ladies and gentlemen. as the farmer anC
bis wife, aud his sous aud daughters, shoulC
always be.
In word, the farmers home should b,
made. externally and internally, beautiful
and attractive, so that those who are bon
aud bred there, shall deem it ever,
@The dearest spot the sky endomes"