yard. If heavy rains occur, it is well to give the plants an- Food for 

 other application of Nitrate. This need not be as heavy as ants 

 the first application. Ial 



Greenhouse Plant Food. 



The use of rotted stable manure as a source of green- 

 house plant food has been the custom for so many years that 

 more effective forms of plant food make headway slowly; 

 yet this rotted stable manure has many disadvantages. It 

 always contains more or less weed seed as well as disease 

 germs, and it supplies its plant food in available form very 

 irregularly. Also, by fermentation it materially influences 

 the temperature of the seed bed, a temperature we have no 

 means of regulating. The Nitrogen it contains is not Ni- 

 trated, hence for forcing it cannot be safely relied upon. 

 For greenhouse work, the fertilizer chemicals should be used, 

 such as Nitrate of Soda, acid phosphate and sulphate of pot- 

 ash. They should always be used in such proportions that 

 100 pounds of ammoniate Nitrogen are always accompanied 

 by 30 pounds of phosphoric acid and 70 pounds of actual 

 potash. The quantity to be applied should correspond to 

 about three-fourths of an ounce of Nitrate Nitrogen per 

 square yard of surface; that is, to each square yard of bench, 

 use about 5 ounces of Nitrate of Soda, 3 ounces of acid phos- 

 phate and 2 ounces of sulphate of potash. A mixture of these 

 proportions may be dissolved in water and applied in small 

 portions every few days, taking care, however, to cease appli- 

 cations with those plants it is desired to fully mature, as soon 

 as the desired growth is made. 



Lawns and Golf Links. 



Good lawns are simply a matter of care and rational 

 treatment. If the soil is very light, top-dress liberally with 

 clay and work into the sand. In all cases the soil must be 

 thoroughly fined and made smooth, as the seed, being very 

 small, require a fine seed bed. In the South seed to Bermuda 

 grass or Kentucky blue grass ; in the North the latter is also 

 a good lawn grass, but perhaps a little less desirable than 

 Rhode Island bent grass ( Agrostis canina) . Avoid mixtures, 

 as they give an irregularly colored lawn under stress of drouth 

 or early frosts or maturity. For Rhode Island bent grass 



