HOMES. 133 



will know that a board is loose, that a graft is to be 

 waxed, that the aphis have made lodgment on one of 

 his trees, that a new disease is to be fought with 

 Bordeaux, that the time has come for battling the 

 currant worms, or that a brook is washing into his 

 garden, or that his strawberries are in need of water. 

 In this way the mind is everywhere, without too 

 much friction and without too severe a tax of the 

 brain. The owner knows, every minute, everything 

 about his place, and is never compelled to say of any- 

 thing that is damaged that he had not knowledge of 

 it in due time. I shall place as much emphasis as 

 possible on this point, because I am convinced that 

 no one will succeed with a beautiful rural home in 

 any other way. 



Nature takes care to put us into types ; but she 

 takes equal care to give us all individuality in fea- 

 tures. She says look at your faces, and just take no- 

 tice how vast the number of copies I can make ; and in 

 all the dissimilarity I shall not destroy the similarity. 

 Now do you go and work after the same manner. 

 Do you see that you do not simply try to make what 

 someone else has made ; and yet I wish you to follow 

 the general type so as not to create monstrous things 

 like stone dogs and hedge roosters. John Bur- 

 roughs says, "One of the greatest pleasures of life is 

 to build a house for one's self ;" but it is a greater 

 pleasure to build a home. The house of a wise 

 horticulturist is only one of his windbreaks and shel- 

 ters. It is not here that he should exhaust his cash ; 

 but he should expend with equal liberality outdoors 

 and indoors. 



