CRITIQUE ON THE MARCH HORTICULTURIST. 



497 



huckleberries ; "Hawthorndales," on high 

 hills, sprinkled only by a few scurvy pop- 

 lars, looking as bleak and bare as the naked 

 swamps in the distance; and "Locust-ar- 

 bors," where old stone walls and briar 

 patches held the chief claims to distinc- 

 tion. 



But I'll not pursue the subject now. 

 The drift of my meaning is, by this time, 

 quite apparent. Let there be a fitness of 

 things in naming our homes. If our new 

 friend rejoices in a fine dairy, redolent of 

 aromatic grasses, of rich milk and delicious 

 hutter, his place is rightly named ; or if 

 " a dish of ripe strawberries, smothered in 

 cream," be a distinguishing mark of his 

 hospitality in their season, his cognomen is 

 most appropriate, though I cannot say poetic. 

 With the thousand and one beautiful Indian 

 names which are fast dying away in our 

 country, and only now and then revived 

 by the pious recollection of their despoilers, 

 how many charming spots could be desig- 

 nated — rare, euphoneous, and beautiful in 

 name ! pregnant, too, with poetic meaning ! 

 But I have said enough. 



Let us look to these things. I mean no 

 possible disrespect to your correspondent. 

 I found a text for my subject, avd have 

 used it. I beg his pardon. 



Design for a Country House, (with a plan 

 in the frontispiece.) — Well, an' you will 

 draw houses — I suppose we must e'en talk 

 about them. I like this elevation and per- 

 spective much. A mushroom amateur, about 

 building a new suburban house, said to me 

 the other day, when telling what a nice af- 

 fair he was going to have, " the architect 

 says the prospective view is first rate!" 

 " No doubt of it," I replied ; " and I hope 

 you have got a grand Portorico attached to 

 it." "To be sure I have; and the cellar 

 kitchen is just the convenientest thing you 

 ever did see." " But do you intend to have 



a cellar kitchen ?" "Why, serf i/ig. Up- 

 per kitchens, yon know, are all gone out of 

 fashion, and jinteel folks don't have them 

 at all now-a-days ; they're quite old fash- 

 ioned." (I happened to know this man Avas 

 raised in a kitchen — the only room in his 

 father's house — and therefore presumed he 

 wanted to get the appendage as far out of 

 sight and mind as possible.) " Where ig- 

 norance is blisss, 'tis folly to be wise," 

 thought I, and passed on. A fair specimen 

 of some people and their houses in " this 

 age of improvement." 



But to your house in the Horticulturist, 

 which you say may be either a " substan- 

 tial farm or country house ;" and such it 

 appears. But for either purpose, just turn 

 that kitchen, scullery, pantry, and dairy out 

 of the main body, and stow them away in 

 a roomy and appropriate wing, to be built 

 on to the rear, leading off towards the 

 stables and kitchen garden. [Quite right, 

 but that will make the house cost $500 

 more; and this was intended as an eco- 

 nomical arrangement. — Ed.] Such things 

 have no business on the floor of a house 

 proper, of this character. Let their present 

 place be occupied by a good bed-room or 

 nursery, for that is indispensable — children, 

 I believe, are generally born and brought 

 up in houses — two, at least, roomy closets, 

 or pantries, or a dining-room, or library, 

 with a side entry, or subordinate hall, if 

 needed, and they are frequently very handy. 

 Then, it is a first rate house of the kind, in 

 all respects. Nor do I like that bay win- 

 dow on such a house. It looks too much 

 like a sentry-box, stuck on to the side. 

 Were the building in a different style of 

 architecture it would be appropriate. As it 

 is, a plain window would look better, / 

 think. Yet the outside design is good, 

 substantial, in capital taste, and placed in 

 the right position, beautiful. Let such 



