BUILDING THE HOUSE 75 



especially at night, for they are great givers of ozone 

 and health. There is a very common notion abroad 

 that night air is unwholesome, and I know many 

 country dwellers who will shut it out with closed 

 windowsi There is not the least basis for this blun- 

 der, for Nature has provided a host of health-giving 

 flowers and plants for the night, and these open along 

 toward sunset, inviting moths to share their charm. 

 Among these the honeysuckle is notable, and you 

 cannot plant it too freely around your house. 



There is a difference also in the homefulness of 

 trees, and this you must think about when you sur- 

 round your house. A beech-nut tree, where the sun 

 and air can get well at it, is an ideal for a near-by 

 lawn, and it is sweet beyond comparison. I know 

 of nothing better than a big, hearty beech tree to 

 sit under during the daytime; but to hang its big 

 arms right over the roof of the house there is nothing 

 better than the old-fashioned and child-beloved but- 

 ternut. Then among fruit trees I like best for near 

 company the hearty pear trees, that lean over and 

 drop their fruit on our roofs. 



" O sound to rout the brood of cares, 

 The sweep of scythe in snorning dew ; 

 The gust that round the garden flew 

 And tumbled half the mellowing pears." 



But why not live right in the heart of an apple or- 

 chard? There is no tree in the world more beautiful 

 than these off-hand apple trees, from the time that 



