244 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



furnish all the protection necessary, besides 

 covering the surface with a green coat al- 

 most as quickly as oats will. After the 

 Blue Grass gets its roots well established in 

 deep rich soil it will need no further protec- 

 tion, but will assume entire control in a very 

 short time. 



The third essential is early and frequent 

 mowing. If the grass is allowed to get too 

 large before being cut, the stubble will be 

 too stiff, and we lose that soft velvety char- 

 acter which is only produced by frequent 

 mowing. It is time to begin as soon as the 

 grass is tall enough for the mower to catch 

 it. A few annual weeds which may make 

 their appearance during the summer will do 

 no harm, as they will be kept down by he 

 mower and not allowed to ripen their seeds ; 

 but such perennials as the Docks, Dandelion, 

 Plantains and their kind should be dug up 

 as soon as they can be seen, and water must 

 be in constant supply to feed the grass, keep 



it green and growing. The deep-soil pre- 

 paration will help to do this, but he is fortu- 

 nate who can draw on some reservoir for 

 occasional irrigation. Where water is al- 

 ways abundant less care need be given to 

 fertilization, otherwise it will be well to top- 

 dress the lawn early every spring with thirty 

 or forty bushels of unleached ashes and 

 three or four hundred pounds of bone-meal 

 or superphosphate to the acre. This will 

 keep the grass in thriving condition. Barn 

 manure is too unsightly, and should not be 

 used except in localities where snow covers 

 the ground all winter, and then it should be 

 raked off as early as possible in the spring. 

 By following out the suggestions given here 

 in providing the four essentials, we may 

 have as fine lawns in this country as they do 

 in England ; lawns which will last a lifetime 

 and be a continual source of pleasure to all 

 who see them. — Garden and Forest. 



PANSIES. 



I HAVE had in the heat of summer, where 

 the sun lay till late in the afternoon, 

 pansies an inch and three-quarters across, 

 from seed two years old from the florist, and 

 a ten cent packet in the beginning. I use a 

 mixture of cow manure, partly rotted forest 

 leaves and wood ashes. Three quarts of 

 ashes to a bushel of manure is enough, but 

 two-thirds of the soil of the bed of the 

 manure and leaves is not too much for pan- 

 sies. It makes no difference whether the 

 manure is fresh or rotted, that I can see, but 

 it is best to have it buried with a couple of 

 inches of rich soil over it in- which to set the 

 seedlings. , 



A mulch of grass or leaves round the 

 plants will keep the ground from drying, but 

 if it is not rainy they should be watered 

 every night. I think it is best to plant the 

 seeds in a large box filled with the mixture 

 mentioned, and in the same proportion; as 



the seedlings are rather slow in growth they 

 can be cared for easier in this way when 

 small. 



Young plants beginning to bloom, covered 

 with evergreen boughs during the winter, 

 bloom best in spring and early summer for 

 me. And seeds planted as early as possible 

 in the spring do best for late summer and 

 fall. Pinching out the heart of the plants 

 when small will make them branch more 

 freely. 



During the summer the size of the flowers 

 can be kept up by watering two or three 

 times a week with water in which cow ma- 

 nure has been soaked till the color of strong 

 coffee; you can hardly give them too much 

 of it ; if it gets on the leaves rinse them with 

 clean water. Pick off the faded blossoms ; 

 if you want seed tie a rag round the largest, 

 finest blossoms, and leave but one seed-pod 

 on a plant till ripe. — Vick's Magazine. 



