448 



MECHANICAL. 



they will be smaller than the pressing 

 point, and not become disarranged from 

 leverage or compound action. 



Where stone cannot conveniently be 

 obtained, the road bed may be filled with 

 refuse matters of many kinds, such as 

 coal ashes, clinkers from furnaces, and 

 shells. Oyster shells are plentiful in many 

 places near the seaboard, and form an ad- 

 mirable road; but the permanency, as 

 well as efficiency of these materials in a 

 road bed, will depend altogether upon 

 the care of surfacing with proper gravel. 

 Where it is impracticable to procure, or 

 deemed inexpedient to use, any of the 

 foregoing materials, an earth road may be 

 rendered very serviceable by proper at- 

 tention to the leading principle — that is, 

 to keep it dry. In this case, instead of 

 excavating a road bed, slight excavations 

 should be made at the sides and the ma- 

 terial spread over the center ; and that 

 surface water may pass to the sides more 

 rapidly and thoroughly, a greater con- 

 vexity may be given to the curve. In 

 some sections of the country good roads 

 are kept up in this manner, but they are 

 carefully repaired whenever necessary, 

 and all ruts and tracks are filled up as 

 soon as they are formed. The same general 

 principles apply to the formation of 

 walks and foot-paths. The depth of ma- 

 terial, however, need not exceed a few 

 inches. It is certain that much unneces- 

 sary expense is frequentiy laid out upon 

 mere foot-walks. A porous, gravelly, or 

 sandy soil is in itself a good walk if prop- 

 erly shaped. Such walks admit of great- 

 er convexity than carriage roads, which 

 is equivalent to a saving of material. 

 Walks should be well filled up. There is 

 no more disagreeable object, or one that 

 conveys so meagre an expression, as 

 deep, raw edgings to a walk, looking as 

 if they had been trimmed with a plow. 

 Walks in this condition may be servicea- 

 ble as water courses, but they are not 

 comfortable foot-paths. 



LAWNS, Formation and Management 

 of. — A fine lawn is the most beautiful of 

 external ornaments. Soft, velvety, elastic 

 turf, smoothly shorn and of fine color, is 

 always pleasing, but not always attained. 

 Formerly the emerald lawns of European 

 pleasure grounds were considered to be 

 unequalled; and it was thought that 

 nothing approaching to their beauty 



could be realized in this climate of scorch- 

 ing suns and summer droughts; but it 

 has been demonstrated beyond any doubt 

 that lawns may be produced and main- 

 tained here, as fine as those to be found 

 in any country. 



The primary requisite is thorough pre- 

 paration of the soil. Without this, fail- 

 ure is probable, -but if properly done at 

 the outset, success is certain, with subse- 

 quent intelligent management. First of 

 all, a good foundation ' must be laid by 

 draining and subsoiling, trenching, man- 

 uring, or otherwise loosening or enrich- 

 ing the soil. With limited lawns, spade- 

 trenching will be at once thorough and 

 permanent ; but, where a plow and other 

 implements can be used, the work may 

 be executed much more economically, 

 and, by using the subsoil plow in connec- 

 tion with the common surface turning, a 

 depth of eighteen inches will be reached, 

 which, on ordinarily good corn-producing 

 lands, will be ample preparation for sl 

 good lawn. Previous to the final plow- 

 ing a heavy dressing of manure should 

 be applied. This should be well decom- 

 posed, more especially if the soil is par- 

 tially of a gravelly or sandy character. 



The surface must be rendered smooth 

 and regular. Careful plowing can ac- 

 complish much toward making a smooth 

 surface ; but whatever the expense may 

 be, the finish should be made perfect be- 

 fore sowing the grasses. There are two 

 seasons for sowing — autumn and spring, 

 either of them appropriate; and the 

 choice will depend upon circumstances, 

 and is of secondary consideration, com- 

 pared to the preparation of the land. To 

 get rid of weeds and clean the ground 

 before laying it down to grass, it is a 

 commendable practice to plant it with 

 early potatoes. These, if cultivated with 

 ordinary care, will soon cover the surface 

 with their leaves, and prevent the growth 

 of weeds ; and the operation of digging 

 up and removing the crop tends to pul- 

 verize and loosen the soil. The potatoes 

 can be removed and grass seed sown by 

 the middle of August to the middle of 

 September, and the grasses will vegetate 

 and cover the surface before frosts. A 

 top dressing of thinly sprinkled manure 

 will protect the young plants during the 

 winter, and a good thick set lawn will be 

 secured early in the following summer. 



