Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-10-01
Canada's Capital
BY Frederic . Iraskin

BY Frederic
Ottawa, Canada, Sept. 3o.--They
cab this city the Washington of the
North. But the phrase calls up some
that are misleading, at 4
This season In particular. The North
suggests anowdrifts and people wear
ing furs and articles, and just now
Ottawa is still enjoying the sort n
fall you find IN Boston or considerably |
farther south.
Washington, too, is not AZ first
glance recalled BY Ottawa. There IL
none u the marble white !
ness set In green that character zos |
The most elaborate u |
the government buildings are % |
cream and red sandstone and the rest |
Of the government offices are housed |
IN plain. unobstructive Office build |
ings.
But later, the city does gradually
show its relation 70 the capital of the
United states, in character more than
appearance. There Is the same gov
AIHfUtni hAfMNnEhtfN EAt0 ElfNfENt@
ton. The buildings az set times swai-
low up and release The same horde Of
cierks--they call them civil servants
here--drossed with the same am
bilious stylishness.
II don't know how they dress the
way they do, on $50 month. That's
all most Of them get" marveled one
s,o,,,srnrueftf official
A drive around the city adds 20 tho
reminders Of Washington. There liz
the experiment farm. for instance,
Canada, like tho United States, has 2
number Of these farms scattered over
the country. and like the United
States, it has one at the capital to be
near the Department Of Agriculture.
One experimental farm at Airing
ton is a purely business proposition.
No special effort is made 70 achieve
beauty for beauty's sake. ottawa
farm is show place. Every tree.
plant. and shrub that grows in Canada
| is represented in these grounds
There 81 cs 900 diff ent varieties of
plant life here. But instead n plant
ing them in endless rows, an orna-
mental park has been made Of a large
section Of the farm.
An Ornamental Farm.
Fields where experiments are being
conducted with tobacco or wheat are
lalternated with beautifully kept lawns.
These are shaded but not too densely.
with tree specimens, and flower beds
show what can be done with Canada g
large variety OF blossoms
One unusual feature Of the grounds
is long patch of different hedge
specimens. planted like so many rows
iof uofatoes. There is a row of yew
and close beside IL q row Of spruce
and 30 on, for large area. 10 gives
the effect Of "A display In a shop. the
strips Of hedge suggesting picture
molding samples, or something Of th'
sort,
Another feature Of the farm is th'
floral sun-dial. the dial Of which 81
marked out in red. yellow. and greer
coleus. The dial is about 40 feet IL
diameter It is laid out like the or
binary sun-dial except that howe
beds. divided by narowr strips Of con
crete, take the place Of the stone plat
with its lines. The shadow is cast b!
II long pole set at the proper angie.
This dial is said 70 give accurat'
sun time, but the Government doe
not depend on il. Just back OF IN
sun-ciial is the government observa
tory which supplies standard time b,
! master clocks.
Besides plant Investigations, tn
government conducts poultry an
stock experiments at the Ottawa Tarn
The poultry section has a sign on
over one group of coops marked "eg
laying contest" Each year. 1t seem
Canadian farmers enter their best her
in a government contest Of this sor
The hens are boarded at the govern
!, ment farm and their laying record
carefully kept. The winner becomes
!. famous bird, and other hens that ran
/, high are consequently valuable
!, their owners. Last year. the winnir
bird laid 272 eggs.
one Of the features Of Ottawa whiC
attracts a good many Americans
! the Archives Building. The Unit
: States has been talking for a goo
!, many years about a suitable stOras
i place for its valuable documents ar
records. Canada has such buildin
We read on the brass plate outsi'
i that it was suggested in 1871, but III
the United States, Canada did n
wish to rush hastily into the matt,
,s Nearly two centuries Of thought
- consideration interviewed, and in 1s
!. Canada erected a gray stone archiv
building. It is a large building. b
. already, the officials say, 1t Is mad
"a quate.
Visitors see only the halls and {
,, library on the first floor. Once. a go
a1 deal more was displayed to the publ
- ard valuable documents shown. 3
al tourists insisted on handling
q. fragile papers, and this resulted
=, crumpled edges, torn places, and dir
=, spots So gradually the officials ha
10 become less hospitable.
~ only last week. the guide remar
!, ed in disgust, "a woman poked b
II umbrella through this valuable pair
as ing And he pointed 70 an obviou,
=. patched place. "She Just wanted
=. show her friend something IN the p
no ture.
= = The library of this building CO
- tains a few Of the old Canadian h
II toric papers-protected under gla
,v and watched by a guard. There q
al souvenirs Of General Wolfe he
es notably his baby shoes and a let