The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1865-08-19
Stlisfellalte0tts.
The Farmers ssDoor Yard. .

"What nice front yard you have" said
a young farmer to friend Of ours few
days since. "You have the most beautiful
flowers | have ever seen."
Part of this may have been mere COM
pliment, as the "door yard" in question will
not compare with an ordinary suburban lawn
and garden. But as it happened to be q
farmers door yard, and is not utterly me-
elected, it called forth the remark we have
quoted. sg tasio ra n sftt
The young man is the eldest son of one
of the most successful farmers in the neigh
borhood. Coming to the "Genesee Coun-
try" when it was to the resident of the
Eastern States as far 8" West" as Kansas
is now, he cleared farm, raised large
family and gave them an excellent educa-
tion. He has plenty of apples, cherries and
peaches, and we are not sure that he has
not what is quite rare in farmers garden,
good patch of the best varieties of straw
berries and raspberries The house is de-
situated, with some noble ,decid-
uous trees and fine evergreens, surrounding G
it. The young ladies are fond of flowers,
and succeed pretty well with their ANNALS.
There is o bell on the front door, piano in
the parlor, with half adozen or so oil paint
ings on the walls, the work of one Of the
daughters. Ten different periodicals are
taken and pleasanter. country home is sell
dom found. ,,.-
Now why should not such farm have q
we'll kept lawn, with few choice shrubs,
evergreens, ornamental trees, &c. Has he
not land enough r. Can he not afford it p
What would it cost ?lo!Would not hun
dred dollars year be liberal estimate,
even charging full price for every half hour
occupied in keeping it in order. We think
fifty dollars year would convert some of
the unsightly door yards, so frequently seen
in the country, into adelightful lawn. And
there is positively no reason why this is not
done, except that the farmer has never been
in the habit of attending to such things and
has no taste for them.g If q man is really
poor, there is some excuse for neglecting
those things which do not afford an imme-
the country hundreds of thousands of far
mers who can afford to have nice lawn and
garden if they only desired it. Here is a
farmer who has spent over 600 in erect
ing house. His door yard is-well,
no better than his neighbors. Perhaps he
would be talked about if it was.- A big house
is allowable in the country, but the agricul-
tural Mrs. Grundy would be horri6ed should
a farmer pay much attention to ornamental
grounds. But what is the good of the big
house with its neglected door yard ?"---
Does the good wife feel any happier in it
Are the children more comfortable? Does
it afford any pleasure to the passer-by p
Would it not have been better to have spent
less on the house and more on the grounds
and garden Suppose, instead of spending
$4,000 on the house and nothing on the
grounds, he had spent $1,000 on the house
and reserved the $4,000 for making and
keeping up nice lawn, planting out few
hedges, making good walks and setting out
ornamental trees. Had he spent 81 900 on
his grounds the interest on the remaining
two thousand would have kept them in good
order. Would not such course have been
better Admitting that it does not pay,
we would ask how much the extra $4,000
invested in the house pays. 1t not only
brings in nothing, but requires more money
to furnish the rooms, &C.. And in case you
want to sell it, who would not prefer to have
had the money invested in setting out trees,
&C., than in the house
Not many months since arieh gentleman
in one of the Eastern Cities, wanted to buy
farm for his son. He preferred Western
New York. He was willing to pay any sum
from $4,000 to $4,000, if he could get
such farm and buildings as he wanted
But he wanted everything ready to his
hands--a pleasant house, good buildings,
and we'll laid out grounds, roads, &c. We
were asked where there was such farm in
this section that could be purchased; and
we were obliged to confess that we did mot
know of any in this neighborhoodt that would
fill the conditions. We have many farms
in good state of cultivation, many good
houses, but where do you find we'll laid out
grounds We are confident that there are
farms where thousand dollars spent ten
years ago in judicious planting, with hun
dred dollars yearin keeping up the grounds
would have added, in this case at least
from five to ten thousand dollars to the val
ue Of the farm. But this is not the main
reason for attending to these matters. We
want farmers to make pleasant homes fol
their children. This young man who ad
mired door yard" kept little better
than is generally found on farms, is already
anxious to leave his father and go to The
city. He thinks farming nothing but hard
work, and sighs for some pleasanter occu
patton. We think he had better stay or
the farm. A man who gets an honest liv
ing in the city has to. work just as hard as
farmers, but he does not realize this, and il
must be confessed that we find, even among
thoss in moderate circumstances, pleasant
| er homes in the suburbs of our cities, thai
| in the country. This need not be. A far
mer can make his home pleasant to himsel
and attractive to his children. Agricultur
needs intelligent young men, and especial
" intelligent farmers sons: We must max
farming more agreeable. But this is Q sub
iect we cannot discuss at this time. Wha
we now wish to urge upon our readers is tn
Importance of paying more attention t
their grounds around the house, .-GeneSe
Farmer. l5ts1 s,H