The Kanzas news., 1859-04-23
The Farm and the Farmer.

much OF the character OF every man
may be read in his house, This was q
remark of the late Mr.. Downing, and,
though true in the main, must be taken
with some modification. Persons must
build according to their means. Many,
had they the ability, would cause their
houses to tell far different story of their
character than they now do. The log cab
in or the cottage that has weathered the
storm for score of years would soon come
down, and on its ruins mansion would
arise, bespeaking its owner man of taste
and nunifcence, with spice of vanity and
love of display
In one-half the cases, persons who build
are dissatisfied with the work after it is
completed, and too late to make change
without subjecting themselves to great ex-
pense. The house may show the character
. OF the architect, but not of the proprietor,
unless it is according to his taste. Not
one in thousand, if under the necessity of
rebuilding, would make the second house
like the first, while many who build fine
houses have little to do with the work aside
from furnishing the means
The character Of the FARMER, however,
NAV be read IN has FARM in the most un-
mistakable language. He may acrae most
elegantly and truthfully, lay down the best
of rules, and exhort all to observe them
with energy and zeal-he may talk most
fiuently, deliver agricultural lectures for the
enlightenment of his fellow-farmers, which
All NAV hear with profit; lay down maxims
which. if followed, would make every man
. rood farmer, but all this tells not the char
acter of the man.
He NAV violate his own rules, disregard
hi. own naxims, and, like the drunkard
Who breaches temperance, be living ex-
ample of the evils which he condemns.
But the farm tells the character of the man
in language so truthful and unmistakable
that she who runs may read" There IS
no opportunity for coneealment-no chance
for disguise If the farmer Is an enterPris-
ing, diligent man. it is told by the horses
and cattle in their rounded forms, sleek
coats and bright eyes; in their playful, hap
py freaks, and in their quiet, comfortable
.rspose.
It is read in the growing crops and the
wsll-flled barns-related to every traveller
By the fences and the gates, the barns and
the stables. It is heard in the lowing of
the sheep, the satisfied grunts, from the pig
pen, and proclaimed from the very house,
top, in the clarion notes of the cock. 1t is
seen in thrifty orchards, in the air of neat
ness and thoroughness that pervades the
whole domain. The farm may be small,
The land naturally none of the best, the
buildings cheap: but natural difficulties are.
ss far As possible, overcome, and the owner
it is very plainly to be seen, is master, in
stead of the slave, of circumstances.
The slOthful. negligent farmer cannot
hide himself. His character aud faults are
emblazoned on the dead tops of his orchard
trees chartered by the loose board that dan
gle m the wind-bleated by half-starved
c1lves-told in the pitiful looks and speak
ing eyes of forlorn horses and cattle.
The poor fences and poorer crops, the
fns weeds among the corn and potatoes,
and finer thisties in the meadow, speak in
living words The habits and character of the
owner. The farm may be naturally the
best in the country,, the building costly,
bat these things only set of in more bril-
liant colors the foriornness that peryades
ths Whole. Was this truth ever remember
81, that the character of the farmer is seen
IL the farm, We think many would strive te
have their farms speak for them better things
than they de.-Rarcl Nsw Yorker.