228 LANDSCAPE DESIGN 



and color. If it is to have a definite edge, it must be held in by turf 

 or some kind of curbing, but its normal indefiniteness of edge is often 

 what the designer most desires in an informal scheme. Broken stone 

 surfaces, macadam or telford roads and paths, wear better than gravel 

 but are of a less attractive texture on account of the angularity of the 

 particles. Paths are sometimes made of broken stone or of gravel 

 without any binder, the individual particles lying loose, allowing water 

 to percolate through them, and being kept in order by raking when dis- 

 placed by traffic. Such a path has the advantage that it is clean and 

 comparatively weedless, but it has the disadvantage that the material 

 flinches under foot and makes a very unpleasant crunching noise when 

 walked upon. 



There are at present various methods of construction of broken, 

 stone and even gravel roads and paths with some tar or bituminous 

 cement, which give a surface not widely different in appearance from 

 that of ordinary gravel or macadam, but which bind the particles so 

 firmly together that the surface will stand at a steep slope without be- 

 ing washed out by rain, and the road or path can be brought to a 

 definite edge or molded into a definite gutter if desired, without any 

 structural need of a curb. There are also various tar and asphalt 

 surfaces and various surfaces of cement which, though very different 

 in their adaptability to different kinds of traffic, are alike in being 

 very smooth and regular. The tar and asphalt roads are dark in 

 color, and though something may be done to improve this color by 

 rolling in cement or sand while the surface is soft, the lighter color will 

 seldom remain uniform if there is much traffic. Portland cement 

 surfaces will almost inevitably wear smooth under iron-wheeled traffic 

 and iron-shod hoofs. In walks, however, where the destructive force 

 of traffic is less, pleasant surfaces may be obtained in concrete if enough 

 pains be taken. Selected gravel may be scattered over the surface and 

 rolled in while the surface Is still soft. This has the disadvantage that 

 much of the gravel has only a slight hold on the concrete and is readily 

 broken out. The concrete may be made with a gravel selected for 

 color and texture, and while the upper surface Is still soft, some of the 

 cement may be removed with a stiff broom and water, so revealing the 

 gravel. This surface is more permanent. Concrete surfaces may be 



