THE GARDEN 29 



cutting and doctoring in order to get the color and texture of the surround- 

 ing grass. 



Wherever bare spots have appeared, add fresh sod, taking care to find 

 Bods as near the quality of the lawn grass as possible. 



Especially see to it that these fresh sods contain no weeds. Sprinkle 

 selected grass seeds over such spots as seem thin or poor in appearance. 

 Do not forget to scatter plenty of some good, rich fertilizer, like bone meal, 

 over the entire lawn a few times during the season, always after a rain. 

 Such little odds and ends attended to will in a short time give a perfect 

 lawn, one to be proud of, and one that will enhance the value of the 

 property. 



GRADING AND SEEDING 



Grading means shaping the surface of the land to the desired level. 

 This means filling in low spots with earth from high spots, and doing this 

 lays bare a subsoil in which nothing can grow save perhaps the most 

 aggressive of weeds. For this very reason it is always necessary before 

 grading to remove the top soil from both the places to be filled in and any 

 hillocks to be levelled. This top soil will be useful to respread when the 

 grading is done. 



What a familiar sight it is to see the hard, yellow clay or other unfer- 

 tile earth, taken from cellar excavations, being spread with disastrous 

 results over perfectly good top soil. In such cases the top soil should 

 have been removed, with such little trouble, too, and then respread after 

 the cellar soil had been used. Nothing on earth in the shape of fertilizer 

 will render that yellow clay fit soil for any kind of plant growth. 



After grading has been satisfactorily carried out, and- drainage looked 

 after, when necessary, and the top soil levelled, by spading and raking, 

 or plowing and harrowing (if a large lawn is in process of making) as de- 

 scribed above, the seeding will be in order. 



The quantity of seed necessary for 300 square feet (that would be a 

 lawn 20 X 15 feet) is one quart, or at the rate of five bushels for one acre. 

 This may seem a large quantity, but, remember, we want a lawn of fine- 

 leaved grass; we want it to grow quickly, and we want the grass to crowd 

 out any weeds, the seeds of which are in all soils. 



Lawn seed may be Fown any time from April to October, but prefer- 

 ably in early spring or early fall, to get the benefit of the spring and fall 

 rains. Choose for the sowing a quiet day, so that the seed will fall as 

 evenly as possible. Make two sowings, the second at right angles to the 

 first, which will insure a more even distribution. After sowing, harrow 

 or rake the ground, and then roll, which will press the seed well into the 

 earth. 



Watch for weeds, and dig or "spud" them up as soon as seen. If 

 caught young, the long roots will be easily lifted out completely. 



USE THE MOWER EARLY 



As soon as it is at all possible, the lawn should have its first mowing. 

 Before this cutting, however, the roller should be used for several days, 

 going slowly and carefully back and forward until the surface has attained 

 the desired evenness. This should be done, of course, while the ground is 

 still very soft from the soaked-in snow and early rains. 



As the first crop of grass is always unusually coarse and thick, some- 

 times even containing thick tufts that have appeared, it will be no easy task 

 to push the machine across the surface. See to it that the machine is well 

 sharpened for this first cutting. A dull mower is very little use, simply 



