LAWN 



LAWSONIA 



893 



gets complete root-hold, when, in the struggle for life, 

 the earlier growths of grass, being weaker, go to the 

 wall and are crowded out of existence. How fine this 

 blue-grass may become under favorable conditions it 

 will be needless to point out to those who have seen the 

 grass meadows of Kentucky. 



5. On a quiet day the seed should be sown evenly 

 over the Lawn surface — a task which can be well done 

 only by much skill and experience. The ground will 

 then need careful raking with a line-toothed iron rake, 



1247. An easy erade for a steep lawn. 



and rolling with an iron roller, the heavier the better. 

 In very dry and windy weather it is hardly worth while 

 to sow grass seed. 



C. As soon as the grass has grown 3 or 4 inches, cut it 

 first with a scythe and afterwards with the Lawn mower, 

 in order to secure a good, thick-set turf. Every spring, 

 and oftener if wet weather prevails, a compacting with 

 the iron roller will serve a good purpose. Fertilizing on 

 the top of the Lawn in the winter is always in order, 

 provided the remainders of rubbish from the stable 

 manure that may be used be removed early in spring 

 before the grass starts. 



7. The last and perhaps the most important care to be 

 given the Lawn in the process of its establishment is 

 the weeding of the first summer. The next is the weed- 

 ing of the second summer— and the third is the weeding 

 at any time it may need it, no matter how many years 

 may have elapsed since its construction. The onion 

 patch and the flower garden ni'cil no nmi-c weeding than 

 the Lawn, if for no other reason than In-cause the use 

 and beauty of either onion patch ^)r flower garden can 

 never, combined, equal those of the home Lawn. In it, 

 skill and patience and the love of beauty find abundant 

 '■«ward. Samvel Parsons, Jr. 



Lawns for the South. — The scarcity of handsome 

 Lawns throughout the South often leads to the impres- 

 sion that the cause is from a lack of proper grasses pos- 

 sessing sufficient resisting power to withstand the long, 

 v,'arm summers. This idea is, unfortunately, widely en- 

 tertained, and, as a consequence, one of the most pleas- 

 i-ig features of landscape gardening is lost. The princi- 

 pal cause which has led to this opinion is from the 

 endeavor, in the formation of Lawns, to use the many 

 kinds of grass seeds which are so successful in the 

 northern states and which are unsuited for southern 

 soils and climate, unless in a few exceptional localities. 



Sown during the fall months in properly prepared 

 land, a very good stand can be had daring winter and 

 early summer, but unless there is sufficient moisture, 

 either from copious rains or liberal irrigation, most of 

 those otherwise excellent grasses fail and die out dur- 

 ing a protracted drought. Lawns of an extensive area, 

 when formed with northern and European grasses, are 

 therefore unadvisable South, but where the extent is 

 limited, the soil deeply dug, well fertilized and artifi- 

 cial irrigation available, then a very satisfactory result 

 may be expected. Several Lawn grass mixtures are rec- 

 ommended, but the best that has come under our obser- 

 vation is the formula known in Philadelphia as "Ever- 

 green Lawn Mixture." 



There are, however, several native and exotic grasses, 

 which not only resist the long summer heat, but, if 

 properly treated, afford most excellent Lawn-making 

 material. First of all is the Bermuda grass ( Cynodon 



or CaprioJn), a plant of trailing and stoloniferous habit. 

 Although it is known throughout the southern states 

 under the name of Bermuda, it is, however, a native 

 grass of Bengal and other sections of India, and found, 

 also, in Corea. In Bengal it is known as "Doob grass," 

 and there highly prized for its vigorous growth of a 

 soft, dark hue, and thriving where scarcely any other 

 kind will. This grass has become widely disseminated 

 throughout the South, where it has received both the 

 harshest possible reputation as a nuisance when allowed 

 to take a foothold in cultivated fields and gar- 

 dens, as well as unstinted praise from those 

 who have learned its great value as a pasture, 

 hay or Lawn grass. 



When required for Lawns, the roots should 

 _ be cut in short lengths, — passing them through 



a hay cutter is the most expeditious. Let the 

 ground be well and deeply plowed or dug, well 

 manured, and after sowing the pieces of grass 

 roots they must be either raked or harrowed 

 • in. then the surface made perfectly level by 

 rolling; or, where the area is limited, the roots 

 may be planted 6 inches apart. Plant at any 

 time during February or March, or in the fall 

 if preferred. If during the spring the soil 

 should become very dry, an occasional watering, 

 where this is practicable, should be attended to 

 until the grass is well established. Neither ex- 

 cessive heat or cold will kill the roots if left 

 undisturbed, but plowing up during warm weather will 

 soon rid the ground of the roots if this is desired. As 

 the new growth attains a few inches in height, use the 

 Lawn mower every week or ten days during moist 

 weather, but even during dry weather the grass must be 

 kept occasionally clipped to prevent flowering. If the 

 growth is not vigorous, apply a top-dressing of bone 

 meal. In the fall a coat of well-rotted stable manure 

 should be given ; this may be raked off early in the 

 spring, previously running a sharp-toothed harrow over 

 the Lawn, and finally rolling it well. In this way a per- 

 manent and good Lawn may be secured with very little 

 additional expense. Any soil, unless naturally very wet, 

 will suit Bermuda grass. 



Paspalum distichum, or "Joint grass," is native of 

 the southern states, and usually found in moist or low 

 grounds. It can be utilized in soils which are too wet 

 to suit the Bermuda, but at best makes an indifTerent 

 Lawn, as it is of low-creeping and not sufficiently 

 dense habit. 



StenotapJirnni dimidiatum, known on the coast and 

 Florida as "Goose grass" (St. Augustine grass), is an 

 erect-growing perennial plant, with flat or channelled 

 leaves. It is found in pine-barren swamps and ponds 

 from Florida to North Carolina, and being well adapted 

 to the sandy soils of the coast, even those which are 

 commonly termed salt-water lands, it is therefore valu- 

 able for such localities. As for the Bermuda, the soil 

 should be well fertilized and prepared. The I'ootlets 

 are planted in rows a few inches apart. As the growth 

 begins, repeated clippings are required. While it makes 

 a coarse sod, still its bright green color and adaptability 

 to soils where few other grasses of low growth are pos- 

 sible, makes it a valuable plant for Lawns. 



Many Lawns are injured by allowing other grasses to 

 take a foothold. Sporobolus /»KZic?(«, or "Smut grass,'* 

 was originally introduced from the West Indies. It 

 soon forms large tufts, with tall, wiry stems, whose 

 panicles are usually covered with a black fungous 

 growth. Arisfida pnrpurnscens, or "Broom Sedge," 

 will soon deface a Lawn if left undisturbed. Both 

 should be eradicated as soon as they appear. 



P. J. Beeckmans. 

 L&WSONIA (after Dr. Lawson, who published in 1709, 

 at London, an account of his botanical journey in Caro- 

 lina), lii/thrctcets. This genus includes a tropical shrub, 

 cult, in Europe under glass for ornament and outdoors 

 in the tropics throughout the world. Its fragrant white 

 fls. produce the henna or alhenna of the Arabs (Cyprus 

 of the ancients), which is used in Egypt and elsewhere 

 by women to color their nails, and by men to dye their 

 beards. In America it seems to be cult, only in S. Calif, 

 and S. Fla. 



Lawsonia is a genus with perhaps only one species, a 



