Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-11-06

can be made to grow most luxuriant-
ly. i have seen beautiful lawns OF
this Grass in number of loo alities In
almost every State In the South. In
place of the straight walk we'll
maeadarnfzed curved walk or drive
way can be had. The shrubbery
should be placed as a background to
the front yard next 10 the sides of
the house, and the annual plants can
be made to grow along the driveway
or next to the shrubbery and house.
A broad, open lawn, uninterrupted
by flowers or shrubs, should be had.
The inside decorations of these old
houses can be considerably changed
by putting In plain decorations of
that sort that does not catch and
hold the dust. The windows can be
made larger, doors can be cut where
needed, and CRATES and stoves and
furnaces substituted for replaces.
Aside from making suggestions as
to the improvements OF the old house
the institute worker can give many
useful points to the person who in
tends to build a home on tl,e farm.
he can beadvised as to the bes. place
of locating his house, which Is usu-
ally that of the old settler. A. 20 the
material, the cheapest. and perhaps
{ His house should be built in a
healthy locality on the top OF some
hill and near some good public road.
The source OF water supply should
be considered before one builds. This
Is without doubt one of the most per-
picking problems that we have in the
rural South to-day. What shall be
the source OF our drinking water!
Shall 1t be bored we'll, cistern or
a. deep we'll? Cisterns have not
proven a success in the South, and
the deep we'll, where eartesian water
cannot be had. Is usually the source
of drinking water. These deep wells
are open to all kinds of contsnil,I-
tk,n and disease, can os.-a lie traced
to them. IL the bored we'll cur he
had or IL there Is a sprth.; in the Vi
cinity, a cheap water system can be
arranged for. The many small rnac.,
line engines for sale on the market
can furnish the power for pumping
this water into tanks. 1t is the abso-
lutte duty of every educated citizen Of
the South to exert his every effort in
trying to improve the sanitary con-
dition in our rural districts and VII
lagos. Typhoid fever and many other
diseases are quite prevalent through
out these districts, and this condi-
tion Of affairs is largely, due to the
drinking water, and to the fact that
there is no provision made for the
disposal of the slops and waste from
these country homes.
AS to the style Of the architecture
Of these houses, we will have to de-
pend somewhat on those found In the
cities, for unfortunately few archi-
tects have devoted any Of their ener-
gies In developing plans for country
homes and outbuildings, such as
barns, silos and cribs. Even the ar
chitecture of the old-style houses can
be followed to some extent without
fear OF making very grave mistake.
l have travelled through most Of the
States of. the South, and the one thing
that impressed me most about our
rural homes is the lack of paint. The
farmers institutes should make our
farmers realize that paint not only
adds to the attractiveness of the
place, but that house that is kept
painted will last two or three times
as long as one that is left unpainted.
Even when houses are painted in our
rural districts, very often the paint
used is Of an inferior quality, mixed
with some other oil than with lin
seed OIL {gA fa,n
The beautifying OF Southern homes
involves further the art of ornamen-
tai gardening, which is very back
ward in the South at the present
time. But as prosperity Increases 1t
Is only natural that a love for the
beautiful should manifest itself in the
direction OF more commodious homes.
There is no doubt that beauty should
play in the future an infinitely great
er part in the establishment of our
hores and in the arrangement of
their environment than 1T has in the
past. Since the war our people have
put all heir energies into the maxi
ing OF money. This Is evinced by the
great industrial development of the
South in the past twenty years. The
material prizes of fortune. so tempt
ing and inviting, have diverted our
pursuit from the higher to the lower
objects of life. One Of the greatest
needs along the line of establishing
ornamental environment for South-
ern rural homes is popular educa-
ton. 1t ia important to know how to
nroduce fine landscape effects, as wei.
as to 2be able tossolve the problem OF
|arrangements and construction Of the
home. How many people are unac-
|quainted' with the fact that more than
one thousand varieties of ornamental
trees and shrubs will grow vigorous
~ and thrive successfully in all sec
tions of our Southland, besides vast
number of vigorous towering plants,
possessing admirable qualities of
beauty of their own. An inspection
OF our home grounds far and wide
would reveal the fact that only few
of these are cultivated. Popular edu-