Febraary 3, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTIGULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



83 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



FEBRUABY 3—9, 1876. 



Royal Society at 8.30 p.m. 



Geologists' Association (Anniversary) at 8 p.m. 



5 Sunday after Epiphany. 



London Institntion at 5 p.m. 



Roral Horticultural Society— Annual General Meeting 



Society of Arts at 8 p.m. t at 3 p.m. 



From observations taken near London daring forty-three years, the average day temperatnre of the week is 45.7^ ; and its night temperatare 



THE FOKMATION OP A CABRIAGE OR OTHER 

 ROAD. 



UCH as we are indebted to our early an- 

 cestors for the very sub.stantial way in 

 whioli they formed their roads — roads which 

 even to the present day seem to bid fair to 

 witness the decay of others tliat are many 

 centuries tlieir juniors — there was neverthe- 

 less something in old Roman roads which 

 would not have met the requirements of the 

 present generation. Still we may wonder 

 that the Romans were able to accomplish 

 so much as was done, their massive walls and solid build- 

 ings, as well as their most substantial causeways, ci'ossing 

 the country in various directions ; but then it must be 

 remembered that all travelling was done in those days 

 without the aid of wheel carriages. Horses, bullocks, 

 and foot travelling were the modes adopted at that time, 

 but with the advance of wealth other modes of travelling 

 were required, and roads of a kind on which wheel car- 

 riages could bo used at all seasons had to be provided. 

 Coeval with this improved state of road-making it was 

 discovered that curving round the base of a Iiill was not 

 any longer than going right over the top of it; for not- 

 withstanding the assumed theory that the up-and-down- 

 hill road is the etraightest, it is in reality no straighter 

 than the curved one. In practice a considerable space is 

 often sacrificed, and as it frequently happens for a gar- 

 dener to have to set out a road through very difficult 

 ground, a few plain hints may perhaps be of some service 

 to those who have not had much experience in such 

 work. 



Assuming that a carriage road is wanted to unite the 

 mansion with the principal highway, the route being 

 through a dense coppice. The ground is very uneven, 

 perhaps, along the side of a river or stream, and with 

 now and then very steep banks. On a place of this kind 

 considerable excavations will be required, but some judg- 

 ment will often lessen this by the designer of the road 

 making liimself thoroughly acquainted with the whole of 

 the ground before a spade or axe is put to use. The 

 ground should be gone through several times, and if the 

 bed of the stream be handy it forms a very good guide, 

 and a rough idea of the ascents and descents to be made 

 wiU be thus obtained without the aid of any instruments 

 whatever. Instruments are very useful, but the plain 

 man can very often do very well without them, the eye 

 enabling him to judge of the difficulties in the case, and 

 to balance the ultimate result with the labour entailed. 

 While the work is in hand let it be well done — that is, 

 let a proper foundation be made, with gradients of a kind 

 that are not likely to be found fault with hereafter, 

 for the complaint — "that it is a pity that such and 

 such an excavation or embankment was not made at 

 first " — ought never to be heard ; for be it observed that 

 a road of the kini ;:; qUcrtiun ought to be done for per- 

 petuity; and where there is a necessity for excavation, 

 which in all hilly ground is sure to be the case, it is much 

 No. 775.-V01,. XXX., New Semes. 



better not to begrudge the cart or wheelbarrow work at 

 first, as it cannot well be done afterwards. 



In the formation of a road along the side of a steep 

 bill, with irregular gullies crossing its course, a greater or 

 less amount of excavation of the one side and embank- 

 ment on the other is indispensable. Care, however, ought 

 to be taken at the beginning that the proper level, if we 

 may call it so, is started with. More than tlu-ee-fourths 

 of those not having had experience in such work start too 

 deep, or in other words, they do not give sufficient credit 

 to the filling-up qualities of the material they excavate, 

 the result being that they find they have more than they 

 have room for. This arises from not remembering that 

 a cubic yard of solid excavation does the filling-up of 

 quite 1-V yard of embankment ; consequently the material 

 is not all wanted that ought to be removed. Some little 

 measurement will obviate this ; but many experienced 

 people disregard such measurements, and judge by the eye 

 how much fiUing-in a certain cavity will take, and how 

 far an excavation of a certain depth will go towards that 

 object. Of course everyone knows that there is a sinking 

 of embankments, and what takes place during the time 

 the v/orks are in hand must be made up ; heavy rains 

 and carting will tend to consolidate the mass. Where 

 bridges are needed they ought of course to be erected 

 before the groundwork approaches them. In order to 

 ascertain the gi-adients some rough survey ought to be 

 made and levels taken. If, for example, the ascent bo 

 120 feet in half a mile, a very little knowledge of figures 

 shows that if excavation could be carried carefully out 

 from end to end there would be an inclined plane of an 

 easy rise of 1 foot in 22. A gentle and easy rise, no doubt, 

 but it is not always easy to excavate the ground so as to 

 have such a uniform rise, as very often the conformation 

 of the ground almost compels a part of the road to be 

 much steeper and a portion even level or with Uttle rise 

 at all. This state of things must be met as it best can, 

 taking care in all cases after once commencing the ascent 

 not to descend again if possible. Although there are 

 plenty of roads that ascend the hill with a rise of 1 in 15, 

 and some as steep as 1 in 12, it is better to spread the 

 ascent into more space if possible ; 1 in 18 being fair 

 trotting ground that may be taken as a guide. 



Now, in carrying a roa.l through a coppice it is good 

 practice to out with a spade a series of small level spaces 

 all along the mtended line of route at about 50 yards 

 from each other, or further apart if they can be seen 

 readily ; an engineer's level will then enable the re- 

 spective heights of each to be ascertained. The whole 

 should be committed to paper so as to give the profile of 

 the ground, and the places where it is prudent to excavate 

 and where to be filled up will show themselves at once. In 

 levelling, a knowledge of geometry is no doubt valuable, 

 but there are plenty of cases where such instruments as 

 spirit levels are not cared for, the sole guide being the eye, 

 aided by the judgment necessary to grasp quantity, and, 



ag a friend ones espressed n, see mio mouniamg. 



Where the excavation is a deep one and the cuts through 

 a sort of a ridge, it is better to begin at both sides, taking 



No. 1427.- Vol. LV., Old Saaias. 



