A Chapter on Lazvns. 217 



azaleas, kalmias, and other native shrubs and plants, of which he was very 

 fond, which skirted this enchanting place. Trees, shrubs, and grass he 

 gloried in, but especially the grass. 



I have often heard it remarked that our climate was too dry and hot for 

 such beautiful turf as is to be seen in England. I have never seen an 

 English lawn : but I have seen the places I have alluded to, and hundreds 

 of others in our suburban towns ; and I know there is such a thing as to 

 have a lawn in perfection in this climate through the whole of the season, 

 however hot or dry, if the right course be taken. 



And now the question is, How can a fine lawn be made 1 Well, a fine 

 lawn cannot be obtained, as some suppose, by sowing coarse grass-seeds on 

 an unprepared soil, however rich the soil may be, the primary object being 

 to obtain a crop of hay. This is impossible : thehay-crop must be sacrificed, 

 and the ground prepared in a suitable manner. '■'■ How to obtain a fine 

 lawn^'' Downing says, "is a question which has, no doubt, already puzzled 

 many of our readers. They have thought, perhaps, that it would be quite 

 sufficient to sow with grass-seeds, or lay down neatly with sods, any plat 

 of common soil, to mow it occasionally, to be repaid by the perpetual soft- 

 ness and verdure of an English lawn. They have found, however, after 

 a patient trial of several seasons, that an American summer so bright 

 and sunny as to give us in fruits almost the ripeness and prodigality 

 of the tropics, does not, like that of Britain, ever moist and humid, favor 

 the condition of fine lawns." Mr. Downing, who has been my guide when 

 directing others, whose suggestions I have found to be correct when faith- 

 fully followed, is now, after many years of experience and observation, still 

 the best authority to which I can refer in relation to the formation of dura- 

 ble, ever-green, and beautiful lawns. I know that it is not impossible to 

 have a fine lawn in any part of the Northern States of the Union. Now 

 listen to what Downing says ("for, although dead, he yet speaketh ") : 

 " Deep soil, the proper kind of grasses, and frequent ?7iowing. 



" First of all for us, deep soil. In a moist climate, where showers or fogs 

 give all vegetable nature a weekly succession of baths, one may raise a 

 pretty bit of turf on a bare board, with half an inch of soil. But here it 

 does not require much observation or theory to teach us, that, if any plant 

 is to maintain its verdure through a long and bright summer with alternate 



