Two] SELECTING A HOME 
begun, there is no end to it; and the result is more 
and more unsatisfactory. It throws your house lot 
out of relation to all the rest of the land. I see every 
day a noble hillside, where the houses were fitted to 
the land. But there came a wise man who under- 
took to fit the land to his house. He created a level 
in the side of a beautiful slope. This left a crude 
bank above and another below. ‘These were dis- 
agreeable to look at, and more than compensated 
for the possible beauty of asmooth lawn. Then the 
easy-graded sidewalks fell into steps and flats. 
This remarkable achievement in the way of im- 
proving nature was soon rivaled by three or four 
more like it, until now there is neither form nor 
comeliness, nor a touch of nature to a quarter of a 
mile of superb building sites. My readers will 
find these artificialized hillsides quite too com- 
mon. Where terraces are created they have to be 
kept mended after every rain, and as the arable 
soil is mostly removed, it is always difficult to 
sustain fertility. , 
As a rule, take nature very much as you find her; 
grow to your surroundings, instead of shearing every 
thing to your preconceived views. When you have 
done you should have fitted yourself in, almost as 
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