GARDEN CITIES 141 



hedge is best for them. "We want flowers in our front yards," 

 they say, "and you cannot have flowers if dogs, cats, and children 

 are allowed to enter." Moreover the hawthorn hedges, all trimmed 

 to a uniform height of about three feet, make the whole street 

 look neat and attractive by contributing a uniform greenery. 

 Also they act as a background to show off the flowers. It takes 

 six years for a hawthorn hedge to attain a height of five feet, and 

 it must be protected by "hurdles," or portable iron fences, for 

 about three years. 



In America this idea may win in the back yard, but not in 

 the front. England is an aristocratic country and everybody has 

 a passion for privacy. America is democratic and our present 

 notion is to have no fences in front yards, and to leave the front 

 lawns open so that the whole street will have a park-like effect. 

 There are no shrubs in the front yards of Bourn ville; we use them 

 a great deal. 



Where we got this notion of parking front yards I do not 

 know, but perhaps it was a reflex of the laws concerning cattle. 

 In pioneer countries people are compelled to fence cattle out; 

 later the owners have to fence their cattle in. When cattle ceased 

 to roam the streets a great cry went forth, "Down with the fences," 

 and it was well that they did, for they were an eye-sore, being 

 usually of temporary materials and, full of meaningless ornamenta- 

 tion, no two alike. Then followed the lawn and shrubbery system 

 for front yards, and whether it is more than a passing phase I 

 do not know. 



But of this I am confident. The feeling for privacy will 

 grow slowly, but steadily, and our back yards will surely be made 

 private. I believe we are not likely to have six-foot walls or 

 hedges around the front yard. If we ever get a national hedge 



