FORMATION AND RENOVATION OF LAWNS. 121 



pounds of coarse ground bone per acre, or in that pro- 

 portion for lesser areas, as the bone decomposes slowly. 

 This quantity, harrowed or raked deeply in, would insure 

 a "velvet lawn," under ordinary circumstances, for six 

 or eight years without further application of manures. 



TOP DRESSING. 



When the land has not been fertilized before sowing, 

 it is necessary to use some top dressing of manure each 

 season to keep up the fertility of the lawn, and nothing 

 is better for this purpose than to spread over it late 

 in the fall, (November or December,) enough short 

 stable manure to partially cover the surface. This should 

 be allowed to remain on until such times as the grass 

 shows signs of starting in the spring, when the rough 

 portion should be raked off and a heavy roller ap- 

 plied, so that the surface of the lawn may be rendered 

 smooth and firm for the mower. If the top dressing of 

 stable manure has been omitted in the fall, fine bone 

 dust, mixed with finely sifted coal or wood ashes, in 

 equal parts, may be sown on the lawn about as thick as 

 sand is usually strewn on the floor, and rolled down. 



MOWING. 



Mowing should be begun in the spring as soon as the 

 grass is two or three inches high, and continued every 

 seven or eight days until the cessation of growth in the 

 fall. If the lawn is gone over with the mower once 

 a week, the clippings are best left on, as the sun quickly 

 shrivels them up so that they never appear unsightly; 

 but if mowing is delayed two or three weeks, then the 

 grass must be raked off; and besides the labor of so 



