2o62 The Cornell Reading Courses 



old turf, from barnyard manure, from green cover-crops, or from all three. 

 No soil can be too well prepared; whereas some persons have attempted 

 lawns on soil so poor and ill-prepared that it was not worthy of the grass 

 seed needed to cover it. Lime will hasten the decay of organic matter and 

 will correct a soil deficient in lime. 



The surface should be as smooth before the seed is sown as it is expected 

 to be when the lawn is finished. Therefore the raking should be sup- 

 plemented by a thorough rolling before the final raking previous to seeding. 



KINDS OF GRASS TO USE 



If the soil is well prepared and is not sour, that is, deficient in lime, 

 the same mixture of grass seed may be used at any season and in all places. 

 It is best to buy " extra cleaned " seed and also to buy the various kinds 

 separately and mix them at home. Equal quantities, by weight, of 

 Kentucky bluegrass and redtop or Rhode Island bent should be used, 

 estimating about sixteen pounds of the mixture to the bushel, and five 

 bushels of seed to the acre. If the new lawns are to be soon used, it is 

 advisable to add a peck of English or Italian r^^e. This is a coarse, quick- 

 growing grass, but one that will die out gradually and not produce a harsh 

 stubble or leave holes in the lawn in which weeds may start. If the seed 

 must be sown late in the season, it is well to add to each bushel of the 

 bluegrass and redtop mixture a quart of white clover. This starts quickly, 

 is good for the soil, and, while acting as a nurse crop in protecting the new 

 grass, it will later die out, probably leaving the Kentucky bluegrass and 

 redtop to take possession. Since soils differ and various grasses have 

 their preferences, sometimes one kind and sometimes another will take 

 final possession. 



It is best at the first seeding to sow only four of the five bushels of 

 mixture allowed to the acre. This should be raked in carefully by hand 

 in order to cover all seed to the depth of from one-eighth to one-quarter 

 of an inch. Commercial fertilizers may be raked in just before seeding, 

 but they should be thoroughly mixed with the soil. Sheep manure is not 

 so cheap as the chemical fertilizers but has additional value as a surface 

 mulch, especially on clay soils. Moreover, it contains no weed seeds. 



After the seed has been sown, only a hand roller should be used. If 

 this is not available, the rolling should be dispensed with, because a horse- 

 drawn one gives a broken surface and holes are made by the horse's hoofs. 



When the new grass is just long enough to cut, a sharp lawn-mower 

 should be run over it; then over its entire surface should be scattered 

 evenly the remaining bushel of seed of the five allowed to the acre, mixed 

 with sufficient fine soil to make a layer one-eighth of an inch in depth. 

 The lawn may be rolled again with a hand roller. The purpose of this 



