TKe Bill-Board Nuisance 



ONE of several reasons which have 

 always seemed to be legitimale 

 causes for congratulation that we 

 are "not as our cousins to the south of 

 us, " is our relative freedom from bill- 

 boards. I am not as familiar as I 

 might be with the upper and western 

 provinces of the Dominion, but one 

 cannot fail to be impressed with this 

 difiference when travelling in the Mari- 

 time Provinces as compared with travel- 

 ling in the United States. 



A year or two ago the writer took a 

 railway journey out to the middle west, 

 as far as Kansas City, and returned. 

 For some reason the prevalence of what 

 might be legitimately called "the bill- 

 board nuisance" was brought more forc- 

 ibly to his notice than ever before. 

 Everything that was ever made from 

 "The Incomparable White — the Car of 

 Service" to "Ball- Bearing Garters" 

 seemed to require a bill-board, and no 

 landscape seemed sufficiently beautiful 

 to escape. As we sped along the banks 

 of the beautiful Hudson River, we were 

 constantly reminded that "Gillett's Lye 

 Eats Dirt," and ere we had realized the 

 full significance of this gustatory pecidi- 

 arity of the article in question we learned 

 that "Delicacy Demands Pearline," or 

 were admonished to "Let Gold Dust 

 Twins Do Our Work." 



■WOVhD SEE AMERICA FIRST 

 Rounding another curve of the road 

 we came in sight of a beautiful stretch 

 of rolling country with orchards and 

 vineyards on the slopes ; and scattered 

 among the orchards and dotting the 

 meadows below were a succession of 

 boards, the sixe of the side of a house, 

 advising the traveller to "See America 

 First — Via the Louisville and Nashville 

 R.R. "; or that "Packers' Tar Soap" 

 was as "Pure as the Pines"; or that 

 "Armour's Simon Pure Lard" was the 

 proper thing and so on. We wished that 

 we could "see America first" and without 

 this constant accompaniment of adver- 

 tising jargon; we thought it possible 

 that "Packers Tar Soap" was as "pure 

 as the pines" but bill-boards announc- 

 ing the fact were not half so pleas- 

 ant to look at as the pines themselves. 

 As for "Armour's Simon Pure Lard," 

 while we didn't know then as well as 

 we do now, just what definition Mr. 

 Armour would give for "Simon Purity," 

 it did occur to us that he might confine 

 his bill-boards to localities where thev 

 would be less objectionable. 



In other parts of the country some 

 other commodities would take the lead 

 in this fight for publicity. Perhaps it 

 would be a broken, rugged country, the 

 most beautiful of all naturally, with 

 little mountain valleys scattered along the 



Prof. F. C Sears, Xr\iro, N.S. 



line of the railway and with farm houses 

 nestled among the trees; and nestling 

 close alongside, in apparent unconscious- 

 ness of the incongruity of the combina- 

 tion, would be an immense bottle with 

 the laconic inscription "It's Wilson's — 

 That's All." We thought it was all, the 

 limit in fact, and turned with disgust 

 from the marred, sign-besmirched land- 

 scape outside to study our fellow-passen- 

 gers and wonder how many of them felt 

 as we did, a sense of having been out- 

 raged by all this vulgar commercialism 

 intruded upon the view. 



In still other sections, the advertising 

 mania takes another, though not less 

 obnoxious, form. There are miles, yes 

 whole states, where instead of the restful 

 harmonious, or, at least, appropriate red 

 or brown bam of our Canadian land- 

 scape, the view is almost constantly 

 marred by bams and outbuildings of all 

 kinds, which shriek at you in immense 

 yellow letters on a black background 

 that "hood's cures " ! 



It was certainly a relief to get back to 

 Nova Scotia, where one can enjoy to the 

 fullest extent the pleasures that come 

 from a beautiful country unspoiled by 

 signs. Even at Windsor junction, where 

 the beauties of the landscape are not 

 sufficiently pronounced so that a few 

 bill-boards would seriously mar the 

 general effect, there were only two, and 

 these modest affairs, setting forthin plain 

 figures and letters that Clayton & Sons 

 are clothing manufacturers in Halifax 

 and that A. M. Bell & Co. of the same 

 city are headquarters for hardware. 



A TORONTO FIRM 



But of late I have noticed that this sign- 

 board mania is creeping into even this 

 province. As yet, it is confined mostly 

 to one firm and that an Ontario firm, the 

 house of T. Eaton & Co., of Toronto. 

 But there is no telling when our local 

 firms may catch the disease. Now, I 

 haven't the rabid objection to this firm 

 that some of our local store-keepers have, 

 which is perhaps very natural since their 

 loss is my gain. But I do object to 

 their dotting our country with their bill- 

 boards and, particularly, when these 

 boards represent, as many of them do, a 

 gigantic female figure donning a garment 

 which, however necessarv to the proper 

 adjustment of the feminine form, is not 

 usually displayed in public. 



The question then arises: "What are 

 we going to do about it?" And that is 

 a question which I should like all Cana- 

 dian lovers of the beauties of nature to 

 consider seriously. Cannot some method 

 be devised to prevent the introduction 

 of these unsightly advertising schemes 

 into sections which are as yet free from 

 them, and to reduce their number and 



confine them to the least objectionable 

 localities where they have already gained 

 a foothold. If our laws are not now such 

 as to admit of our putting a stop to the 

 indiscriminate distribution of bill-boards, 

 they are surely capable of being amended 

 if the public can be brought to see that 

 one of its rights is being infringed upon. 

 It may be a question just how much 

 legal right the public has to the free 

 enjoyment of the beauties of the land- 

 scape unencumbered by these unsightly 

 objects; but, in these days when we are 

 making a determined effort to save the 

 beauties of Niagara and of other natural 

 resources of our Dominion, is it not 

 worth while to try to preserve undefiled 

 the other natural beauties, the country 

 over, which make Canada so goodly a 

 land to look upon ? 



Top-Dressing La-wns 



In the fall, lawns, tennis courts, 

 cricket creases, and all kinds of sport- 

 ing greens should receive a top-dressing 

 of well-rotted barnyard manure or 

 other fertilizing material. Stable man- 

 ure is valuable for the purpose, if it is 

 well rotted and free from weed seeds;, 

 coarse manure is objectionable, being 

 unsightly, ill-odored and certain to 

 contain undesirable seeds. Applv only 

 a moderate dres.sing, evenly spread. 



An earth mulch composed of equal 

 parts of good clean soil and well-rotted 

 manure is better than manure alone. 

 For applying to the lawn this month, 

 the compost should have been started 

 late in August. As it is, however, 

 there is plenty of time. Secure the 

 materials at once, mix them and turn 

 over occasionally and apply in No- 

 vember. A mulch of this nature not 

 only fertilizes the soil but also, when 

 spread evenly, it tends to smoothen 

 any irregularities of the lawn surface. 



Next spring, as soon as the ground 

 is settled, rake off the manure or coarse 

 remnants of the earth mulch. The 

 rains and melting snows of winter and 

 spring will have washed the soluble 

 plant food out of the mulch into the 

 soil. Thus, the turf will receive a 

 stimulant and a protection that will 

 bring forth a new- degree of density 

 and a brighter color for the new season. 



An effective remedy for mealv bugs 

 and scale on house plants is fir-tree oil. 

 Apply with a rather stiff bristle brush. 



Perennials, such as phlox, peony, 

 iris, larkspur, lily-of-the-valley and 

 ferns, improve by the division of the 

 roots, and any person who loves flowers 

 will help vou to increase vour stock. — 

 N. S. Dunlop, Floral Dept. C.P.R. 



