128 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



A good method of staking a walk is to carry on 

 one arm a bundle of small stakes from one to three 

 feet long and drop these one at a time along the 

 route to be followed, spacing the stakes at uniform 

 distances by pacing. An assistant will drive these 

 stakes where they are dropped but only deep enough 

 to secure them in a vertical position until they are 

 lined to a satisfactory curve. To secure such a 

 curve, one should look along the line of stakes, start- 

 ing at one end, and direct the assistant to move 

 each stake to the right or left until it is in the proper 

 place. The entire line should be gone over in this 

 way from each direction, repeating the lining if 

 necessary, until the curve is satisfactory from any 

 point of view. The uniform spacing of the stakes 

 is advisable. Where a reverse is necessary, the 

 stakes should gradually approach a straight line 

 until the point of reverse is reached and then as 

 gradually leave the straight line, the curve becom- 

 ing more pronounced as one proceeds. While the 

 curve approaches a straight line, it should never 

 reach it ; that is, the curve should be continuous 

 from one end to the other without any 'tangents' 1 

 (Fig. 27). 



Hardly any work is more interesting than stak- 



