THE "ILLINOIS WAY" OF BEAUTIFYING THE FARM 



12. Unsightly Objects That Should Be Screened 13. Free Material for Screening Unsightly Objects 



The humblest renter in Illinois can at least cover an outhouse with wild cucumber vines in one seasonal no cost. Wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) is native to Illinois 



But permanant vines are better. Anyone with two hands and a spade can dig up elder, sumach, or trumpet creeper. and the humblest tenant can collect the seeds. Or five cents 



Evergreens are still better, because beautiful the year round. will buy enough to hide the outbuildings shown in Fig. 12. 



and a fine view of the prairie which no one had ever seen was 

 revealed. Can't you arrange your windbreak so that it will 

 also act as a screen hiding some barnyard, outbuilding, tele- 

 phone wires, billboard, or advertisement-covered building? 

 The humblest renter in Illinois can at least cover the outhouse 

 in a single season without cost, by the aid of wild cucumber 

 vines. (See Figs. 12 and 13.) Wild grape (Fig. n) or trumpet- 

 creeper will do a better job; and anyone who has two hands, 

 a wheelbarrow, and a spade, can dig up enough elder and 

 sumach from the roadside to make the outbuildings decent 

 without delay. Evergreens make ideal screens because they 

 are effective the year round. If these are not thrifty in your 

 locality, try lattice. This may cost something for material and 

 labor, but it is worth it, because it hides that outbuilding or 

 ash-heap without delay, both summer and winter. For other 

 screening suggestions, see Figs. 14 to 16. 



THE VIEW FROM THE ROAD 



The salability of a property is often 

 influenced by the first impression which 

 the public gets of the house. (See Figs. 

 19 and 20.) If you see a house too far 

 away, it seems mean or small; if you turn 

 a corner and are suddenly confronted by 

 the house, the approach is too abrupt. A 

 house should be first seen from the point 

 where it appears to the best advantage. 

 Remember this w^hen choosing a site for 

 your new house. If the location is fixed, 

 can't you rearrange your drive? For 

 instance, if the house is visible too far 

 away, curve your drive and plant the 

 curves, so that the house will be hidden 

 until you come to the best place for re- 

 vealing it. For other suggestions about 

 the approach, see Figs. 17 and 18. 



GIVE YOUR HOUSE A 

 BACKGROUND 



A background makes all the difference 

 between a house and a home. (See Figs. 



21 and 22.) Your house will be twice as easy to sell if it is 

 seen against woods or orchards rather than empty sky. If 

 your house is already located and has no background, plant 

 some tall-growing trees behind it. Why not plant some of 

 the trees that reach their greatest height in the state of 

 Illinois, e.g., the sycamore, the linden, the sweet gum, and the 

 tulip tree, which has gorgeous cup-like flowers, four inches 

 across, of yellow marked with orange? 



A GLIMPSE IS BETTER THAN THE WHOLE 



Again, "a glimpse is usually better than the whole thing," 

 as Mr. O. C. Simonds often says. Most of the old farmhouses 

 in Illinois are very poor architecturally. The ideal is a new 

 and better home; the next best thing is remodeling; but if 

 neither is practical, can't you hide the 

 unattractive part by planting, and show 

 the attractive ? Even a house that is as 

 false and ugly as Fig. 7 may have some 

 good detail. Study once more the house 

 you think hopeless, and hold your hands 

 before your eyes in such a way as to hide 

 the bad and show the good. Then see 

 if you cannot find trees that will do the 

 work in a reasonable time. 



FRAME THE VIEW 

 YOUR HOUSE 



OF 



14. The Illinois Rose to Cover Clothes-posts 



Clothes-posts need not be ugly. They can be made 

 beautiful the year round by planting a prairie rose (Rosa 

 sctigera) at the base of each post. To train it, simply tack 

 a piece of cloth over each shoot. Let us plant an Illinois 

 rose against every clothes-post in Illinois! 



You can greatly increase the value of 

 your property by planting the right sort 

 of trees at either end of your house, so 

 as to frame a picture of your home. 

 Many a rich man in the East pays hun- 

 dreds of dollars extra for a farm because 

 the old house is surrounded by century- 

 old elms. He builds a big new house 

 under the old trees and at once it looks 

 old and mellow. The pioneers thought 

 only of shade and shelter from the wind, 

 and so they commonly planted trees all 

 around the farmhouse, generally too near 

 one another and too close to the house. 



