494 GRASSES OP IOWA. 



are the pasture grasses of New Eig a id and the middle states. 

 Nowhere will we fiad a batter turf or a fiaer or more even 

 texture or more plea <a it to walk on, than in some of the past- 

 ures near the New Eagland coast, waich have be?n grazed by- 

 sheep for the past hundred years or more. Where these 

 pastures have been grazed the closest and trampled the most, 

 there will b3 the closest and most even turf, composed gener- 

 ally of a siagle variety of grass. Such turf a? we are consid- 

 ering (turf suitable for lawns) is produced either by the grazing 

 o' stock, particularly sheep, or by the frequent and intelligent 

 use of the lawn mower and roller. The value of sheep in turf 

 formation is recognized by the managers of public parks, and 

 has been taken advantage of by some This is notably the 

 cise in Ceitral Park, New York, and Druid Hill Park, Balti- 

 more. " In the semi-arid regions of the west the smooth, even 

 turfs are wanting, the species frequently growing in bunches. 

 Northwestern Iowa departs somewhat from the conditions pre- 

 vailing in other sections of the state, since the rainfall for a 

 good turf is somewhat deficient. 



In regard tD the color and texmre: "A deep, rich emerald 

 green is the shade most desired in a lawn grass, as it is gen- 

 erally pleasing and certainly the most beautiful of all tints. 

 No grass in the northern and middle states fills this require- 

 ment so well as Kentucky blue grass; the color of this grass, 

 when grown under favorable conditions, may be rsgarded as 

 the standard upon which to base comparisons. Different vari- 

 eties of Kentucky blue grass show slight variations in color, 

 some being lighter than others, but upon the whole the deep, 

 rich shade of green may be relied upon. Some of the fescues 

 possess an equally deep shade of green, but the best turf-form- 

 ing varieties of this grass usually have a grayish tint, which 

 is more or less objectionable. Creeping beat and Rhode 

 Island bent are very much alike in color, but they are consid- 

 erably lighter than the Kentucky blue grass; and, should this 

 be regarded as a fault, it is fully counterbalanced by their 

 finer texture and superior turf-forming habit. Italian rye 

 grass has a good color, and the fine-leafed variety of perennial 

 rye grass is by no means an inferior lawn grass. The color of 

 these rye grasses is not very different from Kentucky blue 

 grass, but there is a marked difference in the appearance of 

 the herbage; the surface of the leaves of perennial rye grass 



