EOADS, WALKS, AND BRIDGES. 109" 



f.n- roads, but none of these are suitable for carriage-roads, wliich, in all 

 cases, require that high finish which a gravelled surface alone can impart. 

 At the same time, the character of the material used must of necessity vary 

 with the character of the district ; in many parts of the country nothing can 

 be had but flints, and the harder and tougher flints are good materials for the 

 bottom and body of a road. The best road materials, however, consist of the 

 different varieties of greenstone, basalt, porphyry, limestone, and granite^ 

 broken into small square pieces. Some recommend a large admixture of 

 chalk, but this is not generally approved of, and certain it is that good road- 

 metal binds equally well without it. 



244. Generally, it will be desirable to furnish gratings on the sides of roads 

 for the removal of the surface-water ; in no case, however, should these gx'atings 

 communicate directly with the drains, as the sand soon chokes them up. They 

 should consist of a well (c) formed of brick, a foot or 18 inches square, ando 

 suflScient depth to leave a space (^) of 1 foot or 18 inches below 



the level ofthe drain (a), for the deposition of sediment; this well, ^^ — ^^ \ 'j i|^ f_; -^f 

 cleared out occasionally, and the drains will work for centuries. 

 Since the invention of Fleming's salting-machine, and the 

 joractice of applying dry salt in fine weather for the destruc- 

 tion of weeds, the keeping of roads clean has become both 

 cheaper and more effective. After trying all the usual methods ""' ' '^^ 



of turning, scarifying, hoeing, and raking the surface, I have come to the>" 

 conclusion that pickling the weeds off the sui'face of stones and gravsl is 

 the best, where the nature of the edging renders it practicable. This 

 operation performed in spring and autumn, with attention to raking in the 

 ruts, where any are made, and frequent rollings after heavy rains, will keep 

 roads in the highest state of efficiency and cleanliness, and impart that bright 

 spai'kling appearance which is an additional recommendation of the salting- 

 process. Roads formed and kept as here recommended will seldom, unless the 

 traffic is unusually heavy, require any further repair than an occasional slight 

 top-dressing of gravel. The grass edges on the sides of carriage-roads should.^ 

 never exceed an inch, or at most 1^ inch, in height, and should be neatly 

 cut with an edging-knife once or twice a year, and clipped once a month 

 during the growing season. Nothing impai'ts such a charm to a road as a 

 sharply-defined well-kept edge, of one uniform height throughout. The best 

 coloured gravel for roads is the reddish yellow, so common in the neighbour- 

 hood of London ; light shades of gravel impart an impression of coldness ta- 

 roads, and seldom wear so well. 



245. Nearly all that has been said about roads is applicable to walks ; for 

 roads may be defined as larger walks, made in a more substantial manner, to 

 bear heavier traffic ; and walks as narrow roads, designed for pedestrian or 

 light carriage traffic only, bearing the impress of greater refinement and a 

 higher style of finish. With these distinctions, arising from their different 

 uses, the same principles apply to the formation of both. The quantity ot 

 material used need not be so great in depth, and its texture should be finer 



