AND FENCES. 51 



with the reflection that had you made the selections, the result 

 might have been worse ! Between dwelling, outbuildings, fences, 

 garden decorations, &c., there should be a strong similarity of 

 tone, though the depth of color may differ materially. A gray 

 or cool drab-colored house should not have a warm brown color 

 for its outbuildings. A cream-colored house should have its out- 

 buildings of some darker shade, in which yellovv' is just perceptible 

 as one of its constituent parts. In places where they are much 

 shaded by trees, the outbuildings may, without impropriety, be 

 the color of the dwelling, provided the latter is some un-showy 

 neutral tint. Shading parts of the buildings with different colors 

 is practiced with beautiful effect by good painters, but the proprie- 

 tor is here again warned not to trust to his own skill in choosing 

 colors. 



Fences. 



We are at a loss how to convey just icfeas of the choice that 

 should be made among the infinite variety of fences in our coun- 

 try without writing an illustrated essay. For country, or large sub- 

 urban grounds, it is safe to say, except where hedges are maintained, 

 that that kind of fence is best which is least seen, and best seen through. 

 But in towns our fences must harmonize with the architecture and 

 more elegant finish of the street, and therefore be sufficiently well- 

 designed and constructed to be in themselves pleasing objects to the 

 passer-by. The great desideratum is to answer this requirement, and 

 at the same time to adopt some design that will least conceal the 

 lawn and other beauties beyond or behind it. Our fences should 

 be, to speak figuratively, transparent. Now what will make a com- 

 paratively transparent fence is a matter much more difficult to 

 decide than the reader will suppose. Where iron fences can be 

 afforded, it is easy to effect the desired result ; but they are so 

 expensive that wood will long continue to be the main fence 

 material even in towns. Where something really elegant can be 

 afforded, an architect's services should be called into requisition as 

 much as for the residence design. A fence may be as fine a work 

 of art as any other construction, but the architect ought to bear 

 in mind that it should not unnecessarily conceal the beauty it en- 

 closes. Among the less expensive kinds of fencing, we will men- 



