306 THE beginner's garden book 



Make it fine to its full depth, and rake the surface carefully 

 to the desired grade. 



At the time of digging, the loam may be enriched. Use 

 very well-rotted manure, in which the weed seeds are killed. 

 Work it in deeply. Wood ashes, worked in at the same time, 

 will benefit the lawn, while bone-meal is a very good fertilizer. 

 There are some special "seeding down" fertilizers which will 

 help, but be sure that they are "high-grade." If the soil is 

 sour, which you can easily test by litmus, lime it freely. 

 Wood ashes or basic slag bring lime. See for this subject 

 pages 256 and 257. 



The seed is the next consideration, and it is a very impor- 

 tant one. Weak or impure seed is very largely sold ; it is 

 sure to result in a poor lawn. Go once more to the reliable 

 seedsman of whom I have spoken so often, and tell him what 

 you want. He will want to know whether the soil is shady or 

 not, or wet or dry. Take the mixture that he gives you, 

 calculating on three or four or five bushels to an acre accord- 

 ing to his advice. The better the seed, the less you will use. 

 One test of the seed is the weight per bushel : it should weigh 

 at least 16 pounds, and more if possible. If your seed 

 weighs 20 pounds per bushel, and you sow 60 pounds per 

 acre, or about a third of a pound per square rod, then that is 

 about right. 



If you mix your own seed, get of each kind the best "re- 

 cleaned." Mix each three pounds of Kentucky (not Canada) 

 blue-grass with three of red-top, and a pound of white clover 

 seed. If you do not want clover, mix the blue-grass and red- 

 top in equal weights or measures to make a good average seed. 

 But if the place is shady, use rough-stalked meadow grass 

 instead of the red-top. In the South, use Bermuda grass 

 instead of blue-grass. Mix thoroughly. 



Now comes the sowing. Have the surface rather dry, so 



