GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



OF AMERICA 



DEVOTED TO THE SCIENCE OF FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 



ADOPTED AS THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GARDENERS 



Vol. X\'l. 



lUXE, 1913. 



Xl.. 8. 



The Making of a Country Estate 



By Henry Wild. 



To one whr) has lived close to mother earth fur many 

 3'ears. devotins.;" his life to the study, companionship and 

 cultivation of Xature"s bounty, the planning and planting 

 of. gardens and fields seems the only life-work worth 

 while. To be compelled to live in the most palatial city 

 surroundings day in and day out, year in and year out, 

 would seem, to the professional gardener, a form of im- 

 prisonment for life, for which none of the rewards of 

 success could fully compensate. 



The rescue of the "old Immestead'' has been the dream 

 of many a prosperous city e.xile. and to many a man the 

 old farm where he was "bruught up" still beckons as a 

 possible haven for his declining years. The man of 

 affairs, who, as a boy, once wandered at will in the coun- 

 try, still dreams, amidst the attractions and distractions 

 of city life, of the open fields, of the gardens and orchards 

 which once smiled their welcome, and plans to own some 

 day a country home or estate as the crowning of a busy 

 a:nd successful career. 



Fortunately, an attractive country estate is no longer 

 looked upon as a place demanding a lavish outlay — a 

 source of increasing expense to maintain — and every 

 year shows an increasin'^' number of beautiful country 



homes in jjrocess of development. Thanks to the prog- 

 ress made in intensive agriculture and scientific garden 

 and orchard cultivation, the transformation of deserted 

 or semi-deserted farms, wooded hillsides and idle streams 

 into scenes of beauty and productiveness has been made 

 practical and possible, even to families of moderate 

 wealth. 



The purpose of this article is to suggest, in a general 

 and necessarily sketchy way, some practical methods of 

 developing country estates. There are many conditions 

 which need more careful consideration than is apparent 

 to the layman. Only professional skill and experience 

 should be relied upon in planning with a view to obtain- 

 ing the best results, from both the -artistic and productive 

 points of view — and the proper correlation of the whole. 

 It is not enough to know-liow properly to care for such an 

 estate, or to rely on theoretical ideas or advice. The 

 imperative need, at the outset, is for trained skill and 

 wide experience in the study and planning of the scheme 

 as a whole, with a definite purpose in view, after which 

 the carrying out of well-devised plans can" be intrusted to 

 a competent gardener. 



I have a strong sympathy with the tendenc\- toward 



LIPRARV 



NEW VokK 



UAKOtN. 



A SWA.MP A.Nh ISREF.DI.NT. PI..\CE FOR MOSQUITOKS. NOW CONVF.KTF.r) INTO A THING OF HEAUTV. 

 II AKIiV WATER I.II.1F..S ARE SHOWN IN FOREGROUND, WHILE JAPANESE IRIS, ELDERBERRY 

 AND SPIREAS MEET AT THE WATER'S EDGE. 



