WALKS AND DHIVES. 95 



is made should be of a very porous character. This condi- 

 tion is best obtained by excavating the whole space to be 

 covered from one to two feet deep and filling in first with 

 boulders and rocks, then with smaller stones and coarse 

 gravel, and finally with gravel from which most of the sand 

 or loam lias been screened. 



The rocks and boulders should be first packed as closely 

 as possible, then the small stones filled in about them, and 

 then the coarse gravel packed and tamped down thoroughly. 

 If a heavy roller is obtainable and can be used at the differ- 

 ent stages of construction, this will be the best means of 

 compacting each layer, but if not, a heavy iron or wood 

 tamper, used skilfully, will do good work. 



A walk constructed as above described will remain firm 

 and dry for a great many years, and will require little labor 

 to keep it in a neat condition and free from weeds. The 

 surface of such a walk may be made nearly flat, while if 

 good material is not available and a good foundation is not 

 provided it must be made crowning in the middle, and the 

 poorer the material the more crowning it must be and then 

 not be wholly satisfactory. The materials of which the 

 walk is constructed should not be filled above the level of 

 the lawn on a sloping surface unless found necessary, as the 

 surface-water during heavy showers would accumulate, 

 washing out the gravel. Should such a form be necessary, 

 this danger should be provided against by making a gutter 

 along the upper side of the walk, with catch-basins into 

 drain tile or a tile culvert to carry the water under the 

 walk. This gutter may be made as a part of the walk with 

 paving-stones or asphalt, Fig. 54, or a very good one can 

 often be made in the turf without disfiguring the lawn (see 

 Fig. 53). 



