best protection is found in a wooded hill, and wind force is more effectually modified by growing trees than any other means. If no hill exist, planting should take its place. It should extend generally on the north-east, north, and north-west sides, and, in many districts, on the south-west side. The northern and eastern planting may extend fairly close to the house, but not so planting on the south-west side, as it is not conducive to health to have a mass of foliage close to the house on the south-west side. The difference can frequently be felt by any one who stands at the south-west corner of a wood with a north-east wind blowing, where its passage is tempered by blowing through the trees, and by one who stands at the opposite position with a south-west wind blowing through the trees, where its passage through them gives the watcher a damp experience.

With regard to subsoil, frequently there is little choice. When a dwelling-house has to be erected on a fresh position a porous soil is to be preferred. But gravelly districts may have been old river bottoms, not a formation in an open and deep sea; and when you find these near to existing rivers, when low-lying, or in districts that are thickly inhabited, it is in my opinion as necessary to spread a layer of concrete over this site as over a clay subsoil to prevent the exhalation of noxious gases through the light soil from depths where percolated moisture may be stagnant. In moderately pervious clay dampness can be removed by efficient drainage.

Perhaps it would be well to put this matter more in detail, as it must so often come before you. Retentive soils do not give off vapour so copiously as free open soils, and the temperature is thus not lowered. The lower the water in the soil, the less evaporation is there, and the warmer the adjacent air. The level of the water in the subsoil regulates the amount of ground air. A fluctuating water-level is unhealthy. Subsoil water is colder than rain-water, and as this warmer water will not descend through the colder water, this latter must be carried away. Therefore, drainage is introduced. Soils have a very varying conducting capacity for heat, and clay is a better conductor of heat than sand; so it allows the sun's rays to pass rapidly downwards, and the surface does not become heated to so high a degree.

From these data it is evident that if a light clay soil can allow the surface-water to pass through it quickly, and that the level of the subsoil water can be kept even by the provision of adequate drainage, then an even temperature, free movement of air in the soil, and a healthy condition must result. You must frequently have noticed in walking or driving through an undulating chalk district at sunset, how the dampness is felt in the hollows when the declining sun's rays have left them.

In settling the site of the house, the approach to it helps to determine its position, and the chief points for consideration are the entrance from the public road, the route thence, the divergence to the stables, offices, kitchen-gardens, farm, &c., and the direct entrance to the house.

The approach to a house should always appear to be direct, and any deviation from such directness should not only arise from, but should also be made to arise from, some decided obstacle. By direct is not meant straight. A straight approach requires careful treatment. It is artificial in character, it can appropriately be used when an imposing or somewhat pretentious building is at the end of it, or when the distance is short, and when the country is flat. In sloping ground it should, if possible, be made against the slope of a hill. The gradient should be even and flat, or very slightly and continuously curved, otherwise it will appear not straight. If the ground is very undulating, a straight road is out of character with its surroundings. It may be worth mentioning that in laid-out grounds of Tudor times, even where an avenue has been planted, the drive has followed a curved line to the forecourt of the house. [See Fairlawn, p. 189.]

A curved line of road is generally to be preferred, for it is more easy of construction, more varied views can be obtained, its gradient can be varied, following within limitations the natural undulation of the ground, and the side slopes can be more easily and freely dealt with than the sides of a straight drive. At the entrance from the public road, and also where the road reaches the house, the route should be nearly level, and the line straight. It should rise towards the house when approaching it directly, and it should be level at crossings or junctions. It should not run parallel with the public road, with the mere purpose of lengthening the course or seeming to prolong it, though, when the house is at a much higher level, and the object is apparent, this resource must sometimes be adopted. Curves should be long and easy, and the gradients should not be those of a certain ratio meeting at angles, as in a railway line, but should rise or fall with a curve, as even, continuous, and graceful as the horizontal line of the drive. The gradients should not be steeper than 1 in 14, though 1 in 9 is a road over which a carriage may be driven in safety. A breadth of 9 feet suffices for the passage of one carriage; where two carriages may meet, the road should be 14 feet wide. The above dimensions may be adopted only when the ground is flat, and on either side of the road is grass, on to which a foot-passenger may retire, or on to which a carriage may be turned. But in ordinary cases it is better to allow 11 or 12 feet for a single drive, and 14 to 18 feet for the double road. But the width of drives is frequently determined, not by the exigencies of the traffic, but by the relatively important character of the route. Thus, a drive to the principal entrance of the house might be 15 feet, while that to the stables or offices might be 12 feet. A drive of 14 feet should round over 3 inches, and the turf at sides should be 11⁄2 inch above the roadway. Gully-holes, or means provided for the disposal of surface-water, should be provided about every 50 yards, this distance being lessened on steep gradients up to 20 yards apart. Drives should have a bottoming of 6 to 9 inches of hard core, and a surface coating of gravel of 3 inches. Walks should have from 4 to 6 inches of hard core, and 2 to 3 inches of surface coating of gravel. Drives that leave the main route for unimportant points should be curved as soon as may be convenient, and taken from the main drive at nearly right angles, and the sides of all drives should have a level space of at least 2 feet; and whether the drive be in cutting or filling, the sides should slope from this to the natural surface by an ogee curve. The treatment of either end of the main carriage drive is of importance. In choosing the place for and forming an entrance from the public road, advantage may be taken of a turn in the highway, so that by adopting the line of the public road, and continuing it to the entrance-gates, an open area may be provided and importance given to the entrance, or the entrance may be made at the junction of two roads, or where a cross road comes on to the main road. Unless in wide highways, the entrance should be set back sufficiently to allow a carriage to stand clear. The entrance to a straight drive should always be made imposing. In all drives, when the entrance leaves the highway at right angles, thought must be given to the treatment of the ground on the opposite side of the public road. It is advisable not to make the entrance at the actual boundary of the property. Consideration must also be had for the direction of the principal traffic either to town, station, church, or notable places. It is advisable to plan the entrance on level ground, at a break of gradient, preferably at the foot of a hill, and not part-way up the ascent.

The lodge and entrance gates belong to the drive, and should be parallel with and at right angles to it, as distinguished from the highway. The face-line of lodge should be at least 10 feet from the edge of the drive, and its windows should be able to command the entrance and a certain length of drive. On entering by the drive, it is advisable to create a good impression, and therefore to mark distinctly the difference between the dusty highway and the shaded, well-trimmed drive within the gates. Planting may be introduced on either side