text:  Inside of this fringe of rustic independencies snug farm-houses rose up in all directions; but with a perverseness which seems characteristic of the whole county and not limited to farm-houses or even semi-genteel villas no sooner does a man fix on a nice situation--a rising knoll beside a river--a gentle slope--or beautiful level green--no sooner does he rear a modest or perhaps an ornamental mansion on the site than his next care is to plant as thick round it as the trees will stand