WALLS OF STONE AXD BRICK 169 



small animals, and cows and horses know enough 

 to go around through the gateway. The posts of 

 a wire fence should be made so light and thin that 

 they are almost invisible. 



Next in ugliness to the gas-pipe fence is the wall 

 that is made of mortar, with stones of various 

 shapes and sizes stuck into it after the manner of 

 raisins and almonds in a plum cake, presenting a 

 very rococo appearance. Field stones laid in mor- 

 tar, with deeply sunken joints, is a modified form 

 of this atrocity. These walls are extremely com- 

 monplace and should be used only with houses 

 built of field stone or in the rustic or Swiss chalet 

 style, on a mountain-side, or in a primitive coun- 

 try, if they are used at all. They should never 

 appear near a garden, for the beauty of beautiful 

 flowers is degraded by their coarse ugliness. At 

 seashore colonies on rockbound coasts they are 

 often found; and the dajuntless Nasturtium is the 

 only flower that can be used near them without 

 appearing ridiculous. At one time they were sup- 

 posed to be artistic; it must have been when the 

 tide of art was at very low ebb in this country. 

 These walls are insults to nature when used among 



