FIVE] LAWNS AND SHRUBBERIES 



ed." Pray tell me why a mottled appearance on a 

 lawn is to be reprehended ? And tell me, further, 

 why nature never found this out? She mottles 

 things without shame or apparently the least 

 thought of making a blunder. The educated eye 

 finds nothing in the country more beautiful than 

 the variegation of color. No two trees on our 

 lawns are shaded the same green. Shall we under- 

 take to eliminate all but one color .^ Shall we re- 

 fuse to allow a maple to stand beside an oak, or in 

 autumn shall we forbid the crimson and the gold 

 to mingle with the green ? It is very vital for us to 

 get rid of these false notions of natural beauty. A 

 bit of undandelioned grass plot, dug at, picked at, 

 and fussed over, will do in a city or village; but on 

 a true country homestead let nature laugh and 

 play and have her own way. 



[105] 



