64 



THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



encouraged. When the ground is 

 levelled, and made quite fine on the 

 surface, the seed should be sown, 

 raked in, and then rolled, and to per- 

 form these several operations the first 

 fine, quiet day, when the ground is 

 dry, should be seized upon, so as to 

 make sure of a good beginning. On a 

 heavy tenacious soil it would be well, 

 before sowing, to lay down a good sur- 

 facing of fine ashes, and if a good sur- 

 facing of peat can be had in the district, 

 a fat soil will produce a more mossy 

 turf than without it. 



The choice of grasses for lawns is 

 extensive enough, and, as a rule, who- 

 ever wants a good turf from seed, will 

 do better to trust entirely to the seeds- 

 man than to make any special selection. 

 Messrs. Lawson, of Piccadilly ; Suttons, 

 of Reading ; Bass and Brown, of Sud- 

 bury ; and Mr. Clarke, of Bishopsgate- 

 street, London (who has a fine collec- 

 tion of dried grasses for the inspection 

 of the curious), give their particular 

 attention to the selection of grasses for 

 all sorts of purposes, and it is only 

 necessary for those about to sow to de- 

 scribe the extent and nature of the soil 

 and situation, and especially to name 

 how much of the ground is shaded 

 by trees, and the right mixture will be 

 provided for them. It may, however, 

 interest many if I here quote Messrs. 

 Lawson's prescriptions for a fine lawn, 

 the quantity of seed named being suf- 

 ficient for an acre. 



Ave'naflave'scens (Yellowish Oat 



Grass) 



Cynosu'rus crista'tus (Crested 



Dog's Tail) 



Festu'ca duriu'scula (Hardish 



Fescue) 



Festu'ca tenui/o'lia (Fine-leaved 



Fescue) 



Lo'lium pere'nne te'nue (Fine 



Kye Grass) 



Po'a nemora'lis (Wood Meadow 



Gras3) 



Po'a nemora'lis sempervi'rens 



(Evergreen Ditto) 



Po'a trivia'lis (Rough-stalked 



Meadow Grass) 



Trifo'lium re'pens (White Clover) 

 Tri/o'lium mi'nus (Smaller Yellow 



Clover) 



Under trees a little variation of the 

 mixture must be adopted. Leave out 

 the two species of Fescus and substitute 



similar quantities of Poa nemoralis. 

 Indeed, P. nemoralis angustifolium is 

 the best of all grasses to produce a 

 beautiful sward under trees, its growth 

 being so close that it displaces weeds, 

 and it is green in spring earlier than 

 most other grasses ; and as it also does 

 well in exposed places, it may be made 

 " a note of," for any one, at this sea- 

 son, in a state of distress at the shab- 

 biness of a lawn. Another most useful 

 lawn grass is Lolium perenne tenue, 

 but as it is twin brother of that very 

 worst of lawn grasses, Lolium perenne, 

 or rye grass, care must be taken to 

 name it true. It thrives on almost 

 any soil that is not wet, and is delight- 

 fully fresh all the winter. 



The means adopted to make a lawn 

 are those necessary for improving one, 

 but there are others that call for men- 

 tion. Grasses and clovers are the 

 only plants that should be tolerated in 

 the turf of any pleasure ground, but 

 every soil has its own class of weeds — 

 fat loams produce buttercups, shallow, 

 chalky soils produce plaintain, wet 

 places are apt to be infested with the 

 lesser celandine and ground ivy, and 

 there is scarce a patch of turf any- 

 where, but in which daisies will some 

 day or other spring up. Every one of 

 such things is a nuisance, and if you 

 want your turf to go to ruin, leave 

 plaintains, and daisies, and dandelions 

 alone, and your wish will be gratified. 

 To get rid of such pests now is your 

 time, and the best way is to out with 

 every such plant by the root ; docks 

 and dandelions are the most trouble- 

 some, and for their removal the tool, 

 known as a "docking iron,'' will be 

 found most useful. If the labour of 

 digging up every root should seem to 

 be too great, the next best way is to 

 cut each one over an inch below the 

 level of the soil, and then on each 

 wounded root lay a table-spoonful of 

 salt. But the objection to this plan 

 is, that over every deposit of salt the 

 grass, for some seasons, will grow with 

 such luxuriance as to give the lawn a 

 dotted appearance, every pickled tuft 

 being of a darker and richer green than 

 the rest. Having cleared away weeds, 

 dig over all the bare patches, and sow 

 every barren spot with seed, and when- 

 ever you sow grass for a lawn, sow 



