

TERRACE-MAKING 121 



at first, before it had been levelled, made the house 

 appear to be insecurely built, for it was considerably 

 lower on one side than on the other and conse- 

 quently gave the building a lop-sided appearance. 



The only way of remedying this defect was by 

 making the slope into a level terrace, wide and 

 important enough to draw the eye away from any 

 disturbing lines beyond. I marked out the exact 

 limits and found that, in order to make it wider 

 than the platform upon which the little house 

 stood, it would have to be fifty-two feet by twenty- 

 two. The next question to be considered was 

 whence to obtain the large amount of material in 

 the shape of chalk and mould that would be re- 

 quired to carry out this work. It is always a satis- 

 faction to feel that one garden operation will help 

 towards the fulfilment of another undertaking and 

 so I considered where I could best obtain what was 

 required and at the same time prepare a site for 

 a future greenhouse. Not far away, on the south- 

 west side, was a hard piece of chalk land, useless 

 because its steep slope let all the rain run off it and, 

 as there were only a few inches of poor soil upon 

 its surface, no plants would thrive. The chalk 

 from this, if carted to the right position, would 

 answer my purpose well and have the double 

 advantage of leaving, where it was taken from, a 

 square, hard foundation of rock, protected on the 

 north side, which should in the future be an ideal 

 site for forcing things under glass. 



The only difficulty was moving this mass of 

 chalk, and we overcame it in this way. I was 

 fortunate in obtaining the help of several lime-pit 



