126 



Gardens for Small Country Houses. 



as possible and on every part of 

 the back of the walling. If the 

 whole thing is in " made ground " 

 it must all be rammed, but the 

 part just behind the stones is the 

 vulnerable point. If the ram- 

 ming is neglected or is insufficient 

 the wall will either come down 

 in heavy rain or will bulge at 

 various points in a manner that 

 is very unsightly. 



It is always best to lay the 

 stones level as to right and left 

 and on their natural bed, that 

 is, the same way up as they lay 

 in the quarry ; they both look 

 better and stand better. They 

 can be either sorted into those 

 of approximately the same 

 thickness for separate courses, 

 or the thinner stones laid to 

 come level with the thicker. All 

 " random " walling is ugly and 

 unrestful, giving the impression 

 of a wilful violation of simple 

 laws of structure. When there 

 are pieces of small broken stone 

 to be disposed of, they can be 

 rammed in with the earth at the 

 back of the wall, making quite 

 sure that no cavities are left. 

 The. roots of the wall plants 

 like nothing better than to cling to the cool and always moist stone surfaces. 



A dry wall cannot be built against a scarp of hard sand or chalk. Enough must 

 be taken out at the back to allow for fresh filling and ramming. Builders often think 

 they can build against a solid scarp, but the experiment always results in disaster. 



FIG. l6l. WHITE FOXGLOVE IN DRY WALLING OF 

 LARGE STONES. 



FIG. l62. BRICK WALL WITH SPACES LEFT FOR PLANTS. 



