Show STUDENT LIFE 140 house from the street Too often the first view got of p home is a cattle corral with a more or less decayed straw stack which has to be passed before the house is reached An ideal arrangement for a home might be outlined as follows: A house facing the road or street with a drive leading to and past it to barns and buildings in the rear Of the outbuildings the barns and corrals where stock are kept should be farthest from the house This would form a hollow square or open court In front of the house would be the front yard containing h of an acre up acfrom As we cording to circumstances always want to put on our best appearance before the public this is where we would do our most artistic landscape gardening The first work in laying out the ground is to bring it to an even surface removing all obstructions It is not necessary that the ground be reduced to a dead level or to a very low grade but it may be allowed to take its natural slope ‘provided it can be irrigated or sprinkled A gently rolling surface from the artistic standpoint is preferable to a level one but all minor unevennesses should be graded down After all grading and leveling is done For this the land may be seeded lawn-gramixdry climate a good ture is made by using two ounces of the seed of small white clover two ounces of perennial rye grass and twelve ounces of Kentucky blue Not less grass to the pound this mixture than thirty pounds of one-tent- ss should be sown per acre If the leveling and grading be done in the fall the grass seed may be sown early in the spring and will then get Yet a good start before summer grass may be started any time during the growing season provided it gets plenty of water During the first season a lawn should not be mown more than two or three times after that the oftener it is mown the better Grass is our foremost foliage plant and if we have properly graded our land and made good lawns we have done a great deal towards beautifying the home Of course no dwelling place can be complete without the sheltering and comforting shade of trees In planting trees avoid the stiff and formal methods of planting in geometrical designs and rather seek to follow the artistic simplicity of Nature’s own planting It is said by old landscape gardeners that a very good method for arranging trees about a house is to stand in the front door with as many pebbles in your hand as you have trees to plant Then close your eyes and with a fullarm swing let them all fiy Where the stones drop will be a natural and artistic order of plantIn exposed locations winding breaks of evergreens are not only a comfort but a decided economy As well as uses for wind protection masses and lines of trees may be used to exclude from the view of e our windows any objectionable of the landscape At the same time the openings between the trees may give vistas to beautiful fea-tir- |