132 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



Fig. 42. THE INDISPENSABLE LAWN. A good lawn is as essential as anything 

 connected with the home grounds. No matter whether large or small, nor how 

 fine the trees and shrubs, nor how well proportioned the foundation planting, 

 nor how beautiful the flowers if there isn't an open sweep of green sward the 

 grounds will be lacking in attractiveness 



proportions of the best Kentucky Blue Grass and Red Top, with 

 White Clover added at the rate of five or seven pounds per 100 pounds 

 of grass seed. 



As to quantities required, I should never use less than 100 

 pounds per acre. This is contrary to the average seed catalog or 

 farmer's guide, but in the years I have used seed, I have never yet 

 found a lawn that we made on which we put too much seed. Many 

 times, on the other hand, after the grass was up, it required time, 

 expensive labor, and a lot more seed to go over a lawn and reseed it 

 and perhaps repeat this a second time. The heavier the soil the more 

 seed you need, and it costs less to use enough the first time and obtain 

 a heavy stand of grass than to have to reseed, which cannot be done 

 without loosening up the surface. 



THE COST OF LAWN MAKING 



Now about the cost of making a lawn. This depends to a large 

 extent on the amount of grading one has to do, as labor is what costs. 

 One has also to take into consideration whether a place is open, so 

 as to permit using a team to advantage, or whether because of a 

 lot of trees, all hand work is required. It shouldn't take a man 

 long to figure out approximately what it will cost for labor and ma- 



