Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-08-18
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Trw TO MAKE BEAUTTFuL HOMES.


The greater part of our population are wait
ing till they can afford to hare pie Mt homes,
forgetting that they can at no time afford TO
have any other. We take the color of our
daily surroundings, and are happier, more p
miable, stronger to labor and frmer to endure
when those surroundings are pleasing and iu
good taste. To possess these important quail
tiles they need not be extensive True bean
" IS cheaper than we think. The first charm
of a home, within and without, is thorough
neatness, and this IS the result Of habit, not
outlay Ii is oftener cheaper fhsh fish Pant
the house if you can; if not whitewassh but
in any case let it be in thorough repair let
there be no loose shingles or dangling clap
boards, or gates hanging by a broken hinge,
These hints favor thrift as well as taste. Let
the house be sufficiently shaded This viii
pay in comfort, wear of furniture, and lack of
afes. If you can afford green blinds, you can
always afford green tree or two, that costs
SON nothing but labor and patience, and will
shelter YOU from the sur in summer and the
wind in winter.
Plant vines of some kind about your prem-
ises; they are indispensable to grace they
show that nature takes kindly to your home
nHd has thrown her arm around it. You need
not resort to costly climbers; woodbine and
elematis may be had for the gathering, and
grapes and hop vines may be so trained as to
combine beauty and profit. Let your turf be
smooth and firm as velvet, and enforce the
death penalty upon weeds with an unsparing
hand. No man, rich or poor, can afford to
raise weeds They choose the richest spots,
where flowers, or fruit, or vegetables might
grow and send abroad their seeds as mission
aries of evil into every nook and corner III
kept places always have their vegetable Five
Points, where sin and misery are mimicked in
chickweed, burdock and nettles. 4 very few
flowers will suffice; a monthly rose in abe
window, morning.glory over the doorway.
bright border between your kitchen garden
and the street; these add to the picture Just
those touches Of color that make it pleasant
to the eye. With half dozen cheap and com.
mon kinds, your wife will take care thatsome-
thing is always in bloom.
But flowers are gross feeders, and if you
keep no domestic animals, you fancy, perhaps,
that you have no manure. You were never
more mistaken. Every human dwelling is
center of fertilizing agents, mostly wasted as
times go, rich enough to make the whole plot
around ii blossom like the rose. Tell the soil
that you have nothing to give IT, Give it
what you have and it viii laugh in your face
The suds from the laundry is store Of liquid
wealth. Never waste drop of it in drains
and sewers. 1t is floating currency, promis
ing to pay roundly in grass. and vegetables.
and fruit. Invest it IN your home bank which
never suspends payment. These grassy slopes
are greenbacks, whose issue is a good as gold.
Carpet sweepings are manure in eoncentra-
ted form. Dug into your flower borders they
weave a richer pattern than the one from
which they we're worn. The old bones that
deform the premises, If buried beneath the
grape vine, viii be ''heaith to the bones of
all their friends. Old boots and shoes, those
most unsightly wrecks, are the fayorite food
Of the raspberry and all its palatable kin.
Tainted brine, if such unhappily is yours, is
a treasure for the plnm trees and asparagus
bed; slacken lime with it, and it will make a
rich dressing for any garden soil. Every
household shonld have its compost bed, be it
only an old packing box, where woolen rags,
bits of paper, apple parings, refuse of veget-
ables, slops from the kitchen, chips and saw
dust, are storing up the elements of glorious
growth. Let not yours be ore Of the homes
where all bright possibilities arrive only at
burning instead of beauty" We have named
but part Of the fertilizers of every house
hold. Generally speaking, whatever is often.
siveto sight or SMELLS urging the appeal to our
revolted tastes. Bury me, and I'll do Won