EFFECTIVE IMPROVEMENTS ON THE HOME GROUNDS. 389 



be lost, and much gained, by consulting with some one who is fa- 

 miliar with varieties, their cost, their habits, etc. 



It is not intended to defint here any plan for planting trees on 

 the home grounds. To any one who has given a little thought to the 

 question, it must be apparent that general suggestions in the arrange- 

 ment of the trees and shrubbery for this purpose would be almost 

 impossible. General suggestions regarding the planting and care 

 of stock are always good, but when it comes to the arrangement of 

 ornamental stock upon the grounds, be they public or private, to lay 

 down, or attempt to do so, any fixed rules or ideas could only lead 

 to mistakes, for the simple reason that every yard must be treated 

 individually, the conditions of location, climate and soil being so 

 entirely different. For instance, two yards may be the same size 

 and offer the same space for improvements. In one of them, it may 

 be considered practicable to plant a hedge of arbor vitss or barberry 

 along the walk or roadway ; but with the other, while the conditions 

 on the surface may be apparently identical, it would not be safe to 

 infer that the same plan for planting would be as good as some other, 

 either in the selection of varieties or in the arrangement of the same. 

 An important thing for our horticultural society to do is to show 

 people how they may wisely arrange their grounds, considering the 

 different conditions that exist in various sections of the northwest. 

 To do this, is to go at the thing from the foundation, while to advo- 

 cate different forms of arrangement of the home grounds without 

 some definite knowledge of varieties and their peculiarities would 

 be to build a structure without a foundation. 



What we want first is to accentuate the desirability of invest- 

 ing some reasonable attention and money in the improvement of the 

 home grounds. To do this, we must begin the cultivation of a more 

 general taste for the beauties of nature and a more general love for 

 the practical study of horticulture. Combining this with the mani- 

 fest importance of making the home, in all its features, a place of 

 attraction, we find ourselves with a good and thorough motive for 

 drawing the interest of all members and all others interested, as 

 much as possible, in this work. Then, the interest having been at- 

 tracted, our attempt should be to direct it into proper channels and 

 make it productive of most satisfactory and lasting results. 



The foregoing remarks are applied to the home as a whole, but 

 to leave it where it stands it might be inferred that the improve- 

 ments mentioned were intended to be applied only to what we have 

 generally come to know as the "front yard." Now, the time is pass- 

 ing out of existence when people are confining their improvements 

 to the front part of either the lawn or the house. No greater mistake 



