House and Garden 
trailing vines and creepers at their base so that in 
time they will be entirely covered. It is often very 
desirable to build a bridge over some stream or 
intervening gully. It is particularly necessary in 
designing this bridge to pay close attention to its 
appearance as well as its rigidity. If the countiy 
is rocky, it is very effective to construct the bridge 
out of this local stone. If none oi this is to be 
obtained, a bridge of rough-dressed timber will serve 
the purpose as well, if it is designed in a most infor¬ 
mal manner. As the road nears the main dwelling, 
it is particularly important that the approach shall 
conform in character to the surroundings of the house. 
If the house is formal and stately, a straight avenue 
leading in a rectangular direction to the main axis 
and planted on both sides with symmetrical trees 
and shrubs will lead to the best results. On a great 
many estates an attractive effect is obtained by 
planning an abrupt curve in the road at the beginning 
of this straight avenue so that the house shall appear 
in the distance, only after this turn is made. In the 
case of a less pretentious mansion, the road should 
follow the contours of the land as nearly as possible 
and be constructed with the greatest tendency to 
natural effect, lake also in consideration a road 
which is built through a continuous stretch of wood¬ 
land. Such a drive will often become monotonous, 
but if it is possible without unreasonable expense to 
clear away portions of the forest at varied intervals 
so that occasional open spaces or meadows may be 
produced, a much pleasanter drive is afforded. At 
least it should be possible to cut through certain 
portions of the woodland so that vistas are obtained 
leading to the open or to objects of particular interest. 
Similar principles may be followed in developing the 
estate in general. Scenery can be planned technically 
so that well-defined attractive results can be realized. 
Some owners enter in upon the project of building 
their estate with the idea of hastening its completion 
so that they may have it to enjoy in full without long 
intermediate delays and interruptions. Others prefer 
to render it, in the first place, merely habitable and 
then to work out the details at their leisure for their 
amusement. Considerable embarrassment is often 
encountered from the elaborate orders given by the 
owners for accomplishing a certain piece of work 
within a certain time and toward a certain result 
without considering the actual cost. Further em¬ 
barrassment is also caused by the frequent haphazard 
mixing of the labor accounts so that the owner is 
unable to ascertain whether his expenses for a certain 
period cover, for instance, the construction of a road 
or the shearing of his sheep. 1 his can only be 
remedied by utilizing a complete bookkeeping sys¬ 
tem in which every man’s time is allotted to the 
actual class of work he is employed upon and all 
materials are charged against their actual account. 
When the labor and materials are supplied by the 
owner direct, this arrangement is distinctly to his 
advantage ; when the work is let on percentage basis 
it is absolutely necessary and even when the work is 
contracted out in bulk it will pay the owner to keep 
in touch with the work in this manner. In the first 
case, he is enabled to ascertain just how much the 
individual portions of the work are costing and where 
to apply his attention if any of the costs are running 
to excess. In the second case, it is necessary as a 
check on the preliminary estimates and as a safe¬ 
guard against careless handling of the work or 
presumption on the part of the contractor. In the 
third case, work of this character generally requires 
a considerable amount of per diem labor whether 
the work is contracted out as a whole or not. Unless 
the owner is prepared to follow this up closely, his 
accounts are not apt to be economically managed. 
In short, let the owner be advised that he know 
exactly what the different branches of the work are 
costing him, no matter what system of payments is 
employed. Otherwise, it is likely he will eventually 
realize how much of trouble and dispute might have 
been avoided. 
It has been the writer’s object to describe as briefly 
as possible the most important of actual conditions 
encountered in the development of the average 
country estate, and the way to treat them. Many 
of these are so well known, at least to those of 
actual experience in the work, that it has seemed 
almost unnecessary to mention them, but at the 
same time it is surprising to note in actual work 
how many of these conditions are totally ignored. 
Therefore, it is hoped that the general reader of this 
article will find at least a few suggestions which may 
be of value to him, and it is to this end that the article 
has been written. 
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