GRADES AND LEVELS 61 
boriously build and climb I cannot imagine, 
unless it be because the idea is generally un- 
known. Excepting at the main and formal en- 
trance from the street to the house, this ascent 
is everywhere appropriate; its suggestion of 
intimacy and ease, however, bars it from the 
entrance at which strangers approach. It 
should never be carried out in stone or cement 
or any artifical medium; but in the garden, 
where gravel or grass walks — preferably the 
latter — are possible, any rise where steps 
ordinarily lead from one level to the other af- 
fords an opportunity for a ramp. A grade of 
from thirty to thirty-five or -six per cent, is the 
best, this being comfortable of ascent and easily 
established and preserved. That is, there 
should be an advance horizontally of three feet 
or thereabout for every foot of rise. And al- 
though this takes up more space than steps in 
order to reach a given height, it is space that 
can usually be spared without appreciable dis- 
advantage. 
In many instances lawn the entire width of 
a porch may effectively be ramped, and porch 
steps eliminated, altogether. The plans shown 
on pages 41 and 43 would profit by such 
treatment, the ramp in the latter case being 
confined to the middle portion of the porch, 
