EXECUTION OF SOME OF THE LANDSCAPE FEATURES 73 



dealers may be used for the purpose, or an old hoe may have its 

 shank straightened and the corners of the blade rounded off, as 

 shown in Fig. 71, and this will answer all pur- 

 poses of the common sod-cutter; or, a sharp, 

 straight-edged spade may sometimes be used. 

 The loose overhanging grass on these edges is 

 ordinarily cut by large shears made for the pur- 

 pose. 



Walks and drives should be laid in such direc- 

 tion that they will tend to drain themselves; 

 but if it is necessary to have gutters, these should 

 be deep and sharp at the bottom, for the water 

 then draws together and tends to keep the gutter 

 clean. A shallow and rounded brick or cobble 

 gutter does not clean itself; it is very likely to 

 fill with weeds, and vehicles often drive in it. '^ ^"'' '""^'• 



The best gutters and curbs 

 are now made of cement. 

 Figure 72 shows a catch 

 basin at the left of a walk 

 or drive, and the tile laid 

 underneath for the purpose of carrying away the surface 

 water. 



72. Draining the gutter and the drive. 



The materials. 



The best materials for the main walks are cement and stone 

 flagging. In many soils, however, there is enough binding ma- 

 terial in the land to make a good walk without the addition of 

 any other material. Gravel, cinders, ashes, and the like, are 

 nearly always inadvisable, for they are liable to be loose in dry 

 weather and sticky in wet weather. In the laying of cement it 

 is important that the walk be well drained by a layer of a foot 

 or two of broken stone or brickbats, unless the walk is on loose 

 and leachy land or in a frostless country. 



