LAYIXG OUT A GARDEX 



101 



Walks and Paths. These, it has been said, are a necessary 

 evil in a garden ; yet in the tropics, as ladies especially will admit, 

 they are very indispensable, owing to the presence of land-leeches, 

 ants, etc., which infest the grass at different seasons. Though essen- 

 tially for convenience, paths may, however, be made to contribute 

 to the general effective appearance of a garden. But they should 

 not be made for appearance alone, and only where actually required. 

 Their width should depend upon the importance of their position, 

 a breadth of 4 to 5 ft. being a good average size for a small garden. 

 The main walks should be wide enough to allow of at least two or 

 three persons walking comfortably abreast, and in the more exten- 

 sive gardens or parks they may well be from 10 to 15 ft. in width. 



The Long Walk at Windsor 

 Castle in England is about 50 feet 

 wide and two miles long. In large 

 or public gardens in the tropics, 

 where walking is often an exer- 

 tion, the principal walks should be 

 about 12 feet wide, as in Pera- 

 deniya Gardens, and be open to 

 carriages and motor cirs. It is 

 an invariable custom with the 

 garden cooly in Ceylon to make the 

 paths absurdly narrow and nu- 

 merous, his object usually being to 

 make a garden of paths, rather than 

 of flower-beds, borders and lawn. 

 In making paths, a good foundation 

 and drainage are essential. 

 Having removed the surface soil, 

 place a layer of drainage material 

 (stones, broken bricks, etc.) in the 

 bottom ; cover this with coarse 

 binding gravel, and roll or stamp thoroughly, watering well mean- 

 time ; finish off with a layer of finer gravel firmly beaten down. It 

 is often advisable in the tropics, owing to the heavy plumps of rain 

 so frequently experienced, to make-a small parallel side-drain on 

 either side of the path, below the level-'of the latter, leaving a strip of 

 turf not less than 12 inches wide between the drain and the path ; 

 small sloping channels should at intervals lead into the side-drains, 

 so as to facilitate the escape of surface water during heavy rainfalls. 

 Paths should not be of too steep a gradient, or thev will be liable 



A SERVICEABLE GARDEN ROLLER. 



