CHAP. VI.] WALKS. 119 



is principally thrown upon a very narrow wheel, 

 which, on soft walks, literally ploughs its way 

 through the gravel, leaving an uneven furrow, 

 extremely offensive to the eye. To avoid this 

 inconvenience, the w r alks in kitchen-oardens, 

 where expense is not an object, are fre- 

 quently made of cement or asphalte. or laid 

 with bricks or flag-stones; but, as all these 

 materials give the idea of a court-yard, rather 

 than a garden, most persons prefer gravel 

 walks. Where gravel is to be employed, the 

 intended walks are marked out with two garden 

 lines; the space between is then dug out, gene- 

 rally in the form of an inverted arch, from one 

 foot to two feet deep in the centre (according to 

 the nature of the soil, and the expense it may 

 be thought advisable to incur), and the excava- 

 tion is filled to within six inches of the top with 

 brick-bats, stones, or any other hard rubbish 

 that can be procured. If the excavation be 

 made in the shape of an inverted arch, in filling 

 it up the extreme point of the arch should be 

 left hollow to serve as a drain; and if it be 

 made rectangular, a drain is generally left on 

 each side. In filling in the rubbish the largest 

 pieces are thrown in first, then smaller ones, 

 and lastly pieces broken very small, which are 

 rammed down or rolled, so as to form a smooth 

 surface immediately under the gravel. This is 

 done both to give solidity to the walk, and to 

 prevent the gravel from being wasted bv trick- 

 ling dow r n between the interstices of the stones. 

 As walks can never be firm unless they are kept 

 quite dry, in all cases there should be at least 

 one drain to each walk. The gravel before 



