CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 



OUTLINE OF LAWN TREATMENT. 



Eternal vigilance is the price of a good lawn free from weeds. The 

 proper time to commence the fight against weeds is when the lawn 

 is first made. Care should be taken to secure a thick, thrifty growth 

 of grass at the start. Attempts to establish lawns on poor soil illy- 

 prepared usually fail. After the lawn is established constant care 

 is necessary to maintain it in a thrifty condition which will serve as 

 a protection against weeds. 



The measures most frequently used for the eradication of weeds 

 from lawns are: (a) digging them out with a knife or spud; (b) heavy 

 reseeding and fertilization to crowd them out; and (c) the use of 

 chemical sprays to kill the foliage. The last-named method is the 

 cheapest and as effective as any; but complete success requires the 

 use of all three methods and some others. 



The dandelion and certain other weeds may be eradicated from 

 lawns, without injury to the grass, by proper spraying with iron sul- 

 fate solution. However, the weeds will soon return unless supple- 

 mentary measures are employed. Unfortunately, there is no escape 

 from the menace of dandelions seeding on adjacent grounds, because 

 one has no control over the premises of his neighbors. Neverthe- 

 less, the occasional plants which survive spraying should be prevented 

 from seeding by digging them out or by applying gasoline, kerosene, 

 or dry iron sulfate to their crowns. The lawns should be mowed 

 frequently, watered in dry weather, well fertilized, and the bare spots 

 reseeded. Whenever the dandelions reappear in considerable num- 

 bers it will be necessary to again resort to spraying. 



CUTTING DANDELIONS. 



Cutting off dandelidns below the crown with a knife or spud is not 

 only laborious but ineffective unless practically the entire root is 

 removed or the foliage completely removed several times during the 

 season, so that the plant has no opportunity to store up reserve food 

 in the root. Shallow digging, unless done frequently, is worse than 

 no digging because the root, when cut off, sends up from one to several 

 new plants and the final result is a more profuse growth of dandelions. 

 Deep digging, whereby practically the entire root is removed with a 

 spud, stiff-bladed knife, asparagus knife, chisel, or other special tool, 



