20i 



A CHAPTER ON LAWNS. 



"English Inwn scythe." When used, it should 

 be set low, so as to be level with the plane of 

 the grass; when the nioucr is erect, he 

 will mow without leaving any marks, and 

 with the least possible exertion* 



After your lawn is once fairly established, 

 there are but two secrets in keeping it per- 

 fect — frequent mowing and rolling. With- 

 out the first, it will soon degenerate into a 

 coarse meadow ; the latter will render it 

 firmer, closer, shorter, and finer every time 

 it is repeated. 



A good lawn must be mown every ten 

 days or fortnight. The latter may be as- 

 sumed as the proper average time in this 

 climate. Ten days is the usual limit of 

 growth for the best kept lawns in England, 

 and it is surprising how soon a coarse and 

 wiry bit of sward will become smooth turf, 

 under the magic influences of regular and 

 oft repeated mowing and rolling. 



Of course, a lawn can only be cut when 

 the grass is damp, and rolling is best per- 

 formed directly after rain. The English 

 always roll a few hours before using the 

 scythe. On large lawns, a donkey or light 

 horse may be advantageously employed in 

 performing this operation. 



There are but few good lawns yet in 

 America; but we have great pleasure in 

 observing that they are rapidly multiplying. 

 Though it may seem a heavy tax to some, 

 yet no expenditure in ornamental gardening 

 is, to our mind, productive of so much beau- 

 ty as that incurred in producing a well kept 



lawn. Without this feature, no place, 

 however great its architectural beauties, its 

 charms of scenery, or its collections of flow- 

 ers and shrubs, can be said to deserve con- 

 sideration in point of landscape gardening; 

 and with it the humble cottage grounds 

 will possess a charm which is, among plea- 

 sure grounds, what a refined and graceful 

 manner is in society — an universal passport 

 to admiration. 



There are two residences in this country 

 which so far surpass all others in the per- 

 fection of their lawns, that we hope to be 

 pardoned for holding them up to commen- 

 dation. These are the Upper Livingston 

 Manor, fig. 55, the seat of Mrs. Mary 

 Livingston, about seven miles from Hud- 

 son, N. Y., and the Camac Cottage, fig. 56, 

 near Philadelphia.* 



The lawn at the Livingston Manor is 

 very extensive and park-like — certainly the 

 largest well-kept lawn in America, and we 

 wish all our readers who are skeptical re- 

 garding an American lawn, could see and 

 feel its many excellent perfections. They 

 would only be still more surprised when they 

 were told how few men keep so large a sur- 

 face in the highest order. 



The Camac Cottage is a gem of neatness 

 and high keeping. We hope Pennsylva- 

 nians at least, who, we think, have perhaps 

 our best lawn climate, will not fail to profit 

 by so admirable an example as they will 

 find there, of what Spenser quaintly and 

 prettily calls " the grassie ground.*' 



Fencing out the Cttrcttlio. — A cultivator 

 of fine fruit in Queens co., N. Y. has actual- 

 ly succeeded in fencing out the curculio. 

 His orchard of plums of 50 or 100 trees, is 

 surrounded by a perfectly tight board fence, 

 nine feet high, furnished with a tight gate. 

 The trees are loaded with plums, very few 



having been stung by the curculio ; while 

 on a few trees outside, 20 feet distant, the 

 crops are literally destroyed. Tvro broods 

 of chickens were kept within the yard, but 

 too few to aid much in preserving the crop. 



* The Frontispiece .slir>ws miniature views from the las/ 

 edition of our Landscape Gardening, whieh, however, givo 

 but a faint and imperfect idea of these places. 



