610 EVERYDAY SCIENCE 



becomes excessively wet, and is inclined to be heavy and compact 

 rather than light, loose, and sandy. A strong clay loam or a sandy 

 loam underlaid by a clay subsoil is undoubtedly the nearest approach 

 to an ideal soil for a lawn ; it should, therefore, be the aim in es- 

 tablishing a lawn to approach as near as possible to one or the other 

 of these types of soil." Farmers' Bulletin No. 494, United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



Since one does not choose his home site for the quality of the 

 soil, it is clear that the soil in his yard may not be particularly 

 adapted to the raising of a good lawn. Since the lawn is intended 

 to be a permanent feature of the decoration of the place, it is 

 worth while to do all in one's power to improve the condition of 

 the soil. 



If one builds a house and is compelled to haul in soil to fill and 

 grade his premises, he can at least exercise care not to have the 

 wrong kind of filling. If the soil is of excellent quality for lawn 

 purposes, it may be necessary for the owner to guard against having 

 the surface soil covered with subsoil taken from the excavation 

 for the foundation. Never allow soil that is full of bricks, tins, 

 boards, and other building debris to be dumped into your yard even 

 for subsoil. Such debris interferes both with drainage and with 

 upward capillary movement of water in dry weather. 



It is almost impossible to grow a lawn of any sort in coarse, sandy 

 soil and it is very difficult to keep a lawn in good condition which 

 has a sandy subsoil. To make a satisfactory lawn where the soil 

 is sandy, add a top dressing of two or three inches of clay and work 

 it into the top four to six inches of sand. If a mixture of loam and 

 well-rotted manure can be laid over this to the depth of two or three 

 inches, a very satisfactory lawn soil will be obtained. 



If the soil is too heavy or sour for lack of drainage, mix a layer of 

 sand or finely sifted ashes with the heavy soil, at the same time 

 adding humus to help fertilize as well as coarsen the soil. 



Soil should be prepared for a lawn to the depth of 8 or 10 inches, 

 even though the surface seed bed need not be more than 1 inch in 

 depth. In spading a soil that is not deep, be careful not to turn 

 the subsoil over the surface soil. After the soil has been spaded, 



