154 OUT-OF-TOWN PLACES. 



or nursery or wood or meadow, than such equipment 

 of them all with the best results of thorough care 

 and culture, as to fasten the eye and pique investiga- 

 tion ? I know a suburban architect who, by the har- 

 monies and order of a homestead, in full view of a 

 thousand travellers a day, has doubled his business. 

 So the grace of a parterre or the artistic arrangement 

 of a terrace or a walk in the eye of so many, may 

 make the reputation of a gardener. Every dweller, 

 indeed, upon a line of railway, has a reputation to 

 make or lose in all that relates to his treatment of 

 ground, whether as woodland, farm, or garden. 



If the homestead be so near the clatter of the 

 trains as to give too great exposure of the domestic 

 offices, good taste, as well as the quiet which most 

 country-livers enjoy, will suggest a planting out of 

 the line of traffic by thickets of evergreens ; and 

 these, by their careful adjustment, and occasional 

 openings for a glimpse at the more attractive features 

 of the situation, will themselves give such a place a 

 character. If, however, the house be so remote as to 

 admit of all desired seclusion about the dooryard 

 and to yield only distant views of the trail of carri- 

 ages whirling up their white curls of steam, a mere 

 hedge may mark the dividing-line, or some simple 

 paling ; and the lands between, whether in lawn or 

 tillage, may be so ordered as to greet the eye of 



