THE COUNTRY HOME [chafier 



point they would give you a view of your house, 

 and of your property so far as possible; and they 

 would pick up beautiful outlooks in the valley be- 

 low, or into some adjacent or distant landscape. 

 A group of shrubs will cause a bend in the road ; 

 then you pass through a grove possibly, under an 

 old linden, or around a Kentucky coffee tree with 

 its strange armlets drooping down almost to the 

 ground. 



t I do not argue that a poor man should trace out 

 long drives and make picturesqueness the domin- 

 ant idea in creating a country homestead. Yet the 

 poorest resident in the country cannot afford to 

 omit a regard for the beautiful. In the long run 

 the cheapest place gains in money value by having 

 sacrificed a little in the way of making things pleas- 

 ant to the eye. "Well, sor," says a neighbor from 

 Erin, "says I to Margaret, 'I'll not say but the pig 

 will have as good digestion a little out of the sight 

 of the people, and a few roses in his place.' And 

 Margaret, says she, ' I've a feeling we needn't make 

 ourselves conspicuous for weeds and frog holes.' So 

 betwixt us we just imitated the fine places upon the 

 hill; and, sor, now we can think beautiful things 

 ourselves." My Irish friend hit the mark pre- 



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