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THE GENTLE ART 



^ OF LAWN MAKING 



There is a Profitable Part as well as a Gentle Art to Lawn Making, 

 and the Florist gets acquainted with the former hy learning about the 

 latter. If you are looking for something in the way of an income-increaser 

 just now, keep on reading. 



N THE spring the house- 

 wife 's fancy sprightly 

 springs to sowing seed; 

 mainly grass seed. So she 

 tells hubby to stop at the 

 florist's for a package. Of 

 course, she doesnH al- 

 ( K^$^ ways; that is, there are 

 K^yicy more than one she, and 

 they don't all do the same 

 thing. Mrs. Made-0 'Money leaves the 

 whole matter to the head gardener. 

 Mrs. T. W. Twobits gets a paper sack 

 of seed at her grocer's. But a great 

 many buy a carton of Somebody's Mar- 

 velous Lawn Mixture at the florist's. 

 And where a florist has been enter- 

 prising enough to work up trade of 

 that kind, they often ask him to send 

 a man around to make the lawn for 

 them. 



Opportunity's Knocking. 



It goes without saying that every 

 florist, as well as the seedsmen, ought 

 to have a corner of his window given 

 over at this time of year to a dis- 

 play of grass seed, to call attention to 

 the fact that the time is at hand for 

 its use and that it can be obtained at 

 the florist's store. "What if the butcher, 

 the grocer and the 

 hardware man do 

 handle itf They 

 wouldn't, if the flo- 

 rist pushed it hard 

 enough to bring all 

 the buyers in his 

 neighborhood into his 

 store. 



In addition, the 

 florist can make the 

 coin come faster by 

 adding lawn-making 

 to his list of side- 

 lines. Hundreds of 

 florists do it now. 

 Thousands might. 

 The men employed 

 later in setting out 

 bedding plants can 

 well be engaged now 

 in making lawns. 

 Those who are plant- 

 ing trees and shrubs 

 can put in their 

 time on the lawns as 

 well. 



That a great deal 

 of such work is need- 

 ed, the most con- 

 trary-minded person 

 will not deny. No 

 matter how beautiful 

 a residence may be, 



no matter how well planted are the 

 trees, shrubberies, herbaceous borders, 

 etc., if the lawn is of mediocre quality, 

 the whole picture is spoiled. There are 

 too many of these spoiled pictures. 



Of course, it is to be admitted that 

 the lawns of this country cannot rival 

 the lawns of England, for we have not 

 the ideal climatic conditions. But we 

 can approach them closely, particularly 

 along the northern Atlantic seaboard, 

 at such noted resorts as Bar Harbor, 

 Me., Newport, B. I., and the northern 

 shore of Massachusetts, where the com- 

 paratively cool summer nights and not 

 infrequent fogs help to make verdant 

 lawns. In most sections, our hot sum- 

 mers and severe winters kill some of 

 the grasses which luxuriate in Europe, 

 no matter how well they are cared for. 



Excellent lawns, however, can be ob- 

 tained in other localities than the 

 above-mentioned flocking places of the 

 400. Millionaire homes and gilt-edged 

 golf clubs have not a monopoly of 

 grassy tracts of the first quality. Pro- 

 vided the proper care is given, lawns 

 may be secured that will win the 

 praise of the most exacting horticultur- 

 ist and excite the admiration of even 

 those who view flowers, trees and 



Such a Lawn as this Brings Pleasure to Owner and Profit to Florist. 



shrubs of rare form and color with 

 complete indiflference. Suitable soil and 

 seed, proper preparation, and painstak- 

 ing weeding, watering, rolling and feed- 

 ing all are necessary. 



To extract profit from the making 

 of lawns, the florist must know the 

 requirements exactly. And even if he 

 is only selling the seed, he should be 

 well acquainted with the whole opera- 

 tion. For therein lies his means of 

 drawing trade: He is an expert; the 

 grocer sells seed only as a merchant. 

 Giving good advice is a cheap antl 

 easy, but an effective, method of ad- 

 vertising. 



Sowing the Seed. 



Most lawns are seeded in spring. 

 This has grown to be a habit, just as 

 the planting of all trees, shrubs and 

 perennials is usually left until that 

 strenuous season. This, however, is 

 not the best time to seed lawns, August 

 and September seeding giving much 

 better results. The grasses, when sown 

 at that time, receive the fall rains and 

 have roots of good length before the 

 time of the summer droughts. But if 

 the work has been left until spring, 

 now is the time it should be done. 



In order to secure 

 a good lawn, it is vi- 

 tally necessary to 

 have soil of good 

 depth; one foot is 

 good, but two feet is 

 better. All stones 

 and gravel should be 

 removed. The upper 

 soil should be rich 

 and thoroughly pul- 

 verized. For fertil- 

 izer, cow or sheep 

 manure is preferable 

 to stable manure. The 

 latter will yield a 

 wealth of weed seeds. 

 The manure should be 

 well incorporated and 

 covered. If decayed 

 manure is not procur- 

 able, use a good lawn 

 fertilizer. Fine bone 

 and wood ashes are 

 good. Pulverized 

 sheep manure is valu- 

 able. Natural ma- 

 nures are preferable 

 to artificial ones, as 

 they place so much 

 humus in the soil. 



Fertilizer should be 

 used at the rate of 

 1,500 to 2,000 pounds 



