482 



Reading-Course for Farmers. 



4. Set at least a part of the plants in groups. Note how attractive an 

 old fence-row is. You may not want a fence-row, but you can get some 

 hints from it. Do not plant the things in severe rows. Plant them ir- 

 regularly, do not shear them year after year, and then let them grow 

 into each other freely and naturally. If you want a few special and showy 

 plants, as hydrangeas, plant them near a group of other plants, not drop 

 them promiscuously over the front yard where they bear no relation to 

 anything else and have no particular meaning. I always feel sorry for 

 the isolated bushes and dejected little trees that are set down here and 

 there without any use or reason, and which are forced to make a con- 

 stant struggle with the grass. 



5. Be careful not to overcrowd the residence with trees, especially 

 with evergreens. It is always advisable to provide shade, but it is easy to 

 make the place gloomy and depressing. It is seldom that a residence looks 



well in a grove, — the 

 grove is likely to swal- 

 low up and domineer 

 the buildings, and the 

 place lacks in open- 

 ness and free sweep. 



6. Plant as freely 

 of bushes as of trees, 

 perhaps even more 

 freely. It is a com- 

 mon mistake to give 

 too little attention to 

 the shrubs. They 

 comprise the minor 

 furniture of the place, 

 filling it in about the 

 margins, relieving it 

 of bareness and bleak- 

 ness. 



7. Tlic main plant- 

 ings of the trees and 

 shrubs a n d herbs 

 should be made of the 

 kinds that you know 

 and that you are sure 

 will grow. Many of 



the native trees and shrubs are verv desirable and are reliable. The 



Fig. 298. — Trees in ivintcr. Trace out the method of 

 branching. The first tree is slippery elm; note the 

 horizontal position of the lower branches. 



