CONSTRUCTION NOTES 299 



summer cause the northern types of grasses to burn out and also kill many 

 of the southern types of grasses. 



In the north the value of a lawn continues only during the growing 

 season, from April until October. In the south, especially throughout the 

 section visited by many of the northern tourists, temperature conditions 

 are favorable for the growing of a lawn throughout the entire winter. It is 

 therefore desirable to have types of grasses for the development of lawn 

 areas both during the winter months and the summer months. The exces- 

 sive cost of maintaining a good turf on lawn areas during the hot and dry 

 summer months has discouraged the development of extensive lawn areas 

 as seen in the northern states, except on golf courses, where the fairways 

 and greens are maintained regardless of cost, and on other play areas. 

 Little experimenting has been done in the far south to determine individual 

 types or combinations of types of northern grasses which will thrive best 

 under these climatic conditions both during the winter months and the 

 summer months. 



Types of grasses used. There are three types of grasses which are 

 used for the development of lawns in the far south (throughout Georgia, 

 Alabama and Florida). The first type consists of the more or less native 

 grasses -- Bermuda grass and St. Augustine grass. These grasses will not 

 make a perfect turf as a perfect turf is known in the northern states. They 

 grow vigorously and spread rapidly when the temperature does not fall 

 below 50 or 55 degrees. The second type, of which Ross's southern mix- 

 ture is an example, is composed of kinds of northern grasses, such as orchard 

 grass, Rhode Island bent, redtop, and a small portion of Italian rye, which, 

 as a result of experiments, have produced good turf on southern lawns. 

 The third type is Italian rye, which germinates quickly and produces a 

 green turf, but lives only for a short period during the cooler winter months. 

 This burns out quickly during the hot summer months. 



Preparation of seed bed. In the preparation and development of lawn 

 areas, especially on virgin soil, the land must be cleared and the stumps 

 removed. It is preferable that stumps should be either pulled out or, in 

 the instance of pine lands, should be burned out. The operation of blasting 

 stumps in order to remove them leaves a considerable hole which, when 

 filled with loose soil, however thoroughly tamped, may cause a depression 

 in the lawn on account of later settling. After the land is cleared and the 

 stumps are removed, the lawn is brought to an even grade, and unless the 

 soil is a rich yellow topsoil sand, it is advisable to spread a layer of muck, 

 averaging from two to four inches in depth, over the entire lawn area. A 

 deeper covering of muck would be better. The cost of excessive mucking 

 is often the determining factor. This muck, which usually comes from 



