THE 



41 



Improvement of Country Homes 



"God Made the Country and Man Made the Town" 



TO paraphrase a well-known saying of Lincoln's, the 

 Lord must have loved the country for he made so 

 much of it. The happiest people on this earth are tlie 

 dwellers in the country, and it is only repeating a truism 

 to say that the cities depend on them for subsistence not 

 only, but for their very continuance. Actuaries and 

 others skilled in vital statistics assure us' that the average 

 duration of city-bred people is only three generations, and 

 that the constant influx from the country is all that saves 

 the cities from utter extinction ; and yet in spite of this 

 awful fact, as awful as the fact of death, there is an in- 

 creasing migration from the country to the city, a migra- 

 tion so great that v^ithin a few years it has reduced our 

 rural population from 65 to 35 per cent, of the total of 

 our people. 



This is a deplorable state of affairs and, in my 

 opinion, the remedy is to make the country more at- 

 tractive, so that its boys and girls will fall in love with 

 their old homes and, incidentally, with each other ; and 

 as they grow to manhood and womanhood they will find 

 a full measure of happiness under the sacred roof tree that 

 sheltered them in their days of youth. The lure of the 

 country must outweigh that of the city. 



Farming is the foundation of our national prosperity 

 and there is nothing too good for the farmer and his 

 family. Above all things he should make his surround- 

 ings beautiful. There should be large, flower-bordered lawns, and 

 trees and vines for shade and comfort, whilst roses, lovely roses, 

 give their perfume like incense to the little winged god of love. 



For a great many years I have kept in touch with farm life 

 by living on a farm myself and by meeting my fellow-farmers at 

 their institutes and at the meetings of the State Horticultural 

 Society, of which I am a life-member ; and on many occasions it 

 was my great honor and privilege to address these bodies in lec- 

 tures treating of horticultural matters in general and landscape 

 art in particular. Moreover, my company has a representation of 

 nearly one thousand agents, dealing largely with farmers, and their 

 vast correspondence during many years has given me rather un- 

 usual facilities to study the especial wants of country homes. 



The Greening Landscape Company offers its triple service to 

 all clients. Interested parties will please consult our local repre- 

 sentative, who will tal<:e measurements of their properties from 



Plate 30 



AN ENGLISHMAN'S HOME 



This is the house of an old-country Englishman, and in accordance with his 

 wishes hedges form a very important part of the landscape, reminding him of similar 

 scenes in rural England. This hedge is composed of California Privet. The Rose- 

 bush at the corner of the porch is a Crimson Rambler, and the shrubbery detail 

 near the house is a composite colony of many varieties, green foliage predominating, 

 as it makes a splendid contrast with the red brick walls of the house. The shade- 

 trees are Elms. 



which we w ill make a sketch showing the style of treatment pro- 

 posed and submit an estimate of cost. 



In places where we have no representative, owners will please 

 write for our profile sheets and directions for making rough 

 sketches showing all existing features on their properties, and tell- 

 ing the nature of the soil, elevation, aspect, etc., from which our 

 artists can make a sketch drawn to scale and indicating location 

 and grouping of each variety of trees and shrubs. In such cases, 

 too, our planting instructions are so complete that the owner can 

 do his own planting or have it clone by his own gardener, at the 

 same time having the benefit of our artistic design and selection 

 of the best planting material. Our aim is to help yon build a 

 garden which will be a success and a source of enjoyment and satis- 

 faction to you and your family for a great many years. A good 

 garden, like good wine, improves with age, and the foundation 

 is so important that it is worth while starting right. 



