The Lawn 217 



unless there is a carefully graded slope from the 

 center of the walk outward to permit the rain 

 water to flow off as fast as it falls. A brick walk is 

 very pretty, particularly after it has aged a bit and 

 the bricks have a more or less irregular appearance. 

 This irregularity properly comes with age and no 

 amount of carefully careless planning will create 

 it. Bricks are very porous and the water will be 

 absorbed and drained down into the ground, hence 

 it is usually perfectly safe to walk on a brick path 

 after a rain with no fear of getting one's feet wet. 

 A very artistic effect can be produced by the use 

 of bricks, and the pretty soft redness of tone lends 

 a touch of color to the garden at all seasons of the 

 year. A stepping-stone walk is charming for use 

 in a small space but it is not only highly imprac- 

 tical for a long pathway, owing to the difficulty 

 of weeding which is best done by hand to save the 

 edges of the garden tools, but the stones themselves 

 suggest a tripping walk which is tiring if kept up 

 for any distance. A path of from three to ten 

 feet can be more attractively and more advantage- 

 ously planned by the use "of stones than by the 

 use of either cement or brick. A foundation com- 

 posed of a mixture of gravel and cinders will prob- 

 ably give the most satisfaction in the average 

 garden. Pebbles mixed with gravel makes a 



