AND FENCES. 57 



to obtain single blocks of sufficient weight to resist the constant 

 strain of a long gate. Single gates being preferable to double ones 

 for this purpose, the posts to which such gates are hung should 

 have marked importance, and may, with propriety, be of block ma- 

 sonry, or of brick, with stone caps and binding layers ; and it must 

 not be forgotten that mere height and size, for the purpose of ren- 

 dering them conspicuous, is not the true object, but that weight and 

 tasteful forms are required. The facility with which slender wood 

 posts can be encased with heavy shells of carpentry, has had a bad 

 influence in substituting showiness for solidity ; yet it is also true 

 that much real beauty of form and effect is obtained by casing 

 posts with joiner's work, at a small expense compared with what is 

 required by the use of heavy timber or stone. Each man's neces- 

 sities and culture must be the law to himself in this matter. The 

 post in the vignette at the head of this Chapter is a fair example of 

 a simple and unpretending form of stone post. There are few mat- 

 ters in which the taste of the proprietor, or his architect, may be 

 more pleasingly illustrated than in the designs for stone gate-posts. 

 In putting in posts of wood or single blocks of stone deep in the 

 ground, the hole around them should be filled with sand, and espe- 

 cial care should be used to have the bottom firm and solidly 

 bedded before filling more than a few inches ; the top of the stone 

 should then be fastened in place by braces until the filling is com- 

 pleted. It is desirable that the part of a stone below the surface 

 of the ground increase in size like a wedge, with the largest end 

 down, for if the stone is the reverse in form, that is to say, a wedge 

 with the point down, it then forms a shoulder against which the 

 earth in swelling, as it does by freezing, will inevitably heave the 

 post upwards. Iron gate-posts, arched over like those shown by 

 Fig. 184, and covered with wire, are charming for village-lot en- 

 trances, though less expressive of solidity and homeliness than 

 stone. Even for an iron fence, the contrast between the low mas- 

 siveness of well-designed stone gateways, and the lightness of iron 

 work, is quite pleasing. And if these stone posts are used only 

 for gateways (and we think it better not to use them anywhere on 

 a front except for gateways and street corners), they become the 

 most prominent feature of the street front. There is no end to 



