SIXTEEN] NOOKS AND CORNERS 



Living arbors are, in my opinion, of great im- 

 portance on a country place, and they are easily 

 constructed. They can be grown in just about the 

 time we are getting good-sized trees, from stock 

 that we first transplanted. They should at first 

 consist of a circle — preferably of arbor-vitse — 

 say twenty feet across. Trim the young trees as 

 they grow, so that the outside of the circle shall rise 

 gradually with a conical outline, while the innef 

 limbs are allowed by degrees to reach together over- 

 head. These will, in due time, interlace and make 

 a solid roof. This ought to be well accomplished 

 inside of ten years, but it will be twenty years be- 

 fore the arbor is complete, and it will grow in 

 strength for fifty or seventy-five years. After the 

 trees are fifteen feet high, and the limbs well inter- 

 laced, no further trimming is necessary. A living 

 arbor of this kind is a living house, open to the pur- 

 est air, yet cutting off the heat of midday. It will 

 furnish a delightful retreat for those who need to be 

 left entirely alone. They need not be, however, 

 entirely unsocial. Such an arbor constitutes a cap- 

 ital place for rustic seats — the Old Hickory chairs 

 are just in place, five or six of them, and in the 

 center an Old Hickory table, or one that you have 



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