186 HOW TO PLAN THE HOME GROUNDS 



to the side of the walk or road below. It is interesting, 

 moreover, to see how Nature will work on these walls 

 of brick or stone, in the course of time, by painting 

 their surface with minute mosses or lichens, and 

 weather-beaten stains, and as it is seldom that man, with 

 all his vaunted skill and his use of vines, can accomplish 

 altogether satisfactory work in this direction, his best 

 course is, after all, to leave his walls largely to the slow 

 action of the varying seasons. It will surprise many 

 readers to find how great a source of pleasure walls, gen- 

 erally so devoid of interest, become to them, as they 



HA-HA FENCE, FOR SEPARATING PLEASURE GROUNDS FROM FARM LANDS 



learn to develop, and bring out the possibilities for 

 beauty, of the plainest kinds. When, moreover, they are 

 once satisfied that walls are worth having for their own 

 intrinsic beauty, they will begin to realize that, if a bar- 

 rier can be made so attractive, the seclusion produced 

 by such features is a good thing to have. Of course, one 

 may object to being shut in by a wall ten feet high, as 

 some of the English parks and even moderate-sized Eng- 

 lish homes are, but one likes to be more or less by one's 

 self, and not on gaze, in order to properly rest or enjoy 

 peaceful recreation. 



Surely if we are going to spend much time on our 

 home grounds, there does not seem to be much pleasure 



