84 • MANUAL OF GARDENING 



move the hose to another place. A thorough soaking Hke this, 

 a few times in a dry summer, will do more good than sprin- 

 kling every day. If the land is deeply prepared in the first place, 

 so that the roots strike far into the soil, there is rarely need of 

 watering unless the place is arid, the season unusually dry, or 

 the moisture sucked out by trees. The surface sprinkling en- 

 genders a tendency of roots to start near the surface, and there- 

 fore the more the lawn is lightly watered, the greater is the 

 necessity for watering it. 



Sodding the lawn. 



Persons who desire to secure a lawn very quickly may sod 

 the area rather than seed it, although the most permanent 

 results are usually secured by seeding. Sodding, however, is 

 expensive, and is to be used only about the borders of the 

 place, near buildings, or in areas in which the owner can afford 

 to expend considerable money. The best sod is that which is 

 secured from an old pasture, and for two or three reasons. In 



the first place, it is the right kind 

 of grass, the June-grass (in the 

 North) being the species that often- 

 est runs into pastures and crowds 

 out other plants. Again, it has 

 been so closely eaten down, espe- 



77. Cutting sod for a lawn. ^.^jj^ -^ -^ ^^^ ^^^^ pastured by 



sheep, that it has made a very dense and well-filled sod, which 

 can be rolled up in thin layers. In the third place, the soil in 

 old pastures is likely to be rich from the droppings of animals. 

 In taking sod, it is important that it be cut very thin. An 

 inch and a half thick is usually ample. It is ordinarily rolled 

 up in strips a foot wide and of any length that will allow the 

 rolls to be handled by one or two men. A foot-wide board is 

 laid upon the turf, and the sod cut along either edge of it. One 

 person then stands upon the strip of sod and rolls it towards 



