ROADS IN PLANTATIONS. 149 



want of ready access must be severely felt- Were 

 there no other advantage to be derived from roads, 

 than the facility with which a plantation can, at 

 any time, be examined, and its state ascertained by 

 means of them, their utility would be manifest, and 

 to omit putting the reader in mind of them unpar- 

 donable. The pleasure, too, that may be received 

 from them, as walks, or rides, when the state of the 

 weather is such as to demand either shelter or shade, 

 is no contemptible argument in their favour ; and, 

 without them, it is indeed impossible to have the 

 full enjoyment of forest scenery. 



Roads in plantations ought to be contrived in 

 such a manner as to afford as easy access as possible 

 to every part. They should never be made straight, 

 as, in that form, they would present a thoroughfare 

 to the wind, than which there are few evils that 

 should be more carefully avoided. The line of a 

 road should be marked off, or rather the road itself 

 should be fully formed, before we proceed to plant. 

 The best way of performing the work will be to 

 make a ditch on each side of the space intended for 

 the road, the inequalities of which should be level- 

 led with the earth, or gravel taken out of the ditches. 

 Thus the two chief requisites of dryness and smooth- 

 ness will be acquired at a very trifling expense. A 



