11 



View. 



slower growing but more substantial trees like the oaks and the 

 elms, and the nurse trees should be cut out when the perma- 

 nent trees need the space. 



(4) Most of the flowers for the farm home should be hardy 

 perennials. When once established these come up every year 

 without further trouble, except that they should be divided 

 every few years. They take less time and usually give better 

 results than annuals. 



(5) Plant the kinds you like. The home grounds should 

 express the personalities and tastes of the family. 



THE LAWN. 



This is the most important feature of the home grounds 

 except the trees. Grass and trees will make a fairly attractive 

 home, even without vines, shrubs, and flowers. The lawn 38 

 should occupy at least one-half of the yard, hence the impor- 

 tance of making a good one. The grading should be done 

 several months before seeding, if possible, so as to allow the 

 ground to settle and to secure a uniform grade before seeding. 

 Prepare the ground deeply, fit it very thoroughly, and enrich 

 it. Make a slight grade away from the house, to secure drain- 

 age, and leave no hollows. Seed very thickly and take pains 

 to seed evenly. A mixture of 50 pounds of bluegrass and 5 

 pounds each of white clover and redtop per acre gives excel- 39 

 lent results in most of the Northern and Central States. On 

 some sandy soils of the South, pieces of turf of Bermuda grass 

 must be used. Seeding is best done in early spring. Peren- 

 nial weeds, such as dock, dandelion, and plantain, should be 

 cut out the first season. The annual weeds will not give 

 trouble after the first year. If parts of the lawn get thin and 

 mossy scratch them with a rake, apply a fine compost, and 

 sow more seed. 



The farmer will ask if a big lawn does not take a lot of care. 

 It is not always necessary to cut the farm lawn with a lawn 

 mower or even with a field mower. This slide shows a farmer 40 

 who makes the lawn pay by grazing cattle upon it. In this 

 case care must be taken to scatter the manure. Others find 

 sheep more practicable for this purpose. Sheep will keep a 

 lawn as trim as if mowed; but a farm lawn that has flower 

 beds and shrubs scattered over it can not be handled to 

 advantage in this way. 



No. 14 



