74 LAWNS 



quite "rusty"; which no amount of water- 

 ing will revive into bright green. The first 

 touch of frost spells death to the crab 

 grass, but there is little satisfaction to be de- 

 rived from that fact. Where it is killed the 

 lawn is left with unsightly brown patches 

 which are open to the inroads of weeds and 

 there is always the certainty that the plant 

 has infected the lawn with its own seeds for 

 another year's crop. 



There is only one practical method of 

 attack, and that is both costly and burden- 

 some. As soon as the grass begins to spread, 

 take a sharp-toothed garden rake and yank 

 up the creeping stems of the crab grass, pulling 

 them clear from the surface of the soil and 

 leaving them spread on the top of the regular 

 lawn surface. If the lawn mower with knives 

 set very low be now run over the ground the 

 flower heads will be cut off, which will pre- 

 vent the seeding. If this is not done during 

 June and July the low creeping stems will 

 by the end of August have successfully 

 crowded out and killed many c^ the more 

 desirable grasses. It is no use to merely run 

 the mower over the lawn without previously 

 pulling up the creeping stems in the way de- 



