CONSTRUCTION NOTES 297 



Care of stolons before planting. Stolons shipped for any great dis- 

 tance should be shipped as sods. If sent in bags or otherwise they should 

 be dumped out as soon as received, and kept cool, shaded and moist until 

 planted. Sods niay be laid out in the shade, grass side up, and kept moist. 

 The great danger is from overheating, which will spoil the stolons if allowed 

 to go too far. All weeds and foreign grasses should be removed by hand 

 before the stolons are cut up. The stolons should never be allowed to dry 

 out at any time. 



Preparation of stolons for planting. The stolons should be chopped 

 into lengths such that each piece will contain one node or joint. This 

 length may be from one to three inches, but the shorter length is preferable 

 as long as there is a node on each piece. A feed cutter or combined cutter 

 and shredder may be used. The cut stolons must then be separated so as 

 to permit handling them easily and sowing them evenly. 



Topsoil for covering. Before any planting work starts, there should 

 be prepared a quantity of finely screened topsoil to be used in covering 

 the stolons. Not less than one cubic yard of this soil should be prepared 

 for each 1,000 square feet of area to be covered. Not all this material will 

 be required, but the balance should be saved for later top-dressing. This 

 soil should not be heavy enough in texture so that it will bake or cake 

 over the stolons, nor light enough to blow away. A good loam, with 25 

 per cent sand added, is often used. 



Planting operations. The stolons should be planted at the earliest 

 possible opportunity after they are removed from the nursery. The chopped 

 pieces should be carried in ten-quart galvanized pails. The top-dressing 

 should be carried in wheelbarrows on planks from the topsoil pile. 



The stolons are spread by hand from the pails and, if there is a strong 

 wind blowing, some sort of movable windbreak should be provided. A live 

 joint or node to each square inch of area should be assured, but it is wise 

 economy to spread the stolons more thickly. They must be evenly dis- 

 tributed by men walking backward, not sidewise, and covering a strip about 

 30 inches wide. On a dry day the stolons should be covered immediately 

 and should never lie exposed more than ten minutes on any day. The soil 

 used in covering should be sifted through the fingers from wheelbarrow 

 loads conveniently at hand. The wheelbarrows may be moved on planks 

 laid on the sown areas after the stolons have been rolled. The top-dressing 

 should be dropped directly on top of the stolons and not thrown sidewise 

 so as to roll underneath them. The layer of soil should never exceed three- 

 eighths of an inch and one-quarter of an inch is better. The stolons should 

 not be completely buried, as the top-dressing is used only for the purpose 

 of holding the cut stolons in contact with the moist soil beneath. 



