118 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



handsome native trees, shrubs, and herbs, is sadl}' neglected, this 

 is the one regrettable tendency to be noted. I know it is often 

 maintained that the growing of "dwarfs," " fastigiates," 

 " weepers," and purple leafed and colored trees is itself a regret- 

 table, not to say a shocking violation of good taste and of nature. 

 It would seem, however, as if these critics of the nurserymen must 

 be ignorant of the fact that all these so-called monstrous forms 

 were somewhere originated by nature herself, and that it is in tbe 

 use which is made of them, and not in the art of propagating them, 

 that the possibility f^f gross sin against good taste is to be found. 



Turn now to the scenes which the treasures of the plant nursery- 

 are to shelter or adorn. Late years have witnessed great move- 

 ments of city population to the suburbs and the country. An out- 

 of-town house may be surrounded by something of that country 

 quiet which the tired workers of the cities find so refreshing. It 

 ma}', moreover, have light and air on all its sides. Once so-called 

 rapid transit is provided, it is no wonder that thousands make their 

 homes in the suburbs ; and it is equally natural that those who can 

 afford it should spend the hot summers in the open country or by 

 the sea. To the architect the country house and the suburban 

 house present problems very different from those he is called upon 

 to grapple with in the citj-. Out of town he meets with endlessly 

 differing conditions of situation, of exposure, of prospect, and of 

 aspect ; and he finds almost unlimited opportunities for the exercise 

 of ingenuity and taste. That American citizens and architects are 

 taking advantage of these opportunities does not need to be said. 

 One well designed house built in a given neighborhood becomes 

 the forerunner of a dozen others. Such a new birth of interest in 

 architecture and in the principles of architectural design as has 

 been witnessed in America in the last few years, the world has 

 seen only once or twice before. 



The out-of-town house has more or less land about it, — land 

 which the city man buys presumably not onl}' in order to keep 

 other houses at a distance, but also for the purpose of providing 

 something pleasant for his eyes to look upon. This ground about 

 the house, whatever be its character or area, must necessarily be 

 more or less altered from its natural state as soon as the house is 

 set upon it. At the verj- least, its undulations must be brought to 

 meet the rigid ground line of the architectural structure and its 

 surface must be crossed by the path to the house door. Generally 



