IN CALIFORNIA 21 



apply, but they need not be so closely observed. The 

 back yard should be largely a "family affair." If 

 there is insufficient room at the side of the house, to- 

 ward the rear, for tennis court or croquet grounds, 

 where these are desired, the back yard is the proper 

 place for them. 



Here is the part upon which to lavish your homely 

 affections. Have a place in which to swing a ham- 

 mock and have at least one arbor or covered seat or 

 a playhouse for the children, and if there is sufficient 

 room, have them all, and more. Here arbors may 

 be covered with grapes or other vines of economic 

 value. The ornamental trees and shrubs may be of 

 orange, loquat, avocado, guava, carissa and others 

 bearing edible crops. The herbs may be artichoke, 

 rhubarb and parsley. In the borders may be all 

 sorts of vegetables in clumps and patches; still it 

 may conform more or less to the first rule of land- 

 scaping preserve open centers. 



At the extreme rear should be the chief back- 

 ground of the whole picture, a background of some 

 solidarity, whether of fruit trees or a tangled mass 

 of vines over a tall fence. If at the south end of 

 the premises the taller shade trees may be used, 

 planted for ornament, yet where their shade may 

 contribute to the comfort of the household. It may 

 be that a lawn is desirable even though it prove a 

 bleaching ground for the family washing and is cen- 

 tered by a revolving clothes dryer. If grass is 

 thought to involve too much labor in caretaking or 

 too much dampness through watering, here is a 

 chance for lippia, which needs no summer watering, 

 and the more it is trod upon the better it will qualify 

 as a mere soil cover to protect all from either dust 

 or mud, or both. If ash and garbage cans, compost 



