III. 



HINTS TO RURAL IMPROVERS. 



July, 1848. 



ONE of the most striking proofs of the progress of refinement, in 

 the United States, is the rapid increase of taste for ornamental 

 gardening and rural embellishment in all the older portions of the 

 northern and middle States. 



It cannot be denied, that the tasteftd improvement of a coimtry 

 residence is both one of the most agreeable and the most natural 

 recreations that can occupy a cultivated mind. With all the interest | 

 and, to many, all the excitement of the more seductive amusements 

 of society, it has the incalculable advantage of fostering only the j 

 purest feelings, and (unlike many other occupations of business men) 

 refining, instead of hardening the heart. 



The great German poet, Goethe, says — 



" Happy the man who hath escaped the town, 

 Him did an angel bless when he was born." 



This apostrophe was addressed to the devotee of country life as a 

 member of a class, in the old world, where men, for the most part, 

 are confined to certain walks of life by the limits of caste, to a de- 

 gree totally unknown in this country. 



, With us, country life is a leading object of nearly all men's de- 

 sires. The wealthiest merchant looks upon his country-seat as the 

 best ultimatum of his laborious days in the counting-house. The 

 most indefatigable statesman dates, in his retirement, from his "Ash- 

 land," or his " Lindenwold." Webster has his " Marshfield," where 



