1893.] ESSAYS. 77 



There should be uo crowded flower beds and no cluttered-up yards. 

 Every plant should have room to spread its branches, to absorb 

 freely light and air, and to display to the best advantage the beauty 

 of its flowers. 



If the yard is small, let the flowers be few. A single plant or bed 

 of flowers looks better in a small yard than a large number, when too 

 much crowded. It would be regarded as a sign of vulgarity for a 

 housewife to fill a small room full to overflowing with pictures and 

 bric-a-brac, and a cluttered-up door-yard signifies equally poor taste. 



Then, in this spirit of simplicity, let us consider some of the most 

 noticeable features of our home grounds. To begin with, the lay of 

 the land is an essential feature of any place. Sometimes the surface 

 is shaped as if made on purpose for a fine building site, in which 

 case it is easy to so arrange the buildings, walks, drives, trees, shrub- 

 bery and flowers, as to make a beautiful home, and sometimes the 

 formation of the ground is unfavorable for a home site, and then it 

 requires all the art and taste of a good architect and landscape 

 gardener combined, to make it look home-like and beautiful. But 

 speaking in a general way of the average place, it seems clear that 

 the soil should be drained unless it slopes sufficiently to carry ofl:' all 

 surface water, that the trees should be planted where shade is needed, 

 and where they will not interfere with the best open spaces for the 

 lawn. The drives and walks should lead from the highway to the 

 house in convenient and natural courses. Usually they will not run 

 in straight lines, unless the house sets very nigh the street; but 

 where they cannot be made to curve naturally, and for apparent pur- 

 pose, they had better go straight from the road to the house, for 

 while the Hogarth curve often makes a line of beauty, it is capable 

 also of being made a line of uncouthness and affectation, when 

 drawn in an unfit place. 



The shrubbery in the main should be placed in clusters of the same 

 species, at points where needed to mark a walk or driveway, to 

 border the open lawn, to cover foundation walls or barren places, or 

 to fill up gaps. Outside the house the open lawn should be made the 

 centre of attraction, and the gem of the home grounds. When we 

 speak of the lawn we immediately think of the place near the house, 

 where the grass has been newly cut ; where the surface of the ground 

 is smooth and velvety ; where we love to walk with a beloved com- 

 panion, or in pensive mood alone, where the dogs and children love 

 to caper and play in the simple glee of existence ; and where in 

 twilight or moonlight, in warm weather, the whole family, and per- 

 7 



