122 CALIFORNIA GARDEN FLOWERS 



tempt the dormant roots and seeds to show up. When these have covered 

 the ground, turn them under and allow them to rot. Now spade deeply 

 and mix well with manure, then sprinkle and leave for another showing 

 of weeds, which cut out as fast as they appear. When there is no further 

 growth of weeds, spade and grade or level the plot. 



Clover Preparatory to Blue Grass. An Oakland gardener, whose 

 name is not recorded, gives this advice : "The quickest lawn, the one 

 which is most certain to give good results on almost any ground, and one 

 which is so attractive that many people actually prefer it on its own merits 

 to any variety of grass, is the white clover. Clover, being a legume, instead 

 of depleting the soil, adds nitrogen to it, and brings it into a better and 

 more fertile condition. If you want to have, ultimately, a Kentucky blue 

 grass lawn, which, after all, is, in the general estimation, the ideal lawn, 

 you will do well to plant white clover first, and at the end of a year allow 

 it to grow tall and rank, then dig it up and turn it under as a green manure 

 before planting your Kentucky blue grass. This way you will be pretty 

 sure of a successful blue grass lawn in the end, whereas you may struggle 

 along for a year by other methods and not succeed in getting a good lawn 

 in that time. Sow white clover seed at the rate of one pound to 350 square 

 feet." 



Sowing With Sand. The same writer gives this hint about handling 

 seed : "Buy only the best re-cleaned seed, and in order to sow it evenly, 

 mix it with twice its bulk of clean sand. If you suspect that the sand is the 

 least bit salty, put it in a pail and cover it with water, and pour the water" 

 off, two or three times. Sow the sand and clover seed, mixed together, 

 evenly over your plot, standing on boards and moving them along so as not 

 to indent the lawn surface." 



The Roller on the Lawn. The desirability of using a roller in lawn 

 work depends largely upon the character of the soil, and afterwards of the 

 turf which is secured. As a rule the roller is an implement for light sandy 

 soils and not for heavy soils, which are apt to become too compact by 

 action of water, without rolling. Therefore this advice has to be discrim- 

 inatingly read: "Scratch the seed mixture in lightly with a steel rake, 

 taking care not to pull the seed up into patches; then roll with a light 

 roller. Patting with the flat of a spade is a poor substitute for rolling, and 

 it is impossible to have a perfectly smooth, even lawn, without the use of 

 a lawn roller. Two or three neighbors could club together and buy one in 

 partnership, if necessary, but it is a mistake to try to get along without 

 one. Frequent rolling after the lawn has become established makes the 

 turf firm and close and keeps the surface even." 



The sandier the soil and drier the situation the greater the benefit of 

 rolling, probably. The following may help readers having to do with such 

 conditions. It is the way to make a lawn in Arizona, according to Mark 

 Walker, formerly of the experiment station of that State: "To overcome 



