260 THE FLORAL WORLD AND UARDEN GUIDE. 



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 use of phosphatea. 

 A cheap and most serviceable dressing for old lawns may be occa- 

 sionally 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 grasg 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, perhaps, 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 gra^s 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 will occasionally pare off 

 the surface soil, and with it the roots of the grasses ; many a good 

 lawn has been ruined by the foolish practice of making the machine 

 cut as close as possible, under the absurd impression that one cut is 

 better than two. The more cuts the better, provided always that 

 the machine is properly set, and in the best working order. Another 

 mode of making a present effect at the expense of the lawn consists 

 in continually cuttiDg a fresh edge with the edging iron. A gardener 

 who cuts into the turf on the edge of the lawn to make a finish, 

 ought to be compelled to eat all that he removes. If the practice is 

 persisted in, the grass is reduced in breadth, and the walk is 

 widened, and in time there is formed a deep gutter and a sharp ugly 

 rido-e. If properly finished at the edge with the shears, the width 

 of the walk will not vary an inch in fifty years. One of the first 

 things we look afrer in the work of a new man is his management 

 of the edges of lawns, and we are always careful to explain our 

 views upon the subject in good time to prevent a mischief which 

 cannot be easily remedied. The man who persists, after warning 

 and explanation, in chop, chop, chopping at the edge, as if it were 

 necessary to construct a gutter of mud on each side of a walk, 

 deserves to hear an opinion of his procedure that will make him 



