Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 151, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 June 1916 — Home Town Helps [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Home Town Helps

TREES HAVE DEFINITE VALUE k ,■ . ■■ * Setting of a House Has Much to Do With Its Attractiveness —BackGround Easily Made.

A background makes all the difference between a house and a home. Your house will be twice as easy to sell if it is seen against woods or orchards rather than empty sky. If your house is already located and has no background, plant some tall-grow-ing trees behind it. Why not plant some of the trees that reach great height, the sycamore, the linden, the sweet gum, and the tulip tree, which

has gorgeous cup-like flowers, four inches across, of yellow marked with orange ?

Many old farmhouses are very poor architecturally. The ideal is a new and better home; the next best thing is remodeling; but if'neither is practical, can’t you hide the unattractive part by planting, and show the attractive? Even a house that is false and ugly may have some good detail. Study once more the house you think hopeless, and hold your hands before your eyes in such a way as to hide the bad and show the good. Then see if you cannot find trees that will do the work in a reasonable time.

You can greatly increase the value of your property by planting the right sort of trees at either end of your house, so as to frame a picture of your home. Many a rich map pays hundreds of dollars extra for a farm because the old house is surrounded by century-old elms. He builds a big new house under the old trees and at once it looks old and mellow. The pioneers thought only of shade and shelter from the wind, and so they commonly planted trees all around the

farmhouse, generally too near one another and too close to the house. Consequently, the houses look dark, damp, and gloomy in winter, while in summer' they “look hot and stuffy. The . best thing is to cut out enough of the old trees to give some light and air, and framfe the view of the house from the road. Illustrations in this article published by courtesj\of Landscape Extension Division of University of Illinois.

Looks Bleak and Barren.

With Proper Surroundings.