SIXTEEN] NOOKS AND CORNERS 
Living arbors are, in my opinion, of great im- 
portance on a country place, and they are easily 
constructed. They can be grown in just about the 
time we are getting good-sized trees, from stock 
that we first transplanted. They should at first 
consist of a circle — preferably of arbor-vitae — 
say twenty feet across. Trim the young trees as 
they grow, so that the outside of the circle shall rise 
gradually with a conical outline, while the inner 
limbs are allowed by degrees to reach together over- 
head. These will, in due time, interlace and make 
a solid roof. This ought to be well accomplished 
inside of ten years, but it will be twenty years be- 
fore the arbor is complete, and it will grow in 
strength for fifty or seventy-five years. After the 
trees are fifteen feet high, and the limbs well inter- 
laced, no further trimming is necessary. A living 
arbor of this kind is a living house, open to the pur- 
est air, yet cutting off the heat of midday. It will 
furnish a delightful retreat for those who need to be 
left entirely alone. They need not be, however, 
entirely unsocial. Such an arbor constitutes a cap- 
ital place for rustic seats — the Old Hickory chairs 
are just in place, five or six of them, and in the 
center an Old Hickory table, or one that you have 
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