AND FENCES, 
57 
to obtain single blocks of sufficient weight to resist the constant 
strain of a long gate. Single gates being preferable to double ones 
for this purpose, the posts to which such gates are hung should 
have marked importance, and may, with propriety, be of block ma- 
sonry, or of brick, with stone caps and binding layers ; and it must 
not be forgotten that mere height and size, for the purpose of ren- 
dering them conspicuous, is not the true object, but that weight and 
tasteful forms are required. The facility with which slender wood 
posts can be encased with heavy shells of carpentry, has had a bad 
influence in substituting showiness for solidity ; yet it is also true 
that much real beauty of form and effect is obtained by casing 
posts with joiner’s work, at a small expense compared with what is 
required by the use of heavy timber or stone. Each man’s neces- 
sities and culture must be the law to himself in this matter. The 
post in the vignette at the head of this Chapter is a fair example of 
a simple and unpretending form of stone post. There are few mat- 
ters in which the taste of the proprietor, or his architect, may be 
more pleasingly illustrated than in the designs for stone gate-posts. 
In putting in posts of wood or single blocks of stone deep in the 
ground, the hole around them should be filled with sand, and espe- 
cial care should be used to have the bottom firm and solidly 
bedded before filling more than a few inches ; the top of the stone 
should then be fastened in place by braces until the filling is com- 
pleted. It is desirable that the part of a stone below the surface 
of the ground increase in size like a wedge, with the largest end 
down, for if the stone is the reverse in form, that is to say, a wedge 
with the point down, it then forms a shoulder against which the 
earth in swelling, as it does by freezing, will inevitably heave the 
post upwards. Iron gate-posts, arched over like those shown by 
Fig. 184, and covered wdth wire, are charming for village-lot en- 
trances, though less expressive of solidity and homeliness than 
stone. Even for an iron fence, the contrast between the low mas- 
siveness of well-designed stone gateways, and the lightness of iron 
work, is quite pleasing. And if these stone posts are used 
for gateways (and we think it better not to use them anywhere on 
a front except for gateways and street corners), they become the 
most prominent feature of the street front. There is no end to 
