SODDING LAWNS 207 



depressions. The grass will quickly grow through 

 this soil. 



Persons who desire to get a lawn very quickly 

 may sod the area rather than seed it. Sodding, 

 however, is expensive, and is to be used only about 

 the borders of the place, near buildings, or in 

 areas in which the owner can afford to expend 

 considerable money. The best sod is that which 

 is secured from an old pasture, and for two or 

 three reasons. In the first place, it is the right 

 kind of grass, the June -grass being the species 

 which oftenest runs into pastures and crowds out 

 other plants. Again, it has been so closely eaten 

 down, especially if it has been pastured by sheep, 

 that it has made a very dense and well -filled sod, 

 which can be rolled up in thin layers. In the 

 third place, the surface soil in such old pastures is 

 likely to be rich from the droppings of animals. 



In taking sod, it is important that it be cut 

 very thin. An inch and a half thick is usually 

 ample. It is ordinarily rolled up in strips which 

 are a foot wide and of any length which will 

 allow the rolls to be handled by one or two men. 

 A foot -wide board is laid upon the turf, and 

 the sod cut along either edge of it. One person 

 then stands upon the strip of sod and rolls it to- 

 wards himself while another cuts it loose with a 

 spade, as shown in Fig. 177. When the sod is 

 laid, it is unrolled upon the land and then firmly 

 beaten down. Land which is to be sodded should 



