54 THE COMPLETE GARDEN 



five pounds to each 1,000 square feet. On the heavy types of soil this 

 •manure should be of a light texture containing sufficient straw, while on 

 the sandy soil this manure should be of a heavy texture containing a 

 quantity of humus. If the preparation of a lawn area is undertaken at 

 least one year previous to the time that the actual seeding of the lawn is 

 to be done then the heavy types of soil can be made more fertile and 

 more porous by the development, during each spring and fall, of a cover 

 crop of clover, cow peas, vetch, or rye. The deep roots of these plants 

 and the frequent cultivation caused by plowing them under will do 

 much to produce a mellow and friable condition of the soil. On the 

 very heavy types of soil the frequent mistake is made of spreading a 

 heavy coating of well-rotted manure over the surface of the proposed 

 lawn area and plowing this under to a depth of ten inches to twelve 

 inches. On the average lawn this is a great mistake, and a consider- 

 able waste of time and money. Such lawns should be plowed thor- 

 oughly, the soil made loose, and the surface pulverized as much as is 

 practical with a disc harrow. A heavy coating of manure at the rate of 

 one cubic yard to one and one-half cubic yards to each five hundred 

 square feet should then be applied and harrowed into the soil. By this 

 method the available food in the fertilizer is within reach of normal root 

 growth of grass while under the other method such portions of the ma- 

 nure as are plowed to a considerable depth (ten inches to twelve inches at 

 least) are beyond the reach of normal root growth of lawn grasses and 

 soon become imbedded in a heavy soil impervious to root growth. 



On the average lawn a top-dressing of manure at the rate of one- 

 half to three-fourths cubic yards to five hundred square feet, of sheep 

 manure at the rate of five pounds for each one hundred square feet or of 

 bone meal at the rate of five pounds for each two hundred and fiifty 

 square feet, should be applied and raked into the surface of the lawn. 

 Manure, whenever used, especially in the preparation of lawns in the 

 spring, should be well rotted in order to avoid so far as possible the 

 presence of persistent weed seeds (such weeds as grow after the lawn is 

 seeded). Bone meal and the types of dried manures commonly pur- 

 chased on the market in bags do not bring into the lawn this objec- 

 tionable feature. On the other hand, such concentrated fertilizers do 

 not provide the humus which may be almost as essential as the food 

 contained in the fertilizers. 



Drainage of Lawn Area. A part of the preparation of all lawns 



