214 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



locality for his forest, not only adapted to the wants of the species of 

 trees which he plants, but where its fresh greenness and atmosphere of 

 quiet seclusion will add to the rural delights of the farm. 



We do not propose to go into any elaborate directions for the pro- 

 duction of variety and harmony in the landscape ; the more simple and 

 natural the style the better, and the more perfectly will it be in keeping 

 with the life of the farmer. Every farm has its own peculiar capacities 

 for improvement, which should be carefully studied by its owner. 



Few farmers who occupy unimproved land are able to build the per- 

 manent residence immediately, neither is it generally desirable to do so 

 until the farm has been studied and improved ; the building site, how- 

 ever, should be chosen, that all improvements may have a proper relation 

 to this central spot ; the temporary house may be placed in some conven- 

 ient location where it will not interfere with the development of his plans. 

 Give the prospective building grounds plenty of room, for no one can 

 better afford this than the farmer. Trees, and sunny lawns stretching 

 away among them, are indispensable to attractive grounds. If the grounds 

 are spacious and somewhat elevated, and have a variety of surface, as 

 knolls and hollows, groups of evergreens upon the knolls, as already sug- 

 gested, with the sky for a background, as seen from the public highway, 

 will show off to a good advantage. We should avoid injuring these undu- 

 lations of surface, but render them more striking and attractive by a 

 proper arrangement of both evergreen and deciduous trees. The more 

 striking views of surrounding scenery should not be shut out from the 

 house, for the best pictures one can have to look at are those that may be 

 seen from his window. The view of a distant woodland, covered with the 

 soft, green haze of spring, or the brilliant tints of autumn, is inspiring, 

 and will often drive away care. 



A house of symmetrical form, in an elevated location, is very attrac- 

 tive when seen from a distance against the sky, and should not be entirely 

 obscured by trees. 



Though it is best not to build the permanent residence immediately, 

 the farmer need not wait to obtain means to build a costly and elaborate 

 structure; we doubt if one in a thousand of the expensive houses built 

 ever tell any other story than that of pride and money ; the farmer 

 wants a simple, yet tasteful structure, which shall express the comfort of 

 rural life, simple, yet refined tastes, and warm, social feelings. Let it 

 harmonize, too, in the most natural and unobtrusive way with the sur- 

 rounding scenery ; if one wants his house to correspond with nature, 

 he must endeavor to catch her spirit; amid groves of picturesque old 

 Burr Oaks, a picturesque house would no doubt be appropriate. 



Some treat the picturesque as the opposite of the beautiful. Wilson 

 Flagg says : " If a villa, with its dressed grounds, be not so picturesque 

 as many a rude cottage, it is not because the one is rough and the other 

 smooth, not because the one is homely and the other beautiful, for the 

 cottage may surpass the villa in beauty, but because there are more poetic 

 and romantic images associated with the cottage." 



