The Daily Astorian

Farmers' Homes.

A farmer's home may be made a place of great comfort and attraction or quite the reverse. The fact of its being out of the dust and away from the din of the city, and surrounded by pleasant landscapes, is calculated to enhance its beauty and add to its comfort, but we too often find among the farmers nothing but incessant toiling, a dearth of home comforts, a conviction on the part of the farmer that time spent in an effort to beautify and make pleasant his home is absolutely thrown away, and the result is that we see every thing rough, soiled, untidy, and the life a ceaseless round of care and labor. Yet we find very different scenes than this, and even among farmers of quite limited means, but of a more improved taste, perhaps, who make their country life and country homes the source of much enjoyment. It is not unreasonable to estimate, taking all the year round, that out of a dozen hours of the day two might be devoted to brushing up around the premises, planting and training ornamental trees and shrubbery, in the cultivation of flowers and the collection of interesting objects in natural history. Thus the home may be made a more pleasant and attractive place for the often overworked farmer's wife, and a better and more suitable place in which to bring up and develop the better tastes of the children. Again: the farmer can doubtless find time enough from the essential labors of the farm to take the family on many a pleasant ride around the premises and through the neighborhood. This time he may afford to take often, even from the lighter labors of the farm, since in that way he may be even "more perfectly fulfilling the purposes of a short life than in merely rolling together dollars and cents by uninterrupted work." Civilization is gradually improving the condition of the agricultural people. With the increase of the means and facilities for cultivation a powerful agency is ever active in the elevation and improvement of the country people themselves. The exercise of improved methods and the use of improved machinery calls for the exercise of thought, and the ornamentation of the farmhouse and grounds develops the aesthetic tastes, and thus the experiment gradually goes on. The principal agency which is operating to produce the desired result is the common school system, and the improved methods and means of instruction now in reach of the common people. Many more in proportion to the entire population, than formerly, come up from the cornfields to attend the academies, seminaries and universities, and returning cultivated and enlightened into the agricultural districts, infuse an improved element into country life.—Ashland (Oregon) Tidings.