Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-10-13
Give the Farm q Name.

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w. l.. Nelson, Missouri, In Hoard's Dairyman.
Every farm should have a name
Thousands Of farms have names. In
dozen or more states of the Uniol
the legislatures have, during the las
few years, enacted farm name registra
ton laws. The first such act ever writ
ten into the statutes of any state was II
Missouri, in 1907, when Joseph W. Folk
now chief counsellor for the State De
partment at Washington, was governor
This bill was brief, the full text being as
follows:
ANY farm owner in this state may
upon the payment of 81 to the clerk OF
the county court in the county in whicf
said farm owner may reside, have tht
name of bis farm duly recorded in reg
lister which the county clerk shall keep
for said purpose, and shall be furnish
ed certificate, issued under seal, and
setting forth the name and location oi
the farm and the name of the owner
Provided, that when any name shall
have been recorded as the name of any
farm, such name shall not be recorded
as the name of any other farm in the
same county, except by prefxiug or
adding designating words thereto"
From this il should not be understood
that the idea of naming country homes
is new. Rather, il is very old. Almost
from time immemorial has man seen hit
to give to his ha6itatiop, however hum
BILE, a name.
On the British Isles, and especially IN
England and Scotland, are many farm
names that have been handed down al
most as pstronymics. There, for in
stance, the student of Shorthorn history
fiuds such names as Kirklevington, War
laby and Sittyton, names synonymous
with Booth, Bates and Cruickshank.
Even in America there are farm names
that are old. Who would think OF re-
terring to Mt. Vernon as the "old
George Washington farm" and who is
there that does not know OF The Hermit
age or of Monticello?
As the practice Of naming farms be
came more conn mon iu this country, and
with the back-to- the-land movement par
ticipated in BY city folk who had come
To appreciate the convenience OF some
easy and accurate method of designat-
ing places, there was felt the need of
such legislation as that in which Missou-
ri led. OF course there was that natural
copyright which existed by reason OF
priority Of claim and use, but this has
not always been respected. Some we're
not mindful of the rights of others
Furthermore, there was no way that the
best inteutioned and the most careful
might know that the name selected for
his own farm had not been previously
chosen by another in the same county.
Why name the farm? In other words,
and TO put it in familiar American par
lance, what good will il do? We might
answer this question by asking another:
Since we name our horses and our hogs,
why not our homes? Our homes, and
especially our farm homes, which seem
almost as sacred spots, screened from
sometimes sll-too-curious world, become
10 us more than merely so many acres
They seem almost part of ourselves,
especially if We or our fathers have lived
long upon the same spot. Or IT may De
that young couple is establishing
new home. As they plant, and plan and
pay, uuconsciously but surely working
into the. place their own personalities,
il is natural aud it is we'll that they
should come To want TO give II name IN
order that IL may mean still more to
them, and, as the years go by, to theirs.
There are many reasons, sentimental
and utilitarian, why the farm should
have name. The farm name promotes
pride, appeals to sentiment, lends digni-
ty, fosters individuality, Is valuable as a
means of Identification, and is a real
| business asset.
III your farm is named, 1t is easy TO
make others understand where you live
and also easy for strangers to be directed
to your place. Everyone who has trav'
sled much In the country knows how
hard it is to get definite directions as to
how to reach any given farm home
How much easier, instead OF directing
the traveller to turn at "Bill Jones
place" then continue on the road until
the "old Smith farm" is reached, to be
able to say to him that he should take a
certain road to Pine Grove Place, where
be turns to the right aud continues until
be arrives at Richlands. Sounds better,
too, doesn't il?
The farm name individualizes and des-
ignates. In certain community lived
three heads of families by the name OF
William Stephens. One was known as
"Plaster Billy" one as Soda Bill" and
the third as "Prairie WILL" Still there
was trouble for the postmaster-yes, and
for the public. Finally, one day,
''Prairie Will" named his farm and al
though that was long before farm
name registration law had ever been
written, the name "ClOver Lear at
once found favor and incidentally
did away with much confusion. To-day
the name seems as much part OF the
farm as are the fences. Mail directed
to Clover Leaf is delivered without de-
lay, and the local papers, when referring
to guests of the family make frequent
use of the farm name alone, 80 well 1t Is
known.
As promoter of pride and as means
of keeping the boy and the giri-yes,
and the father and mother-on the farm,
the farm name is effective. Somehow,
on the named farm the fences seem bet
ter, the corn rows are straighter, gates
seldom sag, painted and whitewsshed
buildings are more plentiful, lawns are
more carefully kept and fewer weeds
grow in fields and pastures or along the
roadside. Men are slow to advertise
their lack of thrift. Feeling no pride IN
the place, they neglect to give 1t name.
Not all good farms are named, but prac-
ticslly all named farms are good. At
least, they are well kept--and 1t Is the
we'll kept farm that keeps the boy or
girl in the country.
But to make country life permanent
we must make it profitable as we'll as
pleasant. Can the farm name, then, be
made valuable as a source OF proht!
Again, let us answer one question oy
asking another: Is trademark worth
while? Yes, for factory. Well, isn't
every farm a factory? In this day OF
the parcel post and of the development
of a from-country-to-c o-customer trade, the
farm name, IL it stands for premium
product, for farm produce that can be
bought and sold by grade and that needs
no further guarantee to make 1t good,
becomes q source of profit. The un'
named article, however superior, COM
petes with all unnamed articles, how
ever inferior. The city customer, who
iuds a satisfactory article from the
farm factory Immediately looks for the
name. he wants to know where be car
get more like il. So the farm name
should be there. That 10 the way bust
ness 10 built.
The naming OF the farm Is worthy ol
II - %