348 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



west is preferable, for then the snow in 

 spring melts slowly and the plants seldom 

 sufTer by too early exposure or by making 

 too rapid growth and injury from frosts. 



If the owner intends to live all the year 

 round in the suburbs it is absolutely neces- 

 sary that the public highway to and from 

 his home should be high, dry and well 

 drained. There is nothing that will cause 

 dissatisfaction with the location more 

 quickly than to have to travel over wet, 

 muddy roads. 



The next point to be considered is hov/ 

 much land to buy. That depends on indi- 

 vidual circumstances. Some have mori 

 leisure time and more money than others. 

 If the purchaser can afford to keep a hired 

 man and a horse an acre more or less will 

 be of small concern, but if he intends to do 

 the work himself one half to three quarters 

 of an acre is ample and will give his muscu- 

 lar energies the fullest scope. 



To the man with limited means who 

 wishes to cultivate his own garden and at- 

 tend to the numerous chores incidental to a 

 country home there are good reasons for 

 saying that half an acre is ample to occupy 

 his spare time. Unless the lawn is kept 

 nicely trimmed, the flower-beds kept free 

 from weeds and the vegetable garden kept 

 in thorough cultivation, the owner's repu- 

 tation as a gardener will suffer, and instead 

 of having a home and garden to be proud of 

 and to be shown with pride to visitors, he 

 very soon tires of gardening and his career 

 in the suburbs soon ends. To keep half an 

 acre in proper order and cultivation, to at- 

 tend to the poultry, to do a little painting 

 and fencing when necessary will take the 

 average man three hours every working day 

 from the time the spring work begins until 

 the middle of August, when the weed sea- 

 son is practically over. During ]May, June 

 and July the grass must be cut at least once 

 weekly, the flower beds weeded and raked 

 once a week ; in fact, everv inch of land un- 



der cultivation, to be kept properly, must 

 have weekly attention. 



]\Iy object in stating these facts is that 

 they may perhaps be a help, to an intending 

 suburbanite, in deciding how much land to 

 invest in for garden purposes, so that even 

 though land be low in price in the outskirts 

 of the city, he will not undertake to cultivate 

 too much, and his garden, instead of being 

 a pleasure become a burden. Having pur-* 

 chased the land, the next step is to lay out 

 the grounds and garden to the best advant- 

 age. Before planting a tree or choosing 

 the site for the house, by all means have a 

 plan drawn to a scale. Then you have be- 

 fore you on paper the details in full of the 

 work to be done. I would suggest divid- 

 ing the half acre in two parts. On one 

 half put the house, driveway, lawn, flower 

 beds, outbuildings and poultry runs and re- 

 serve ; on the other the fruit and vegetable 

 garden. The driveway may be placed be- 

 tween the house and the fruit garden and 

 the house between the driveway and lawn, 

 which ensures you from having the owner 

 of the next lot building close tc your house 

 even though he builds on the line between 

 the properties. A border for flowers may 

 be made around the lawn. It should end 

 parallel with the rear of the house and 

 be divided from the land in the rear by a 

 trellis made with poultry netting, on which 

 grape vines may be grown to screen the 

 poultry houses and runs. 



FRUITS THAT MAY BE GROWN. 



In nearly all parts of this province the 

 following fruits may be grown : Strawber- 

 ries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, 

 apples, plums, cherries and grapes. Before 

 planting, a list should be prepared and sub- 

 mitted to any local expert who will willing- 

 ly advise the best varieties. At the start 

 only plant varieties that have been success- 

 fully grown in your neighborhood. Avoid 

 experimenting until thoroughly established. 

 The number of fruit trees and plants to 



