THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



J37 



permanent undertaking as making a 

 lawn. 



Most of the grass seeds are very 

 light and will fly in every direction, 

 much preferring the openings in your 

 face to the ground. When there is a 

 very gentle breeze blowing steadily in 

 one direction is a good time to sow. 

 You will soon find out then where your 

 seed is settling and gauge your dis- 

 tance accordingly. About 30 to 40 

 pounds of grass seed is usually sown 

 to the acre and 5 or 6 pounds of White 

 Clover. If a small plot of ground, it 

 is easy to know when you have sown 

 enough. In most cases you will sow 

 far too thickly. Neither in spring nor 

 fall is it advisable to keep the newly 

 made lawns mowed closely, so you 



idea of nourishing the roots you are 

 mistaken. The fertilizing properties 

 of the manure have passed through 

 the soil while the roots were inactive 

 and have not benefited the plant. 

 With excessive watering the roots are 

 often brought near the surface and 

 at the same time continually sprink- 

 ling Impoverishes the surface soil. 



So one inch of good loam to which 

 has been added y 2 Ib. of bone meal to 

 the bushel, and this soil thrown on 

 the surface of the lawn and worked 

 in by the back of the rake just before 

 rolling, or even after, will do more 

 good than all the manure you can 

 put on. Then you have given the 

 grass something to feed on and you 



A well-kept Lawn. 



must waive appearance for the benefit 

 of the grass, at least for the first sea- 

 son. 



The care of lawns is something I 

 have thought and talked about for 

 years, for I am convinced that in two 

 features our city and suburban lawns 

 are greatly mismanaged. The only 

 time our lawns want rolling is in the 

 spring. Then they certainly need it. 

 Winter and heavy frosts have heaved 

 up places here and there, and more 

 than that, have heaved up the roots of 

 the grass, much of which perishes if 

 not pressed back by the roller. 'Roll- 

 ing (and this time it should be done 

 with a good heavy one) must be done 

 when the ground is drying after the 

 frost has left it; when it is soft and 

 pliable but not wet and sticky. The 

 mowing machine will do the rest for 

 the remainder of the season. Rolling 

 is all rigM, and if you have time roll 

 often; no harm done. 



The practice of strewing stable 

 manure on the grass in November 

 with the idea of protecting it is all 

 nonsense. It brings you a great crop 

 of all kinds of weeds, and that's about 

 all it does. If you put it on with the 



will see great results in a few weeks. 

 Although an inch over the whole sur- 

 face may seem burying the grass; it 

 will soon disappear when moved 

 about by thei back of the rake, and 

 after the first good rain you will not 

 notice it. 



The other feature I object to is this 

 continual sprinkling, and many of 

 our citizens who have grass surround- 

 ing their houses are insane over the 

 matter. "Henry, you had better put 

 the sprinkler on the front lawn." I 

 have seen this done while yet the 

 rainbow was in tha sky, the effect of 

 a receding storm that had an hour be- 

 fore poured out its liquid gifts in co- 

 pious quantities. 



The grass that suffers most with 

 this idiotic treatment is that beneath 

 the shade of trees and buildings. We 

 know scores of places that are resod- 

 ded or seeded every season, or at most 

 every alternate year, and simply be- 

 cause it is drowned out. "I can't get 

 the grass to grow under the trees" is 

 the continual plaint. It grows under 

 the shade of trees in our orchards and 

 so it does in our large cemeteries and 



public parks, and greener than it does 

 in the sun, simply because the farmer 

 and the park and cemetery superin- 

 tendents do not water it. He has not 

 time, and would not if he could. 



This continued watering brings the 

 roots to the surface only to perish. It 

 produces a weak, forced growth of the 

 grass. What better combination could 

 you have to wear out a lawn than 

 keeping up a continual forcing of 

 growth by water and then clipping it 

 off short with the mowing machine. 



You will ask "What better can you 

 tell us to do, for we are determined 

 to have a green lawn?" First, if your 

 lawn has been sodded on a hard clay 

 or sown on an inch or two of poor 

 sandy soil, dig it up and dig deep, 

 and put in lots of manure. If you 

 can't do that and your lawn turns 

 brown with a week of hot weather in 

 June, then water thoroughly once a 

 week and then let it alone. Once a 

 week is often enough for any lawn if 

 thoroughly done. And under the shade 

 of trees remember that much less is 

 needed. 



If a very dry summer a good soak- 

 ing once in two weeks is ample for 

 grass that is heavily shaded with 

 trees. Unfortunately this, in many 

 cases, is near the sidewalk where 

 your man or yourself delight to stand 

 hose in hand in your shirt sleeves 

 and nightly pour ice water (for cold 

 it often is) on the tender grass in 

 hot evenings of June, remarking to 

 every acquaintance who passes: "Hot 

 enough for you?" The struggling 

 blade of grass would say, could it 

 make you sensible of its desires, 

 "Shut up and shut off and let me 

 breathe in the warm night air; I am 

 shivering with the cold and my feet 

 are wet." In protracted periods of 

 drought, such as many parts have 

 suffered with this summer of 1899, 

 grass will turn brown. The poorer 

 the soil the browner the grass, but it 

 can be green and fresh looking with 

 an occasional watering. And leave 

 alone this everlasting and daily 

 sprinkling. 



I should say in conclusion that all 

 lawns, big or little, should be under- 

 drained with tile or some other 

 means as good. You can get on the 

 lawn earlier in the spring and later 

 in the fall, but more Important than 

 that, it is better for the roots of the 

 grass than land that is boggy and 

 saturated with moisture. All lawns 

 may not need it, but most do. 



The mowing machine keeps down 

 all troublesome weeds except dande- 

 lion and plantain. The latter perishes 

 if the lawn is cut an inch below the 

 surface. For dandelion I know no 

 cure and there is a rich prize for the 

 man who will discover some effectual 

 method for its extermination. 



LIBONIA. 



This is a very pretty little free 

 flowering plant that has been largely 

 crowded out by other perhaps more 

 showy plants. It makes in one sea- 



