THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 115 



which never fails in seed. Properly managed, and allowing plenty 

 of time, tlie hest iurf is obtained from seed, but the seed should be 

 obtained from a first-rate house, known for its care in selecting and 

 saving grass seeds, or a worse result may happen than by the use of 

 turf from a fat meadow. The grass seeds sent out by the leading 

 houses in the trade are all that can be desired ; they are selected so 

 as to be adaptable to every variety of soil and position, so that the 

 purchaser only need to specify whether he wishes for a lawn under 

 trees, on a bleak hill, or on a damp loam, and a mixture of seeds will 

 be sent for the purpose. In fact, seed is invariably used now in 

 laying down lawns in grand gardens ; and at the Crystal Palace, 

 Kew, Kensington, and Aldershot, those who rejoice in good turf 

 may have examples of what may be done in this way, for all these 

 swards were sown down with mixtures of seeds. 



The laying down of turf, however, is not only a great saving of 

 time over producing turf from seed, for the fact is, the moment the 

 work of laying the turf is completed, the lawn is made ; but with 

 seed we must wait a year before we can say that we have a really 

 good turf. 



A deep sandy loam produces the finest turf, but the more sandy, 

 the more apt it is to get burnt in summer time. Pat lawns carry 

 good swards if care is taken to keep down daisies, docks, and dande- 

 lions ; these should all be spudded out, and if the extremities of the 

 roots cannot be removed, they should be covered with an inch of salt 

 before the holes are filled in ; this will kill the fragments of roots 

 that remain in the ground, and the turf will soon join over the 

 places whence the weeds were removed. On clays and rich loams 

 the grasses always show a tendency to become coarse, and whatever 

 dressing is applied should be of poor sandy stuff, with an admixture 

 of old mortar, road-sand, or other gritty material free of stones or 

 brickbats. Manure should never be applied to grass on sound 

 loams and clays ; as much water as you please when it is needed, but 

 manure will cause a rankness of growth that is very objectionable. 

 On the other hand, poor sandy and peaty soils will produce a closer 

 and richer turf, if annually manured. Eotten dung spread over the 

 surface and broken up, and scattered an inch deep during March, 

 will bring the grass forward, and if well rolled when quite dry, its 

 appearance will not be unsightly, and in a very short time the grass 

 will rise through it and justify the act. But superphosphate of lime, 

 at the rate of tliree hundredweight per acre, is the best dressing for 

 grass on poor soils, as it encourages the growth of clover, without 

 which there cannot be a good turf. 



ijefore grass seed is sown the ground should be drained, if need- 

 ful, then dug deep, and the bottom spit mixed with the top, if the 

 staple is good, then raked quite level, all stones and hard rubbish, 

 dead roots, etc., removed, and the whole rolled smooth and firm. 

 On a fine day, when the ground is pretty dry, and no wind stirriiDg, 

 proceed to sow. The proportion of seed required, is one gallon to 

 every six rods. Have ready a sufficient quantity of fine dry earth 

 to sprinkle the whole surface half an inch deep. Scatter the seed 

 rather thickly, and throw over it the fine earth, and roll several times 



