IX. 



THE LAWN. 



BEAUTIFUL lawn should be the most im- 

 portant feature of every city and suburban 

 garden. Where the space is limited, little 

 can be done in the way of planting and beauti- 

 fying the ground, but if there are only a few 

 square feet of soft, velvety grass in front of the city resi- 

 dence, the place looks so much the more pleasant and home- 

 like. In making a lawn, the first thing to be done should 

 be to examine the surface soil, and if necessary improve it 

 to a sufficient depth. We take it for granted that the 

 drainage and grading of the soil have been done according 

 to previous instructions, and that it is only with the surface 

 itself we have to do at present. At the same time, the con- 

 dition of the subsoil and the more or less pronounced variety 

 of the ground have a great deal to do with the permanence 

 and beauty of the lawn. Where the subsoil is very light 

 and gravelly, the ground is apt to dry up more suddenly 

 than where it is of a more or less clayey nature. High 

 knolls if exposed will dry up more quickly than a plane 

 or but slightly undulating surface. Grounds situated on a 



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