ON LAWN BEAUTIFICATION 



proper regulation of the supply of air and water, 

 upon which the condition of the lawn so largely 

 depends. What is true about drainage and irriga- 

 tion will have equal application to land that is to 

 be used for raising flowers or vegetables or small 

 fruits. Indeed, my suggestions are based very 

 largely on my personal experience at Santa Rosa 

 in preparing the ground for the experiment gar- 

 dens on which plants of several thousand different 

 species, and representing many families from all 

 parts of the globe are grown. 



A PRACTICAL DRAINAGE SYSTEM 



Many hundreds of persons visiting my experi- 

 ment grounds at Santa Rosa each season have mar- 

 velled at the exceedingly varied and prolific crops 

 raised exclaiming, "What a delightful soil you 

 have!" 



Their surprise grows when they are assured 

 that this productive land was originally almost 

 valueless for growing plants. It was made fruit- 

 ful by artificial drainage and irrigation. The ap- 

 plication of the simplest principles of regulation of 

 water supply resulted in transforming a relatively 

 sterile soil into one of the most fertile areas of the 

 earth's surface. The method in which this was 

 accomplished may be outlined as offering a model 

 that may be followed to advantage in draining 

 similar land anywhere. 



[245] 



