no GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



for walks ; but the mode of its application, and the functions it perfonns, are 

 in both oases alike. A good walk may be formed of concrete, consisting of 

 6 parts of coarse gi'avel and 1 of lime, 4 inches deep, with an inch of fine- 

 sifted gravel sprinkled over and well rolled into the top ; and 6 or 7 inches 

 deep, including gravel, will be a good average for walks formed of stones, &;c. 

 In the ordinary way. Perfect dryness is even of more importance upon walks 



than roads, as they should be clean and compara- 

 ^■vCxT^TT^Z^^^^^^^ lively impenetrable in all weathers and at aU 



seasons. Although some recommend walks to be 



sunk below, and others raised above, the general 

 ,'n^ level, as here shown, yet walks generally look best 



on a level with the surface : they must be sunk 

 half an inch at the edge, to leave this height of verge, which ought never to 



be exceeded in pleasure-ground walks. 

 Walks themselves should also be nearly 

 level, half an inch being sufficient convexity 

 for a lO-feet walk. The wider the walk the smaller is the permissible rise in 

 the centre, as nothing detracts more from the appearance of a gravel walk, 

 of say 15 or 20 feet, than variations in the level of its surface. A 6-feet walk, 

 with 2 5 or 3 inches rise in the centre, would not be so offensive to the eye as 

 the same amount of convexity in a walk 15 feet wide ; all broad terraces 

 and promenades should therefore be perfectly level ; and if the removal of 

 water renders a fall necessary, it should be so sUght as to be imperceptible to 

 the eye. For similar reasons, gratings are hardly ever admissible on such 

 walks ; rough stones, or i-ubble connected with underground drains, cropping 

 out to within a few inches of the surface, being used instead for the removal 

 of surface-water. The longer and wider a walk of this description is, the more 

 offensive to good taste is the incongruous appearance of an obtrusive grating 

 and other petty irregularities of level. These views apply with double force 

 to straight walks, and there are few gardens of any pretensions where either 

 are now to be found. However beautiful curved walks may be elsewhere,— 

 and they are exceedingly beautiful,— they can never be made to harmonize 

 with the straight hnes of architecture, and therefore should not be intro- 

 duced near the mansion. Generally, there will be found plenty of scope for 

 the introduction of both straight and curved walks ; but where there is not, 

 the former should have precedence, and the curved hnes be introduced 

 beyond the pleasure-grounds. Notwithstanding the dictmn of Shenstone, 

 who was a greater landscape-gardener than poet, perhaps, and who tells us 

 *' that when a building or other object has been once viewed from its proper 

 point, the foot should never travel to it by the same path which the eye has 

 travelled over before," I think a handsome seat or temple, a beautiful foun- 

 tain, or a statue, a pleasing termination to a walk of 100 tc 500 yards 

 long. Certainly the rest the seat affords, and the pleasure imparted by the 

 other objects, will not be the less refreshing or satisfactory because we are 

 made aware of their proximity by walkmg right up to them. The size and 



