SUBURBAN RESIDENCES. 45 



to be considered a great desideratum in a suburban residence ; viz. a garden 

 but moderately shaded by walls and houses. In the case of a road in the 

 direction of east and west, with houses and gardens on the north side of it, if 

 the houses in these gardens are placed next or near to the road, it is evident 

 that they will shade great part of the garden behind them every day in the year ; 

 and, on the other hand, if the houses are placed at the farther extremity of the 

 garden, that they will shade no part of it any day in the year. In this latter 

 case, the garden, even in London (along the south side of the New Road, for 

 example), might be rendered very ornamental, both from the street or road, 

 and from the house of the occupant ; while in the former, it never could (as 

 is actually the case with the gardens on the north side of the New Road) be 

 made productive of either much beauty or much use. In the cases of the 

 houses and gardens along the south side of a road running from east to west, 

 if the houses are placed close to the road, the whole of the garden will be 

 exposed to the sun every day in the year. We do not state these facts with 

 a view of leading to the conclusion, that all houses on the south side of an 

 east and west i-oad should be built close to it, and all those on the north side 

 as far from it as the garden will permit; but, simply, to impress on the minds 

 of our readers, who have a suburban residence yet to choose, the great 

 importance of taking the subject of shade and sunshine into consideration 

 when a garden is one of their main objects ; and to enable those who already 

 have suburban residences, to determine whether their gardens are suitable 

 for the culture of the finer plants, or only for more ordinary productions. 



70. The artificial aspect, in the case of very small plots of ground, is even 

 of more importance than the shape ; but when the extent of ground amounts 

 to an acre or upwards, the aspect can scarcely he said to be artificial, as it 

 does not depend upon the boundary fences, or other artificial objects. If we 

 imagine a narrow slip (say about 20 ft. or 30 ft. in breadth, which is the 

 general width of the gardens of the smallest suburban houses in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London), placed in the direction of east and west, and that the 

 fences are 10 ft. high, it is evident that the greater part of that garden will 

 be in the shade every day in the year ; and the whole of it will be under 

 shade at least two months every winter. On the contrary, if a plot of ground 

 of the same width, and with fences of the same height, be placed in the 

 direction of north and south, the sun will shine on every part of it during the 

 warmest portion of every day in the year. In the latter garden, in the 

 climate of London, peaches and grapes might be ripened ; while in the 

 former, nothing would thrive but ivy, and a few of the commoner shrubs and 

 herbaceous plants. The first point, therefore, to be taken into consideration, 

 in contriving how the gardens of suburban residences are to be laid out and 

 planted, is, to ascertain how far the surface of the garden, and the walls or 

 other fences by which it is bounded, are exposed to the rays of the sun 

 throughout the year. On the degree of exposure to the sxm all the future 

 operations depend ; for this must determine the kinds of trees and plants that 

 will thrive in the garden ; and on these trees and plants necessarily depends 

 the kind of soil that ought to be procured for growing them in, or the 

 improvement that ought to be bestowed on the soil ah-eady there, as well as 

 the future culture of the whole. Fig. 2L is a diagram, representing the four 

 leading directions of streets which occur in towns and their suburbs ; and the 

 bare inspection of thi-; figure will show what positions are most favourable 



