67. As there are several circumstances connected with suburban houses, different from other houses, but which exercise considerable influence upon the health and comfort of the occupier, we shall endeavour to point them out separately.

68. The garden being one of the principal objects in a suburban residence, its shape or outline should be first considered; and, in the case of residences of the smallest size, this is of great importance. A narrow slip of ground, as it must be enclosed, must always include an atmosphere more or less stagnate, and unfit for the purposes of breathing, or walking in, gardening, and even of drying clothes. A form approaching to a square or a circle, will generally be found to admit, in the greatest degree, the influence of the sun and wind, and to be the most advantageous for domestic purposes, as well as for gardening. On a larger scale, the shape of the ground is comparatively of little consequence in point of health; though, with regard to variety within the enclosure, it is of the greatest moment. In this case, a long narrow slip may have advantages, instead of disadvantages, by increasing the extent of the home views from the house; by lengthening the straight walks of the garden; and even, in some cases, by affording an opportunity of forming an avenue of trees as an approach-road. When the piece of ground is long, and the outline circuitous, then the opportunity of varying the interior by planting, and by extending the walks, is much increased; and when to length and circuitousness is added irregularity in breadth, everything, as far as beauty is concerned, is obtained that can be desired in point of form.

Where economy is the great object with reference to shape, then that form which requires the smallest quantity of boundary fencing will be the best; and this is obviously the square or the parallelogram. Theoretically, the circle or the polygon would be more perfect; but in practice, the application of these figures would be found inconvenient

69. The position of the house relatively to the shape or outline of the plan of the garden in which it stands, is a matter of importance in residences of the smallest size. The reason is, the house may be so placed as to throw a shadow over a great part of the garden every day in the year; or it may be so placed as to throw no shadow on it at any time, or only a partial shadow. The great disadvantage which every small garden has, as compared with a large garden, is the shadow thrown on it by the boundary walls, or by the house or adjoining houses; and, if an intending occupant will bear this in mind while looking out for a house, it will aid him in obtaining what ought 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 band, 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 road 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 be 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 neighbourhood 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 for 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 sun 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 seil that ought to be procured for growing them in, or the improvement that ought to be bestowed on the soil already there, as well as the future culture of the whole. Fig. 21. is a diagram, representing the four leading directions of streets which occur in towns and their suburbs; and the hare inspection of this figure will show what positions are most favourable for the admission of the sun to the surface and boundary walls of the gardens, as well as to the different sides of the houses, throughout the years In this figure, a a represents two rows of houses placed in a direction parallel to a street running north and south, in the gardens of which there will be no shadows at midday throughout the year, but those of the separation fences: if these are low, or if they are of open work, their shade will do very little injury; and, unless the situation is surrounded by a very smoky atmosphere} peaches and grapes may be ripened in the climate of London, on the wall which faces the south.