Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 November 1901 — NAMING THE FARMS. [ARTICLE]

NAMING THE FARMS.

Letter boxes now appear at the gateways of farms throughout many districts In several states, along the country mall routes recently established by the government, and one of the first results of the innovation is decidedly interesting. No sooner had the mail boxes appeared than the farmers began to tal e a deeper interest in the gates and the general style of the entrances to their homes. The boxes were new, looked fresh, and seemed to give a dignity to the gateposts that they never possessed before. The contrast, in the great majority of cases, was not pleasing, particularly to the women folk and the younger men, and most of the farmers set about making improvements up to the standard of the letter box.

This was one step in the right direction. Then it was natural that the mail carrier sometimes made mistakes, because there was neither name nor number to guide him in the delivery of the letters, newspapers or packages. Some of the farmers nailed up rude “shingles" bearing the names of the occupants of the house at the upper end of the lane. Other farmers ordered neatly painted signs bearing the name of the head of the house. Now, it appears, from a letter addressed to the Milledgeville Free Press, progress has taken a more decided step along this line. The farmers in the vicinity are christening their places and displaying the names chosen in handsome painted signs on the gateposts. “I have concluded to name my place ‘Midway Farm,’ ” says the

writer of the letter referred to, “not because it is sporty or tough, but because it is located just half way between Milledgeville and Chadwick, also half way between Polo and Mount Carroll, and half way between Lanark and Coleta." Perhaps we are at last upon the threshold of the time, so long looked forward to in the United States, when country life will take upon itself the habiliments that adorn it in the older lands. Perhaps the mail box and the farm name are but the precursors of other improvements, in the agricultural regions, which will give the United States country homes with beautiful surroundings. The buildings alone for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis in 1903 will cover 187 acres.