28 THE GARDEN BEAUTIFUL 



left unwatered for a few days, or even a week, it will 

 not suffer permanent harm. 



Lawns should be cut frequently during hot weath- 

 er, about once a week, for the reason that it is advis- 

 able to make the least possible change in general 

 exposure. If left until very long and then closely 

 cut it will suffer from sunburn in both blade and 

 root. Do not needlessly expose the roots to the sum- 

 mer's sun; therefore, during the hottest weather 

 keep the cutter high, leaving the grass rather long 

 throughout the season, but mow frequently, allowing 

 the short clippings to fall down among the standing 

 blades to form a mulch for the roots. If the cut 

 grass mildews or moulds, as it may during cool or 

 cloudy weather, it may be raked off and subsequent 

 cuttings caught in a hopper, but with the return of 

 sunshine remove the hopper and allow the mulch to 

 re-form. 



LAWN GRASSES 



All keen observers will agree that the fine tex- 

 ture, rich green color and smooth even growth of 

 Poa pratensis, the Kentucky blue grass, prove it to 

 be more desirable as a ground cover than any other 

 known, and it should be used wherever conditions 

 are favorable to establishment and maintenance of 

 lawn grass. The most closely similar species 

 is P. arachnifera, a Texan species. A sub- 

 stitute, used in cheap mixtures, is P. compressa, 

 the Canadian blue grass. The latter is flatter, more 

 wiry and bluer than Kentucky grass and is good on 

 dry sand, clay, or poor soils where the others do not 

 thrive. P. nemoralis, the wood meadow grass, is 

 good for shady places in woodlands, yet resistant to 

 heat. In the Eastern states Agrostis canina, the 

 Rhode Island bent grass, makes a fine close turf of 



