LAWNS AND LAWN-MAKING 211 
TURF AND TURFING 
Where a good quality of turf can be secured it is 
often advisable to use turf in covering small plats. It 
should be cut in strips ten inches or more in width and 
about two or three feet long. These should be laid on 
a level bed of good soil, and carefully packed down 
and the joints evenly matched. If, on drying, cracks 
are formed between the sods, these must be filled with 
pure earth. Seed may be sown in them if desired. 
Freshly laid turf must be kept well watered while the 
new roots are starting and a compact sward is being 
formed. Turfing is not recommended, however, be- 
cause of the great difficulty of securing turf of desir- 
able grasses free from weeds and weed-seeds. 
MOWING 
Much of the beauty and health ofa grass sward will 
depend on frequent and regular mowing during the 
growing months. Once a week will be often enough 
to mow the average lawn, though when the grass is in 
the period of most vigorous growth it may be necessary 
to mow oftener. Mowing every three or four days will 
not injure the grass in any way if a short, firm sward 
is desired. Young grass may be allowed to reach a 
hight of five inches before being mowed at all, and the 
work should then be done with a scythe rather than a 
lawn-mower. During hot weather the grass on a thin 
sward should not be mown so closely as to permit the 
drying out of the surface and injury to the grass roots. 
Where the stand is thin it is well to allow the cut grass 
to remain on the ground, especially in hot weather, 
