President's Message - 1938

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

A great number of our garden lovers have turned from the art of hoe and rake to the lure of the golf club and steering wheel. We find inartistic garages and long driveways using the space once given to flowering beds and borders. Yet when we hear Ottawa spoken of as the city beautiful, a joyous feeling is ours. Suppose the Federal District Commission and the Experimental Farm never existed, it would be hard to imagine what would replace them. Are we leaving too much to those institutions to bolster up the reputation of our city? When tourists stray from our driveways into the streets and avenues do their opinions change? Would it not be beneficial to give even that part of our home surroundings which meet the public eye a setting, so that the first impression may linger. No matter how small the space it can be beautified. Nothing tends to uplift a community more than well-designed layouts.

In a city with so many homeowners and with daylight saving, a little money and effort spent in brightening up the exterior surroundings, would show expressions of taste and personality.

This is the period of the year that we find the home surroundings lack something, and the urgent need of an earnest helper. The Ottawa Horticultural Society has for forty-five years fulfilled this need. A membership costs one dollar. You receive premiums in some cases exceeding this amount in addition to having the many privileges of its activities.

J. J. CARR,

President.

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