6+ 



THE FLOWER GROWERS GUIDE. 



or they will prove neither serviceable nor enjoyable to walk on or drive over. The 

 edges ought to be first formed, and when these are completed or the whole out- 

 lined, the work of filling in with suitable material can be carried on rapidly without 

 any waste. A peg having been driven into the ground, so as to bring the top of it 

 exactly to the level decided upon as the highest point, get the level of the opposite side 

 of the walk or drive by means of another peg, or with pegs if the width is consider- 

 able, by means of a straight-edge and spirit-level. If the walk or drive has to be 

 made perfectly level, that plan may also be adopted throughout its entire length as 

 well as width. In the case of falls from given points, then the pegs and borning- 

 rods or enlarged T-squares will be the proper appliances to use. Drive in the pegs 

 at the higher and lower points, and the proper height for intervening pegs can easily be 

 had by sighting over the borning-rods resting perpendicularly on the end pegs and the 

 one to be brought in a line with them. After a fairly large number of pegs have thus 

 been driven in, a firm edge, say one foot in width, should be formed with moderately 

 stiff, yet free-working, soil, ramming this down quite solid, leaving it at the level of 

 the top of the pegs, after which the latter may be drawn, and used farther on. Then 

 can follow the work of excavating and wheeling or carting away the good surface 

 soil ; also subsoil where necessary, using the latter for levelling, where much of it is 

 required, taking care to ram it down very firmly. 



For a road to be really serviceable, there must be a depth of from 12 inches to 15 

 inches of hard stone and other material used in its formation, and ample provision for 

 good drainage afforded (Fig. 32). For walks subjected to heavy work there should 

 be a depth of 9 inches allowed, 6 inches proving enough for light work (Fig. 33). 

 At one time, a single drain under the centre was considered sufficient, but of late 

 years the preference has rightly been given to the plan of laying an ordinary loose 

 earthenware pipe drain along each side of a road, and not unfrequently of walks too, 

 sinking these just below the level of the base formed with the subsoil. Give the bottom 

 of the walk, therefore, a curved or slightly rounded form, just sufficient to throw 

 the water to the sides. Burnt clay or ballast is excellent material for forming a 

 lasting road foundation, and on from 6 inches to 8 inches of this distribute 7 inches 

 of broken granite or blue ragstone, with a surfacing, 2 inches or rather less in thick- 

 ness, of fine gravel or ground stone. Steam rollers give a good finish to these macada- 

 mised drives, but can only be used over a very solid foundation. 



For the foundation of garden walks, brick ends, clinkers, ballast, flints, and stones 



