WALKS IN THE PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 101 



of the main charms of such scenes. Short and fre- 

 quent zigzags in the line of walks should be avoided, 

 as thej not only look ill, but also require a continual 

 twisting and turning, to the utter interruption of easy 

 and meditative walking. Walks, and especially the 

 leading ones on terraces and in the dressed grounds, 

 ought to be very carefully and efficiently constructed, 

 otherwise they can not be expected to be firm, dry, 

 and comfortable at all seasons. They should be bot- 

 tomed with from four to six inches of hand-packed 

 stones or old bricks, broken small on the top, or 

 blinded with land gravel, small flints, or fine road- 

 metal, and then covered with from three to four inches 

 of gravel. Pit gravel, as binding most readily, is the 

 most suitable for making a firm walk ; and therefore, 

 when it is to be had in sufficient quantity and of a 

 proper quality, it should be used in jDreference to other 

 kinds. Sea and river gravel do not bind so well, from 

 lack of earthy matter ; and therefore, when employed 

 for the first three inches, it should receive a slight ad- 

 mixture of earthy sand, or ashes, or rotten rock ; and 

 after this layer has been made firm by rolling, it should 

 receive a thin coating of the water-carried gravel. 

 "Walks should be made full, with a slight rounding in 

 the center, amounting to from one-eighth to three- 

 eighths of an inch to the foot of breadth ; more than 

 this makes them unpleasant to walk on. Small drains 

 along the edges of the walks are needful, especially 

 when the surface of the ground slopes toward them. 

 On inclined ground they should be furnished .with 

 gratings, to pass the water into the drains, and to pre- 

 vent it from furrowing the gravel. Various substances 

 have been used to bind the surfaces of walks, and to 



