Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-01-23

tfy DuC can, 70 some extent, be improved
In ornamental appearance and effect,
with but little trouble and at little ex-
peDse.
Farmers especially srs apt to think
that because they are poor, or means linn
tied, they are unable 10 carry out any
ideas Of improvement, or if they happen
to be well of, are always waiting for some
time TO come when money will be appar-
emily more easily spared, or they can
have more leisure for the purpose.
In fact there is a belief widely current
that pretty houses and attractive sur
rOundings do not belong to the farmers
humble let but to the village resident,
or those who come from the city, who
alone are supposed TO possess the proper
taste and necessary funds.
This 10 all wrong; and, il country peo-
pie will only think of it, they will find
the subject an interesting one, will dis
cover many and inexpensive plans, and
will he gratihsd at the subsequent effects.
Is yonr farmhouse homely, garable-
rooted, aud brown, and you think you
cannot afford TO build new one? Never
mind; If there is only chesrfulnsss with
in the old one, tits better than rich car
pats and discsnteutsd spirits in q new
one. Paintupyour old brown house, you
can aRord thai At least-let the colors bs
soft and lively a. you like; shingle it
over new, and make the roof clean and
dry; dsess up your blinds in beautiful
green; twine around your porch the hon
eysuckle or climbing rose, and wind up
the sides and corners Of your house the
ivy or some pretty evergreen climbsr.
Take carefully from ysur woods or
fields, the evergreen. spruce, or fir, and
plant doncs or more in front of your
door. Plant along the roadside a few
NAPLES and elms in alternate rows; let
your wife send few cents, and get some
fiowsr-seeds ard bulbs, and plant those
also in front OF your parlor window
Then wait for the gentle warmth Of the
suH, and watch the appearing Of the
leaves of the trees, the budding OF the
fowers, the coming forth of the bloom Of
the honeysuckles and rssss, and notice
how quickly this creeper climbs up the
side OF your house.
Wait until ssme beautiful day in sum
mer, when one of your old farm friends
comes to visit you and yours; listen to
their eIclamations OF pleasure at the sim
pie and wonderful Transformation look
at the pleased faces and bright smiles OF
your wife and children; and then see il
| you do MT feel that you are q man, that
you have got something worth pTaising,
that you have got something to conlpsi
respect from your neighbors. Watch the
travellers by your house, as they partially
stop and look over your little yard, and
with silent praise testify TO its beauty
! watch the influence of thsse little thingi
! upon your children, how rapidly theil
taste for neatnesB and nice things i'm
proves, how much more cheerful they
are in disposition, hsw quickly they gain
y superior standing among their school
fellows, how popular their home becomes
as visiting place among their friends
! What q pleasure it is to think of home
and when, ut some distant day, any Of
ell are compelled to go far away into &
distant state, how precious is the mem
ory OF father and mother, the old farm
house and its pretty door-yard. Bsi
while they are all At homo, zee how
gradually books and papsn find theiI
way into your hosre, how well they are
read and remembered, how insensbly
your own tastes improve; see how much
better you farm is than formerly, how
we'll you get along, perhaps not laying
| up much or any monsy, yet, in spite o
/ the extra expenses incurred, SOMEHOW
they ars ell met, your farm produces esInore
you live better, dress better, and xSe more
influential in society.
| Tell me then, whether il does not pay
to sdorn your homes.
Behold how great q result even a little
! good Accomplishment.
A beautiful green, glos,y lawn Is some
| thing few or no formers ever have; vet
nothing is more chesply obtained, kept
in order, and preserved from year to
year.
We have seen many an old farm -house
setting back from the road, with full hali
an acre or more ofs0ggy grass, worn here
and there across its surface with foot
paths and covered with sticks, chips, and
| rails. The gates are 'unhung and the
fence dilapidsted.
Go to work, old man; FIX up thoss
gates, repair that fence, clean Off that
rubbish, dress up yoar house; plough OF
dig up that yard, and SOW it with heau-
tiful grass your coarse clover orrank
timothy, but right proportions ofred-top
sweet-sccnted vernal, June OF Kentuck '
blue grass, and white clover; cover the
surfacc with an appropriate quantity oi
manure, real old genuine barn-yard ms
nure, or, still better, let it be liquid lei
your grass grow few inches high, then
cut it off smooth and clean, and keep il
cut every two weeks; deck the edge oI
your yard with eyersreens and shrubs
and behold how beautiful itali appearsth
Wait until Sunday afternoon comes, in
early summer, and. as you return from
church and d5ive up to your house. you
look over the fence, and the lovely desr
green of the siik-ssft, wayy grass viii
impress you with sentiments of beauty
you cannot force away. How charming
a sight, and yet how little it cost.
The Influence OF il will not rest here
it will be onlya q commencement Of lessons
Of salutAry influence which you must
take, and every one will produce o
greater and still increasing good: the sx'
srtion will become less and less hard and
instead of being. a. il once was, an object
OF dread, it will become n labor of toUe