108 



LAWXS: MAK1XG AXD UPKEEP 



or other vegetative growth. Rippling streams 

 or cascades in a garden have a charm all 

 their own, and should be introduced when- 

 ever possible. 



LAWNS: THEIR MAKING 



AND UPKEEP 



It has been w r ell said that a lawn is to a 

 garden what a background is to a picture. 

 An expanse of smooth and green sward has 

 a special and distinctive charm ; it enhances 

 the beauty of surrounding objects, whether 

 they be trees, shrubs, or flower-beds, and 

 forms a most pleasing adornment to a bun- 

 galow or dwelling house. In making a lawn, 

 it is essential that the ground be first properly 

 prepared, the surface being thoroughly dug 

 or trenched and uniformly levelled, all stones, 

 roots and similar obstacles being raked off. 

 If the nature of the ground requires it, pro- 

 vision must be made for drainage and for 

 the escape of excessive rain-water, but if the 

 ground be undulated, or the sub-soil of a 

 gravelly nature, artificial drainage may not 



be necessary. If the soil be very poor, the turf is liable to become 

 patchy in dry weather ; therefore a layer of good soil or compost 

 should be laid on the surface. In order to ensure a uniform or 

 level surface, pegs should be driven into the soil at the extreme 

 points, and intermediate pegs at regular distances between these ; 

 the desired level or gradient from peg to peg can best be obtained 

 by means of a spirit-level and a long piece of wood having a 

 straight edge. 



Turfing. Laying turf by hand is the quickest and, for the 

 low-country the most satisfactory method of forming a lawn, 

 sowing seed being generally somewhat precarious. The turves 

 should be obtained from close-grazed pasture land, and cut as 

 nearly as possible of uniform thickness. This is best clone by a 

 spade, or better still by the implement turf -cutter,* though for 

 ordinary purposes a mammoty will answer the purpose, and this is 

 the easiest tool for coolies to handle. The turf should be used 



IRON. 



* In England a horse-drawn turf-cutting machine is sometimes used, which, it is said, is capable of 

 cutting at the rate of $ an acre of turf a day. 



