78 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
solved South Carolina rock may be used instead, but the appli- 
cation will need to be heavier if similar results are expected. 
Yellow and poor grass may often be reinvigorated by an appli- 
cation of two hundred to three hundred pounds to the acre of 
nitrate of soda. Wood ashes are often good, particularly on 
soils that tend to be acid. Muriate of potash is not so often 
used, although it may produce excellent results in some cases. 
There is no invariable rule. The best plan is for the lawn-maker 
to try the different treatments on a little piece or corner of the 
lawn; in this way, he should secure more valuable information 
than can be got otherwise. 
The first operation after draining and grading is the plowing 
or spading of the surface. If the area is large enough to admit 
a team, the surface is worked down by means of harrows of 
various kinds. Afterwards it is leveled by means of shovels and 
hoes, and finally by garden rakes. The more finely and com- 
pletely the soil is pulverized, the quicker the lawn may be 
secured, and the more permanent are the results. 
The kind of grass. 
The best grass for the body or foundation of lawns in the 
North is June-grass or Kentucky blue-grass (Poa pratensis), 
not Canada blue-grass (Poa compressa). 
Whether white clover or other seed should be sown with the 
grass seed is very largely a personal question. Some persons 
like it, and others do not. If it is desired, it may be sown 
directly after the grass seed is sown, at the rate of one to four 
quarts or more to the acre. 
For special purposes, other grasses may be used for lawns. 
Various kinds of lawn mixtures are on the market, for particu- 
lar uses, and some of them are very good. 
A superintendent of parks in one of the Eastern cities gives 
the following experience on kinds of grass: ‘‘ For the meadows 
on the large parks we generally use extra recleaned Kentucky 
