THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK 



June will kill weeds and nourish Grass. He expects that what 

 ^"^5 is injurious to one class of vegetation will be so to 

 another, and may be curious to know what the substance 

 is that has the peculiar effect claimed. The principal 

 component of lawn sand is sulphate of ammonia, 

 which is at once a destroyer and a fertiliser of plants, 

 according to the manner of its application. Let the 

 reader who grows spring Cabbages try sulphate of 

 ammonia as a stimulant. He will find that if he spreads 

 it on the soil in a very small quantity (an ounce per 

 square yard as a maximum), it will increase the growth 

 and deepen the colour of the plants. But if he drops 

 a few particles on to the leaves, he will probably find 

 that they are scorched. Now let him proceed to the 

 lawn, and, allowing two ounces per square yard, drop 

 the greater part of it into the heart of the weeds, and 

 sprinkle the remainder in the lightest possible coating 

 (it is so difficult to use a small enough quantity that 

 it is well to add an ounce of superphosphate to it) 

 over the Grass, The amateur now understands how 

 lawn sand may do good in two ways — reducing weeds 

 and stimulating Grass. 



I do not hold out over-bright hopes of getting rid of 

 Dandelions and Plantains with lawn sand, I should 

 prefer to put some sulphuric acid in a bottle, and transfer 

 a few drops of this fierce corrosive fluid to the heart 

 of each weed by means of a forked stick. But if the 

 area be small, the weeds can be spudded out with an old 

 knife. 



One sometimes finds a lawn go almost brown in 

 winter when the Grass is not growing. This is probably 

 due to the attacks of leather-jackets below the surface. 

 Rooks and starlings reduce these pests in meadows, the 

 former by cleverly hooking them out of the soil, the 

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