TWO] SELECTING A HOME 



begun, there is no end to it; and the result is more 

 and more unsatisfactory. It throws your house lot 

 out of relation to all the rest of the land. I see every 

 day a noble hillside, where the houses were fitted to 

 the land. But there came a wise man who under- 

 took to fit the land to his house. He created a level 

 in the side of a beautiful slope. This left a crude 

 bank above and another below. These were dis- 

 agreeable to look at, and more than compensated 

 for the possible beauty of a smooth lawn. Then the 

 easy-graded sidewalks fell into steps and flats. 

 This remarkable achievement in the way of im- 

 proving nature was soon rivaled by three or four 

 more like it, until now there is neither form nor 

 comeliness, nor a touch of nature to a quarter of a 

 mile of superb building sites. My readers will 

 find these artificialized hillsides quite too com- 

 mon. Where terraces are created they have to be 

 kept mended after every rain, and as the arable 

 soil is mostly removed, it is always difficult to 

 sustain fertility. 



As a rule, take nature very much as you find her; 

 grow to your surroundings, instead of shearing every 

 thing to your preconceived views. When you have 

 done you should have fitted yourself in, almost as 



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