View. 



A very poor way to grow flowers is shown here. A little 29 

 round hole has been cut in the lawn, and this has been filled 

 with geraniums and coleus plants that the housewife, with 

 much care, has carried over the winter in the cellar or by 

 the windows. During the summer a few sparse blossoms are 

 borne, but nobody would dare to pick them, because that would 

 destroy the symmetry of the bed. Sometimes flower beds are 

 made in the form of crescents, snakes, flags, and other curious 

 and grotesque designs. There are at least three objections to 

 these flower beds, especially on a farm: They take too much 

 time, they do not produce enough flowers to be worth while, 

 and they are usually out in the middle of the lawn where grass 

 would be prettier. 



A much better way to grow flowers, especially on the farm, 30 

 is shown here. This is a flower border, not a flower bed. It 

 is along the side of the lawn, not in the middle. It is irregular 

 and natural, not symmetrical and stiff. There are all sorts of 

 old-fashioned flowers here, and plenty of them, so that even 

 the children are not afraid to pick a handful to carry to their 

 .school teacher. Flowers should be grown not in little beds 

 cut out of the lawn in front of the house, but in borders, along 

 the fences, in front of the shrubbery, against the foundation 

 of the buildings, and bordering the walks. This slide shows 31 

 some beautiful china asters in a most appropriate place 

 close to the house and peeping in at the sitting-room window. 

 How much better they look here than they would out in the 

 middle of the lawn. Flowers may also be grown in a flower 

 garden a little piece of land in the rear or on the side of the 

 place, given up entirely to growing flowers. The charm of the 32 

 old-fashioned flower gardens of our grandmothers has not 

 passed away. 



Vines are especially useful around the farm home for screen- 

 ing unsightly objects like fences and outbuildings, and also 

 for draping and softening the architecture of the house. 

 This slide shows the beginning of a screen for the outhouse. 33 

 In another year the whole fence will be covered. On a great 

 many farms this building stands out without any attempt to 

 screen it, which is little short of indecency. Tall shrubs or 

 evergreens should be planted in such a way as to hide it from 

 the road, and while these are growing a high board fence 

 should be erected and covered with vines, as shown in this 

 picture. Boundary fences and other unlovely objects may 

 also be covered with vines. 



No. 14 



