24 GARDENING FOE PLEASURE. 



ties. A convenient size of sod to lay down is 12 by 18 

 inches, and of a thickness of 2 inches, in laying see that 

 the edges are neatly laid together; and the whole firmly 

 beaten down with the back of a spade. If it is dry 

 weather when the work is done, it may be necessary to 

 thoroughly drench the newly-laid sod for a week or so 

 after planting, every other evening. When the lawn is 

 too extensive to be sodded, the following mixture of grass 

 seed may be used, whic]i we have found to make an ex- 

 cellent lawn : 



8 quarts Rhode Island Bent Grass. 



3 quarts Creeping Bent Grass. 

 10 quarts Red Top Grass. 

 10 quarts Kentucky Blue Grass. 



1 quart White Clover. 



This mixture is not indispensable to the formation of a 

 good lawn, though we believe it to be the best. Some of 

 the fine lawns seen at Newport, R. I., are composed al- 

 most entirely of Rhode Island Bent grass mixed with 

 about one-sixth of white clover, but the humidity of the 

 atmosphere there has no doubt more to do with the rich- 

 ness of the lawn than the variety of grass it is composed 

 of. I may here caution the use of spurious seed for this 

 purpose. It is no uncommon thing that either through 

 ignorance or short-sighted economy, (( hay-seed " is taken 

 direct from the hay-loft and sown to form the lawn. If 

 from good hay, the seed will be principally timothy and 

 red clover, and vain would be all the attempts to get a 

 smooth lawn from such a source. It would be about as 

 reasonable to expect figs from thistles. If the soil is rich, 

 and has been thoroughly prepared, three bushels per acre 

 will be sufficient, but if thin and poor, from four to five 

 bushels had better be sown. If sown in early spring, as 

 soon as the soil is dry enough to work, a good lawn will 

 be formed by midsummer the first year, if it has been 



