CONSTRUCTION NOTES 295 



is one of the best grasses for poor soils throughout the whole of the eastern 

 United States and thus succeeds where blue grass fails. It does not make 

 a dense turf unless planted thickly and mowed closely. If Kentucky blue 

 grass is sown alone, 150 pounds per acre are required and liming is bene- 

 ficial. If redtop is seeded alone, 40 pounds of fancy recleaned seed per 

 acre is sufficient and no lime is needed. 



For a fine turf similar to putting greens, use Chewings or New Zealand 

 red fescue, which is a grass having a dark green color, making a solid com- 

 pact turf. It is particularly adapted to sowing on sandy loam soil but 

 succeeds well on clay loam or even on clays. When seeded alone, 100 pounds 

 per acre should be used. It is the best lawn grass for growing in the shade 

 under American conditions. Another fine-leaved grass making a dense 

 velvety turf is carpet bent (creeping bent). It does best where the sum- 

 mers are cool and moist; that is, in the northeastern states and on the 

 northwest coast. When the soil is limy, other grasses, such as blue grass 

 and white clover, tend to crowd out carpet bent. It should be sown alone, 

 except that combined with red fescue it will be satisfactory for a few years, 

 but after that the two grasses tend to separate and make circular mats. 



Rhode Island bent is a fine turf grass which is especially adapted to 

 New England and Long Island, and is very common in pure stands there. 

 It is much superior to redtop as a lawn grass, but through confusion and 

 fraud the redtop seed has entirely superseded the Rhode Island bent seed 

 on the market. It is also nearly indistinguishable botanically from carpet 

 bent and the seeds are indistinguishable. For this reason also the Rhode 

 Island bent seed is unobtainable and should not be specified. Mixed German 

 bent may be substituted. 



Sheep fescue and hard fescue grass produce bunchy turf, and where 

 the finer sorts of grass will thrive these fescues should never be used. The 

 hair fescue is a bunch grass and will thrive in the shade, but red fescue is 

 superior because of its creeping habit. Crested dog's-tail is a grass which is 

 not adapted to American conditions and, except in the far northwest along 

 the coast, it should never be used. 



Oats are sometimes sown with grass in late spring to provide a nurse 

 crop until the tender grass can withstand the hot weather. Italian rye 

 grass is sown for a similar purpose as it is short-lived but provides a green 

 cover at the start. A light sprinkling of oats is often sown with grass on 

 slopes where rains are likely to wash the grass seed before it becomes rooted. 



After treatment. When grass is sown in the autumn the soil is still 

 warm and the conditions surrounding the seed are very favorable so that 

 the seed may be expected to germinate in from five to ten days, whereas 

 spring-sown seed, especially if sown early, may not germinate for from 



