50 



Farmers' Bulletin 1087. 



groups on the boundaries of the home lot. Openings should be left 

 in the plantings to expose the desirable view from the windows of 

 the most-used rooms, the porches, or portions of the lawn, and plants 

 of suitable size and height should be used to hide the less desirable 

 outlooks. If there be a broad view, it is usually made more inter- 

 esting by being divided into parts, as 30, or one- twelfth of the 

 circumference of a circle, is about as much as the eye can see at 

 one time, and this is as mucl* as should be included in a single view 

 of a distant landscape. If it is necessary to inclose the home lot, the 

 most inconspicuous wire fence possible is desirable, although some- 

 times a fence covered with vines or a hedge is better. As fences or 

 hedges accentuate the boundaries, they usually should be avoided 

 and when used they should be made to attract as little attention as 



FIG. 56. Shrubbery on the grounds of the farm home shown in figure 55 indicates the 

 location of the road and provides a reason for the turns. 



, 



possible. Their tendency is to give a " penned-up " feeling rather 

 than the feeling of freedom that especially should be associated with 

 the country home. 



Shrubbery is also used to help outline the course of walks and 

 drives and give an apparent reason for the turns (compare figs. 52 

 and 53 ; also figs. 55 and 56) , and to make the surface less conspicuous 

 by hiding it from many points. Such shrubbery must not be so high 

 that persons in automobile's or other vehicles can not see others ap- 

 proaching around turns or so that vehicles and pedestrians are hid- 

 den from one another at the intersection of walks and roads. 



Besides being used on the boundaries to screen less desirable views, 

 shrubs are also useful as screens within the grounds either to hide 

 objectionable views or to give privacy (figs. 57 and 58). It is some- 

 times well to shut off view y s between the barns and the house or 



