394 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



removing hillocks and filling little depressions, care must be 

 taken to arrange the sides of the road in such a manner 

 that they look perfectly natural ; thus it may be necessary to 

 regulate the ground for 20 feet or 30 feet back in order to 

 make it approach the road more or less in the form of the 

 sides of a valley. Should it be impossible to alter all hard 

 lines, then banks of shrubs, judiciously placed, may be made 

 to mask the defects. The gradient of a steep road or path 

 may be eased considerably by using good bold curves ; but 

 when the road is for vehicular traffic, the curves must have 

 really good sweeps, for sharp turns are both awkward and 

 dangerous. Then, to stop the wash of water flowing rapidly 

 down and carrying gravel with it, it is a good plan to have 

 large boulders placed in the gutters every 20 yards or 25 yards 

 immediately below a drain, while in some cases it may even 

 be advisable to pave the gulleys with setts or to lay glazed 

 earthenware pipes, cut in longitudinal section, along the 

 sides. 



The depth to which it is necessary to excavate a path or 

 road depends entirely on the purpose for which it is to be 

 used. A path which is simply for use by pedestrians may 

 be from 6 inches to 8 inches in depth, while one for light 

 vehicular traffic should be from 9 inches to 12 inches, and if 

 heavy traffic is anticipated, from 12 inches to 18 inches ; but 

 such roads are, as a rule, best paved, that is, when they are 

 destined for service roads for gardens and back premises, 

 rather than for carriage drives. 



A path which has been excavated 6 inches or 8 inches 

 deep should be drained if necessary, and have 3 inches 

 of hard core, stone or brick rubble placed over the bottom. 

 On this place from i inch to 2 inches of coarse clinkers, and 

 ram them down until a level surface is formed. Then pro- 

 ceed to fill up with whatever material has been selected for 

 the surface. As a rule, nothing beats a good binding yellow 

 gravel which has not been screened too finely. This must 

 be spread and well rolled while moist, otherwise it will not 

 set. There are two periods when gravel is objectionable. 

 One is the early days of a thaw after a frosty period, and 

 the other is a light rain after a dry period. At both these 

 times the surface is wet and soft and the lower part dry and 

 hard, consequently the upper part is lifted by the feet or by 

 wheels. There is no help for it, and nothing can be done 

 to remedy it except keeping off the path while it is in either 

 of these conditions. For this reason it is often desirable to 

 lay asphalt paths in small gardens where the paths are in 



