EXECUTION OF SOME OF THE LANDSCAPE FEATURES 73 
dealers may be used for the purpose, or an old hoe may have its 
shank straightened and the corners of the blade rounded off, as 
shown in Fig. 71,and this will answer all pur- 
poses of the common sod-cutter; or, a sharp, | 
straight-edged spade may sometimes be used. 
The loose overhanging grass on these edges is 
ordinarily cut by large shears made for the pur- 
pose. 
Walks and drives should be laid in such direc- 
tion that they will tend to drain themselves; 
but if it is necessary to have gutters, these should 
be deep and sharp at the bottom, for the water 
then draws together and tends to keep the gutter 
clean. A shallow and rounded brick or cobble 
gutter does not clean itself; it is very likely to 
fill with weeds, and vehicles often drive in it. 
The best gutters and curbs 
-are now made of cement. 
wa PURI Figure 72 shows a catch 
tee ees basin at the left of a walk 
or drive, and the tile laid 
underneath for the purpose of carrying away the surface 
water. 
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72. Draining the gutter and the drive. 
The materials. 
The best materials for the main walks are cement and stone 
flagging. In many soils, however, there is enough binding ma- 
terial in the land to make a good walk without the addition of 
any other material. Gravel, cinders, ashes, and the like, are 
nearly always inadvisable, for they are liable to be loose in dry 
weather and sticky in wet weather. In the laying of cement it 
is important that the walk be well drained by a layer of a foot 
or two of broken stone or brickbats, unless the walk is on loose 
and leachy land or in a frostless country. 
