250 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



ery. Unfortunately it is being badly misused by unskillful de- 

 signers and badly misplaced on city streets amidst incongruous 

 surroundings so that one has to be very careful of his admiration 

 for bungalows. 



It ought to be plain, however, that what we want in the 

 country, and especially on the farms, is good country houses, 

 native to their surroundings and suited in all respects to the life 

 which goes on in them. The same desire may be freely expressed 

 in reference to all other rural and semi-rural buildings, such as 

 schoolhouses, country churches, country libraries, village stores, 

 etc. For the most part these buildings also are copied from city 

 models and the results are depressing. There have been built in 

 all parts of the country a number of fine examples in recent 

 times to show what can be done in the way of country banks, 

 schoolhouses, stores, etc., and these models ought to be followed. 



The improvement of farmyards is always spoken of in connec- 

 tion with rural art, and frequently as though it were the main 

 issue. Farmyards ought, doubtless, to be embellished and made 

 attractive everywhere, but it seems preposterous to be planting 

 Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora in the front yard while the 

 kitchen sink drains into the well. In other words, the problems 

 of mere ornamentation ought to be the last to be taken up, rather 

 than the first. In this work simple, clean arrangement, tidiness 

 and good order, are worth a great deal more than flower beds and 

 shrubbery. The special value of good shade trees, however, 

 should not be overlooked. 



The proper application of art to the planning of the farm would 

 reach far beyond the front yard. Every farm needs to be 

 planned as a whole. Different fields and buildings should be ar- 

 ranged in a logical system, in proper relation to one another. 

 This is essentially an art problem, and unless rural art can help 

 in its solution, it has failed at an important point. 



Landscape gardening, which deals with all these subjects, has 

 in recent years developed on a large scale a special branch of 

 study known as civic art. Like every other line of human en- 

 deavor this has been carried farthest in urban civilization, in its 

 application to cities ; but it has its equally important applications 

 in the country. Rural civic art simply means the application of 

 art principles to all the public affairs in the country. The most 



