U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. (. OFHOE OP EXPERIMENT STATIONS— FARMERS' INSTITUTB LECTURE 14. A.-C. TRUE, Director. SYLLABUS OF ILLUSTRATED LECTURE ON FARM HOME GROUNDS-THEIR PLANTING AND CARE. BY S. W. FLETCHER, M. S. Ph. D., Director yirginia Agricultural Experiment Station. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1812. LIST OF ILLUSTRATED LECTURES. Milk, By R. A. Pearson. Pp. 12. 1904. <1 Lecture on Potato Diseases with 47 lantern eli I am J p. 30. 1904. "3. Syllabus of Illustrated .Lecture oi ccom- . I? y I T. J. Wheeler. Pp.28. 1904. Uabus of Illustrated Lecture on Profitable < uiied with 45 lantern slides. By F. B. Mumford. Pp o 5. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on Silage and Silo Con- struction for the South, accompanied with 50 lantern slides. By A. V Pp.31, i lecture 6. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on Essentials of Suc- cessful Field Experimentation, accompanied with 32 lantern slides. By ( Thome. Pp. 24. 1905. re' Institute Lecture 7. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on Roads and Road < ompanied with 41 lantern slides. By the Office of Public Roads, I department of Agriculture. Pp. 16. 1907. • ite Lecture 8. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on Farm Archite mpanied with 48 lantern slides. By Elmina T. Wilson. Pp. 19. 1! Fanners' Institute Lecture 9. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on Tobacco Gr< accompanied with 46 lantern slides. By J. N. Harper. Pp. 15. 1907. Farmers' Institute Lecture 10. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on the Prodi: and Marketing of Eggs and Fowls, accompanied with 44 lantern slides. James Dryden, Corvallis, Oreg. Pp. 20. 1909. Farmers' Institute Lecture 11. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on Wheat Culture, accompanied with 45 lantern slides. By J. I. Schulte, Office of Experii Stations. Pp. 22. 1910. Farmers' Institute Lecture 12. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on Farm Homes, accompanied with 51 lantern slides. By John Hamilton, Fani; itute Specialist, Office of Experiment Stations, and Geo. Nox McCain, Philadelphia, Pa. Pp. 25. 1912. Farmers' Institute Lecture 13. Syllabus of Illustrated Lecture on the Peanut, Its Culture and Uses, accompanied with — lantern slides. By Prof. W. B. Beattie, of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Pp. — . 1912. No. 14 1425 tamed March 22, L912, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS-FARMERS' INSTITUTE LECTURE 14. A. C. TRUE, Director. SYLLABUS OF ILLUSTRATED LECTURE ON FARM HOME GROUNDS-THEIR PLANTING AND CARE. BY S. W. FLETCHEK, M. S. Ph. D., Director Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1912. PREFATORY NOTE This syllabus of a lecture upon Farm Home Grounds — Their Plant- ing and Care, by S. W. Fletcher, M. S., Ph. D., director of the Vir- ginia Agricultural Experiment Station, is accompanied by 51 views illustrating this topic. The syllabus and views have been prepared for the purpose of aiding farmers' institute lecturers in their presentation of this subject before institute audiences. The numbers in the margins of the pages of the syllabus refer to similar numbers on the lantern slides and to their legends as given in the Appendix. John Hamilton, Farmers' Institute Specialist. Recommended for publication. A. C. True, Director. Publication authorized. James Wilsox. Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, December 1, 1911. No. 14 m FARM HOME GROUNDS-THEIR PLANTING AND CARE. By S. W. Fletcheh, M. S., Ph. D. INTRODUCTION. We are influenced by our environment often more than we know or are willing to admit. Children especially are sensitive to their surroundings. The unattractiveness of their homes has driven more country boys to. the cities than the hard work of the farm or its restricted social life. This unattractiveness of his home surroundings and lack of the common comforts and conveniences of life within it has made many a farmer's boy hate the farm and led him to the city as soon as he was of age. The farmer owes to his wife and to himself, but chiefly to his children, the best that he can do toward increasing the attrac- tiveness of his home. This does not necessarily mean a large expenditure of money; in fact, the best results are often secured with no expenditure except a little time, and time given to making the home more attractive is well spent. A HOUSE AND A HOME. The views which will be shown illustrate some of the im- portant points to be observed in improving the appearance of the farm home. These improvements involve little or no expense in their execution and may be accomplished in the time that the busiest farmer and his family can easily find if they have an appreciation of their importance and a disposi- tion to undertake the work. The heart of the subject is illustrated in the first two slides, which show the external difference between a house and a home. This is a picture of a farmhouse on a western prairie. It looks like a new and very comfortable farm " house. " Doubt- less the farm is productive and the family prosperous. But something is lacking; it does not look homelike. You would not care to live there. 26198°— No. 14—12 (3) View. Yhu. 2 Thenexl slid, shows a farm " home. " The whole place looks comfortable. 1 1 invites you to conn', in end sit with the family by the fireside. It is a home; you would like to live there. A few trees, a vine or tWO, and some grass may make the dif- ference between a house and a borne. A house is merely a shelter, a place where people stay. A home is a house, with evi- dences in and about it that the people who live there love it. They have taken the trouble to make il attractive and inviting. There are in this country too many farmhouses and too few Farm homes. Yet no one loves his family more than the farmer or is more interested in their welfare. His neglect ot their surroundings is nob from lack of affection but lack of knowledge and appreciation of the effect of shrubs, ti< vines, and a well-kept lawn upon the family life. 3 Farm homes ought to bo the most attractive of all homes, since they are in the open country where plants live and are free to grow. Very few farms are as unfortunately situated as that shown in this picture. This is a farmhouse on a cattle range in one of the semiarid regions of the West, beyond the possibility of irrigation. The landscape is drear and desolate. Not a tree can be seen — only a waste of sagebrush and cacti. The desert has a charm of its own, but without irrigation this house can never be made homelike on the outside, whatever it may be within. i How different is the scene in the next picture, which shows a farm home under more favorable circumstances. Grass and trees, the two most important aids to home adornment, grow luxuriantly. It is easy to have an attractive home under these conditions. The great majority of American farms are located where trees, grass, and flowers grow without special care; if, therefore, the home is not attractive, it is due solely to the negligence of those who are entrusted with its care. FARM BUILDINGS. 5 Before proceeding with the details of planting the farm home grounds, a word should be said about farm buildings. This illustration shows a mistake common in locating the buildings. The house is set some distance back from the road, and there are about a dozen small barns, cribs, sheds, pigpens, and other outbuildings between the house and the road, all of which must be passed in going to the house. Under such conditions it will be difficult to make this an attractive farm home. A further disadvantage here is the fact that the house is located in a hollow, close to a spring, and hence is shut off from attrac- No. 14 View. tive views. Nearly nil the older farmhouses, in those regions where the home water supply is usually a spring, are Located in hollows. But most farmhouses built in recent years are, or should be, supplied with running water in the kitchen from a reservoir filled by a windmill, ram, gasoline engine, or other power, or even from a roof supply. Hence, in a rolling countiy there is no longer the necessity for locating the house by the spring in the hollow; it can be placed where it will command a view of the farm and surrounding countiy, which will greatly enhance its attractiveness. The farmhouse should be of simple and dignified architec- 6 ture. It should be sightly as well as comfortable. The owner should avoid striving after elaborate designs. The " ginger- bread" architecture of this house makes it ridiculous, because it is out of place. The elaborate scroll-saw work is " fussy," and soon becomes shabby. How much more satisfactory is the farmhouse shown here. Contrast its simple, straight lines 7 with the cut-up and artificial design of the other. It is beauti- ful because it is simple ; it looks " homy, " and fits in well with its surroundings. The other house merely copies city architec- ture. It might do fairly well in a city or town where every- thing is artificial and crowded, but it looks entirely out of place in the open country. In recent years too many farm- houses have been built according to city designs. It is hard to improve upon the beautiful, roomy, and simple architecture of the farm home of colonial days. The house shown in this picture may not exactly please you in all details — every one should build a house to suit himself; but it illustrates the most important feature of an attractive country home, no matter how costly or how inexpensive — simplicity of design. The principle of simplicity might well extend to other fea- 8 tures of the farm home besides the house. This " sunrise" fence is an interesting piece of carpentry work, but one would hardly call it beautiful or appropriate. A plain wire, iron, or picket fence would be much better. Avoid such conspicuous things as rows of whitewashed stones bordering the walks, whitewashed tree trunks, iron dogs in the front lawn pointing at painted iron partridges, and other curious, striking, gaudy, and in- congruous effects. OUTBUILDINGS. The outbuildings should be in keeping with the house. This 9 shabby barn and slovenly barnyard are within 200 feet of an expensive and really attractive farmhouse. The contrast is striking and painful. How much better are the buildings on No. 14 I 10 this farm? The bam and other outbuildings arc neatly painted and in keeping with the house, and one gets a favorable impression of the whole place. Occasionally we see a farm with a barn thai is kept in much better repair than the house; but more often the outbuildings are neglected, and thus they detract from the looks of the house. VALUABLE TREES. 11 The whole farm, not merely the yard, may contribute to the attractiveness of the farm home. A scene like this is a financial as well as an aesthetic asset to any farm. This farmer should think a Longtime before cutting down any of the trees that skirt the stream ami fringe the meadow. A man 12 who has a noble tree like this anywhere in his fields should not begrudge the ground it renders unfii for cropping; the tree 13 is worth it. Especially should he protect fine trees like this that stand along the road bordering his farm. lie can afford to sacrifice the ground it occupies for the pleasure it gives to his family and to the community. NEATNESS. The most general and the most serious fault of American farm homes is their unkemptness. Many farmers seemingly are in too much of a hurry to stop to "pick up." Sloven ly yards are far more discreditable than bare, implanted yards; and the very best planting is spoiled by untidiness. This 14 picture shows a farm home that is unattractive, merely because it is untidy. The most common criticism of our country life by European visitors is that so many of our farm homes, even those owned by prosperous farmers, are unattractive, because 15 they are untidy. Dilapidated fences, broken gat-es, machinery lying around out of doors, the woodpile by the front door, litter scattered around the yard — these and other evidences of lack of care can he seen in farm homes everywhere. Even if 1() the front yard is fairly neat the back yard is apt to look slov- enly, and the back porch is apt to be " cluttered up." On these same places may often be found expensive trees or shrubs, usually bought of a tree agent at an exorbitant price; but it is clear that what the place needs most in order to make it homelike is not 50-eent rosebushes nor dollar weeping wil- 17 lows, but simply a cleaning up. I do not know that farm homes as a class are more untidy than other homes. Un- doubtedly they are more difficult to keep neat than most No. 14 View. homes, and their untidiness is certainly more conspicuous. The average American farmer should give more time to pick- ing up, not forgetting the barnyard. 18 WHERE TO PLANT. Almost everybody loves plants and likes to set them OUt and watch them grow. Nearly every farm home has plenty of plants about it. The trouble is not so much that people do not plant enough as that they do not plant in the right places. 19 It is as important to know where to plant as what to plant. There are more than a dozen trees and shrubs around this house, but they are scattered about the yard without any ap- parent plan. The trees in front may be satisfactory for shade in time, but nothing has been done to hide the most objection- able feature of the place — the outhouse in the rear. In plant- ing the home grounds it is necessary to have some sort of a plan, preferably on paper, but at least in mind. The main object is to plant in such a way as to make the place look homelike and comfortable. The next few slides illustrate sev- eral ways of accomplishing this. If fche farm home grounds are not cramped for room, and usually they are not, plant trees back of the house. When they grow tall the background of trees will set the house off to best advantage. The farmhouse 20 shown here has not a very inviting foreground, but notice how much the trees in the rear add to its homelike appearance. If part of the trees are evergreens, as in this case, so much the better. These background trees may also be useful as a pro- tection from bleak winds. A second principle of landscape gardening applicable to the farm home is this : As far as possible, keep the grounds immedi- ately in front of the house, especially as viewed from the road, free from low-gro\ving trees, shrubs, and flower beds. Let this space be occupied by an unbroken lawn. Generally speaking, at least one-half of the grounds should be in lawn. The most common mistake in planting the farm home is to choke the front yard with a miscellaneous lot of trees, shrub- bery, and ornamental plants. This picture shows typical 21 farmyard planting — basswood, maple, and lilac, syringa, and rose bushes — all huddled together at the front of the house and giving a patchy effect. Contrast with this picture the 22 next, which shows a farm home with a beautiful expanse of rest- ful, unbroken lawn. In the great majority of cases most of the trees and shrubs should be planted in the rear and around the sides of the place, No. 14 s Vietr. leaving a lawn directly in front of the house, with perhaps a few tall-headed, deciduous trees for shade. The heaviest plant- ing, of course, should be on the side from which come the most annoying winds. If a good outlook means anything to the farmer and bis family and most country people do appreciate it— the border planting will be omitted at the points from which pleasing views may be obtained. Very often this heavy front-yard planting completely shuts out the views of the 88 farm and surrounding country that might have been enjoyed from the house. This slide shows a farm home so modest that 24 it has endeavored to hide itself from view. The next slide shows a view of the farm that could have been enjoyed from the porch of this house if the front yard had not been so choked i2.*» with trees, especially evergreens. The next slide shows one way of improving the same 4 home. Sinee the grounds are quite small, most of the tall trees are planted back of the house, giving it a background. The low trees and the shrubs are planted in masses around the sides of the place, and against the foundation of the house. The flowers are planted in the borders against the shrubbery. There is a good lawn. The sketch does not show another much needed improvement — a vine climbing over the porch. This sketch illustrates the three most important points in planting the yard — the back- ground of trees, heavy planting along the sides of the yard, and an open lawn in front of the house. A few high-headed shade trees in the lawn immediately in front of the house are not necessarily a disadvantage, as the 26 next slide shows. There is a nice open lawn beneath the trees, and the house is not shut out of view from the road. These trees protect the house from the hot sun and bleak winds and give a grateful shade on the lawn. Shade trees like these are always desirable in the front lawn. If, however, this front yard were filled with evergreens and shrubs and were cut up with flow r er beds, the effect would not be at all pleasing. These should be planted along the sides of the yard, not in the middle. Shrubs are also seen to advantage when planted against the 27 foundation of the house, as is shown here. The foundation is usually not attractive, and the shrubbery hides it. The shrubs also make the house seem less artificial; it appears to rise out 28 of the shrubbery. The corner by the steps, which usually is a catchall for rubbish, may be made beautiful by idling it with plants. 8. View. A very poor way to grow flowers is shown here. A Little 29 round hole has been cu1 in the lawn, and this has been filled with geraniums and coleus plants that the housewife, with much care, has carried oxer the winter in the collar or by the windows. During tin 4 summer a few sparse blossoms are borne, but nobody would dan 4 to pick them, because that would destroy tin 4 symmetry of the bed. Sometimes flower beds are made in the form of crescents, snakes, flags, and other curious and grotesque designs. There are at least three objections to these flower beds, especially on a farm: They take too much time, they do not produce enough flowers to be worth while, and they are usually out in the middle of the lawn where grass would be prettier. A much better Way to grow flowers, especially on the farm, 30 is shown here. This is a flower border, not a flower bed. It is along the side of the lawn, not in the middle. It is irregular and natural, not symmetrical and stiff. There are all sorts of old-fashioned flowers here, and plenty of them, so that even the children are not afraid to pick a handful to carry to their school teacher. Flowers should be grown not in little beds cut out of the lawm in front of the house, but in borders, along the fences, in front of the shrubbery, against the foundation of the buildings, and bordering the walks. This slide shows 31 some beautiful china asters in a most appropriate place — close to the house and peeping in at the sitting-room window. How T much better they look here than they would out in the middle of the lawn. Flowers may also be grown in a flower garden — a little piece of land in the rear or on the side of the place, given up entirely to growing flowers. The charm of the 32 old-fashioned flower gardens of our grandmothers has not passed away. Vines are especially useful around the farm home for screen- ing unsightly objects like fences and outbuildings, and also for draping and softening the architecture of the house. This slide shows the beginning of a screen for the outhouse. 33 In another year the whole fence will be covered. On a great many farms this building stands out without any attempt to screen it, which is little short of indecency. Tall shrubs or evergreens should be planted in such a way as to hide it from the road, and while these are growing a high board fence should be erected and covered with vines, as shown in this picture. Boundary fences and other unlovely objects may also be covered with vines. No. 14 10 1 k i The use of vines for draping the house, especially the porch Or piazza, is the mos4 common form of home adornment in America. The average farm home would be bare indeed 84 without Virginia creeper, morning-glories, and nasturtium-. 'This picture shows a grapevine that not only adds greatly to the appearance of the house, but also contributes to its supply of healthful fruit. Grapes should be cultivated for decorative purposes much more than they are. WHAT TO PLANT. The preceding slides have given a few suggestions al>out where to plant, which is of much greater importance than the selection of the particular kinds to be used. On nearly every farm it is possible to grow an almost infinite variety of plant-: the question is which ones are best, because only a few can be planted. It is impossible to give a list of plants that would 85 be generally successful in all parts of the country. Here, for example, is a home in southern Florida. These coconut palms, which are so attractive in that semitropical climate, would not be very successful in Michigan. Consult the horticulturist of your St rite experiment station for lists of plants especially adapted for certain sections. A few general suggestions, how- ever, may help the home maker in making his own selection. (1) Plant chiefly the trees, shrubs, vines, and flowers that are known to thrive in your locality without special care. A few novelties and exotics can be coddled, perhaps, but the main body of the planting should be of tried and proved sorts. This means that neighborhood experience is the best guide. It also means that you will be most apt to be successful with the kinds that are native to your own part of the country. This is especially true of trees and shrubs. Do not look too long upon the glowing colors and fascinating descriptions of the novelties in the seedsman's catalogue. Those kinds noted as "Too well known to need description" are much more apt to please you than the more expensive novelties. 3G (2) Do not plant many cut-leaved, variegated, weeping, and other unusual and striking plants. Most of the trees and shrubs should be the kinds common to the neighborhood, with perhaps a very few specimens of the curiosities. 37 (3) Do not plant many of the quick-growing, and therefore cheap looking, trees, like the poplars, willows, white maples, and box elders. A few of these can be used to advantage to secure quick results, but they should be interspersed with No. 14 11 slower growing but more substantial trees like the oaks and the elms, ami the nurse trees should be cut out when the perma- nent trees need the space. (4) Most of the flowers for the farm home should be hardy perennials. When once established these come up every year without further trouble, except that they should be divided every few years. They take less time and usually give better results than annuals. (5) Plant the kinds you like. The home grounds should express the personalities and tastes of the family. THE LAWN. This is the most important feature of the home grounds except the trees. Grass and trees will make a fairly attractive home, even without vines, shrubs, and flowers. The lawn :js should occupy at least one-half of the yard, hence the impor- tance of making a good one. The grading should be done several months before seeding, if possible, so as to allow the ground to settle and to secure a uniform grade before seeding. Prepare the ground deeply, fit it very thoroughly, and enrich it. Make a slight grade away from the house, to secure drain- age, and leave no hollows. Seed very thickly and take pains to seed evenly. A mixture of 50 pounds of bluegrass and 5 pounds each of white clover and redtop per acre gives excel- 39 lent results in most of the Northern and Central States. On some sandy soils of the South, pieces of turf of Bermuda grass must be used. Seeding is best done in early spring. Peren- nial weeds, such as dock, dandelion, and plantain, should be cut out the first season. The annual weeds' will not give trouble after the first year. If parts of the lawn get thin and mossy scratch them with a rake, apply a fine compost, and sow more seed. The farmer will ask if a big lawn does not take a lot of care. It is not always necessary to cut the farm lawn w T ith a lawn mower or even with a field mower. This slide shows a farmer 10 who makes the lawn pay by grazing cattle upon it. In this case care must be taken to scatter the manure. Others find sheep more practicable for this purpose. Sheep will keep a lawn as trim as if mowed; but a farm lawn that has flower beds and shrubs scattered over it can not be handled to advantage in this way. No. 14 12 WALKS AND DRIVES. i i Walks and drives are necessary evils, so far as the looks of the 41 place arc concerned. Therefore, have only those that are absolutely n< < essary. If possible, do not allow a drive to bisect the lawn. If a walk is less than 50 feet Long, make it Straight. Make all Longer walks and drives on a direct double curve; avoid serpentine curves. WHAT WILL IT COST? The first question that the farmer asks is: "What will it cost |" feeling thai these things are all very nice, but that he can not afford them. Making a farm home attractive need not L2 cost a cent. All it need cost is a little work. The first item of improvement . greater neatness, costs nothing but an effort. The second item of improvement, the plan, costs nothing but study. The third item of improvement, the plants, can be mostly or wholly secured from the wild in nearly all parts of the country. This is especially true of trees. Nothing is better for home planting than the common trees of the sur- rounding woodland — elm, maple, oak, basswood, beech, pop- lar, hickory, black walnut, willow, ash, sycamore, pine, spruce, wild crab apple, and the like. Xo shrubs purchased of a tree agent are superior to the kinds native to a large part of the country, such as the osier, dogwood, thorn apple, sumac, witch-hazel, wild rose, rhododendron, elder, spicebush, and 43 viburnum. No bought vines can beat the wild Virginia creeper, honeysuckle, clematis, bitter-sweet, and grape. Many of the choicest wild flowers, such as the asters, goldenrods, hepaticas, and violets, do well when transplanted to the flower border; there they grow much larger than in the wild, so that they are hardly recognized as wild flowers. Some of the most attractive farm-home grounds are planted almost 44 entirely with plants dug from the woods and fields. The wild trees and shrubs do not usually grow as well for the first year or two as the nursery plants, but they soon catch up. Home improvement need not take money, but it does take interest. 45 The next four slides show what can be done when people are really interested. This farmhouse certainly looks unpromis- ing enough. It is ugly, unpainted, and without a plant in <\. Ugly, unpainted farm home and implanted yard. m. The house shown In No. 46, after painting and plant ii •17. An humble mountain cabin. is. The bouse shown in No. 47, showing the improvement wrought by morning- glories. •1*). The woman on ih<* farm; planting a tulip bed. .->(>. Children helping their mother j»i< k sweet peas. 51, The farm home on the hill. No. i i rpHIS PUBLICATION may be pro- ■*- cured from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office Washington, D. C, at 5 cents per copy