Nearly all contained coats of paint and the
stables were whitewashed, giving an added appearance of
cleanliness to the place as well as destroying lice and vermin.
Everything spoke of thrift. The manure was not thrown out in the
barnyard but stored under sheds. The straw was kept in the
barns. Noticing these things we began to learn that aside from
good soil it was also good sense that made this the garden spot
of the United States. Tobacco, so impoverishing to the soil, is
still raised here on farms that have known cultivation two
hundred years.
It is more refreshing than mountain scenery to behold such homes
as you find here. The highways were not bordered by unsightly
weeds but had been mown. These thrifty farmers were not afraid
that they would spend their last days in the poorhouse if they
chanced to leave a few shade trees standing; so, in many places
along the highways, lovely maples and graceful elms make of
them, instead of furnaces, a traveler's paradise. Thus we
learned that those who combine use and beauty are not financial
failures and live happier and longer than the people who "see no
beauty and hear no songs and fail to perpetuate them for the
future generations."
"For he who blesses most is blest;
And God and man shall own his worth
Who toils to leave as his bequest
An added beauty to the earth.
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