THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART XI. 679 



its pleasant associations at a great sacrifice. For the defense of an at- 

 tractive home he would willingly transform from a horticulturist into a 

 soldier. 



For the benefit of our children it pays to make home beautiful with- 

 out as well as within. Blessed is he who cherishes the memory of a grand 

 old homestead with its pleasant associations and endearments, on which 

 were spent childhood's happy days. Although children will appear unappre- 

 ciative of home attractions, yet there will come a day when thrown upon 

 their own resources for a living, fighting the battles of life in a cold anu 

 hi, responsive world, and when awakened to a fuller realization to all that 

 is good and noble, they will recall with grateful remembrance not only 

 the attractions of the old home, but hold in sacred regard the moral pre- 

 cepts and teachings of those who made home attractive for their sake. 

 And as full grown men and women we can hear them repeat, "What father 

 used to tell us," and "How mother used to do." Yes it will pay you a 

 thousand fold if not for your own enjoyment then for those whom you 

 shelter and provide for, to make home not a barren, disagreeable place, 

 but an attractive abode. 



Nor does it cost much money or labor to add attractions to a place. Be 

 it ever so humble or unpretentious you do not have to be such plungers 

 in horticulture as my brother or myself. You do not have to be such a 

 horticultural crank as I am, and yet with a little attention and outlay 

 you can give tidiness and ornamentation to a home. The amateur land- 

 scape gardener should imitate naturf in his ground plat and carefully 

 avoid planting in circles and rows, except in case of roads and lanes, for 

 nature abhors symmetry and angles. Lawn plantings should be in groups 

 and clumps, in such manner to open views near and distant and produce 

 surprising effects, by way of contrast and color. We have purple, silver, 

 golden and the various tinges of green colors to accomplish this. All suck- 

 ering shrubs and trees, as well as soft maples, seed bearing box elders, 

 and cotton woods are not suitable for lawn planting. However valuable a 

 tree or shrub may be in the right place, it may become a nuisance in the 

 wrong place. Above all we should plant a variety and not share the ex- 

 perience of many farmers of today whose maple trees are all dying at the 

 same time, leaving the place treeless just when it ought to be in its prime. 

 There is every chance of making a bungling job of your first planting un- 

 less you are an experienced landscape gardener, which none of you are, 

 and rather than master the difficulties of this branch of horticulture, it 

 would pay to engage a professional to assist and advise in laying out a 

 new place, thus starting right and avoiding serious mistakes. Some east- 

 ern firms will furnish plans if you give them an order for trees. Henry 

 Wieses' place here has been worked on that order and proved very satis- 

 factory. For a durable, lasting shade tree, that does not obstruct tne view, 

 and improved with age, and is suitable for planting around the house, is 

 pre-eminently the high growing elm tree. The different oaks should have 

 a conspicuous place in lawn ornamentation. If in addition to ornamental 

 trees and shrubs in number and kinds as circumstances allow, you have a 

 good lawn kept short by smaller boys, and studded here and there with a 

 few flowers to give color, the problem of home surroundings will be settled. 



