1870.] GARDENING ON THAMES EMBANKMENT. 531 



was once the river's edge, there is an immense piece of reclaimed land, 

 a good portion of which is being formed into public gardens. To fill 

 up this reclaimed space thousands of loads of soil were required ; 

 happily with the progress of the Thames Embankment came the con- 

 struction of the subterranean way of the Metropolitan District Railway, 

 running close by and parallel with the thoroughfare, and this gave ample 

 material to form the subsoil. Then, to give a suitable top-soil, immense 

 quantities of loam were brought up by water from Barking Creek, well 

 adapted for the growth of shrubs, and nearly the whole of the space 

 to be planted with these is now ready for their reception. Along that 

 portion of the land to be so planted that skirts the old line of the 

 river-side, a sloping bank, rising in some instances 9 or 10 feet, has 

 been formed, with a broad verge of grass towards the river. There is 

 also a similar verge of grass, with borders for shrubs at intervals, along 

 by the promenade ; and between the verges runs a broad concrete walk, 

 solid and firm as a rock. The borders will be filled mainly with de- 

 ciduous mingled with such evergreen shrubs as will thrive best on such 

 a spot, amid the city's smoke and dust. Hollies, both plain-leaved and 

 variegated, Euonymus of kinds, Aucuba japonica, and a few others, 

 will form the evergreen shrubs ; and about the grass will be dotted 

 specimen Hollies, &c, likely to prosper there. Between the walk and 

 the grass, on both sides of the former, there runs a verge of Irish Ivy 

 rather more than a foot in width ; this has been somewhat thickly 

 planted, and pegged down on a surface covered with 2 inches of well- 

 rotted manure ; and already it is rapidly taking root, and by the middle 

 of the summer it will be a mass of green leaves marbled with a darker 

 hue. 



The construction of the concrete paths well deserves a record. A 

 foundation of about a foot in depth is laid of rough bricks, with some 

 gravelly soil thrown over to make it level. On this is laid 4 inches 

 of concrete, which, when it settles down and is well rolled, becomes 

 as hard and firm as a stone pavement. The concrete is formed* of 

 gravel well saturated with tar. The gravel is thoroughly heated over 

 a fire, and while hot sifted into two sizes, and the tar mixed with it. 

 A layer of 2 inches of the coarse gravel, covered with a layer of the 

 fine gravel of a similar thickness, forms the surface of the path, and 

 over it is thrown a thin layer of powdered shells or fine shingle from 

 the sea-shore at Brighton ; the latter is to be preferred, as the wind is 

 apt to lift the former and scatter it over the turf. This path may per- 

 haps yield slightly on a very hot sunny day, but only in a small degree. 



From the roadway the gardens will be separated by means of a 

 handsome iron fence, through which, at certain places, the public will 

 gain access to the gardens by means of gates. 



