; in
London the upkeep of the greens falls on the rates, but players must
provide their own bowls.

The game.

There are two kinds of bowling green, the level and the crown. The crown
has a fall which may amount to as much as 18 in. all round from the
centre to the sides. This type of green is confined almost wholly to
certain of the northern and midland counties of England, where it is
popular for single-handed, gate-money contests. But although the
crown-green game is of a sporting character, it necessitates the use of
bowls of narrow bias and affords but limited scope for the display of
skill and science. It is the game on the perfectly level green that
constitutes the historical game of bowls. Subject to the rule as to the
shortest distance to which the jack must be thrown (25 yds.), there is
no prescribed size for the lawn; but 42 yds. square forms an ideal
green. The Queen's Park and Titwood clubs in Glasgow have each three
greens, and as they can quite comfortably play six rinks on each, it is
not uncommon to see 144 players making their game simultaneously. An
undersized lawn is really a poor pitch, because it involves playing from
corner to corner instead of up and down--the orthodox direction. For
the scientific construction of a green, the whole ground must be
excavated to a depth of 18 in. or so, and thoroughly drained, and layers
of different materials (gravel, cinders, moulds, silver-sand) laid down
before the final covering of turf, 2-1/2 or 3 in. thick. Seaside turf is
the best. It wears longest and keeps its "spring" to the last.
Surrounding the green is a space called a ditch, which is nearly but not
quite on a level with the green and slopes gently away from it, the side
next the turf being lined with boarding, the ditch itself bottomed with
wooden spars resting on the foundation. Beyond the ditch are banks
generally laid with turf. A green is divided into spaces usually from 18
to 21 ft. in width, commonly styled "rinks"--a word which also
designates each set of players--and these are numbered in sequence on a
plate fixed in the bank at each end opposite the centre of the space.
The end ditch within the limits of the space is, according to Scottish
laws, regarded as part of the green, a regulation which prejudices the
general acceptance of those laws. In match play each space is further
marked off from its neighbour by thin string securely fastened flush
with the turf.

Every player uses four