FORMATION OF THE FRUIT AND KITCHEN GARDEN. 



31 



of the surface of the walks, in order that the 

 water may fall to both sides, where the well- 

 drained and trenched ground will always be in 

 condition to receive it. 



In wet climates, drains at each side of the 

 walk may be necessary to prevent water from 

 ever standing in pools on the surface of the walk 

 during heavy rains; but in localities where the 

 rainfall does not exceed 28 inches annually, all 

 the water that sinks from the walk into the ad- 

 joining soil will prove highly beneficial to the 

 trees, and in some cases may save the labour of 

 watering. 



Various materials may be used for the 

 bottoming of walks, such as stones, flints, brick- 

 bats, clinkers, lumps of hard lime - rubbish, 

 burned clay — in short, any hard substance that 

 contains nothing pernicious to vegetable life 

 may be employed. Granite, broken to pass 

 through a 3-inch ring, is perhaps of all others 

 the most durable; and broken whinstone, or 

 trap rock, is nearly as substantial. Nine inches 

 thick of such firm material, with 2 inches of 

 rather coarse, and one of fine binding gravel at 

 top, form an excellent walk. Indeed 6 inches 

 of broken granite and 3 inches of gravel will 

 make a good substantial walk. 



If gravel is not obtainable, sand may be 

 made to answer very well, but it loosens 

 exceedingly after frost, so as to render walks 

 made with it unfit either for walking or wheel- 

 ing upon for a considerable time. Decomposed 

 sandstone answers tolerably well. A mixture of 

 coal-tar and sand was once somewhat popular 

 for surfacing walks, but at best it is very un- 

 sightly, and if not laid on very thick, is liable 

 to break when wheeled upon in cold weather. 

 In hot weather the tar melts, and has a very 

 disagreeable smell, and it is, moreover, dan- 

 gerous to the roots of trees. Its use is there- 

 fore not to be recommended. 



If we take into consideration the cost of ! 

 gravel walks in the first instance, and the sub- 

 sequent expense of weeding, even with the aid 

 of patent weed-killers, rolling, and occasional 

 renewing, it is more than probable that cement 

 concrete would prove cheapest in the long-run. 

 Once a cement concrete is properly laid down, 

 on a substantial broken-stone bottom, the same 

 as a gravel walk, and well set, as it will be in 

 twenty-four hours, it is practically imperishable 

 under fair traffic and treatment. No weeds grow 

 upon it, and it requires the minimum of labour 

 to keep it clean. The cost of a well-made Port- 

 land cement walk for wheel -barrow traffic is 

 about 2s. 6d. per square yard, and for one strong 



enough for occasional horse and cart traffic, the 

 cost is from 36'. to 3s. Qd., according to the 

 amount of cement and depth of materials. One 

 of good cement to three of sharp gravel, or 

 pulverized granite, mixed dry, and laid down, 

 levelled, and smoothed while wet, makes a first- 

 class and durable garden walk. 



To meet limited means, a less expensive 

 walk may be made as follows. Let the bottom 

 of the walk be taken out to the depth of 3 or 4 

 inches, let it be well beaten, and rolled, and 

 raised in the middle. Care should be taken to 

 make the bottom regular. A layer of lime- 

 rubbish, or any other hard material that can be 

 most readily obtained at the least expense, should 

 be spread evenly over the bottom, and well rolled 

 until the surface is almost as even as that of a 

 finished walk. A coat of gravel should then be 

 laid on, to the thickness of 2 or 3 inches, tread- 

 ing, raking, and rolling it before it gets dry. 

 By rolling into the surface a thin coating of 

 fine gravel every two years or so, the walk will 

 become more and more solid. If there should 

 occasionally be much wheeling upon it, planks 

 could be used. 



Walks are sometimes objectionable from the 

 surface being too loose because of the gravel 

 not possessing binding qualities; or the gravel 

 may be too loamy, and bind firmly in dry 

 weather but become soft and sticky in wet. 

 This could be remedied by screening the gravel, 

 and at the same time washing away the super- 

 abundant loam which it contains, so that it will 

 not adhere to the feet. 



The centre of the walk should be a few 

 inches higher than the sides according to its 

 width — say 4 inches for a 6-feet walk, 6 inches 

 for 12 feet, and 10 inches for 16 feet. The 

 surface of the gravel is most easily made uni- 

 form when the exact height of the centre of 

 the walk is first set out by means of the boning 

 rod and pegs. 



Edgings for Walks. — Amongst the various 

 plants which have been proposed for edgings, the 

 dwarf Box, which has been so long employed 

 for the purpose, still unquestionably maintains 

 its pre-eminence. In small gardens, such dwarf 

 and compact growing plants as London Pride, 

 Sea Pink, Gentianella, Ivy, Thyme, Parsley, and 

 Strawberries are sometimes employed ; but none 

 of them approaches Box in neatness of appear- 

 ance and ease of keep. Live edgings are all 

 more or less objectionable on account of their 

 harbouring vermin. A Box edging, however, 

 can be kept within such small limits that it 

 affords but little shelter for anything hurtful 



