46 HEDGES, WINDBREAKS, SHELTERS, 'ETC. 



A screen can be advantageously used to cover 

 the work that creates litter, work that must at 

 all seasons be going on. However, be careful about 

 carrying this system to excess. A lot of petty 

 screens or bits of hedges do not create the beautiful ; 

 they suggest children's playgrounds. I have in 

 mind an elaborate set of lawns which err in this 

 direction, so as to create a sensation of pettiness. 



The removal of hedges and hedge fences from 

 the highways is a reform that follows close after the 

 removal of board fences. The removal of cattle 

 from the streets leaves no object whatever for the 

 street fence, alive or dead, except that of seclusive- 

 ness. This is conjoined in public sentiment with 

 exclusiveness, and rightfully it is resented. But for 

 other reasons these obstructions should never be 

 placed along the street. They make the highway 

 something foreign to the owners of adjacent land. 

 Less interest is taken in road improvement than if 

 ownership were felt, and assumed, to the center of 

 the street, or at least to the driveway. I advise all 

 landscapists and owners of pleasant residences to 

 sweep away these things entirely, and let each person 

 feel that he owns and is responsible for the cleanli- 

 ness and beauty of the highway. The roadway is 

 rightfully a part of those homesteads through which 

 it runs. It is only in a narrow sense a public affair, 

 to be temporarily used by the passer-by; while it is 

 eminently private. The whole highway should be 

 a continuous garden. If hedges appear adjoining it, 

 or as a part of it, they should not be on a straight 

 fence line. It is much better to plant our lawns clear 

 to the ditches. That is. let your shrubbery which 



