FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 179 



result of my decision Avas that I was shown through the wood-shed, then the 

 kitchen and the dining-room to the sitting-room, where I was to stoji. This is 

 unpleasant and embarrassing, and can be easily avoided in the planning of 

 fronts and arrangement of walks. 



Tlte Lawn. 



There is nothing connected with the farm-house in its embellishment that 

 gives it so much character as a beautiful lawn. Fill your front yards witli roses, 

 snow-drops, clematis, beds of annuals, shrubbery, and evergreens, and still noth- 

 ing is so neat and attractive as a smooth piece of velvet lawn. There is a nicety 

 about it, if well kept, that pertains to nothing else. Yet how few rural places 

 can boast of a fine piece of smooth green. Tiie truth is, very few people 

 understand how to make a lawn, and seem wonderfully slow in acquiring the 

 necessary information. A lawn, to be perfect, should be green all summer; 

 this, in our arid climate, can only be approximated without the accompaniment 

 of a good head of water to give it a drink occasionally. I say approximated, 

 because we have a means of partial control Avithin our power; this is in the 

 preparation of the soil at the beginning. It is quite customary to stir up the 

 soil a few inches, and, through the agency of a gi'eat deal of hard work, cover 

 the surface with sod brought from some old pasture or roadside. With all due 

 deference to the '•professionals" who follow this method, I say this is a very 

 poor method. In the first place a very dry summer will destroy the whole of 

 it ; and, in the second place, ten chances to one, under the most favorable cir- 

 cumstances, there will be many bare, unsightly places. The ground, of what- 

 ever consistency it may be, should be stirred, — not four or six inches only, — 

 but, if possible, two feet in depth. It is a big thing to do at the outset, Init it 

 is once for all. Then, if the soil be light, give it clay muck, and manure ; and 

 if heavy, give it sand, muck, and manure, — not a thin scattering, but a gener- 

 ous, open-handed covering. The muck and manure, as you see, are common 

 quantities in both equations. Too much attention cannot be given to the 

 smoothing of this ; and, in all this outlay, quiet your conscience with the 

 thought that it is to be done but once. With this deep foundation and smooth 

 surface, a sprinkling of seed, and a cheap lawn-mower, we are in a condition ta 

 produce a premium lawn in one season. I am inclined to denominate all the 

 advertised mixtures of lawn seeds as humbugs, and recommend in their place an 

 equal mixture of Kentucky blue-grass (June grass) and red-top; and sow it 

 thick, — five bushels per acre is none too much. All this do in the fall if possi- 

 ble, except the sowing of the gra^ seed, which should, in our climate, be done- 

 early in spring. Do not sow oats, or rye, or buckwheat with it for a shade ; 

 this is all nonsense ; it requires no shade, and there is scarcely a chance of fail- 

 ure. As soon as the grass is suiiftciently started the mower should be used at- 

 least once a week in the growing season. A surface dressing of fine hen ma- 

 nure or composted night-soil should be given at least every other year to keep 

 the soil in good heart. Upon this plan any one can have a beautiful lawn who 

 has a patch of ground a rod square. It should not be forgotten that a lawn, to 

 be kept nicely, requires as much attention as the same area of flower beds. 



Walks and Drives. 



Do not have any Avalks nor any drives unless they can be cared for properly. 

 Men often become disgusted with trying to keep a walk in repair, and allow it- 

 to grow up gradually to weeds and grass, thus producing a most unsightly ap- 



