The cost of repairs in a few years will thus soon exceed the first expense of a stone foundation. I know that people of moderate means are apt to think that stone foundations to paths and roads are too expensive for them, but in the end construction of this kind will be found to be true economy.

In regard to the various kinds of walks now in use throughout the country, I will venture to make a few suggestions. Everyone will have to consider the region where the paths are to be made, the character of its soil, the facilities for transportation, etc. There

most popular-and perhaps elegantmaterial now used is probably asphalt. But cement walks are also made with so high a degree of finish and elegance as to present almost the exact appearance of blue stone. Blue stone and other flagging, of course, still re.nain the standard materials for the best sidewalk pavement, but, unfortunately, when well made they are too expensive. People naturally turn to the cheaper asphalt and cement as reasonably good substitutes. The great objection to both these materials is their liability to crack on account of the

varying temperature of the seasons. Foundation of broken stone will go far, however, to remedy this difficulty. An excellent substitute for asphalt has been found to be bricks of asphalt concrete, called the Hastings Asphalt Paving Block. This pavement does not crack and, if any settlement occurs, is easily repaired by lifting a few blocks. Its general effect is not thought by some to be as elegant as that of asphalt or cement. No one of these sidewalk or road materials is, of course, perfect. They all require more or less repair or maintenance. Continual and thorough maintenance, it should be remembered, however, must be practised on the smallest country place to keep it in good order. Many people forget this and therefore sometimes condemn unfairly material, the real value of which is great.

In arranging your sidewalk outside. of your place, do not fail to leave plenty of room for grass alongside the curb, and about the street trees. There should be, if possible, at least six feet. Perhaps this would be a good time to speak about fences. There is a good deal to be said for doing away with fences, and in keeping cows out of the streets altogether. Many towns throughout the country are treated wholly or in part in this way, and the result thus obtained is both charming and satisfactory. But in most towns there has, as yet, been no sufficient concert of action among neighbors to secure this desirable result. To all persons who must have fences I would say, use some modification of the post-and-rail fence, and make it as low and inconspicuous and vine-covered as possible. A picket fence is not a particularly attractive or artistic contrivance; at least so I have always thought, and I fancy most people will agree with me. It has only -one recommendation. It is not easily climbed. A good fence may be made

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of chestnut or locust posts, turned, or square with bevelled edges, and horizontal bars of inch or inch and a half gas-pipe. Over these bars may be trained effectively great masses of honeysuckle, etc. In Newport may be seen many such vine-covered bar fences. A cheaper fence may be made of wooden posts and wire stretched between and covered with vines, honeysuckle, etc. There is an iron post manufactured by the Anchor Post Company, in New York City, that makes a cheaper and more permanent, as well as lighter and more elegant, fence than the old wooden post kind. This fence has the advantage of being readily removed to any other place by simply taking out the anchors which extend into the ground alongside the posts, like the roots of a tree. The post itself penetrates the ground only slightly.

Having arranged the grounds and walks and drives, the preparation of and seeding the lawn with grass-seed next claim our attention. The first and most important operation is the application of a liberal amount of old, thoroughly decomposed stable manure, spaded or ploughed in, and the careful harrowing or raking the surface. Raking is much preferable, for on thorough pulverizing of the ground depends the best condition for the "taking" of the grass-seed. Do not hesitate to rake it over again and again. This will not only mellow the soil for the seed, but clean out lurking weeds. I speak thus strongly on the subject, because few realize sufficiently the importance of this thorough tilth of a lawn about to be sown with grass-seed.

The problem of what grass-seed to use is a serious one. Mixtures sold at the seed-stores are generally expensive. It is better to buy for yourself, in separate parts, about an equal amount of red top and blue grass, with perhaps some rye grass and white clover.

Sidewalks, paths, and general grading and seed-sowing accomplished, the essential structure of the place may be considered completed. The time, therefore, has arrived when the plant decoration or ornamentation of the lawn must be considered, in much the same manner and spirit as people in these later days undertake the arrangement of furniture and pictures inside the house. We must not only consider the best arrangement of the trees and shrubs and plants for the exhibition of their individual charms, but we must consider how to give them their best effect in masses, and how to use them so as to shut out objectionable buildings both within and without our boundaries. The problem before you, as you survey your freshly-graded lawn, is not unlike that of the landscape painter as he gathers his colors in masses on his canvas. You have, in some ways, also the advantage of the painter, for your colors are vivid and ever-changing, as the leaves and flowers of your plants wax and wane, and finally decay. When you begin your lawnplanting, however, do not make the fatal mistake of turning to a nurseryman's catalogue first, and selecting from the glowing descriptions there a lot of trees and shrubs that may fit your place like a square peg to a round hole. The great mistake almost every amateur lawn-planter makes is the use of too many trees and shrubs.

His inexperienced imagination fails to convey any proper conception of the ultimate size of this lawn-planting material. Let me give you one or two valuable suggestions as to the distance ornamental shrubs and trees should be set apart. First-class deciduous shade trees, such as elms, maples, lindens, oaks, etc., should never be set nearer than forty or fifty feet; second-class

greens, twenty-five feet; first-class deciduous flowering shrubs, eight to ten feet; and smaller shrubs, four to six feet. Among the first-class deciduous shrubs I shall mention, as specially noteworthy and useful, California privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium), lilac (Syringa), snowball (Viburnum), mock - orange (Philadelphus), nine bark (Spirea opulifolia), bush honeysuckle (Weigela rosea), Deutzia crenata flore-pleno, tartarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tartarica), goldenbell (Forsythia suspensa and Forsythia viridissima), red-stemmed dog-wood (Cornus sanguinea), etc.

As you look over your lawn and consider where you will plant trees and shrubs, you must always keep clearly in mind the prime importance of the breadth and open restfulness of comparatively large spaces of greensward. This feature and the varied sky-line of the plantation should be kept carefully and continually in view. A simple rule, subject to minor modifications, may be laid down as follows: Plant your shrubs in a row around the extreme boundaries of your place, and leave the centre for grass. This row, of course, should be varied in width by planting here a single line and there a double one, and even a treble and quadruple one, so as to secure a certain picturesqueness of perspective. Wherever the plants are set, there a gentle swell should be contrived. This tends to lift the plants up and exhibit their charms better, and at the same time secure an agreeable undulation of the lawn. The arrangement of these higher portions of the lawns where the shrubs are to grow constitutes one of the most difficult and artistic parts of the design of the entire place. To do this work well you should first work out on paper, and then with stakes on the ground, a series of outlines of shrub groups around the lawn, without