3J:0 MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



LAWNS. 



As a general rule if there is good soil and good drainage and good 

 seed used in starting the lawn there will be little trouble from weeds 

 or other pests. Here let me say that every gardener and every 

 prospective lawn maker should have a copy of Farmers Bulletin 494, 

 published by the United States Department of Agriculture. 



According to the law of the survival of the fittest, plants will settle 

 and thrive where the struggle for existence is such that they can enter 

 into it and prosper. A good stand of grass will leave no room for 

 weeds. Before planting a lawn see that there is plenty of well-rotted 

 manure spaded into the plot. Test the soil and see that it is not acid. 

 If it is, add some lime and look well to the drainage. Then always 

 use the best seed. Cheap seed is throwing money away. Use plenty 

 of seed and plenty of water. As soon as the first weeds appear pull 

 them out. If any thin spots appear rake them over and sprinkle a 

 little more seed around and roll it down. 



In old lawns there is often a great variety of weeds, many of which 

 could be eliminated by pulling. However, care must be taken to see 

 that too much disturbance to the grass is not made in pulling out 

 the weeds. Crab grass, foxtail and small pig weeds can be extracted 

 easly if not too numerous. As soon, however, as the roots become too 

 large, they should be cut with a knife or spud, a tool like a chisel with 

 a long handle, M'ith which the root can be severed just below the 

 crown. Crab grass and other wild grasses sometimes become quite 

 serious pests in lawns. They turn brown at the first touch of frost 

 and leave large patches in the law^n. Bermuda grass has the same 

 characteristic of turning brown at the approach of winter. Such 

 patches should be marked and in the spring worked over, fertilized and 

 reseeded. It is best to keep a lawn cut short all the time to prevent 

 foreign grasses and weeds from going to seed. 



So much for the general condition of lawns in their resistance to 

 weed pests. There are, however, several weeds which, if once started, 

 are more difficult to eradicate than foxtail and ordinary pigweeds, 

 for example, crab grass, plantain, dandelion, sedge, Bermuda grass, 

 prostrate pigweed and joint grass. These, the writer intends to take 

 up indiviclually as space and time permit. 



CRAB GRASS. 

 Digitaria sanguinale. 



Crab grass is an annual, very widely distributed throughout the 

 United States. It is found in great abundance in the Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin valleys. It grows from a thick spreading root, 

 sending up a quantity of leafy stems which finally fall over and take 

 root at the nodes. It is especially abundant in moist places, and is 

 most rapid of growth during the warm season. At the first approach 

 of frost it turns a yellowish brown. Crab grass is recognizable by its 

 pale green color, its long stems with swollen nodes and the usual 

 accompaniment of small roots, and by its long finger-like panicle or 

 floral head. It grows so readily from seed that it frequently gets 

 the best of blue grass or clover, especially where these are a little 

 thin, and causes very unsightly patches in the lawn. 



