APRIL: THIRD WEEK 97 



of the grade. Then, on the job, drive stakes, stretch a 

 stout cord to correspond to the straight hne of your sketch, 

 and drive other stakes until the top of each stake is the cor- 

 rect distance below this Hne. With a few accurate points 

 to go by, most of the work on any ordinary small job can 

 be left to the eye. 



Good Walks and Roads 



Good walks are an important feature of any place, both 

 for looks and for comfort. For good service and long wear 

 on more or less formal grounds a cement walk is perhaps the 

 most satisfactory. Under ordinary conditions, however, 

 it is not so attractive as other walks not nearly so expensive 

 to construct, and which, if reasonably well done, will be good 

 enough for ordinary conditions. Of these the gravel walk 

 is about the most pleasing in both looks and service. To 

 last satisfactorily a gravel walk should have a foundation 

 of hard dirt, or, in Hght soils or wet ground, of coarse rubble 

 imderneath the gravel. 



If a path is to be built across a lawn or through a garden 

 which is largely turf and has to be mowed, some form of 

 sunken walk is preferable — flat flagstones, bricks, or cement 

 blocks may be used to form the steps. The cement blocks 

 should be two to three inches thick and twelve to eighteen 

 inches square, and may be made either of plain cement or 

 inlaid with brick or stone in some simple pattern. When 

 sand is available the cost of these blocks is very Httle, as 

 the simplest kind of form may be used, and after the cement 

 has set enough to retain its shape the form may be used 

 again. The blocks, after hardening for forty-eight hours, 

 should be stacked up and allowed to ripen for a while 

 before being used. These stones or blocks are set about 

 flush with the grass, which may grow slightly over the edges. 

 They look well, furnish a good footing, and the lawn mower 

 will pass over them. 



For short walks bricks, preferably set on edge, may be 

 used with very satisfactory results. Have the surface upon 



