HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



W. 



WAL 



\A/ alkx. It was Downing, we believe, 



who laid down the common-sense , 

 rule, that in the laying out of walks or 

 drives in the garden or pleasure-ground, j 

 there "never should be any deviation from j 

 a straight line unless from some real or i 

 apparent cause." So, if curved lines are 

 desired, trees, rock, buildings, or mounds 

 must be placed at the bend or curve, 

 as a reason for going round such ob- 

 stacles. If any one doubts the necessity 

 for this rule, let him observe the effect 

 produced on level ground, where a line 

 runs in corkscrew fashion, as is sometimes 

 seen in the space between the house and 

 the street. The absurdity is apparent, 

 for no matter what leisure one may have, 

 to be compelled to go a roundabout way 

 to reach a point where there is no appar- 

 ent reason or necessity for it, is certain 

 to grate on the senses; yet, ridiculous as 

 this is, such cases are by no means rare, 

 as there is a prevailing notion that such 

 walks or drives must be curved lines, 

 (the curve being the line of beauty,) 

 whether the necessities, naturally or ar- 

 tificially formed for such lines, are pres- 

 ent or not. Often the formation of new 

 grounds is totally ruined in this way. 

 The proprietor, entirely ignorant of what 

 is wanted, places himself in the hands of 

 some ignorant gardener, who pretends to 

 a knowledge of what strictly belongs to 

 the trained landscape engineer. As well 

 might he expect the average brick-layer, 

 working for two or three dollars per day, 

 to plan and supervise the erection of his 

 dwelling house as the average gardener, 

 to whom he pays $50 or $60 a month, 



WAL 



to lay out his carriage drives and lawn; 

 for the one is oftentimes equally as much 

 a matter of taste and skill as the other. 

 In suburban residences, where the house 

 is not more than a hundred feet or so 

 from the street, a drive is best made by 

 having an entrance at each side of the 

 lot, so that the carriage can enter at one 

 gate and go out at the other, presuming 

 that the width of the ground is 500 feet, 

 and the distance from the street to the 

 front door is 1 50 feet. Then the foot- walk 

 should be in a straight line direct from 

 the street to the front door. The width 

 of the roads or walks must be governed 

 by the extent of the grounds. For the 

 carriage-way the width should not be less 

 than ten feet, and for foot-walks five feet. 

 Often gardens of considerable pretensions 

 have the walks not more than three feet 

 wide, where it is utterly impossible for 

 two persons to walk abreast without get- 

 ting their dresses torn cr faces scratched 

 by overhanging branches. Of course, it 

 is another matter when the garden plot 

 is limited to the width of a city lot, (25 

 or 50 feet;) then such economy of space 

 is perfectly excusable. The character of 

 the soil must in a great measure deter- 

 mine the manner of making the walk or 

 road. Every one must have noticed that, 

 after a heavy rain, unpaved streets in 

 some districts remain next to impassable 

 for many hours, while in others, after the 

 same amount of rainfall, they are com- 

 paratively dry. This is entirely due to 

 the nature of the subsoil, which, if grav- 

 elly or sandy, will quickly allow the Welter 

 to pass off; if, however, the subsoil is of 



