Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-12-13
IN AUTUMN HoMrLK.

Among the surprises which autumn brings to
country residents is that pleasant and quiet in
them; or to put 1t in another way. paradoxical
as 1t may SEEM of the great distan sc that things
are of! And 1t comes about in this way. All
through the summer YOU have been hedged in
and confined by thicket of green leaves and
dense foliage on tree and shrub. of both high
and low degree. Your garden fence, or street
curbing, OF Browns field along the line of which
is a row OF thorns and choke-cherry bushes ana
which joins your own land Just across your back
yard, have Severally formed bounda -ieS OF your
own enclosure beyond which everything was
sort OF unknown and UNEMPLOYED region.
OF course there have been outlooSS-some dis
tant others more limited and confined Here
across the way was Jones's house; over through
the valley were numerous fields and cottages
and fences; and beyond, the church Spire. These
or Others like them, you become familiar with;
and all through the hot, languid days OF sum
mer, while yet the foliage was at its fullest, and
the sun swept through the high, cloudleSS sky,
you worked on, day after day, in a round of care
ana duty nemmed In ny the narrow a bounds OF
But when. autumn came with It's shortened
days. the sun skipping shyly along the SOUTH
ern sky, the brisk winds playing with the piled
up heaps OF dead leaves, and the hardy atmos-
phere so conducive TO vigorous ezertion and
lieait! meals. IL brought great surprises. Going
out one morntng you thought Brown had moved
/ Is barn over against your line. It never
seemed so before. What could he have been
doing? Or was it so near to the brook. down BY
TIE two oaks, which seemed so far away in the
seimmer because it was all out OF sight. Or You
thought it appeared as far again over to the
church as it really was. you could see the way
50 plainly with every rise and depression in the
smooth surface OF the turnpike.
How 10 account for these sudden changes wa
somt tn ng of mystery. till you compreheadel
Tat tits optical illusion was due wholly to the
eject produced by the disrobing of the trees by
the October winds. And what transformation
L had Made in the country landscape! You
have surprises on every hand. New buildings
come out from behind the trees as If by m igic,
and you find ySu are almost on speaking terms
with your neighbor from your own dooryard
though you have hardly had time all summer
long to inquire for his health or ask him how he
was going to vote.
Wen, this is the fanciful part. AS to the prac-
teal, it is true that the Autumn is really the
best time of the whole season for planning. and,
as far as possible, perfecting improvements
about your place. Now you see it almost at its
worst, bald and bare 1t Is not dressed up to
hold reception; its bleakness and GOODNESS
stand out without concealment Downing has
somewhere said that the end Of Autumn Is the
best month in which to buy or improve coun-
try place. Then you see its skeleton, all its de-
fects and weak points are visible, every ugly
all its possible capacities and suggestions for
improvements stare you in the face Then,
better than any other time in the year, you can
lay plans for its establishment and If unfavor-
complish a good deal in this direction, much
better than it could be done in the spring.
What Is true OF the OrnamentatiOn Of a coun-
try place is true also OF the more practical work
upon the farm. Detects and slough holes, cum
bered-up field corners and tumble down walls
are much more prominent now than In summer
when these ugly defects are covered by green
foliage and If only business farming were prac-
tfced. that farming which takes no thought OF
floating days" the autumn were the very best
time in which togo about these needed improve
ments, and put the fields in nice condition for
the plough or the mower.-[American Ctati-