GARDEN WALKS AND PATHWAYS 119 



necessary occasionally to have the surface pricked up all over, and raked 

 into proper positions so as to get rid of any hollows caused by wear and 

 tear. Frequent rolling is also necessary to keep a good surface. Weeds 

 if not eradicated by the hoe or hand may be destroyed by one of the 

 many weed killers now on the market. Great care should be exercised 

 in using these, and the instructions given by sellers may be followed out 

 to avoid accidents to other vegetation and animals. 



Asphalt Paths. —Of late years Asphalt as used for making pave- 

 ments has been used a good deal for garden paths, and when well made 

 they seem to be very satisfactory, especially between tiled edgings. 

 They have a smooth and agreeable walking surface in all weathers, and 

 when constructed with a slightly convex surface — arching from the 

 centre to the sides — the rain is readily drained away. They have another 

 advantage in being nearly always quite free from weeds. This is a 

 double-barrelled boon — it saves labour and the cost of weed-killers. 

 Notwithstanding these advantages, however, the gravel pathway still 

 holds its own in most gardens, chiefly perhaps on account of its 

 colour, and because when the grass edgings adjoining asphalt paths are 

 cut they leave a conspicuous narrow border of soil between the asphalt 

 and the turf ; and asphalt cannot be so readily laid as gravel to cover 

 unsightly spaces. 



Grass Walks. — There is nothing to equal the pleasure derived from 

 walking on a beautiful greensward, whether it be a well-kept lawn or 

 an alley between the flower borders. In small gardens it may be, and of 

 course is in many cases, impossible to have grassy walks ; but in large 

 parks and gardens many parts now covered with gravel might be more 

 appropriately covered with grass. 



A visit to the Eoyal Gardens, Kew, will give one a good idea of how 

 well grassy avenues, vistas, and pathways may be made, and how 

 beautiful they look between the trees, shrubs, and flower beds. Years ago 

 a long vista from the Palm House to the banks of the Thames facing 

 Syon House was an ugly and very pebbly broad walk which no one ever 

 walked upon unless obliged to by wet weather. The gravel, however, 

 has vanished, and the greensward has taken its place, much to the 

 advantage of the gardens and the comfort of visitors. This might be 

 imitated with advantage in other gardens. The only disadvantage a 

 grass walk can have is in wet weather, but at such a time there is but 

 little inducement to use pathways at all — whether gravel or grass — 

 only in the case of necessity., The short time during the year that 

 grass may be unfit to walk upon should not, however, prevent its being 

 used when possible for walks during the greater portion of the year. 



