The Canadian Horticulturist. 283 



Callas kept in a dormant state in summer may now be safely started by re-pot- 

 ting and giving water rather freely. A calla is quite accommodating ; it may be 

 allowed to grow on all the time, or be treated in summer as a dry bulb. Some 

 grow them one way and some the other. 



MAKING GOOD LAWNS. 



HE subject of lawn making has been written on by novices and ex- 

 perts, until the average reader has in mind a mixture of oats, barley, 

 timothy, compost and moles, all, in his opinion, to some degree ne- 

 cessary to lawn making. 



William Saunders, of the Department of Agriculture, gives the 

 following points on lawn making, which may be considered as results 

 of experience. 



1. The best grasses for permanent lawns are red top {Agrosiis vulgaris) and 

 June grass {Foa pratetisis). The following proportions have been used in the 

 lawns of this Department with great satisfaction : One bushel red top, two 

 bushels June grass, one quart timothy to each acre of land. These should be 

 thoroughly mixed before sowing. This is heavy seeding, but experiments 

 demonstrate that a good lawn can only be secured by heavy seeding when sown in 

 the spring ; autumn sowing may be thinner, but the thick seeding will be most 

 satisfactory. There, is no grass equal to the June grass for fine lawns ; this is also 

 known as green grass and Kentucky blue grass. The red top also forms a good 

 sward when the soil is good and the summers comparatively cool and moist, but 

 during dry warm weather it becomes hard and wiry. The timothy grass vegetates 

 quickly and greatly assists the growth of others. 



2. The practice of sowing oats, barley, or other grains with the grasses, under 

 the impression that they will protect the young plants from the sun and drought, 

 is altogether wrong, as it practically does much more harm than good. The 

 larger growing plants rob the soil of its moisture, to the destruction of the tender 

 and more feeble rooting grass plants. No such protection is necessary, even 

 were it possible to supply it without injury. With fair preparation of ground, 

 the seed put in as soon as practicable in the spring, the lawn will be fit to mow 

 in June at latest. 



3. The lawn will be benefited by a top dressing once in three or four 

 years ; not, however, by throwing over it an unsightly covering of rough, strawy 

 litter, which, however beneficial, is not commendable in neatly kept grounds. 

 A compost made up of fresh stable manure and any ordinary good surface soil, 

 thrown together in layers, and intermixed and pulverised by frequent turning 

 during the summer, will be in condition for application any time in early winter, 

 This should be evenly distributed, broken up, and raked in among the roots, 

 taking advantage of frost to assist in the work of disintegration and removing 

 the rougher portions altogether before rolling the lawn in the spring. 



