8 Gardening in Egypt. 



three to four metres wide, and all paths that are 

 frequently used should be wide enough to permit of 

 two persons walking comfortably abreast, and to 

 allow plants to be grown on either side. It is a 

 great mistake to make paths too narrow, and this 

 should be thought of when the garden is first laid 

 out. 



During the last three years the writer has endea- 

 voured to introduce into the country, the raised paths 

 which are so much admired in European gardens. 

 Those in the garden of All Saints' Church, Ramleh, 

 in the English cemetery at Alexandria, and in a few 

 private gardens in the neighbourhood, have proved a 

 great success, and have been universally admired. 



For path-making, the soil, after being cut up and 

 raked into shape, should be left just high enough in 

 the centre to throw off the w r ater, and to prevent 

 it from wearing hollow, and the sides should slope 

 gently off to the edge. The paths, when in shape, 

 should be rolled with an iron roller, commencing on 

 the outside, and continuing until a perfectly smooth 

 and raised surface is obtained. Should the level 

 of the path be not sufficiently high when the 

 soil is cut up, broken stone, brick, or any rough 

 material should be added until the required level is 

 obtained, and the whole well watered and rolled. 

 The foundation now being made, the path is ready 

 for the surface materials, which can be formed by 

 one of the two methods mentioned below, which will, 

 of course, depend much upon the materials at hand. 



(ist) Nile mud should be carted to the garden, and, 

 if already partly firm, should be placed in heaps and 

 treated in the same manner, as sand and lime is for 

 making mortar, being banked up with a hollow in 

 the centre. This hollow should be filled with water, 

 and worked up by the Arabs with their feet and 

 " fases " until the whole becomes a soft semi-liquid 

 mud. The mud should then be carried in pails or 

 oil tins, and spread over the paths either with a 

 broom or by the hands, to the depth of about 2in. 



