V. 



DRIVES AND WALKS. 



RIVES and walks are necessary for comfort and 

 convenience, and are chiefly intended for use 

 and not for ornament. Still they should be 

 as ornamental and symmetrical as possible, 

 with a regularly rounded surface, raised some- 

 what above the level of the lawn, and with edges slightly 

 lower. They must be uniform in width and as direct as 

 possible. Straight walks, such as those common in old 

 French gardens, are seldom used at present. A winding 

 path is more to the purpose, as in its course it leads to more 

 objects of interest than a straight one. Rut all curves must 

 be simple and have a reason for being, such as an object to 

 which they lead, or an obstruction of some kind or other 

 that must be avoided. And, even without such an obstruc- 

 tion, the walk is never laid straight, but a shrubbery, or a 

 flower-bed, or some other object is placed so as to form an 

 apparent reason for the sinuous windings, which are essen- 

 tial in order to avoid straight and formal lines, hi Fig. 36 

 the walk leads between A and R, and while it could have 

 been made perfectly straight when constructed, it is advan- 



72 



