PLAN BEFORE PLANTING. 
79 
or beauty, which have been completely shut out of view by planta- 
tions of trees and shrubs, in consequence of the ill-directed zeal 
of the master or mistress of the house 
to fill “our yard” with beautiful things. 
Fig. 1 8 is a view out of the narrow side- 
light of a friend’s bay-window. It scarcely 
takes in more than an eighth of a rood 
of his own ground, and yet makes a 
charming outlook, over an animated river, 
to distant fields, and homes, and fine 
trees, of which the engraving gives but a 
bare suggestion. A single tree, or a 
group of shrubs planted in the wrong 
place, would have shut out, completely, 
this pleasant picture. 
It cannot be too strongly impressed 
on the reader’s mind, that most grounds, mid all that are nearly 
levels can be much better arranged on paper, where all parts are un- 
der the eye at the same moment, than upon the ground, while planting. 
Beginning to erect a house before a plan has been made, is not 
more sure of begetting blunders, than beginning to plant in the 
same way ; and though the blunders of misplanting may not be 
so costly, they are certain in the end to be quite as unsightly. 
We would by no means recommend every man to be the plan- 
ner of his own grounds, if competent garden artists are to be had ; 
but in the absence of such, and on the supposition that we are 
addressing men and women studious of culture in the art, who 
may, by dint of such study, and pondering over their own dear 
home-plan, do something better for themselves than the common 
run of such vegetable gardeners as they can find can do for them, 
we would only endeavor to aid them in the attempt. And we 
firmly believe that a knowledge of the best arts of gardening will 
be increased by recommending, to educated men and women, the 
careful study and maturing of their own plans. The first result of 
such labor will be to elevate their conceptions of the range of gar- 
dening art, to impress them with their own ignorance, and to 
enable them to better appreciate, and therefore set a higher value 
Fig. 1 8 
