"To sing the same tune, as the saymg Is, is in everything 

 cloying and offensive; but men are generally pleased with 

 variety. ' ' — ^Plutarch . 



CHAPTER IV 



Grades, Levels and Contours 



WHILE it is true that the usual flat surface 

 of an average plot offers few alternatives 

 in the matter of grading, it is also true that such 

 a place is not as devoid of interest and possibil- 

 ities as our accustomed and casual view of it 

 presumes it to be. For one thing, the unbroken 

 level is not imperative even on the perfectly flat 

 piece of ground; and for another, ground that is 

 perfectly flat is not as common as we fancy, or 

 as the appearance of most finished suburbs 

 would seem to indicate. It is our conception 

 of it as flat that is responsible for its becoming 

 so with the aid of shovels and barrows and 

 scoops and rakes — those flatirons with which we 

 smooth all the subtle little character wrinkles 

 and coy dimples out of the good brown earth. 

 This matter of grading — of ironing the face of 

 45 



