Published Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
333 W. 30th St.. New York- Price One liotiu, a Year, 
Entered as Second-Class Matter. .Tune 26. 1S70. at the Post 
Ottr.e r,t New York. N Y.. under the Act of March 3. 1870. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 26. 19: 
How to Fix up the Farm Yard 
P IjEAX UH—This is the first word in every at- ally with the work of the farmhouse kitchen. This 
tempt at improvement. There are unfortu- service area should be enclosed and separated both 
natelj a jtieat manj farm yards littered with chick- from the front yard and the barnyard. The logical 
eu C00 P S * fann machinery, cordwood. piles of corn- place for it is between the kitchen and the garage, 
cobs'and similar useful materials, all very good in MAKING A LAWN.—We have now reached the 
their places, but very much out of place in the point where we may consider the making of a lawn, 
front yard. After a general 
cleaning up has been given, and 
good order permanently estab¬ 
lished. it will bo desirable to out¬ 
line a working plan on the 
grounds by separating the house- 
yard somewhat distinctly from 
the barnyard and other adjoin¬ 
ing areas. This separation can 
be practically accomplished with 
good hedges better than in al¬ 
most any other way. but the use 
of well-built fences, screens, ar¬ 
bors and similar contrivances 
will be found entirely satisfac¬ 
tory if skillfully handled. The 
space thus set off for the house- 
yard should be small rather than 
large, but it should be kept free, 
clean and sacred. 
HEDGES AND DRIVEWAY. 
—In setting off the farmyard 
thus it is desirable in many parts 
of the country to form the wind¬ 
ward boundaries of substantial 
wind-breaks. That is. the en¬ 
closures on the northwest side , ,,, , , , , „ . .. , , 
would be of solid, tall-growing Foundation-Plantings of Snowball. Barberry and Spiraea 
trees, either evergreens or a mix¬ 
ture of species which would pro¬ 
tect the home grounds from the 
severe prevailing cold winds. 
While these enclosures are being 
planned it is desirable to fix a 
definite, convenient entrance 
from the road to the grounds. 
Both the farmhouse and the 
barnyard must be reached, but it 
is nearly always desirable to use 
one driveway entrance for both 
objectives. This driveway should 
pass conveniently near the house, 
but it should be so located as not 
to open up the farmhouse into 
the barnyard. One thing which 
we are seriously trying to avoid 
is the mixture of barnyard 
chores and farmhouse living. 
Nothing is more discouraging 
than to find the chickens roost¬ 
ing on the front porch, or the 
calves being fed from the kitchen 
door. 
THE SERVICE YARD.—While -~— 
we are inclined to crowd the ICochia and Annual Phlox in a Flower Border 
barnyard duties entirely out of 
(he houseyard. we need not forget that there is much Nothing is more important to the appearance of a 
Important work still to be done in the house. The good place than a first-class, clean, level, well-mowed 
professional landscape gardener meets this require- lawn. Ed. Howe says "anybody can have a good 
ment by planning what he calls a "service yard.” lawn if the wife will do her part.” Undoubtedly he 
tactically this would he a space next to the kitchen means by that that the wife more often does her 
where the washing can he bung out to dry, the milk- part than the husband. It is by no means uncom- 
P ‘ lns aIrod * P° ss ! bl y 9 woodpile maintained, and mon to find the lady of the house running the lawn 
other useful services rendered which belong natur- mower, thus hielilv confirming her desire tn h.ive « 
Kochi a and Annual Phlox in a Flower Border 
mower, thus highly confirming her desire to have a 
better-looking home. However, a lawn mower is of 
very little use unless the lawn has been properly 
made at the outset. It must be graded and thor¬ 
oughly smoothed. This usually requires heavy work, 
with team. plow, harrow and shovel. However, if 
the work is well done once it need not be done again. 
If the land is rich and retentive 
of moisture while still being well 
drained, the annual addition of 
fertilizer and the weekly use of 
the lawn mower will do the rest. 
DESIRABLE TREES.—Every 
good yard should have a few 
large, diguified trees. Three or 
four are usually quite enough. 
The best hardy, deciduous 
species are to be chosen in pref¬ 
erence to everything else. The 
native maple, oak. tulip and elm 
should never be set aside for 
anything else, no matter how 
fancy or expensive. These trees 
should be placed by preference 
on the south and west sides of 
the house, not too close and not 
too far away, where the shadows 
will rest on the house walls from 
12 o’clock onward. 
SHRUBBERY. — Plantings of 
shrubbery help greatly to im¬ 
prove the looks of any yard, pi*o- 
vided good species are chosen 
■y and Spiraea and the beds are properly placed. 
Round beds or single specimens 
set out upon the lawn are not so 
effective as good borders along 
the boundaries, or foundation 
^ plantings against the porches 
and the house foundations. Good 
old-fashioned species like lilacs 
and syringas are to he preferred 
to any of the new-fangled stuff 
in the most gaudy colored cat¬ 
alog. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN.— 
The lady manager on the farm, 
who is apt to be the moving 
spirit in the improvement of the 
home grounds, nearly always 
wants a flower garden. The good 
old-fashioned way was to plant 
borders of flowers along a 
3 straight front walk leading from 
the front door down to the pub¬ 
lic highway. This is not such a 
had idea, either, when it is well 
carried out. As a rule, however. 
■ ^ the best place to grow flowers is 
__ ZmA in a cultivated garden at one 
side of the house, where they are 
not directly in view from the 
public highway. If a garden is 
developed in a situation such as that now recom¬ 
mended it will have the advantage of privacy and 
may be made a most comfortable gathering place 
for the family. 
DEVELOPING BY DEGREES.—It is highly un¬ 
necessary to carry out all these improvements at 
one stroke. When a new home is being built doubt¬ 
less the most economical method is to develop the 
