Pot-pourri from a Surrey garden

A distressing feature of modern civilisation is the utter waste, both in town and country, of the precious rain-water that runs off our houses. It will be argued that in London it would be black ; but it is not very difficult to remedy this — sufficiently, at any rate, for use in washing. In the country it is priceless. No well- cared-for baby ought ever to be washed in anything but rain-water ; and yet, rather than make tanks, rich people, who will buy every luxury, get their water (which in nine cases out of ten is as hard and full of chalk as it can be) from the nearest water company. Eain-water is even more essential for the plants than for the baby. I was told last year by a good gardener, who had been peculiarly successful in growing the rare and beautiful Table Mountain Orchid, Disa grandiflora, that he attributed his success entirely to keeping it very moist, but never allowing one drop of water to go near it that was not rain-water. This is the case, in a minor degree, with many other greenhouse and stove plants. 289 A DAY IN LONDON Advantages of suburbs — London life — Picture exhibitions. PEOPLE who live in London, and those who live in the depths of the country, are both equally inclined, for differ- ent reasons, to laugh a little, and even sneer, over the ob- vious disadvantages of suburban residences. By suburban I mean more the character of the surroundings than the actual distance from London or any other large town. The more favoured a place is as regards soil and climate, the more thickly populated it becomes. But the near neigh- bourhood of London has certainly immense advantages under many conditions. For young couples, if a man is strong and well, and has work to do in town, it is the very poetry of life compared to London itself, and is a phase of existence which a woman, if once she has had it, always looks back upon with pleasure. She has her children and her duties all day, and in the evening the man throws off his bothers and worries and comes back to peace and happi- ness, rest and pure air at home. When children get big, and have tastes and talents of their own which must be developed and educated, there is certainly much to be said in favour of moving the home for some years to London. When the parents are no longer young, and when, however friendly they may be and proud of each other, they have to pursue individually their own lives, and carry out that partnership which is the only perfect form of middle- aged married life, for the good of the children and the 290 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN