THE "ILLINOIS WAY" OF BEAUTIFYING THE FARM 



4. The English Style of Farm Architecture and Planting 



The kind of house that has sheltered ten generations of farmers in the same family. 

 Surrounded by English oaks and English daffodils. Let us learn from England to plant 

 permanent trees, instead of temporary ones, like soft maples and poplars. 



five years ago now seems in bad taste. It dawns on us that 

 any beginner can put flower-beds in the middle of the lawn, 

 and that every beginner will try to make each dollar stand up 

 on edge where everyone can see it. Thus, we come to hate 

 show, and to care more for privacy, permanence, dignity, peace, 

 restfulness, outdoor living, winter comfort, views, a playground 

 for the children, old trees, cut-flowers in the house all the time, 

 and low cost of maintenance. Why lose money by planting 

 now what you will tear out five years hence, when you know 

 better? Why not anticipate the growth of your own and 

 everybody's good taste, so that you will waste no precious 

 years, and your place will grow lovelier and more valuable 

 every year? 



THE "ILLINOIS WAY" OF PLANTING 



The right way is to use permanent plants, instead of tem- 

 porary ones; and to place them where they will meet every 

 practical need of the family, instead of scattering them for show. 



(See Fig. 3.) And the "Illinois way" is to meet all the outdoor 

 needs of the family by having ninety per cent of the plant- 

 ing composed of trees and shrubs that grow wild in Illinois. 

 Why Illinois trees? Because they are hardy, and therefore 

 economical to maintain. We do not have to test their hardiness, 

 since Nature has adapted them to our conditions by experi- 

 ments covering tens ot thousands of years. Moreover, we want 

 Illinois to look different from all the rest of the world, and to 

 have a noble character of its own! The highest ideal that any 

 farmer can realize is to have a profitable farm with permanent 

 buildings and permanent planting, both of which are utterly 

 different from those of Europe, and as full as possible of Ameri- 

 can and even of state character. 



THE EUROPEAN WAY 



European farm homes are so different that you can usually 

 tell simply from a picture whether they are German, French, 

 Dutch, Italian, or Spanish. The English farmer often lives in 

 a house of brick or stone which has sheltered his family for 

 generations. (See Fig. 4.) In front of it stand a pair of oaks 

 that have defied the storms of 300 to 500 years. The house is 

 covered with ivy or with roses, which climb to the top of the 

 red-tiled roof. The yard is surrounded by a hedge of hawthorn 

 or of holly. The Englishman boasts that he loves his home 

 more than any other man living, and points to the fact that 

 the English language is the only one that has separate words 

 for "house" and "home." 



THE AMERICAN WAY 



Every old state in America tends to have its own style of 

 building and planting. Massachusetts is famous for her Colo- 

 nial, or Georgian houses, like the one in which Longfellow lived, 

 with century-old elms sheltering the stately roof like gigantic 

 umbrellas. Virginia is celebrated for the farmhouses built by 

 Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and their friends their 

 hospitable roofs shaded by towering tulip trees or ancient 

 live-oaks hung with moss. Long Island is noted for the homes 

 of its cauliflower growers, with every room open to the ocean 

 breeze, and the white, wide-shingled walls set off by feathery 

 locust trees, loaded in June with wistaria-like clusters of fra- 



5. The Lancaster County Style of Farm Architecture and Planting 



In Pennsylvania, a single glance from the car-window will often tell you what county 

 you_ are in. In Lancaster County you see brick houses like this, with double porches, 

 quaint projections on the roof to prevent snowslides, and a "date stone." We need three 

 different types of farmhouse and planting in northern, central, and southern Illinois. 



The Delaware County Style of Farm Architecture and Planting 



In Pennsylvania, whenever you see farmhouses of native stone set up in this way, it 

 is a fair guess that you are in Delaware, Bucks, or some adjacent county. Let us nave 

 local color too, instead of "French rehash" or cheap imitations of Italy or England! Let 

 us have permanent farm homes! 



