214 WOOD AND GARDEN 



the ground, and another rail just "fclear of the ground, 

 and some simple trellis of the smaller stuff between 

 these two rails. This is always pretty at the back of 

 a flower-border in any modest garden. But a pergola 

 should be more seriously treated, and the piers at any 

 rate should be of something rather large — either oak 

 stems ten inches thick, or, better still, of fourteen-inch 

 brickwork painted with lime-wash to a quiet stone- 

 colour. In Italy the piers are often of rubble masonry, 

 either round or square in section, coated with very 

 coarse plaster, and lime-washed white. For a pergola 

 of moderate size the piers should stand in pairs across 

 the path, with eight feet clear between. Ten feet from 

 pier to pier along the path is a good proportion, or 

 anything from eight to ten feet, and they should stand 

 seven feet two inches out of the ground. Each pair 

 should be tied across the top with a strong beam of 

 oak, either of the natural shape, or roughly adzed on 

 the four faces ; but in any case, the ends of the beams, 

 where they rest on the top of the piers, should be 

 adzed flat to give them a firm seat. If the beams are 

 slightly curved or cambered, as most trunks of oak 

 are, so much the better, but they must always be 

 placed camber side up. The pieces that run along 

 the top, with the length of the path, may be of any 

 branching tops of oak, or of larch poles. These can 

 easily be replaced as they decay ; but the replacing of 

 a beam is a more difficult matter, so that it is well to 

 let them be fairly durable from the beginning. 



