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It is here the place to draw likewise the attention of the reader 

 to the use of certain varieties of Natural Grasses for another 

 useful, though not quite so important a purpose as the laying- 

 down of pasture-lands. We mean that of making fine lawns, 

 recreation-grounds, bowling-greens, etc. And this 

 will be clear to everybody, who so far has been in the habit of 

 using Ryegrasses only, be it that he took to the short-seeded 

 perennial or paceys, in order to get a finer-leaved grass than that 

 of the ordinary perennial, if we tell him, that there is one 

 characteristic attached to the Ryegrasses which, apart from the 

 fact, that they are prone to disappear after a couple of years or to 

 leave at least bare spots, if a severe winter with alternate wet and 

 sharp-frosty weather has to be gone through, makes it unadvisable 

 to sow them alone : this characteristic, namely, that the Ryegrasses 

 grow in rather elevated tufts, in opposition to certain of the 

 Natural Grasses which spread in a creeping, a more even turf 

 making way; and that they have the bad habit of shooting forth 

 part of their roots above or at least quite near the surface of the 

 soil. The result of this is, that unless a lawn has been sown very 

 thickly indeed; unless these tufts join one another closely, with 

 practically no space between, the turf won't be an even-one, but 

 will show near each tuft a smaller or larger bare spot; something 

 of a "sinking", which is being made worse by the fact, that the 

 lower part of the stem of the Perennial Ryegrass is of a rather 

 reddish shade, which is being seen the sooner in such a case where 

 the turf is not a thick-one. 



Now, this is surely neither good nor recommendable for a fine 

 lawn; and it is to provide for this deficiency, that some of the 

 Natural Grasses which produce a fine, narrow and deep-green leaf 

 and which do not possess to such an extend that tuft forming 

 habit, should be used to fill up those gaps and smoothen away the 

 uneveness of the tuft forming Ryegrasses. It is, moreover, these 

 Natural Grasses which, if and wherever the Ryegrasses are wearing 

 out, should by their sub-terranean propagation cover again the 

 bare spots left by the Ryegrasses. 



The main object in using a mixture of short-seeded or paceys 

 Perennial Ryegrass and fine-leaved Natural Grasses can therefore 

 be described in brief as this, that the Ryegrass has to promote 

 the quick creation of a green turf, whereas it is the Natural 

 Grasses which have to do the completing work of the first year, 

 i. e. to make the lawn a fine and even-one for the following years 



