LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
293 
it divides that which is most beautiful as a whole; and moreover 
occasions the planting of clumps of trees to hide the road from the 
windows perhaps, and thereby fills up the valley, a circumstance 
particularly to be avoided. 
But the good taste of the proprietor chose a middle course, which has 
many advantages; it is led along the brow of the valley or upon the 
edge of what may be called the table-land. This prevents it being 
seen when looking across it from any other part of the park. The 
ground is necessarily firm and dry ; nor does it receive any surface 
drainage from higher land. Neither is it so exactly hanging-levelled 
as to be entirely free from gentle undulations longitudinally; these 
assist to keep the surface dry in wet weather, by carrying the water to 
the dips, where gratings over drains are laid to receive the flow. 
The views into and over the valley on the left, as mentioned in my 
first letter, and also those to the right, are too interesting to allow the 
visiter to feel any thing like tedium while on the long sweep from the 
gate to the house ; and the open groves and thickets which so frequently 
occur along the line, yield as much variety of light and shade as any 
lover of woodland scenery could wish. A few chairs for the pedestrian, 
and a para-shower hovel fenced from cattle, are placed on the side of 
the road, and benches round shady trees are seen in many situations. 
My friend described his method of constructing his roads, which is, 
as near as I can recollect, as follows:—the line is first staked and 
marked out on the surface nine feet wide ; the bed of the road is next 
excavated to the depth of one foot, the soil being wheeled or carted out 
and spread, or laid in hollows on each side. The depth of the bed 
varies according to the nature of the soil: a firm bottom must be found ; 
because it is of no use to lay hard metal on a bog or wet clayey bottom, 
which would soon swallow it up. But the subsoil of this country is 
generally a gravel, so that there is not much difficulty in gaining a 
sound bottom for a road, or procuring from pits excellent materials or 
metal for making it. In forming the bed the quality or condition of 
the earth thrown out, will clearly indicate whether any one spot more 
than another be liable to flooding, or retentive of water after heavy rains, 
or from land springs. If such occur, a transverse drain is cut across 
the road one foot deeper than the bed and filled with pebbles; and 
which, if it be in a dip, will always serve to swallow any water that may 
collect at that point. When the bed is thus prepared, it is half filled 
with stones picked off the land for the purpose, or with the coarsest of 
the gravel from the pits. This foundation is levelled and laid in as 
compactly together as possible. On this there is next laid a coat of 
