THE MAKING OF A SUBURBAN HOME* 



S. SHORT, OTTAWA, ONT. 



MOST city folk, at some period in their 

 lives have a longing for country air 

 and surroundings, a longing for freedom 

 from city cares, for rest and quiet and a de- 

 sire to dig in mother earth. This is a 

 natural desire, and if gratified will, in many 

 cases, result in indigestion cures, the up- 

 building of shattered nerves and general 

 good health. Visions of fresh eggs for 

 breakfast, fresh vegetables gathered while 

 wet with dew for dinner, and fresh berries 

 for tea, all produced in the home, poultry 

 yard and garden, furnish powerful argu- 

 ments in favor of going to live in the 

 suburbs, not to speak of the pleasure of 

 sowing the seed and watching the growth 

 of the plants and giving them such atten- 

 tion that when the time of the harvest 

 comes the product will be the finest in the 

 country side. 



Having, therefore, decided to invest in a 

 piece of land with a view to making a gar- 

 den, the first question to decide is location. 

 I presume, of course ,that the owner in- 



tends to garden during his spare hours and 

 go to the city daily. In that case I would 

 recommend that he locate near the street 

 car line if possible. That is, I would pre- 

 fer to pay more for land, or be content with 

 a smaller lot near the car line than a more 

 distant location. There may be in the 

 family some members who would not take 

 to the suburban life with the same zest as 

 the head of the house, and they should be 

 considered. Besides, a back ache sometimes 

 forces its attention on the enthusiastic gar- 

 dener and it is desirable to get to the car 

 with as little exertion as possible. 



The best time to inspect the different lo- 

 cations is just after the snow has melted in 

 spring time. You can then see the state 

 of the roads and how the land is drained. 

 This is important for sanitary reasons. If 

 the home is located outside the city limits 

 the owner has to devise and carry out his 

 own sewage system, so a slight slope is a 

 help for that purpose as well as for good 

 surface drainage. A slope to the north or 



The Guelph City Hall as Improved 



Excellent results would follow were more of our horticultural societies to follow the example of the Guelph Horticultural Society, 

 which this year greatly improved the city hall and postoffice by placing handsome boxes in the windows. This work is appreciated by 

 the thousands who pass these two prominent buildings. 



♦Extract from a paper read at the July meeting of the Ottawa Horticultural Society. 



347 



