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266 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



can hardly feel that to be hia qjju, whioh is 

 •qaally enjoyed by every passer by. But the 

 Americao generally hai deeidedly a different 

 fancy. And, it may be remarked, that' if there 

 is anything in the work of the immortal author 

 on Landscape Gardening, that will never wholly 

 meet the American fealiag, it nay be presumed 

 to be his proclirity to faror the English fancy 

 for seclusion. 



The American must be situated "on the road;" 

 hence tmi hiqhwat stands coaneeted with our 

 subject, as a matter of consideration. And here 

 the com'Jion practice justly comes up for con- 

 demnatioB of foreing all our roads on a straight 

 line, over hill and dale — whatever may be the 

 obstacles — whatever the expense — whatever the 

 inconvenience to the traveling public, the road 

 must be cut through. This uniform adherence 

 to straight lines and square turits ia laying out 

 roads, regardless of make of ground; is an out- 

 rage on good taste, economy and common sense. 

 Observe when a road is allowed to take graceful 

 wiadings, to suit the make of ground — how 

 beautiful, how natural are these easy meander- 

 ings! And how light aad free the willing steed 

 moves the carriage aroaad the foot of tfee cir- 

 cling hill! And above all, what interesting sit- 

 uations these natural tariiS of the highway afibrd 

 for country residences? This one thing consti- 

 tutes an interesting feature in the location of a 

 place. We can associate aa idea of beauty with 

 a graceful curve; but what beauty is there in a 

 stifl, straight line? But with the moving enter- 

 prise of the Anglo- American there appears to be 

 associated a remarkable geometrical genius. 

 He mast and will square «p and straighten 

 things — if it were possible it may be supposed 

 he would even straighten the areh of the rain- 

 bow! As he extends his industry over the wide 

 domain he is ambitious to give his own labors a 

 distinguishing feature; and the greater changes 

 he can make, on the natural face of creation, the 

 mere things present, to his ideas, an s.speet of 

 civilization. 



In traveling over our State, in its primitive 

 condition, abundance of beautiful situations for 

 country residences present themselves to our 

 view. But, alas, as the country settles the most 

 interesting situations are overlooked, or the 

 vandal hand of frontier eivilizatioii soon despoils 

 them of all nateral b»auty. As an example, a 

 few years ago one of the Icveliest natural sit- 

 uations might be seen along the Mississippi 

 bluff, in Rock Island county. The road meanx 

 dered along the foot of the bluff, at a sufficient 

 line of elevation to command a view of the fer- 

 tile bottom lands; while, on the other side, the 

 bluff ascended in picturesque irregularity, aad 

 was clothed in sylvan beauty, with a scattering 

 growth of young timber, extending in broken 

 groups to the road. A gentle swell presented a 

 natural situation for a dwelling. A few years 

 passed; the place was located; a farm extended 

 over the bottom; the road was distorted from its 

 natural place; a house, that is an outrage on 

 good taste, was erected on the very spot ; the 

 industrious occupanthad cleared away theyoang 

 timber; a portion of the poles were ingeniously 

 constructed into a corn crib, that occupied a 



conspicuous position; and a goodly wood pile, 

 in front of the house, revealed the fate of the 

 remainder. Probably, as the enterprising man 

 becomes able, he will "fix «p things," embel- 

 lish his door yard with a pieket fence, and 

 perhaps go to a nursery to get ornamental 

 shrubbery. 



But, retorning to our subject, in choosing a 

 situation in conformity with the American dis- 

 position to live near the road, and to have the 

 place present a dignity of appearance when 

 viewed from the road, the house should occupy 

 a piece of rising ground, ascending from the 

 highway; and the place can be made more in" 

 teresting if some portion of the adjacent grounds 

 is somewhat undulating. 



The house should never be so near the high- 

 way as to give the place a narrow, mean ap- 

 pearance. If, however, the ascent from the road 

 to the house is rather steep, the house may be 

 within four rods of the road; but, on ground 

 moderately ascending, or nearly level, more 

 breadth is needed in front — not less than seven 

 or eight rods — and a building always looks 

 larger, and the whole aspect of the plaee more 

 grand and imposing, from a distance of about 

 sixteen rods: The amount of ground thrown in 

 front of the house, however, should depend 

 somewhat on what arrangements are made to 

 keep the place in order. 



It may be regarded aa very fortunate if a na- 

 tural growth of young timber is on the grounds, 

 so that a luxuriance of shade may be enjoyed at 

 once. The value of a living stream of water, if 

 situated to afford water for stoek, should never 

 be overlooked; and, if it has dry pleasant banks, 

 nothing can give a greater charm to the rural 

 scenery of the place. In connection with the lo- 

 cation of the dwelling, we are to consider the 

 convenient and — 



PROPER POSITIOK OP THE APPENDAGES. 



The next appearance of the homestead almost 

 wholly depends upon getting these thiegs all in 

 their proper place. Let it be held in view that 

 all such esseatials as barns, stables, hog yards, 

 stack?, sheds, corn cribs, pig pens, hen coops 

 and fenced up gardens are objects of utility, but 

 not of fancy. One would suppose that many of 

 our farmers especially pride thetaselves in mak- 

 ing as great a display as possible of their world- 

 ly abundaace. To say the least, it is a viola- 

 tion ef good taste to place any such objects so as 

 to interrupt any view either way of the road, or 

 across -the road in front of the house. Such 

 things should oeeupj a back position. Gener- 

 ally, the most convenient place for the barn, and 

 objects natarally connected with it, is somewhat 

 back of the house, with a lane passing from the 

 barn yard to the road. If the barn is back of 

 the house, it should generally be at a snfBcient 

 distance to admit the vegetable garden between 

 the hoase and barn, and also space near the 

 house to get round with a team. 



To give a pleasing expression to a place, it is 

 necessary to avoid getting too much hemmed up 

 on the front side of the house, and secure, as 

 far as possible, an extended view of clean sur- 

 face; not a dead, lifeless surface, buta serface of 

 living green, spread forth beneath a refreshing 



