THE 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE. ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHA.N. 



Vol. XXI. 



JUNE, 1879. 



Number 246. 



Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



There is nothing in the whole range of Ameri- 

 can gardening that is the subject of so much 

 solicitude as the proper care of the lawn. "We 

 envy the English, and are very apt to believe 

 that if we sow good " English mixed lawn grass" 

 it is all that is needed to have a good lawn in 

 our country. But the secret is not the grass in 

 the ground so much as the moisture in the air 

 and the temperature of the atmosphere, and it 

 requires greater skill to have good lawns here 

 under disadvantages than there where all the 

 circumstances favor. Of late years American 

 lawn making has very much improved ; and it 

 is not unusual to lind specimens which will bear 

 favorable comparison with any in the Old World. 

 In the first place we pay attention to deepening 

 the soil before sowing the seed. Then we eschew 

 " vernal grass," "' crested dog-tail " and " white 

 clover," the leading elements of English lawn 

 grass, and use pure green grass, blue grass, bent 

 grass, or rye grass, as the case may be, without 

 mixture of any kind, and if any coarse weeds 

 appear during the first year, cut them out, and 

 fill any hole the digging out may leave with 

 earth. Rolled down,' the smooth earth will soon 

 be clothed from the creeping roots of the con- 

 tiguous grass. The next thing is to mow ; and 

 here, as we have often noted of late 3'ears, great 



watchfulness is desirable. The great enemy of 

 the American lawn is low creeping plants of the 

 character of Veronicas and white clover. So 

 long as the grass can be kept strong it will take 

 care of these creeping things. Growing higher 

 than they, it deprives them of light, and they 

 do not get much chance to grow strongly ; but 

 if we cut the grass down very close to the ground 

 the creeping weeds get all the light they need, 

 and the upright grass blades are at a disadvan- 

 tage. The lawn should be therefore carefully 

 watched, and when there is any appearance of 

 these creeping weeds getting power, the grass 

 should be left longer at each cutting ; then the 

 troublesome interlopers are crowded out. As 

 for manuring it is positively awful to see beau- 

 tiful lawns covered with disgusting stable ma- 

 nure all the Winter long. A thin sowing of 

 salt, or a light scattering of pure guano, chicken 

 manure, or similar matei'ial, early in the Spring 

 is all that a lawn needs. We have learned 

 that several persons have offered premiums of 

 one hundred dollars or more, for ought we 

 know, for the best essays on the management 

 of lawns. If authors were to spin out the sub- 

 ject with a book as large as the " revised sta- 

 tutes" of the States of New York and Penn- 

 sylvania, they could not tell more than we 

 have told in these few lines, and in justice they 

 should send the cash to the publisher of this 

 mairazine. 



