But the things just named will not nearly always be accessible. Throughout many of the commonwealths there are vast stretches of level plateaus with scarcely a hill or woodland in sight, and yet covered with a rich, tillable soil. These places may for good reasons be selected for the site of a dwelling. But they demand more work and heavier expense of money and time before the best material surroundings of an ideal home for boys and girls may be realized. Before the house is scarcely laid out in such a place, the shade and ornamental trees should be planted, selecting for part of the planting a quick-growing species that may be removed later after more permanent and more valuable trees have reached a suitable height. Of course, a stream of water cannot always be diverted so as to make it pass the place, but a fair substitute may be had by the construction of a pond. And this thing should be accomplished at the earliest possible moment. If there be a small dry ravine, dam it up with concrete and catch it full of surplus water during a rainy season. It is a positive injustice to boys and not a little unfair to girls to require them to grow up without any access to open water of some kind. And it is almost a matter of criminal neglect to require children to live permanently in a home about which there are no trees growing. So it is recommended, even if the house construction must in part be delayed or cut off, that the surroundings just named be sought in all earnestness. THE HOUSE PLAN In planning and arranging the house, the matters to be thought of in addition to those named above are convenience and comfort. While it is somewhat important that the house look well to those who may be passing upon the highway, it is vastly more important that it be good within and serve such needs of the home-maker and the children as will conserve the strength of the former and render the lives of all happy and contented. In addition to the matters just named, that of placing the dwelling to face in the right direction will be thought of. That is, arrange the house so as to take advantage of the morning sunlight, the evening shade, the winter blasts and the summer breezes. While for the sake of entertainment it may be well to place the rural dwelling near the public highway, rather than sacrifice the child-developing factors of shade trees and streams and the like, it is often better to build back from the road and make a private lane leading thereto.