Ornamental Planting. 117 



family, English taste would place his cottage by the gate. A mass 

 of shrubbery upon each side of the entrance gives a pleasing effect. 



460. A good road, bordered by an avenue of trees, should lead 

 by gentle curves, as the surface required, to the premises of the 

 owner. There may be a fence or not, as there is occasion, but a 

 well kept hedge is better. One advantage of the trees would be to 

 afford a guide by night, as well as shade by day. They should be 

 set at measured intervals, and all of one kind. Such an avenue, 

 when fully grown, gives a stately effect, and an air of stability and 

 opulence far surpassing that of an irregular one, as if from trees 

 reserved in a clearing ; and it may be had at no considerable cost. 

 If an intervening grove hides the dwelling until near approach, and 

 then presents it in full view, the effect is increased. 



461. Large trees in the back-ground, and those of smaller size 

 and of less common kinds, in the foreground, produce the finest 

 effect. It is there that the species most ornamental from their blos- 

 soms, their fruit, or their bright-colored ornamental foliage, may be 

 used with greatest advantage. There should be a studied effort to 

 imitate nature in the groupings of trees and shrubbery, and this can 

 not be done by placing them in rows or in symmetrical order, but in 

 clumps, with openings here and there, and with a studied avoidance 

 of the formal in their arrangement. 



462. With such approaches and surroundings, which do not re- 

 quire a large investment, a dwelling of itself not large or expensive, 

 may display an air of comfort, and even of opulence, which a more 

 costly mansion by the roadside, unadorned by trees and shrubbery, 

 could never be made to present. It gives to the observer the im- 

 pression that its owner has not only means but taste, and is a strong 

 indication of domestic happiness within. 



463. The opportunities of a brook for supplying a fountain, or 

 feeding a fish-pond, may often occur, and the observing owner 

 may secure these ornaments at a moderate expense. His fountain 

 will not need costly castings or masonry the jets may issue from 

 piles of rustic rock-work, and his ponds may be bordered with a line 

 of rude stones, half concealed by ferns and wild flowers, and the 

 bottom covered with clean white sand. 



464. But in case the buildings are already near the highway, and 

 there be no desire to change them, there are still opportunities for 

 rural adornment, to ample extent. The roadside may be bordered 



