Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 November 1874 — Lanes and Footpaths. [ARTICLE]

Lanes and Footpaths.

The fall is again dull days and chilly nights warn us that winter is not far away. Before its advent let every preparation be made to meet it, for at best it is a disagreeable season for the farmer. Of all the causes that combine to make it so, none are so potent as one thing—mud. Through perhaps five months of the year mud is a necessity, but the farmer has it in his power to obviate its evils to a great extent. Before the fall rains come on, let the lanes be ditched and graveled, and good board, stone or gravel walks constructed, from house to road, from house to barn, from house to well or spring, and, in short, along every frequented walk or drive, on or about the premises. See that they are well made —high and dry—so that the wife or daughter can pass from place to place without sinking in mud up to the shoe tops. No one can estimate the amount of sickness, the doctors’ bills, or deaths, the direct result of wet feet from this cause. See to it that this cause is removed so that the sickness or death of a member of your family be not laid at your door. 1 our own health and comfort, as well as that of your horses that are —compelled to draw heavy loads through muddy lanes, demand that you make these improvements. What if they do involve labor and a little expense? The pleasure of passing along these dry paths and drives when the mud at each side is knee-deep is sufficient compensation, to say nothing about facility, health or comfort. We have often thought that farmers mould unite in the construction of footpaths along the roadside, so that the village, the postoffice, the school or church could be reached on foot without wet feet. This could be done at little expense, comparatively, and then what a world of annoyance, trouble, exposure and discomfort would bp prevented! Who can tell how many lives would be saved annually ? — Ohio -Farmer.