THE LA WN. 



centrated fertilizers, you may happen not to apply them in 

 proper quantities. Bone-dust acts slowly on grass lands, 

 though well, and so does wood-ashes with its phosphates 

 and potash salts, but stable manure, with the one drawback 

 of sometimes bringing in foul weeds, seems to act more 

 quickly and at the same time as permanently as any other 

 fertilizer. People try everything else, but come back to the 

 properly composted heap of barnyard manure, with the feel- 

 ing that therein lies their true source of strength for creating 

 permanently rich grass lands. There is doubtless a large 

 percentage of a load of stable manure that is of little use to 

 the land, but the application of fifty loads of manure to an 

 acre seems to present the nutriment in a form and combina- 

 tion that will do the land the most good. There is not 

 much scientific theory in these suggestions about manuring 

 lawns, I know, but you will find it is plain common-sense. 

 Experiment with artificial manures all you can, but let it be 

 at first on a small scale, and it will repay your trouble by 

 the information gained as to what your special soil actually 

 needs. Do the bulk of your fertilizing with barnyard 

 manure and your average results will be satisfactory ; then 

 if your other experiments develop some peculiar need of 

 your soil, you can give up the barnyard manure, and use for 

 a while some concentrated special fertilizer. 



Now that your land is graded, and the surface covered 

 with fertilizing material, the next thing is to dig or plow 

 lightly the entire surface of the ground and then harrow 

 and hand-rake it thoroughly; and remove again entirely all 

 stones, roots, and foul weeds that come to the surface. It is 

 wonderful how these stones, roots, and weeds, crop out with 



