s than one of the great flower-beds that we see
on the grounds of wealthy people, and see without admiring, so formal
and artificial are they, and so suggestive of professional work
duplicated in other gardens until the very monotony of them becomes an
offence to the eye of the man or woman who believes in individuality and
originality.

Rustic fences between lots are great improvements on the ordinary
boundary fence, especially if vines are trained over them. They need not
be elaborate in design to be attractive. If made of poles from which the
bark has been taken, they should be stained a dark green or brown to
bring them into harmony with their surroundings.

Screen-frames of rustic work, as a support for vines, to hide unsightly
outbuildings, are far preferable to the usual one of wood with wire
netting stretched over it. They will cost no more than one of lattice,
and will be vastly more pleasing, in every respect.

Gateways can be made exceedingly pleasing by setting posts at each side
of the gate, and fashioning an arch to connect them, at the top. Train a
vine, like Ampelopsis, over the upper part of the framework, and you
make even the simplest gateway attractive.

A garden-seat, with a canopy of vines to shade it, may not be any more
comfortable, _as a seat_, than any wooden bench, but the touch of beauty
and grace imparted by the vine that roofs it makes it far more
enjoyable than an expensive seat without the vine would be to the person
who has a taste for pleasing and attractive things, simply because it
pleases the eye by its outlines, thus appealing to the sense of the
beautiful. Beauty is cheap, when looked at from the right standpoint,
which is never one of dollars and cents. It is just these little things
about a place that do so much to make it home-like, as you will readily
see if, when you find a place that pleases you, you take the trouble to
analyze the secret of its attractiveness.

The pergola has not been much in evidence among us until of late. A
rapidly increasing taste for the attractive features of old-world,
outdoor life in sunny countries where much of the time is spent outside
the dwelling, and the introduction of the "Italian garden" idea, have
given it a popularity in America that makes it a rival of the arbor or
summer-house, and bids fair to make it a thing of permanence among us.

The question is frequently asked by those who have read about pergolas,
but have never seen one,