Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-09-08
WHOLE NO. 1918
OBJ farm 4 @aroelt.
The Farm and the Farmer.

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"Much the character of every man az
De read in his house." This was a remark
OF the late Mr.. Downing, and, though true
IN the rnain, must be taken with some mod
ihcatlon. Persons must build according to
their means. Many, had they the ability,
would cause their houses 10 tell far differ
eni story of their character than they now
do. The log cabin or the cottage that has
weathered the storm for q score of years
wou Id soon come down, and on its ruins
mansion would arise, bespeaking its owner
man OF taste and munifcence, with a
spice of vanity and love of display. In one
hall the cases, persons who build are dissat-
ished with the work after it is completed,
and too late TO make change without sub
Jectng themselves to great expense The
house may show the character ofthe archi-
tect, but not of the proprietor, unless it is
according to his taste. Not one in thou
sand, il 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 fur
nishing the means.
The character Of the FARMER, however,
may be read in his FARM in the most unmis-
takeable language. He may iortte most
elegantly and truthfully, lay down the best
of rules and exhort all to observe them with
energy and zeal-he may talk most fluently,
deliver agricultural lectures for the enlight-
eminent OF his fellow farmers, which all
may hear with profit; lay down maxim5
which, if 70 ollowed, would make every man
a good farmer-but all shis tells not the
character of the man. He may violate his
own rules, disregard his own maxims, and,
like the drunkard who preached temperance,
be living example of the evils which he
condemns. But the farm tells the charar-
ter Of the man in language SO truthful and
unmistakeab!e that she who runs may read.'
There is no opportunity for concealment-'
no chance for disguise. If the farmer is an
enterprisins, dligent man, it is told by the
horses and cattle in their rounded forms,
sleek coats and bright eyes; in their playful
happy freaks, and in their quiet, comfort
able repose. IL is read in the growing
crops and the well.filled barns--related to
every traveller BY the fences and the gates.
the barns and the stables. 1t is heard in
the lowing of the sheep, the satisfied grunts
from the pig-pen, and proclaimed from the
very housetop, in the clarion notes oe the
cock. 1t is seen in thrifty orchards, in the
air of neatness and thoroughness that per-
vades the whole domain. The farm may be
small, the land naturally none of the best,
the buildings cheap, but natural difficulties
arc, as far as possible, overcome, and the
owner, it is very plain to be seen, is the
master, Instead of the slave, of circum-
stances.
The slothful, negligent farmer cannot
hide himself. His character and his faults
are emblazoned on :he dead tops of his
orchard trees-chattered by the loose boards
that dangle in the wiud--r elated by the
half-starved ca.ves-told in the pit:ful looks
and speaking eyes of forlorn horses and :
cattle. The poor fences and poorer crops,
the fine weeds among tie corn andpotatoes,
the finer rhisiles in the meadow, speak in
living words the habits AMI character Of
the owner. The farm may be naturally the
best in the country, the buildings costly,
but these things only set off in more bril-
liant colors the forlorness that pervades the
whole. Was this truth ever remembered,
that the character Of the farrper is seen in.
the farm, We think many would strive 10
have their farms speak for them better
things than they now do.-RHral HeD
YORKER.