A Chapter on Lawns. 219 



pint less, as you hope to walk on velvet ! Finish the whole by rolling the 

 surfoce evenly and neatly. 



" A few soft vernal showers and bright sunny days will show you a coat 

 of verdure bright as emerald. By the first of June, you must look about 

 for your mower." 



Now, in relation to the proportion of seed, I differ a little from Mr. 

 Downing. Four bushels is the right quantity ; but twenty pounds of white 

 clover in that quantity is sufficient. We do not sell the common red-top 

 for this purpose. Mr. Downing speaks of it in another article as '■'■Bmt- 

 grass, Rhode-Island Bent, Improved Rhode-Island red-top, or Borden 's-grass. 

 It is short, thick, and fine ; and it endures for years." 



A correspondent of "The Horticulturist" says, " Its appearance is like 

 that of red-top, but much smaller, and, of all grass, best suited to a lawn in 

 the Northern States." I notice in a recent agricultural paper the follow- 

 ing mixture of grass-seeds for the lawn ; viz., twelve quarts Rhode-Island 

 Bent-grass, four quarts creeping Bent-grass, ten quarts of red-top, three 

 quarts of sweet vernal grass, two quarts Kentucky blue-grass, one quart of 

 white clover = one bushel ; and from four to five bushels to the acre. 

 Now, I do not believe this mixture is so good as Downing's. The blue- 

 grass is no doubt valuable for the lawn ; but I prefer, after long experi- 

 ence, the Rhode-Island Bent and white clover. 



Had Mr. Downing lived to see this day,-he would not have said a word 

 about lawn-scythes. It was a laborious task to mow over a large lawn 

 every ten days with this implement. 



Now, reader, it is not necessary for you to look about for a mower, nor 

 go in search of a lawn-scythe ; or, if you have one, you can dispose of it 

 as it is said Daniel Webster did with his. When a boy, this distinguished 

 statesman (as t/ie story goes) was at work with his father in the hay-field, 

 mowing. The morning was hot : the boy, lazy, and tired of the drudgery 

 and labor, pretended that his scythe did not hang right. His father altered 

 it several times to try to suit him ; but still his scythe did not hang right : 

 when his father, out of patience, replied, " Daniel, hang it to suit yourself;" 

 which he did by hanging it on the nearest tree. Now, you can dispose of 

 your lawn-scythe in the same way, or any other way to suit : you will have but 

 little use for it for the future. You may also stow away in your lumber-room 



