94 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891. 



two miles and in any direction I see neighbors, but thank God, 

 Miss Lily, not one Queen Anne house." 



But shall we stop here in our ideas of an ideal home ? by no 

 means, for our house in its beauty of location and charm of 

 modern construction is but a part of a home. The surround- 

 ings are equally essential, and what should these be? Statuary, 

 bronze lions, dogs and deer, lying in impossible positions? by 

 no means, they are terribly artificial if I may use the expres- 

 sion, and so are rows of sea shells and pebbles and hand-made 

 rockeries. There are no greater ornaments for the house sur- 

 roundings than trees and shrubbery, screening paths, breaking 

 off the wind from driveways and much frequented parts, and 

 always giving a change to the outlook as the seasons progress. 

 Trees should not be too near the house but so placed that their 

 shadows as they oppose the sun may pass over or near it. 



Group the shrubbery in accordance with color, a Cut Leaf 

 Birch with its beautiful white trunk and branches against a dark 

 Evergreen, Purple Beech against the light green of the Junipers, 

 etc. With the pathways and roadways filled with the surplus 

 stone giving dry passage at all seasons of the year, with lawns 

 following the natural contour of the land, still preserving the 

 rocks and ledges, now ornamented with vines, which should 

 also adorn the house, we have our ideal rural home. Although 

 not expensive, displaying taste and elegance. Who would not 

 be content in such a home ? Especially if the interior corres- 

 ponded therewith, and presented attractions for the mind by 

 books, pictures, music, and furniture that was made to be used 

 and not looked at. Would boys be anxious to leave such a 

 home, and girls delighted when they had severed their relations 

 therewith. 



But I was to treat»of the practical part of the subject, and 

 house building is perhaps not pertinent to our individual condi- 

 tion. Because we are already supplied with a house, we may 

 be like the little four-year-old boy, who was asked if he did not 

 want a new papa, who answered " yes ! but what in thunder can 

 I do with the old one ? " When we deal with the realities of 

 life we have got to recognize one fact, that however desirable 

 other scenes may be painted, we are fettered from the com- 



