26 GARDENING FOB PLEASURE. 



better plan could be adopted for keeping up railroad or 

 other embankments. 



TO RENOVATE OLD LAWNS. 



Lawns that have been worn ont by neglect or other 

 causes, or where it is not convenient or desirable to renew 

 them by plowing up, will be greatly benefited by running 

 a light harrow over them if the surface is large, or by a 

 sharp steel rake for smaller areas. After stirring the 

 surface by such means, judiciously, so as not to injure the 

 roots too severely, lawn grass should be sown over the 

 surface, using about half the quantity of seed required 

 for new lawns, and over this, for each acre, or in the same 

 proportions for lesser areas, sow five hundred pounds of 

 some good " lawn enricher ;" again harrow or rake, and 

 roll down firmly. 



WEEDS IN LAWNS, 



such as thistles, dandelions, dock roots, etc., can only be 

 removed by cutting them out with a knife. Thistle and 

 dock roots should be removed as far as possible ; but as 

 to others, there is no necessity for cutting the whole root 

 out. If cut beloiv the crown the root will not start again. 



ANTS ON LAWNS 



are a pest that we are almost powerless to cope with. 

 Nothing seems to poison them, as either their instinct 

 teaches them to avoid the ordinary insect poisons, or 

 their constitutions are proof against them. Every thing 

 we have tried has failed, except Pyrethrum or Persian 

 Insect Powder. This applied by a bellows quickly suffo- 

 cates them ; but every insect needs to be struck by it, or 

 it is useless, as it only kills them by suffocation. ' They 

 can also be captured by placing fresh bones or molasses 

 in plates around their haunts ; they attack these before 

 any thing else. By persistently thus catching and de- 

 stroying them two or three times a day, they may be 

 permanently got rid of. 



