THB GREENING PICTORIAL 



SYSTEM 



OP LANDSCAPE 



GARDENING 



BUILDING ROADWAYS 



THIS article has no reference to the building of highwaj's. 

 These are usually constructed under the supervision of a 

 city engineer or road commissioner, who works according to 

 certain well-defined specifications. In the case of highwaj^s that 

 are built partly with state appropriations, the state highway com- 

 missioner furnishes the specifications, these having become stand- 

 ardized by use. 



Nor do I write for the information of the owner of a large 

 estate, for when an extensive S3^stem of driveways is needed it is 

 better to call in the services of a professional civil engineer, or 

 consult the county road commissioner who, as a rule, will be found 

 able and willing to advise in the matter. It is the business of such 

 people to keep posted on local conditions and the}^ Avill often know 

 where the best road-makine" material can be obtained. 



MACADAM 



ROADWAYS 



On very small properties where there 

 is only light travel, cinders, tan-bark and 

 clay-gravel make good wheeling, but 

 none of these, with the exception of a 

 thick bed of cla3'-gravel. will make a pike that will resist the wear 

 of a heavy automobile, and none of these are serviceable on a 

 more than 10 per cent, grade, as the rains will undermine and 

 wash away the material of which the roadbed is made. Cinders 

 will bind and become hard as cement if about twenty per cent, of 

 black loam is mixed with them and, in a rolling countr}-. if cinders 

 are used at all it will be found necessar}- to mix in this proportion. 



But, nowadays, in building roadways we must take account 

 of the ever-present automobile, and the only substances that will 

 resist this wear are cement and macadam. The former is very 

 desii-able on a small property, for it is easily kept clean, and the 

 tone is in keeping with the usual architectural treatment of such 

 properties ; but on an estate which is treated as a natural garden, 

 macadam is better. It will require yearly attention to maintain 

 it in good order ; especially must the small water-holes that result 

 from wear be filled up and rolled. Cement curbs define the edges 

 and make a very trim effect ; and where a walk is needed, one curb 

 can be made 15 to 18 inches wide, which is sufficient for ordinary 

 foot-travel. 



Good drainage must be provided. Besides sloping the road- 

 bed to provide for surface drainage, a row of tile shoukl be laid 

 below the frost line, underneath each curb. An excaA'ation eight 

 inches deep must be made. First fill with coarse stone, about egg 

 size, of such uniform thickness as to be not less than three and 

 one-half inches after tliorough rolling. Next add from one-haif 



Plate 41 



NATURALIZED NARCISSI 



It increases the floral variety of large grounds to naturalize hardy- 

 plants in masses to produce an effect similar to a wild, uncultivated border; 

 and beyond the first planting these flowers need no care, being left to 

 express themselves naturally, untrammeled by human direction. Following 

 this idea an open wood takes on an added interest when margined with Iris, 

 Ferns, Narcissi, Cardinal Lobelias and Lilium Superbum. The above picture 

 shows a large mass of Narcissi in bloom. 



to three-quarters of an inch of stone screenings and roll again. 

 The amount of screenings used must l^e somewhat less than enough 

 to fill the voids in the stone. After this apply a layer of fine 

 crushed stone of such uniform thickness as to be not less than two 

 and one-half inches after thorough rolling. Above ihis apply 

 about three-c[uarters of an inch of binder screenings, wet clown 

 thoroughly and roll. The amount of screenings in this case should 

 be slightlv more than enough to fill the \ (nds. This roadbed, with 

 a little annual care, shc^uld last a lifetime. 



