CHAP. IX.] THE LAWN, ETC. 255 



sufficient to write down the botanic names of 

 the grasses, and to send them to a respectable 

 seedsman, with directions to return enough of 

 the seed of each to produce an equal quantity 

 of grass of each respective species on the lawn. 

 The whole quantity required of the mixed 

 grasses is, generally, not more than four bushels 

 and a half per acre ; but, if an immediate effect 

 be wanted, about a bushel and a half of the 

 common white clover may be added. This 

 quantity of seed will be sufficient to sow the 

 ground very thickly, as when ground has been 

 dug over and rendered perfectly smooth the 

 seeds will go farther, and cover it more com- 

 pletely than when the surface is uneven ; and, 

 if the seeds are sown in dry weather, then 

 rolled in, and afterwards watered, the ground 

 will be as green and covered with as fine a 

 sward the first season, as though it had been 

 laid down with turf. 



From the experiments before alluded to, 

 which w^ere tried by the late Duke of Bedford 

 at Woburn, it was found that the best soil for 

 producing an equal and permanent crop of orass 

 was a sandy loam ; and, accordingly, when the 

 ground which is to form the lawn has been 

 marked out, care should be taken to bring the 

 soil to this state as nearly as possible. For this 

 purpose, if the soil be too sandy, a quantity of 

 clay should be procured to mix with it ; and, if 

 too clayey, it should be mixed with sand. In 

 both cases, the new soil should be spread over 

 the ground, and it should then be dug in about 

 a foot deep. Care should be taken to do this 

 in dry weather, as the two soils to be mixed 



