490 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



which would distinguish them from the surrounding fields 

 and pastures. There are other places, no doubt, familiar 

 to our readers, which need the fostering hand of taste to give 

 them that rural aspect or picturesque expression which is the 

 real charm of a suburban home. 



Throughout the Western States there is room for great 

 improvement in every class of country or farm dwellings. 

 The timberless prairies offer free scope for the blasting winds 

 to sweep across them, and nothing appeared to us more deso- 

 late than the small but neat houses, standing solitary and 

 alone, without so much as a single tree on the vast expanse 

 of broad prairie almost as far as the eye could reach. At 

 what slight expense and in how little time could this be 

 altered, simply by the planting of a dozen trees, or even by 

 the sowing of a handful of seeds ; for in that rich soil every- 

 thing grows with great rapidity, and there can be little excuse 

 for neglecting the work. Shelter from the wind and shade 

 from the sun are two of the most important objects in orna- 

 mental plantations. 



There are two reasons why there has been such neglect of 

 tree planting and embellishment of our rural homes. One is, 

 that the expense is too great ; and as no provision has been 

 made for this, or the subject scarcely thought of, in the erec- 

 tion of the house, the grounds are overlooked and allowed 

 to remain as they were. Another reason is, that the want of 

 a proffer knowledge of the preparation of the ground leads to 

 disappointment in the growth of the trees, and the good work, 

 even when once commenced, is frequently abandoned for 

 want of that information which, if first obtained, would have 

 led to the most successful results. A want of taste for any- 

 thing picturesque or ornamental undoubtedly prevents, occa- 

 sionally, the improvement of any place, but these cases are 

 rare, and are rather the exception to the rule. It is, in fact, 

 ignorance of the means of accomplishing all that may be so 

 easily done which is the bane of rural advancement. 



Autumn is the season for commencing this good work : 

 less hurried than the spring, though perhaps not so exciting a 

 period, — when the falling leaves around us teach a lesson of 



