The Portland daily press., 1866-03-30
Rural Ornaments.

There is such a thing in rural economy as
laying out, embellishing and arranging grounds
so as to promote symmetry, order and beauty,
at the same time that utility is secured. A
cotemporary says: at is beginning now to be
pretty generally understood, that farmer
may have. home which shall be extremely at
tractive. The means are within the reach of
the humblest, if he only has the taste"
The house should be placed back from the
highway, because this is more secure from
dust, and is safer from the unscrupulous gaze
of the staring traveller. The yard in front
should be occupied by ornamental trees and
shrubbery, rather than with fruit trees. Where
the latter are set out, the ground must be oe-
casionally manured, and ploughed and culti-
vated through one or more seasons; therefore,
good greensward cannot be maintained un-
der them, and the falling of unripe fruit and
leaves must keep the surface more or less pol
luted and unsightly. Fruit trees and shrub
berry. indeed, every farmer should have; but
place for these exclusively should be sppropri-
ated, as in theorchard and garden. But the
front yard, to be handsome, and to afford
good shade, should be occupied only by orna-
mental trees, such as sugar maple, elm, linden,
horse chestnut &C., under which the grass
may grow. They too should be so SCI out and
intermixed, as to produce beauty by contrast,
and not so as to appear monotonous. a'e..
The trees on the south side of house
should never be evergreens, but always decid-
uous-trees which, when the scorching day
Of summer are past, shed their foliage and let
the rays of the sun ia to warm and enlighten
the domestic retreats. The evergfeens should
occupy positions on the north in order to shell
ter the premises against the effects of cold
winds. They are excellent for this purpose
1t seldom freezes hard in hemlock or cedar
tbicket; animals seek shelter under the boughs
of such evergreen shrubs and trees, and there
suffer but little from the effects of cold wealth.
er.. should desire no better shelter or q
warmer wall for the north side of my garden,
than close, welEtrimmed hedge of arbor vi
tae Delicate and tender plants viii flourish
wonderfully under such genial protector. u
1t is a wise arrangement, early made by
some farmers ofmy acquaintance, who took
pains, years ago, to set out goodly number of
cedar. FIR or spruce trees on the north side Of
their buildings, which break offthe cold winds
and impart a mitigated temper to the atmo-
sphere, that makes the elimatein winter several
degrees more southern than their neighbors
premises on yonder hill who has not tree
near his buildings to protect them from the
pitiless blast. I was struck with this, the 9TH
er day, when passing on the highway over ris-
ing grounds, noticed a neat white cottage,
and outbuildings almost as neat, reposlng cost
ly under close low of interlaced spruce trees,
that environ the buildings on the north and
west. 1t looked as if nothing need freeze
there; and the sheep, and cows, and colts and
oxen in the barn yard, and the hens and tur-
keys that were fed from the back doors, seem
ed to bear witness that such was the fact
Such row of beautiful spruces, contrasting
with the white snow-felds around them, are
themselves ornamental, as wen as means of
great saving in firewood within doors. "e>
~ 2h 70 TRAxI.