Lawns and Tennis Grounds from Seed 



use of salt patches of grass are easily killed. Daisies can be lifted 

 separately, each plant with its root entire, and although new growth 

 will here and there appear for a second or even a third time, the 

 daisies will be weaker, and a little perseverance will speedily rid a 

 large grass plot of every one of them. 



Another mode of killing weeds is to dip a wooden skewer into 

 sulphuric acid, strong carbolic acid, or one of the liquid weed destroyers, 

 and then plunge the skewer into the heart of the plant. The result is 

 deadly and instantaneous. In using these destructive fluids, however, 

 great caution is necessary to avoid personal injury or the burning of 

 clothing. But when every care is taken to prevent an accident, the 

 fact remains that these corrosive fluids may prove to be a source of 

 grave danger, even when the bottle containing the liquid is kept 

 in a place of supposed security. For this reason poisons are better 

 avoided, especially as the object can be attained by other means 

 which involve no danger. 



In making numerous experiments, we find that nearly all broad- 

 leaved plants can be quickly destroyed by placing a pinch of sulphate 

 of ammonia on the heart of each weed. The sulphate will dissolve 

 during the following night. For weeds having thick roots, or which 

 possess a corm, such as buttercups, the sulphate will be more rapid 

 in its work if the heart of the plant be stabbed with a skewer im- 

 mediately before or after the remedy is applied. As the ammonia is 

 a rapid and forcing artificial manure, it is necessary in the succeeding 

 spring to give the lawn a dressing of some other stimulant, such as 

 Peruvian guano, superphosphate of lime, or bone-meal. Nitrate of 

 soda, applied in the same way, is equally effective against weeds, but 

 it encourages the growth of strong grasses, whereas sulphate of 

 ammonia favours the finer varieties. 



Where large patches of weeds are destroyed and the ground 

 becomes bare, the spots must be scored or pricked with a fork and 

 sown with seeds. This should be done a few days after the sulphate 

 has been used. 



In extirpating the weeds of a lawn the work should be done 

 systematically. Instead of aimlessly wandering hither and thither, it 

 is more economical in time and labour to mark off with a garden 

 line a strip six feet wide, and destroy the weeds within the enclosure. 

 Follow with successive strips until the whole lawn has been dealt with, 

 and it is surprising how quickly a large area may be cleared of weeds. 



Improving Lawns. Old lawns become thin and bare from 

 various causes, such as poverty of the soil, the encroachment of 



