GARDEN WALKS AND ROADS. 



79 



;and rdll until hard and smooth. The ahove ma- 

 -terials may be varied to almost infinity, still being 

 guided by the same general principles. For ex- 

 ample : in chalky districts, chalk and the flints with 



■ which it is generally sandwiched will form capital 

 roads, with a surfacing of gravel. Those who use 

 flints should see that they are well weathered first, 

 as exposure to the air for a year or two hardens them. 

 Chalk usually forms a capital base for roads. Stones 

 also abound in many places ; gas-retort clinkers, iron 

 furnace and foundry refuse, in others : all these, or, 

 indeed, any hard substances, may be used with or 

 substituted for the granite and gravel already 

 referred to. Common concrete, formed of six parts 

 of coarse gravel or stone, and one of quicklime, 

 forms a good road. The same may be said of tar 

 and clinkers or slag broken fine, and mixed so as 

 to set hard. The durability and smoothness of 



, asphalte roads are well known. Most of these kinds 

 of roads and walks have been condemned for gardens 

 and demesnes on account of their appearance and 

 smell. The latter may be entirely got rid of by 

 using Roman or Portland cement instead of tar, or 

 Ijy a heavy surfacing of gravel. By choosing the 

 colour of the gravel to taste, the colour difliculty 

 also disappears. 



The most perfect carriage-road ever seen by the 

 .writer was formed of concrete about six inches 

 thick, made of the refuse of an iron foundry and 

 gas-tar, and just before being firmly set a layer of 

 finely-broken red sandstone was rolled into the road, 

 the result being that the surface was virtually com- 

 posed of minute pieces of the latter, the whole being 

 as hard as iron, neither carriage nor heavily-laden 

 waggon making the slightest impression on the road. 

 A garden walk even more beautiful was formed of 

 one part of coal-tar, and six of coal-ashes, heavily 

 sprinkled with Derbyshire Bpar before setting hard. 

 At first sight this walk looked like an inlaid marble 

 table ; it was as hard as granite, and glistened in the 

 sunlight like flashing jewels on the brow of beauty. 



Taking into account that such roads and walks 

 made once, may be said to be made for a lifetime, 

 that they cost nothing for repair, need no keeping, 

 weeds and worms alike failing to get foothold or live 

 on such, it is astonishing that such materials are so 

 little used for the making of carriage-roads and 



■ fronts, and garden walks and terraces. 



Width, of Walks and Boads. — As to the 

 width of roads, that should be determined to some 

 extent by their length. None, however, should be 

 narrower than nine feet, few need be more than 

 eighteen or twentyrfour feet. The first is not 

 any too wide for two carriages to pass each other 

 with safety ; the second is sufficiently so for the 



longest road in a ducal demesne. From ten to 

 twelve feet is a capital average width. Few things 

 'look more mean than a narrow carriage-drive to a, 

 large demesne ; nothing more snobbish than an 

 eighteen or twenty-four feet road through a very 

 small one — a pretentious stump perhaps not two 

 hundred yards in length. The law of true pro- 

 portion and congruity, if allowed free course, would 

 prevent such mistakes. 



From twelve to eighteen feet are capital widths for 

 carriage-roads, and none to private residences need 

 exceed twenty-four; roads that width should be a 

 mile or more^he more the better — in length. The 

 road should also be of uniform width throughout. 

 This is very often not the case : the road starts boldly 

 from mansion or lodge, with a stately dignity and 

 grandeur, and gradually narrows and narrows, as if 

 threatening to end in a squirrel-track and run up a 

 tree. Those who construct their roads thus are likely 

 to bring down on their work more ridicule than those 

 who begin to build and are not able to finish. Of 

 course, there are at times local obstacles and circum- 

 stances, such as rocks, rivers, ravines, hills, which 

 render the narrowing of roads a matter of necessity. 

 There is, in such cases, no objection to be taken on 

 the ground of taste, as the reason is at once apparent. 

 But nothing can be in worse taste than boldness and 

 breadth at one or both ends, and the utmost degree 

 of narrowness and attenuation consistent with safety 

 throughout the greater part of the road. All car- 

 riage-roads and roads in pleasure-grounds should 

 also be made of easy gradients throughout ; and, for- 

 tunately for their possessors, the line of saf etj' is also, 

 as a rule, the line of beauty. 



Carriage-S'weeps. — The area of gravel ter- 

 races or roadways in front of the main entrance 

 should always be ample, but not excessive, and should 

 bear a strict relation to the size of the house, breadth 

 and length of carriage-road, requirements of the 

 family, &c. As a rule, it should furnish standing- 

 room for from six to a dozen or eighteen carriages. 

 The space may therefore need to varj' from three 

 hundred to three thousand square yards. The first 

 might suffice for the front of a good country resi- 

 dence, the latter not prove excessive for that of a 

 duke or a prince. For villa, suburban, or other 

 residences, sufficient space to reach the house, tm-n 

 round, and depart in safety, is aU that is needful. 

 And for such, notwithstanding what has been said 

 above, a road carried round a clump of di-essy trees 

 or shrubs in the centre is not seldom the most con- 

 venient, and almost the only practicable arrange- 

 ment. The shrubs, when planted to form an ellipse 

 or circle, at once define the course of the road, and 

 effectually shut out the front door and windows of 



