334 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



cut by cutters adapted for the scattering system, it falls on the 

 ground in a form more resembling dust than fibres, and acts as a 

 " mulch " both to nourish the growth and arrest evaporation from 

 the soil; hence the importance of the scattering system on chalk and 

 sand, and other hungry stuff, and on any soil in such a hot season 

 as 1870. 



In the keeping of an old lawn it is of the utmost importance to 

 remember that grasses and clovers require for their well-doing a 

 highly nourishing soil. Now it matters not how good the soil may 

 be in the first instance, if we cut and carry we labour constantly to 

 impoverish the soil. In every barrowful of grass removed there 

 will be a certain quantity of alkalies, phosphates, and other consti- 

 tuents of vegetation abstracted from the soil. To be always taking 

 off and putting nothing'on must result in the starvation of the grass ; 

 and we shall find that as the grasses and clovers disappear through 

 the exhaustion of the soil, daisies, plantains, knotgrass, self-heal, 

 and other weeds, take their place. The simple remedy for this state 

 of things is manuring, and the best mode of manuring is to scatter 

 over the turf a succession of thin dressings of guano and fine mould 

 mixed together. This should be done in autumn and spring, at 

 times when there is not much traffic on the grass, and there is a 

 likelihood of rain to follow. If appearances are of no consequence in 

 the later autumn or early spring months, a good coat of half-rotten 

 manure may be spread over the turf, but this proceeding cannot be 

 recommended for general adoption. In place of guano, nitrate of 

 soda or nitrate of potash may be employed, being first mixed with 

 fine earth or sand, and then scattered at the rate of one pound of 

 nitrate to every square yard. The employment of an alkali will 

 promote the growth of grass, but not of clover, which requires the 

 aid of phosphates. A cheap and most serviceable dressing for old 

 lawns may be occasionally obtained in districts where building works 

 are in progress. The rubbish should be screened, to separate from 

 it the dust of old mortar, plaster, and broken brick to the size of 

 walnuts at the utmost. This may be spread thinly two or three 

 times in autumn and spring, and will greatly benefit the texture 

 and density of the turf. It cannot be said that in British gardens 

 grass is generally well managed and properly understood, for the 

 lawn is the last place on which either manure or water is generously 

 bestowed. "We may ofttimes see the flower-beds deluged with 

 water that they do not need, while the grass is fast parching into a 

 hideous condition of sterility. If we could persuade the industrious 

 folks to spread the water, by means of a hose, over the grass 

 two or three times a week during summer, and give the geraniums 

 none at all, the result would be a brighter blaze of flowers 

 in a rich setting of delightfully fresh verdure, instead of, per- 

 haps, geraniums growing like cabbages and scarcely flowering at 

 all, and the grass becoming as thin and black as if a flame had 

 passed over it. Two contingencies are to be especially guarded 

 against in the management of grass turf — the machine must be 

 set so as to cut fair, and it must be kept in the best order 

 by constant cleaning and oiling. If set so as to cut very close, it 



