THE COUNTRY HOME. 195 



So much for the inside. On the outside there should be a 

 wide verandah with comfortable chairs. This will be found to 

 be the summer living room. It should run the length of at 

 least one side of the house, and, if the style of the house 

 allow and the outlook be favorable, it should run around on a 

 second side. Both sides will be used in different kinds of 

 weather. Around the supports of the verandah there can be 

 twined a climbing plant, Virginia creeper or ivy or honey- 

 suckle or clematis or climbing rose. 



THE SURROUNDINGS OF THE HOUSE. Two great essentials 

 to health are pure air and sunlight ; therefore, have plenty of 

 windows, and keep all trees far enough away so that the 

 windows will not be darkened. You wish a fine outlook from 

 your verandah, therefore do not plant trees to hide the view. 

 You should, or may have, a few trees along the main road and 

 on either side of the winding driveway from the entrance-gate, 

 but keep the front well open, so as to let in the fresh air and 

 the sunlight, and so as to allow you to see out and away over 

 the country. In the rear have a clump of spruce, to act as a 

 wind-break against the cold north and north-west winds. On 

 the side you may have a neatly-trimmed hedge of cedar, and 

 here and there you may have a native shrub, but between your 

 house and the road have a sloping lawn of green grass, clear 

 of weeds, and well-trimmed. If the lawn is large enough you 

 might have one or two shapely maples, but do not crowd out 

 the grass or obstruct the view. And the flowers? On the 

 side rather than in front, but choice and taste will settle where 

 they are to go. Perhaps you can make a simple plan or sketch 

 of a home such as we have briefly outlined. You will find 

 that you will have to alter it to suit the general situation and 

 lay-out of your farm, but, keeping in mind these simple 

 principles as a guide, you can, if you will, make in time an 

 ideal country home, which is one of the greatest blessings of 

 any country. 



