covered with scattered clumps of bushes, and the "tree and lawn" scenery will 

 look more fitting in that it is more country like. 



The home grounds are likely to be rectilinear in shape, as the surrounding 

 fields and orchards must be thus to be practical. So far as the yard is concerned, 

 its outline is of little importance. Unless the slope from the road to the house 

 is very steep or irregular, the road should be laid out on a line paralleling the 

 house or the division fences, and it should be kept to one side of the yard, prefer- 

 ably that of the kitchen and working rooms, and should continue straight to the 

 barnyard and outbuildings in the rear. Roads should always follow the fence 

 lines and should not cut either fields or lawns into irregular areas. Walks should 

 be direct, with their lines determined by the routes most travelled. 



The parallelism of the walks with the lines of the house, of the road, or of the 

 fences is of less importance, however, on the farmstead. They are business 

 routes rather than the pleasure walks of a city garden ; and if there is good reason 

 for their direction, and if they are not raised too high above the level of the ground, 

 they will look well. If the house has its work rooms on the side toward the entrance 

 road, these walks will not need to cut across the lawn in order to furnish ready 

 access to the farm buildings. Hence the natural result will be an unbroken lawn 

 in front and on the side away from the road, with plantings mainly along the fences 

 and massed, — a very simple and easily kept yard. 



While nowadays it is easy for farmer folk to reach the village or a nearby city 

 for their recreation, nevertheless the greater part of their time must be spent at 

 home, and it would be better if the homes were so attractive as, of themselves, 

 to afford satisfactory recreation. Of course an attractive yard is of first im- 

 portance as a proper setting for home life, especially in its refining and educating 

 influence on the children. Hence it is worth while to develop a yard which will 

 look more than merely passing well. To begin at the house, the doors as well 

 as the windows should open on to the lawn. Porches overlooking this area will 

 have a pleasant prospect and may be used for work and for occasions when" one 

 does not wish to sit in the front of the house. New houses should be built low 

 on the ground, especially on the lawn side, as the fewer the steps between the 

 ground and the first floor, the more easy will be the access to the out-of-doors. 

 Many persons enjoy that part of the yard which is nearest the house and most 

 seen from its windows, provided the trees and shrubs have been so arranged as 

 to make it somewhat enclosed. In fact, a side yard may be made decidedly 

 gardenlike with a good background of trees, shrubs in occasional recesses, and here 

 and there flowers, grouped in quantities depending on the time one is willing to 

 devote to them. If a side yard is not wholly open to view from the pubhc road, 

 it may well be given a somewhat gardenesque treatment, thus affording both a 

 pleasant place in which to sit outdoors and an agreeable outlook from the house. 

 If it is easily accessible from the house and interesting and appealing in its ap- 

 pearance, both the indoor and the outdoor life of the home will be made more 

 pleasant. A home should be enjoyed, but it must first be made attractive. 



Usually from every farmhouse there are some more distant outlooks which 

 are of particular interest. Also, as there is much of interest passing on the high- 

 way, a more or less unobstructed view of the road is desirable. There may be 

 objects on one's own farm, or on adjoining farms, which are uninteresting or are even 

 unsightly; but with these notations in mind, one should so dispose the trees in 



