THE FRONT YARD. 223 



declining years, let her have the very best the world affords. Let there be 

 a procession of beauty from early spring till the hard frosts of autumn to 

 greet her. She is an uncrowned queen, give her royal entertainment in 

 her own home. In the floral world there is enjoyment, relaxation, and 

 pleasure, found nowhere else. What more suitable and available recom- 

 pense for one who has richly earned the highest honors? While you have 

 158 acres of that quarter section can't you let her have just two of them, 

 and for yourself you can crowd into that space greater attractions than 

 the rest of the farm affords. 



LAYING OUT THE GROUNDS. 



Perhaps you should consult a landscape gardener, perhaps not. I 

 know a farmer whose tastes I would consult as soon as I w'ould some who 

 are called experts. Sometimes these things come as a sort of intuition. I 

 knew a man in Massachusetts, a blacksmith, who developed such a skill 

 for laying out grounds that he was sought for far and wide, and finally 

 became superintendent of one of the cemeteries near Boston. We need 

 to avoid monotony. What would suit one man or one place would not be 

 suitable for another. You may already have some fine trees growing 

 which you wish to save and must make your plans conform to them some- 

 what. And right here, let me say, it is utterly impossible to succeed with 

 shrubs and small trees in the neighborhood of large ones. Fix your 

 ground^ up as best you may, fertilize your soil, and the big trees will find 

 it out and will fill the ground with foragers to rob your plants completely. 

 You must do one of two things: remove the old trees, root and branch, or 

 if you do not want to do this, then dig a ditch three or four feet deep and 

 cut off all those robber roots which invade the ground you wish to plant. 

 Fill the ditch up again and then you will have to throw it out and repeat 

 the process every two years. A tree is as cunning as a rat, and will go 

 after nourishment when it is anywhere within reach. I have known a 

 large cottonwood or elm to rob several gardens. If the tree is fifty feet 

 tall it will send out its roots 100 feet or over for sustenance. I will give a 

 few hints which will perhaps aid you. When you go into a primeval forest 

 you will often see parks laid out by nature. I recall several such. Tall 

 trees are in the background, then others not quite so high, with shrubbery 

 in front, a sort of natural amphitheater, so that standing at the edge, or in 

 the center, you take it all in at a glance. If you carry out this amphi- 

 theater plan, then on the outer edge of both sides of your grounds plant 

 your tallest trees, then those of slower growth, next the tallest perennials, 

 then those not quite so tall, then gradually come down to the* border where 

 you can have the little dwarf iris and the creeping subulata phloxes; then 

 your grass plat with now^ and then a picea pungen or concolor. Have the 

 front open to the street and all trees on the road so you can look under 

 them and see your friends as they pass, and they can also enjoy your 

 grounds; for you do not plant for yourself exclusively, but also for them. 



There is another system which is entirely different: it is in some 

 measure the English style. The garden is enclosed with a high wall, with 



