26 MASSACHUSETTS HOKTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



not much more difficult to raise from seeds than are annuals and 

 perennials. Clematis paniculata is better sown as soon as ripe, 

 the seeds will then appear in abundance the following summer; if 

 not sown until spring a large proportion will not appear until the 

 second season. 



Lawn seeding is too often improperly done; it should be preceded, 

 in the case of new lawns by very careful preparation of the soil, 

 frequent raking being necessary to make a perfect seed bed. The 

 seed being very light, a calm day should be selected for seeding. 

 A common mistake made is in sowing too thickly. Heavily seeded 

 lawns may look well at first and give a good immediate effect, but 

 the individual plants being so terribly crowded lack vigor, and it is 

 not by any means unusual during spells of hot, moist, and dark 

 weather to find rot setting in, this will not occur when seed is sown 

 more thinly. As a general rule 40-50 pounds of lawn seed should 

 suffice for an acre, but as quality is very variable this may some- 

 times prove insufficient. The best all-around grass for our New 

 England lawns is Kentucky blue grass, to which should be added 

 some red top and Rhode Island bent, and where clover is liked 

 add a little white clover. The best time to do seeding is from mid- 

 August to mid-September; the next best period is from April 10 

 to May 15. To seed a lawn properly seed should be sown both 

 lengthwise and crosswise; there are then unlikely to be any bare 

 patches. A thorough raking and rolling must follow seedings and 

 this rolling can advantageously be done several times through the 

 season. In seeding bare patches on well established lawns, first 

 scratch the spaces to be seeded and next mix some fine loam with 

 grass seed and scatter over said bare spots. This is better than 

 scattering the seed over the vacant patches and giving these a 

 scratch with an iron rake. For permanent pastures August is 

 far the best month to do seeding; spring seeding is usually more or 

 less of a failure. 



A point worth emphasizing is that seedlings of many garden 

 plants possess much greater vigor and are more disease proof than 

 the same varieties raised from cuttings. Hollyhocks and verbenas 

 were some years ago decimated by disease and their very extinction 

 even was threatened owing to their persistent propagation from 

 cuttings over a long term of years. Since seedlings were raised 



