977. Gravel and turf. There are, says Sir William Temple, 'besides the temper of our climate, two things particular to us, that contribute much to the beauty and elegance of our gardens; which are, the gravel of our walks, and the fineness and almost perpetual greenness of our turf. The first is not known any where else, which leaves all their dry walks, in other countries, very unpleasant and uneasy. The other cannot be found in France or in Holland as we have it, the soil not admitting that fineness of blade in Holland, nor the sun that greenness in France, during most of the summer; nor indeed is it to be found but in the finest of our soils.'
