46 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



was through and through. Do your trimming with 

 throughness that is thoughtfulness. 



Even more important is our planting, for before 

 we build our house there should be a good deal of 

 this done, and where old places have not been bought, 

 it is all important to get ready for shade and shelter 

 at the very earliest moment. I like the suggestion 

 of a friend who owns a dozen acres and held them 

 for seven years before building. 



He said : " Why should I go out there to live be- 

 fore things are ready? Why suffer from the heat, 

 and very likely from malaria, when I can just as well 

 get trees and vines ready for shade, at the same time 

 that I am getting rid of pools and marshy spots? " 



He had patience and good sense, planting a grove 

 of lindens, which he said would be ready for his 

 bees and a Norway maple which makes a grove all 

 by itself and a group of hard maple, out of which he 

 intended to get his supply of sugar, and a few such 

 friendly trees as butternuts and beeches. Beside 

 these he had started rapid-growing grapevines which 

 could be trained to his verandas at the earliest pos- 

 sible moment. 



Select those trees that grow with rapidity, for it 

 will make a difference of four or five years in the 

 matter of shade. One of the best of our thoroughly 

 hardy trees is the catalpa speciosa, but if I were plant- 

 ing a very small homestead I would take instead the 

 small-growing hybrid catalpas, originated by Mr. E. 

 Y. Teas. These are gorgeous in bloom, rich in foli- 



