lOO 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 191 S 



Lavender and white crocuse= grown in the house. 



the ground before digging in, it can be 

 from three to four inches thick without 

 there being too much. This should be 

 well worked through the upper foot of 

 ground, whether it be good soil, clay, or 

 sand. If the manure is strawy it should 

 be well dug in so that the straw will not 

 be pulltd out when the soil is raked. 

 With a heavy annual application of 

 manure, even the poorest soils can be 

 made to give good returns, providing 

 there is sufficient moisture in the soil, 



which in many cities and towns can be 

 applied artificially. 



Where no water is available, very 

 strawy manure applied to light .soils i.s 

 apt to make them too loose, and they dry 

 out easily and seed does not germinate 

 well, hence well-rotted manure is much 

 better for such soils if it is available. 

 The rolling of light soils where strawy 

 manure has iKXjn used will Ik- found use- 

 ful in bringing the moisture lo the sur- 

 face and hastening the rotting of the 

 straw. The great aim should be to 

 eventually get the soil into such a con- 

 dition that it will neither bake nor Ix;- 

 come hard In ,1 dry time nor dry out 

 readily, and both of these conditions will 

 be brought aliout by the liberal use of 

 manure, which adds plant food in an 

 easily available form and helps to form 

 humus, which is so essential to a good 

 physical condition of the soil. Clay 

 soils should not be dug when they are 

 very wet, as they will bake badly, but 

 by waiting until they are fairly dry they 

 can be worked much "better. 



A spade, a hoe, a gard<;n rake, and a 

 manure fork are the four chief tools need- 

 ed in gardening. Narrow hoes and rakes 

 are best in small gardens, or well-made 

 children's tools, but with long handles. 

 In stiff clays it may be found necessary 

 to use the hce after the soil has been dug 

 in order to break it down so that the 

 rake can be used advantageously. The 

 rake is now used to level the soil and to 

 pulverize it still more. The surface soil 

 should be made as level, smooth, and as 

 fine as possible. If the soil for two or 

 three inches down is in good condition, 

 a quick germination of the seed will 

 usually be assured. 



HoAV to Make a Law^n 



John Gall, I 



LAWNS can be made either by sow- 

 ing seeds or laying turf, the for- 

 mer method, although occuping 

 more time, giving by far the best results. 

 Where the subsoil is of a porous nature, 

 drainage is but seldom necessary, but 

 on clay and other retentive soils it is 

 always advisable to provide some means 

 for disposing of the superfluous water. 



l„yJM-\ 





\\-/5 ^ -Vv - /Sf^"^ 



\\ 



w 



^^OuJ&d 



nglewood, Ont. 



Unless the quantity of water is very ex- 

 cessive, the following method of drain- 

 ing will suffice : Trenches about ten 

 inches wide should be excavated across 

 the ground, as shown on the accom- 

 panying diagram, from twelve to fifteen 

 feet apart, and to a depth of a foot be- 

 low the subsoil. These trenches are fill- 

 ed with cinders, brickbats, and similar 

 material, to the top of the subsoil, and 

 the soil replaced, as shown in the sec- 

 tion. Any surplus moisture will drain 

 into the trenches. Should the ground be 

 very wet, agricultural drain pipes must 

 be laid, as shown in the diagram, at a 

 depth of about three feet, the main pipe 

 being led to a well or other outlet. 



.Aifter being drained, the ground must 

 be carefully levelled and given a dressing 

 of thoroughly-decayed manure, which 

 should be well dug in, all stones, roots, 

 weeds, and rubbish being picked out as 

 the work proceeds. This section of the 

 work should be done a few weeks before 

 it is time to sow the grass seeds. It is 

 a great mistake to sow the grass .seeds 



too early, as there will most likely be 

 several soft places which will settle, and 

 these can be refilled iMjfore the sowing 

 is done. Crass seed should always be 

 sown thickly, or a good, close turf can- 

 not be produced. One pound of the best 

 lawn grass .seed should l)e sown every 

 thirty square yards of ground. Cheap 

 mixtures, as a rule, consist of coar.se 

 gras.scs entirely unsuitable for the pur- 

 pose in question. Before sowing the 

 .seed, the ground should be rolled and 

 made jx;rfectly level and evei, so that a 

 thoroughly fine bed is secured. \ quiet, 

 calm day should be chosen for sowing, 

 and after scratching the ground over 

 with a rake, it should be pegged out in- 

 to sections of thirty yards square each, 

 sowing one pound of seed to every sec- 

 tion, and distributing it as evenly as 

 possible. After sowing, the surface 

 should be covered with finely-sifted soil 

 sown by hand at the rate of three bushels 

 to everv thirty square yards, the whole 



Lawn mailing implements: 1— -Agricultural drain 



pipe. 2— Turfing iron. 3— Turf cutter. 4 and 5— 



Grass or tnrl beaters. 



being carefully and thoroughly rolled — 

 the tighter the better. 



Some protective means, such as scares 

 and cotton, should be provided to keep 

 birds away until the young grass plants 

 have grown to a height of about two 

 inches, at which time the lawn should 

 be lightly rolled, and after an interval 

 of eight or nine days it may be lightly 

 gone over with a sharp scythe, the cut- 

 tings being allowed to remain on the 

 surface to protect the young plants from 

 the sun. Every week the scythe mowing 

 should be repeated, the old cuttings be- 

 ing first swept off, and as soon as the 

 plants have taken a firm hold of the 

 ground the roller must be used, and the 

 mowing machine take the place of the 

 scythe. Frequent and continuous rolling 

 and cutting are indispensable to the 



