340 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



A thin coating of well rotted stable man- 

 ure distributed evenly over the lawn in late 

 autumn will be found beneficial as a fertilizer. 

 If given a good raking down in early spring 

 the greater part of this mulching will be re- 

 tained, and so benefit tfie grow^th of the sod 

 during the summer season. 



The most effective and lasting mulch, how- 

 ever, for a lawn that is not in good condition, 

 is a good rich earth-mulch. 



Equal quantities of any light friable soil, 

 free from roots or weed-seeds, thoroughly 

 mixed with some well rotted stable manure, 

 makes an ideal mulch for a lawn. This 

 compost should be obtained now— if a mulch 

 is required for the lawn — and thrown into a 

 heap and turned over once in every two or 

 three weeks until October, when it can be 

 spread on the lawn at any time after grass 

 cutting has ceased. This turning over or 

 mixing process should be done so as to place 

 the compost that is in the centre of the heap 

 as much as possible on the outside each 

 time the compost is turned over. This will 

 expose all of the compost to the light and 

 air, and allow any weed-seeds to germinate, 

 and thus destroy them by successive turn- 

 ings. All sticks, gravel or roots should be 

 picked out when turning over the compost. 



If this mulch is applied early in the autumn, 

 and evenly distributed over the lawn by a 

 thorough raking with an ordinary garden 

 rake, it will not only act as a fertilizer but 

 will also level up any uneven places caused 

 by over-vi'ear, or by the extraction of 

 coarse weeds, etc. An earth mulch also 

 furnishes a good surface soil for starting 

 into growth any lawn-grass or clover seeds 

 that may be sown in early spring to thicken 

 up and improve the sod. 



A sufficient thickness of this mulch can be 

 spread on the lawn early in autumn to al- 

 most cover the grass from view. The great- 

 er part of the mulch will have become ab- 

 sorbed and lost sight of by spring. Sufficient 

 however will usually be left on the surface 

 to encourage the growth of lawn-grass and 



dwarf clover seeds, and for fertilization pur- 

 poses, without in any way interfering with 

 grass cutting early in the season. 



The quantity of mulch required to be 

 spread on, must be determined by the size 

 of the lawn and the condition the sod is in. 

 If the sod is very broken or uneven it will 

 require a much heavier mulching than if the 

 grass is in fairly good condition. 



Any places on the lawn that are almost 

 bare of grass should be first loosened up an 

 inch or two deep before the mulch is applied ; 

 or the mulch may be forked into the soil to 

 that depth and good results attained by 

 sowing lawn-grass seed on it in early spring. 



A thin dressing of bone dust, wood ashes, 

 or some of the commercial fertilizers sold 

 for this purpose, are good stimulants for a 

 lawn that is in a fairly good condition. 

 These should be applied early in the spring. 

 But where the grass on a lawn is thin and 

 the surface uneven and broken, there is 

 nothing better to renovate and improve it 

 permanently than a good earth-mulch. 



A well-kept lawn, even if it be only a few 

 square yards in extent, adds very much to 

 the beauty of its surroundings, but to attain 

 the best possible results in this direction it 

 requires, OQce in every two or three years, 

 some encouragement in the shape of fertiliz- 

 ers or mulchings, beyond the ordinary routine 

 care of watering and mowing given it during 

 the summer. Lawns, like pasture fields, 

 soon fail to give satisfactory results unless 

 renewed or stimulated occasionally, a fact 

 that is often lost sight of, and one that will 

 often account for so many lawns becoming 

 infested with coarse, unsightly weeds. On 

 lawns where a close growth of grass and 

 clover can be secured, the less room for, and 

 the fewer weeds will be found. A good rich 

 mulching once in every two or three years is 

 one of the main features necessary in the 

 care of a lawn so as to have it in the best 

 possible condition. W. Hunt. 



Hamilton. 



