444 The Emhellishment of Dwellings. 



Let me, for the illustration of my remarks, draw two pic- 

 tures of scenes which are of frequent occurrence. When 

 passing through a country village, we may observe on a slight 

 elevation, a few rods back from the street, a plain, square 

 cottage. As it never was painted, the dark stone-color of its 

 Avails pleasantly harmonizes with the green lawn in front and 

 on each side of the house. This is kept constantly shorn by 

 a few cows, that are allowed to graze upon it after returning 

 from pasture. No fence encloses this beautiful plat of verdure, 

 which is shaded by three large trees. Beneath one of them 

 is a well, with a plain unadorned curb. In the rear of the 

 house a load of wood is neatly piled against the rugged stone 

 wall. On the smooth shaven green around the house there 

 is an absence of all litter. The fruit trees in the near orchard 

 are thrifty in their appearance, and the branches which have 

 been lopped from them are cut up for fuel, and thrown into a 

 conical heap a few steps from the back door. The barnyard 

 is covered with straw, and gives evidence that some neat 

 hand has been industrious with the hoe and the shovel. The 

 cows and cattle are sleek and clean, and the pigs are neatly 

 penned at the further side of the barn. A footpath winds 

 along from the street to the front door, and another is seen in 

 the rear of the house leading to the field or garden. There 

 is neither paint nor whitewash anywhere to be seen ; yet 

 every beholder would point to the place as a pattern of neat- 

 ness and comfort. 



Let lis now examine the other picture. A prim white 

 fence surrounds the white painted house, enclosing a narrow 

 strip of land on each side, which is crowded with exotic 

 shrubbery. A gravelled walk, half covered with knot grass, 

 leads from the street to the front door. Beneath the shrub- 

 bery, the soil, which seems to have been dug up in the spring, 

 has been- planted with a variety of annuals, that grow in dis- 

 order, half concealed by a crowded assemblage of weeds. 

 Flowers, weeds and shrubbery, briars, evergreens and faded 

 stalks, are yellow with dust from the street. The rosebushes, 

 which had once been trained against the verandah, have 

 fallen down, and, in spite for the neglect they suffer, tear the 

 dresses of women and cjiildren as they pass out of the house. 



