Rural Architecture

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The White China is another variety, in size and shape like the last, but
perfectly white, with an orange colored bill and legs. Indeed, no swan
can be more beautiful than this, which is of the same pure, clean
plumage, and, in its habits and docility, equally a favorite with the
others we have described.

The Bremen goose is still another variety, of about the same size as the
African, but in shape and appearance, not unlike the common goose,
except in color, which is pure white. Young geese of this breed, at nine
months old, frequently weigh twenty pounds, alive. We have had them of
that weight, and for the table, none can be finer. They are equally
prolific as the common goose, but, as a thing of ornament, are far
behind the African and the China. Still, they are a stately bird, and an
acquisition to any grounds where water-fowls are a subject of interest,
convenience, or profit.

All these birds are more domestic, if possible, than the common goose,
and we have found them less troublesome, not inclined to wander abroad,
and, in all the qualities of such a bird, far more agreeable. We have
long kept them, and without their presence, should consider our grounds
as incomplete, in one of the most attractive features of animated life.

It is too much a fault of our farming population, that they do not pay
sufficient attention to many little things which would render their
homes more interesting, both to themselves, if they would only think so,
and to their families, most certainly. If parents have no taste for such
objects as we have recommended, or even others more common, they should
encourage their children in the love of them, and furnish them for their
amusement. The very soul of a farmer's home is to cluster every thing
about it which shall make it attractive, and speak out the character of
the country, and of his occupation, in its full extent. Herds and flocks
upon the farm are a matter of course; and so are the horses, and the
pigs. But there are other things, quite as indicative of household
abundance, and domestic enjoyment. The pigeons, and the poultry of all
kinds, and perhaps the rabbit warren, which are chiefly in charge of the
good housewife, and her daughters, and the younger boys, show out the
domestic feeling and benevolence of character in the family, not to be
mistaken. It is a sign of enjoyment, of domestic contentment, and of
mental cultivation, even, that will lead to something higher, and more
valuable in after life; and it is in such light that it becomes an
absolute _duty_ of the farmer who seeks the improvement and education of
his children, to provide them with all these little objects, to engage
their leisure hours and promote their happiness. How different a home
like this from one--which is, really, not a home--where no attention is
paid to such minor attractions; where a few starveling things, by way of
geese, perhaps, picked half a dozen times a year, to within an inch of
their lives, mope about the dirty premises, making their nightly
sittings in the door yard, if the house has one; a stray turkey, or two,
running, from fear of the untutored dogs, into the nearest wood, in the
spring, to make their rude nests, and bring out half a clutch of young,
and creeping about the fields through the summer with a chicken or two,
which the foxes, or other vermin, have spared, and then dogged down in
the winter, to provide a half got-up Christmas-dinner; and the hens
about the open buildings all the year, committing their nuisances in
every possible way! There need be no surer indication than this, of the
utter hopelessness of progress for good, in such a family.

A WORD ABOUT DOGS.

We always loved a dog; and it almost broke our little heart, when but a
trudging schoolboy, in our first jacket-and-trowsers, our kind mother
made us take back the young puppy that had hardly got its eyes open,
which we one day brought home, to be kept until it was fit to be taken
from its natural nurse. We are now among the boys, John, Tom, and Harry;
and intend to give them the benefit of our own experience in this line,
as well as to say a few words to the elder brothers,--and fathers,
even,--if they do not turn up their noses in contempt of our
instruction, on a subject so much beneath their notice.

We say that we love dogs: not _all_ dogs, however. But we love some
dogs--of the right breeds. There is probably no other civilized country
so dog-ridden as this, both in

"Mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
And curs of _low_ degree."

Goldsmith, kind man that he was, must have been a capital judge of dogs,
like many other poetical gentlemen. Still, other men than poets are
sometimes good judges, and great lovers of dogs; but the mass of people
are quite as well satisfied with one kind of dog as with another, so
that it be a dog; and they too often indulge in their companionship,
much to the annoyance of good neighborhood, good morals, and, indeed, of
propriety, thrift, and common justice. Of all these we have nothing to
say--here, at least. Ours is a "free country"--for dogs, if for nothing
else. Nor shall we discuss the various qualities, or the different
breeds of dogs for sporting purposes. We never go out shooting; nor do
we take a hunt--having no taste that way. Perhaps in this we are to be
pitied; but we are content as it is. Therefore we shall let the hounds,
and pointers, and setters, the springers, and the land and the water
spaniels, all alone. The mastiffs, and the bull dogs, too, we shall
leave to those who like them. The poodle, and the little lap-dog of
other kinds, also, we shall turn over to the kindness of those who--we
are sorry for them, in having nothing better to interest themselves
about--take a pleasure in keeping and tending them.

We want to mix in a little _usefulness_, as well as amusement, in the
way of a dog; and after a whole life, thus far, of dog companionship,
and the trial of pretty much every thing in the line of a dog--from the
great Newfoundland, of a hundred pounds weight, down to the squeaking
little whiffet, of six--we have, for many years past, settled down into
the practical belief that the small ratting terrier is the only one,
except the shepherd dog, we care to keep; and of these, chiefly,
we shall speak.

There are many varieties of the Terrier. Some are large, weighing forty
or fifty pounds, rough-haired, and savage looking. There is the
bull-terrier, of less size, not a kindly, well-disposed creature to
strangers; but irascibly inclined, and unamiable in his deportment;
still useful as a watch-dog, and a determined enemy to all vermin,
whatever. Then, again, are the small rat-terriers, as they are termed,
weighing from a dozen to twenty pounds; some with rough, long, wiry
hair; a fierce, whiskered muzzle; of prodigious strength for their size;
wonderful instinct and sagacity; kind in temper; and possessing valuable
qualities, bating a lack of beauty in appearance. They are of all
colors, but are generally uniform in their color, whatever it be.
Another kind, still, is the smooth terrier, of the same sizes as the
last; a very pretty dog indeed; with a kinder disposition to mankind;
yet equally destructive to vermin, and watchful to the premises which
they inhabit, or of whatever else is put under their charge. The
fidelity of the terrier to his master is wonderful; equal, if not
superior to any other dog whatever. In courage and perseverance, in
hardihood, and feats of daring, he has hardly an equal; and in general
_usefulness,_ no dog can compare with him.

[Illustration: THE SMOOTH TERRIER.]

Sir Walter Scott, who was a great friend to dogs, as well as a nice and
critical judge of their qualities, used to tell this story:--When a
young man, first attending, as an advocate, the Jedburgh assizes, a
notorious burglar engaged Sir Walter to defend him on his trial for
housebreaking in the neighborhood. The case was a hard one; the proof
direct and conclusive; and no ingenuity of the defence could avoid the
conviction of the culprit. The matter was settled beyond redemption; and
before he left for his imprisonment, or transportation, the thief
requested Sir Walter to come into his cell. On meeting, the fellow
frankly told his counsel that he felt very grateful to him for his
efforts to clear him; that he had done the best he could; but the proof
was too palpable against him. He would gladly reward Sir Walter for his
services; but he had no money, and could only give him a piece of
advice, which might, perhaps, be serviceable hereafter. Sir Walter heard
him, no doubt, with some regret at losing his fee; but concluding to
hear what he had to say. "You are a housekeeper, Mr. Scott. For security
to your doors, use nothing but a common lock--if rusty and old, no
matter; they are quite as hard to pick as any others. (Neither Chubbs'
nor Hobbs' _non-pickable_ locks were then invented.) Then provide
yourself with a small rat terrier, and keep him in your house at night.
There is no safety in a mastiff, or bull-dog, or in a large dog of any
breed. They can always be appeased and quieted, and burglars understand
them; but a terrier can neither be terrified nor silenced; nor do we
attempt to break in where one is known to be kept." Sir Walter heeded
the advice, and, in his housekeeping experience, afterward, confirmed
the good qualities of the terrier, as related to him by the burglar.
He also commemorated the conversation by the following not exceedingly
poetical couplet:

"A terrier dog and a rusty key,
Was Walter Scott's first Jedburgh fee."

The terrier has a perfect, thorough, unappeasable instinct for, and
hatred to all kinds of vermin. He takes to rats and mice as naturally as
a cat. He will scent out their haunts and burrows. He will lie for hours
by their places of passage, and point them with the sagacity of a
pointer at a bird. He is as quick as lightning, in pouncing upon them,
when in sight, and rarely misses them when he springs. A single bite
settles the matter; and where there are several rats found together, a
dog will frequently dispatch half a dozen of them, before they can get
twenty feet from him. A dog of our own has killed that number, before
they could get across the stable floor. In the grain field, with the
harvesters, a terrier will catch hundreds of field-mice in a day; or, in
the hay field, he is equally destructive. With a woodchuck, a raccoon,
or anything of their size--even a skunk, which many dogs avoid--he
engages, with the same readiness that he will a rat. The night is no bar
to his vigils. He has the sight of an owl, in the dark. Minks, and
weasels, are his aversion, as much as other vermin. He will follow the
first into the water, till he exhausts him with diving, and overtakes
him in swimming. He is a hunter, too. He will tree a squirrel, or a
raccoon, as readily as the best of sporting dogs. He will catch, and
hold a pig, or anything not too large or heavy for him. He will lie down
on your garment, and watch it for hours; or by anything else left in his
charge. He will play with the children, and share their sports as
joyfully as a dumb creature can do; and nothing can be more
affectionate, kind, and gentle among them. He is cleanly, honest, and
seldom addicted to tricks of any kind.

We prefer the high-bred, smooth, English terrier, to any other variety.
They are rather more gentle in temper, and very much handsomer in
appearance, than the rough-haired kind; but perhaps no better in their
useful qualities. We have kept them for years; we keep them now; and no
reasonable inducement would let us part with them. A year or two ago,
having accidentally lost our farm terrier, and nothing remaining on the
place but our shepherd dog, the buildings soon swarmed with rats. They
were in, and about everything. During the winter, the men who tended the
horses, and cattle, at their nightly rounds of inspection, before going
to bed, would kill, with their clubs, three or four, in the barns and
stables, every evening. But still the rats increased, and they became
unendurable. They got into the grain-mows, where they burrowed, and
brought forth with a fecundity second only to the frogs of Egypt. They
gnawed into the granaries. They dug into the dairy. They entered the
meat barrels. They carried off the eggs from the hen-nests. They stole
away, and devoured, the young ducks, and chickens. They literally came
into the "kneading troughs" of the kitchen. Oh! the rats were
intolerable! Traps were no use. Arsenic was innocuous--they wouldn't
touch it. Opportunity favored us, and we got two high-bred, smooth,
English terriers--a dog, and a slut. Then commenced such a slaughter as
we seldom see. The rats had got bold. The dogs caught them daily by
dozens, as they came out from their haunts, fearless of evil, as before.
As they grew more shy, their holes were watched, and every morning dead
rats were found about the premises. The dogs, during the day, pointed
out their holes. Planks were removed, nests were found, and the rats,
young and old, killed, _instanter_. Hundreds on hundreds were
slaughtered, in the first few weeks; and in a short time, the place was
mostly rid of them, until enough only are left to keep the dogs "in
play," and to show that in spite of all precaution, they will harbor
wherever there is a thing to eat, and a possible place of covert for
them to burrow.

To have the terrier in full perfection, it is important that the breed
be _pure_. We are so prone to mix up everything we get, in this country,
that it is sometimes difficult to get anything exactly as it should be;
but a little care will provide us, in this particular. He should be
properly trained, too, when young. That is, to mind what is said to him.
His intelligence will be equal to all your wants in the _dog_-line; but
he should not be _fooled_ with. His instincts are _sure_. And, with a
good education, the terrier will prove all you need in a farm, and a
watch-dog. We speak from long experience, and observation.

[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD DOG.]

The shepherd dog is another useful--almost indispensable--creature, on
the sheep, or dairy farm. This cut is an accurate representation of the
finest of the breed. To the flock-master, he saves a world of labor, in
driving and gathering the flocks together, or from one field, or place,
to another. To the sheep-drover, also, he is worth a man, at least; and
in many cases, can do with a flock what a man can not do. But for this
labor, he requires training, and a strict, thorough education, by those
who know how to do it. He is a peaceable, quiet creature; good for
little else than driving, and on a stock farm will save fifty times his
cost and keeping, every year. He is a reasonably good watch-dog, also;
but he has neither the instinct, nor sagacity of the terrier, in that
duty. To keep him in his best estate, for his own peculiar work, he
should not be troubled with other labors, as it distracts his attention
from his peculiar duties. We had a remarkably good dog, of this kind, a
few years since. He was worth the services of a stout boy, in bringing
up the cattle, and sheep, until an idle boy or two, in the neighborhood,
decoyed him out in "_cooning_," a few nights during one autumn--in which
he proved a most capital hunter; and after that, he became worthless, as
a cattle dog. He was always rummaging around among the trees, barking at
birds, squirrels, or any live thing that he could find; and no man could
coax him back to the dull routine of his duty. A shepherd dog should
never go a-hunting.

We would not be understood as condemning everything else, excepting the
dogs we have named, for farm use. The Newfoundland, and the mastiff, are
enormously large dogs, and possessed of some noble qualities. They have
performed feats of sagacity and fidelity which have attracted universal
admiration; but, three to one, if you have them on your farm, they will
kill every sheep upon it; and their watchfulness is no greater than that
of the shepherd dog, or the terrier. We have spoken of such as we have
entire confidence in, and such as we consider the best for useful
service. There are some kinds of cur dog that are useful. They are of no
_breed_ at all, to be sure; but have, now and then, good qualities; and
when nothing better can be got, they will do for a make-shift. But as a
rule, we would be equally particular in the _breed_ of our dog, as we
would in the breed of our cattle, or sheep. There are altogether too
many dogs kept, in the country, and most usually by a class of people
who have no need of them, and which prove only a nuisance to the
neighborhood, and a destruction to the goods of others. Thousands of
useful sheep are annually destroyed by them; and in some regions of the
country, they can not be kept, by reason of their destruction by
worthless dogs, which are owned by the disorderly people about them. In
a western state, some time ago, in conversing with a large farmer, who
had a flock of perhaps a hundred sheep running in one of his pastures,
and who also kept a dozen hounds, for hunting, we asked him whether the
dogs did not kill his sheep? "To be sure they do," was his reply; "but
the dogs are worth more than the sheep, for they give us great sport in
hunting deer, and foxes; and the sheep only give us a little mutton, now
and then, and some wool for the women to make into stockings!" This is a
mere matter of taste, thought we, and the conversation on that subject
dropped. Yet, this man had a thousand acres of the richest land in the
world; raised three or four hundred acres of corn, a year; fed off a
hundred head of cattle, annually; and sold three hundred hogs every
year, for slaughtering!

* * * * *

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