Ellsworth American., 1876-11-16
Snug Farmers"

Snug Farmers"
quote our caption from memory, but
am quite sure | am correct. What is
the meaning and significance of this ex-
preston?
The primary meaning of snug is tight,
handsome, but in this connection, used
in a good sense, and suited TO decide
the whole class of farmers, this meaning
will hardly apply. The best farmers
never got tight" and they are not all
Handsome. Another meaning of snug
is "neat." This is peculiarly apprepri-
ate in its application to the good farmer.
On his premises neatness and order pre-
vail. The house proper is under the
management of the wife, but the cellar
must come under the management OF
the husband. There he stores his vege-
tables, and he knows it is OF the utmost
importance 10 the health of the family
that the cellar bottom be cleared OF all
foreign mstter-such as decsying pota-
toes, beets and cabbages-and that the
walls fbe frequently whitewashed and
cleansed. A neat and orderly cellar is
one of the best indications of snug far
msr. If the.good housewife can have
such cellar in which 10 deposit her
milk-pans, she will cheerfully guarantee
a neat pantry, kitchen and dining room.
The snug farmer is also neat in his
personal habits. Though clothed in
home-spun garb, suited to hi. occupa-
tion. he is SO neat and orderly that il
becomes "royal robe to him. He re-
members that he j, gentlemen, il i,e L.
a laboring farmer. and fit companion
for tidy wife. And lie i neat and or
derly in all his arrangements about the
house, bar and sheds His dooryard
is not strewn with sticks and stone. and
underbrush, ,but is neat AID orderly.
His unused tools are all under cover and
in their places. SO that he can find them
at pleasure. His barn is swept aud
garnished." and his animals are combed
and curried with the utmost care. His
dooryard fence is not made Of rails nor
slab-wood, but more likely of pickets in
some form, TO indicate taste and culture.
The snug farmer has snug little farm.
Everything about is convenient and
suited to his purpose. Every field is
cleared of It's stone and brushwood, and
laid open to the cheering sunlight and
the gentle rains. The fences are all in
order, and every change in the weather
or season is anticipated, SO as to enable
him to cooperate with nature in sccur-
lug the productiveness of the soil.
And the snug farmer is publS spirit
ed man. lie is interested in all public
improvements. Sidewalks and shade
trees that reach beyond his own door
yard interest him. He sees that every
thing that tends TO make the neighbor-
hsod or town more attractive will in
crease the value OF real estate. and thus
diminish the taxes. Such a farmer is
willing to share the expenses OF edrca-
ting not only his own children, but the
children of his nsighbors, because intel.
ligence and virtue in the community
will raise the value of his farm. lie
understands that all improvements that
affect the public good promote his own
personal welfare, and the welfare of his
children.
Now | ask my readers TO look about
over the community. and see if they do
not find the best farmers and the most
thrifty and independent farmers in that
neighborhood where the most money
has been expended in improvements;
in churches, schools, public buildings,
highways, parks and fountainsi The
beautiful village is always surrounded
by an intelligent, cultivated, enterpris-
ing and public-spirited agricultural pop
ulation, and their sharing and aiding in
public improvements has made tho farm
ers and their snug farms what they are
Correspondent Western Farm Jour
nal.