1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
883 
; Rural isms ; 
<T TTTTTTTyTT T» 
WATER VIEW IN RURAL GROUNDS. 
SHRUBS AND TREES FOR LAKE BANKS. 
Several years ago, a similar view of a 
part of the lakelet, lake or pond, as one 
may prefer to call it, was given in The 
R. N.-Y. Since that time, it has changed 
notably so that it was thought by the 
editors that some idea of its present 
appearance would prove acceptable to 
our readers—our later readers at any 
rate. 
The original land (two acres) 27 years 
ago, was a run-down apple orchard, all 
of the trees being locally known as 
Sheep’s Nose, a tough, late red variety. 
We paid, at that time, $625 per acre—an 
exorbitant price for such land—situated 
about 13 miles northwest of central New 
York City “ as the crow flies,” or 17 
miles by rail. The land sloped gradu¬ 
ally from the east to the west as far as 
the low, boggy portion which was after¬ 
wards turned into the lake, the north¬ 
western section of which is shown at 
Fig. 398. 
We were unwilling to have the house 
site near the public road, so that it was 
selected about 150 feet west of the pub¬ 
lic road, which runs north and south. In 
order, therefore, to have the land slope 
away from the dwelling in all directions, 
so that perfect drainage might be as¬ 
sured, it was necessary to cart such soil, 
subsoil and gravel as we could get. Most 
of it was carted from a distance of at 
least one-third of a mile. Had we known 
of the cost of this grading, we would 
never have dreamed of purchasing the 
land. A load of soil seemed, when 
dumped upon the area to be raised, but 
a thimbleful. 
Again had we counted the cost of dig¬ 
ging out the low gulley, thickly filled 
with roots of the wild shrubs and trees 
that had grown there for many years, 
made more difficult by the more than 
100 springs strong enough to throw up 
little pebbles from half an inch to an 
inch high, we would by no means have 
purchased the land. At that time, too, 
we were obliged to pay from $2 to $2.75 
a day to those who were grading the 
land and removing the shrubs, roots, 
trees and muck, from an area about 150 
feet from north to south and 125 from 
east to west, for the lake basin. The 
water, always pure, even during the 
severest droughts, runs from north to 
south. It was necessary, therefore, to 
build a strong stone and cement dam in 
the middle of the southern boundary, 
connected on either side with 50 feet of 
thick stone and cement walls. The top 
of the dam was made 18 inches below the 
walls for the water to flow over and the 
walls were covered with enough soil to 
enable grass at d suitable hardy plants 
to grow. 
Beneath the dam, and on a level with 
the lake bottom, a 12-inch pipe was 
cemented to the rocks, provided with a 
round stopper which fitted closely the 
inner rim of the tile. In the center of 
this plug, a strong copper wire was 
securely fastened to enable us to drain 
the lake when draining for any reason 
seemed necessary. This lake in the 
middle was originally six feet deep, 
gradually growing less to the precipi¬ 
tous curving banks. 
Another considerable expense was con¬ 
structing the bridge road which is a part 
of the carriage road (macadamized) lead¬ 
ing from the main front gate to the barn 
which, with the experiment garden, does 
not appear in the photo-engraving. 
Well, we were two years completing 
all this work and planting the grounds. 
Variety we were bound to have, and 
variety we have had ever since. The 
rarest as well as the commonest of hardy 
plants, generally but one of each, were 
ordered from here, there and everywhere, 
so that the grounds are almost as in¬ 
teresting during one season as another. 
The Winter scene was especially con* 
sidered. As new plants have been tried 
and found wanting, they have been de¬ 
stroyed and other new plants substituted, 
while, during all these years, we have 
been enabled to write, from experience, of 
their good and bad characteristics, for 
the benefit of our readers. 
“Having had this experience, would 
you go through it again under similar 
circumstances?” No, decidedly not. The 
whole thing, from the purchase of the 
land to grading it, digging- out the lake, 
and planting the premises, would, in the 
writer’s opinion, be an act of poor judg¬ 
ment in 19 cases out of 20. The whole 
plant—house and all—cost us about 
$15,000 in those high-priced times. We 
doubt whether, to-day, it would bring 
$6,000 if offered for sale, unless pur¬ 
chased by a botanist or horticulturist 
that, from his knowledge of plants, the 
lay of the land and the water privilege, 
could adequately appreciate the cost and 
value of 9uch a place ; and, it should be 
considered that the little trees and 
shrubs and vines have, most of them, 
reached the age of mature development. 
But our case proved to be the twentieth. 
That home is dearer to the family than 
any other spot on earth. While, as has 
been said, we could not, perhaps, get 
over $6,000 at this time, we are confident 
that we could not purchase another place 
that, all things considered, would please 
us as well for less than three times that 
amount. 
Again, we were the “ twentieth ” be¬ 
cause of what the purchase led to. 
Scarcely more than a mile away, lived 
Andrew S. Fuller, the then-associate edi¬ 
tor of Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, who 
had devoted most of his life to horticul¬ 
tural pursuits. We purchased many 
trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants of 
him, and he generously aided us in mak¬ 
ing further selections. The acquaint¬ 
ance soon led to the writer becoming a 
regular contributor to Moore’s Rural 
New-Yorker, and finally to its purchase 
when it was in a failing condition. Thus 
The Rural New-Yorker was founded on 
the ruins of Moore’s Rural New-Yorker 
which purchase would not have occurred 
had we built elsewhere and not made the 
acquaintance of its associate editor. 
Upon what little things success or fail¬ 
ure often depends. Sad, gloomy days 
followed. Success in this particular 
ease was owing to work—work night 
and day. Discouraged, nearly heart¬ 
broken, we labored on for nearly two 
years before the circulation of The R. 
N.-Y. showed any appreciation of our 
toil. Then it began to jump, and we 
may now say that, of all the specula¬ 
tions, good, bad or indifferent in early 
promise, this one has given us, in one 
way or another, the most comfort as well 
as the most profit. 
We have, in this issue, only space 
enough to allude to the plants which 
appear in the engraving on our first page. 
On the extreme right, running along the 
rustic fence of the bridge, are Japan 
honeysuckles and Virginia creeper. At 
the other end of this rustic railing (Red 
cedar), is an Actinidia arguta, cata¬ 
logued as Actinidia polygama which, if 
hardiness and rapidity of growth be 
alone considered, has no equal. Having 
been planted recently, it has made very 
little growth. Then following to the 
left, are Crimson Rambler and the climb¬ 
ing Rosa Wichuraiana which seem to 
thrive wonderfully well in the scanty 
and poor soil of the lake bank. They 
seem to care more for the water than 
they do for the soil. Next there is a 
Liquidambar shown feebly in the photo¬ 
graph the other side of the driveway. 
Precisely in front of it are several Yuccas 
(filamentosa), which are among the 
grandest, hardy, herbaceous, evergreen 
plants for such positions. Next comes a 
perfect specimen of the Golden Spiraea— 
Spirrea opulifolia aurea. The lower 
branches droop to meet the water. The 
bush has a round form, and is about 
eight feet in height, and thickly clothed 
with foliage. Evidently the position 
precisely suits it. This plant is more 
than 20 years old. 
In the near foreground to the left is 
another Liquidambar tree which shows 
its star-shaped leaves which color so 
beautifully in the Fall. Later we hope 
to give other views of this little limpid 
lake with the hardy grasses, herbaceous 
plants and shrubs which thrive along its 
banks. 
Liquidambar Styraciflua, familiarly 
called the Sweet-gum or Bilsted, is the 
only species of this country, grows wild 
almost everywhere. It is a grand orna¬ 
mental plant when properly treated. It 
stands cutting back kindly, and may be 
pruned to any shape. 
“ Probably no single drug 
is employed in nervous dis¬ 
eases with effects so mark¬ 
edly beneficial as those of 
cod-liver oil.” 
These are the words of 
an eminent medical teacher. 
Another says: “ The hy- 
pophosphites are generally 
acknowledged as valuable 
nerve tonics.” 
Both these remedies are 
combined in Scott’s Emul¬ 
sion. Therefore, take it 
for nervousness, neuralgia, 
sciatica, insomnia and brain 
exhaustion. 
50 c. and $ 1 . 00 , all druggists. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, Chemists, New York. 
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That’s the way this lock ami 
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(ADAM 
THE FENCE MAN 
Make* Woven Win 
F®no» that “Stand* 
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f Wn ADAM, jol 
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n^iT^TlTi'rrrrtT 
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Also CABLED POULTRY, CARDEN AND RABBIT FENCE. 
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Remember that B o w k e r ’ s Animal 
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815 Fairmouut Avenue, Philadelphia* Pa 
