THE CITY YARD 



ways, as by erecting an arch of wire at the en- 

 trance to the path, and training roses over it, or 

 building an arch, midway, to span the yard Itself 

 and covering It with a vine. The result would 

 be rococo; there would be a harking back to the 

 Watteau and Boucher era, to the " hour, flower, 

 bower" age of sentiment; and I am better in 

 favor of as wide a space as the yard will give, 

 enjoying the grass and reserving tall bushes and 

 vines for places near to or against the fence. 

 An arbor, if you must have one, should be of 

 more substance than an arch of wire, and what- 

 ever large object we may elect to place as orna- 

 ment in the yard — for our composition must 

 have a central point of interest, a focus — is better 

 at the end of the vista than the beginning of it, 

 since we shall see it a hundred times from the 

 door and windows to once that we will look 

 toward the house. And as we shall see the yard 

 oftenest from the windows, it is wise to have 

 some equivalent matter to take the place that in 

 a picture is occupied by the commanding figure, 

 or the high light. Statuary needs space, and it 

 needs to be good. But for this I should consent 

 to a small and modest figure, half hidden by 

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