892 



LAWN 



which had been discovered by 

 months and even years of keen 

 and intellJKent search in the old 

 meadows of Ijoth the Old and the 

 New World from Austria to Aus- 

 trali:>. Tin- result is an elastic 

 liniiihss. :ui endurance, depth 

 ■.iw[ lirlinrss of the turf which 

 Miu'-c^t-- to the tread the deep 

 stern carpet woven 



pile ot some ta 

 in a hand-loom. 



But all can not 

 standard on their I. 



atta 



body of hord.Tin- plMi.t :,1 imi . ^■,\„r!, ..nil n-iuiUy Irni.ir 

 the Lawn and the diirn. m |.i i ,i^ iiai will appear in 



any properly unified sd I i ape gardening. 



The art of the designer « I i . i iii determining 



the relative sizes of the Liam- u-vi <li:-^f enclosing or 

 framing plantations. A carefol eye must, of course, be 

 given to the individuality of the Lawn itself, which 

 should never be allowed to merge into the neighboring 

 plantations. A like principle applies to all kinds of art 

 — it is fundamental and vital in its character. The 

 reader may fancy that its application would tend to limit 

 the beauty of landscape gardening by eliminating cer- 

 tain features of natural beauty, such as trees, shrubs 

 and beds of flowers. I>ut. it he will look at an open Lawn 

 with discemiiii; an.l , inj.ai la i ic eyes, he will find that 

 the "moving (• I. a I a virig grass, rich patches 



of dark and li^li i a : i il-al with the starry radi- 

 ance of the bun 1 1 I' ila a ^i i la- ^^rass, and the hundred 

 incidents of blaziiitc or siilxhual color and form that ap- 

 pear on the surface of an open meadow," need no add. ai 

 beauty of tree or shrub to perfect their nearly unaii 

 proachable loveliness. So important does the wrihi- 

 consider the essential and peculiar beauty of the Lawn 

 as distinguished from that of any other part of the 

 home domain, that he always feels inclined to term it 

 the true focus of the picture, the central point of inter- 

 est in any landscape gardening design. 



This being the case, it behooves us always to literally 

 leave no stone unturned or clod of earth uutilled and 

 imfei'tilized in order to obtain a satisfactory open Lawn. 

 Did the reader ever really see such an one ; Lit liim an- 

 swer frankly to himself whether h. lai- ^r 1 a • laa ~r, n a 

 Lawn which showed no traces 111' I i > n ; aai 



early weeds in July, nor any sin it 



weeds in August and Septemlii-r, aina. all. a Lauit 

 which would stand a protracted drouL;hi u itUuui ariiliciul 

 watering. Very likely he will think it is impossible to 

 make such a Lawn under the conditions of soil and cli- 

 mate which each and all of us are likely to believe spe- 

 cially characteristic of the spot of ground on which we 

 live. Perhaps, on the other hand, he will declare that In 

 has seen such a Lawn in some remote place, but if w. 

 question him, ten chances to one we shall find that 1 i~ 

 observation of this exceptional Lawn is limited— that It 

 has not wintered and summered near it, or seen ii 

 ing its periods of " storm and stress." The writer k i 

 one place where such a Lawn can be seen, and he i ■ 

 to it, not because it is properly a Lawn, for it lack- t 

 requisite framing plantations; but it is perfect in iin' 

 first essential of a good Lawn— it is a piece of perfect 

 Lawn grass. A brief description will show how this 

 standard of excellence was reached. The Lawn consists 

 ot siriall jiatalir.^ i.f irrass turf on a private farm in Mau- 

 cliesti 1-, 1 "titi. i;,ii h iiatch was worked and turned over 



withxat I a ly contrived hoes, forks and rakes 



until 1 1. I : weed was removed that could be 



fiiunil I. tilt t ; til and untiring patience. The soil 

 was that I.f an alil ^'anlrn. and naturally good. It was 

 tilled in the must tlii.n,u-li manner and not fertilized at 

 all, fiir fear new weeds In- introduced. Then, in this 

 ini-lliiw and n-ee].tive mi-ilinni. were set cuttings orjoints 

 of: the hardiest and most luxuriant varieties of grasses 



given: 

 1. The Lawn should be care- 

 ftilly -lailril, either convex, level or concave, in such 

 cinnparatively long, suave and graceful lines as will ac- 

 cord with the peculiar conformation of the ground (Fig. 



m-). 



2. Plow, harrow or spade, and fork the soil of the 

 Lawn to a depth of tw., fiit. if possible, and keep re- 

 moving the stones and lanniiiL' the gathered rubbish 

 for several weeks, or a^ j.iii- a- m.u can persuade your- 

 self to do it, or pay anv ..m- lUa to do it, with the full 

 assurance that no matter how muidi you do, you will not 

 be likely to destroy all the weeds and win the very best 

 possible results. 



3. Enrich the soil by a covering of still richer mold. 

 Next to this in efficiency are bone dust, superphos- 

 phate of lime, nitrate of soda, and nitrogenous manures 

 like ground flesh and bone mixed in proportions suited 

 to "the special soil, which may vary materially in a dis- 

 tance ot a few hundred yards. The usual proportions 



ai- le tun til the ai-ie uf ordinary artificial fertilizers, 



Mirh as ^ii|ii i|ila.s|ihate uf lime and bone dust, or 15 to 

 j:. uf w, II ruttril stalili- manure. If artificial fertilizers 

 an- nut availalile. thin take eow manure, sheep manure, 

 or last of all, because it is the most productive of weeds, 

 ordinary stable manure. These natural manures are, 

 after all, the best, save for their weed-bearing qualities. 

 They will need composting with several times their 

 bulk of good soil and evenly spreading and harrowing 

 or raking in throughout the .surface of the Lawn. 



4. For turfing, the cleanest grass seed that can be ob- 

 tained at any price will be found the best in the end. 



r 



The bulk of this seed should be Kentucky blue-grass or 

 June-grass {Pon imitensis) mixed with red-top or herd 's- 

 grass {Ai/f '•.. •• ■'■". y:<r. rulgaris), or A grostis canhia, 

 the Rhoiii I _ii<s. The advantage of using 



several kin - t hat the first-comers hold pos- 



session uf ita at iitia a _ainst incursions of weeds until 

 the stronger Imi ^luuer-growing Kentucky blue-grass 



