THE COUNTRY YARD 



trians and teams, when he might be studying 

 sociology, taking naps or practising on the flute. 

 The modern idea is to " get there." So we go 

 by the straightest paths and ask for short cuts, 

 even in our learning. But I admire the reserve, 

 the personality, the implied resource of a house, 

 say, hke Longfellow's. Standing thus apart, re- 

 fusing itself as a unit in an architectural sum, or 

 a social division in a block, it requires trees. 

 They are needed at the curb to shade pedestrians 

 and extend coolness, while they have the effect 

 of sheltering the roof and adding to its privacy, 

 if they are close enough to show above it. In 

 such an instance there is room and even need for 

 a garden in front, especially if the dwelling is 

 colonial in period or in style, for the colonial is 

 formal, while cottages and the usual farmhouses 

 are not. If there are flower-beds before it, pos- 

 sibly the resident may have no care for others 

 in the roomier precincts behind it, yet that is 

 where they show to the best advantage. When 

 a house stands broadside to the road, as is the 

 way in sundry of these old estates, it implies a 

 wider garden than we find in the city where the 

 dwellings squeeze up against the walk and dig 

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