.FKTIiK. HttlNDEKSUIN & CO., NKW YURK.-UAWN KSSLNTIALS. 



THE . . . 



"HENDERSON" 

 Lawn Grass Seed. 



(See pages 2 fas) 



In large or small quantities, to suit the 

 pretentious lawn or the modest door-yard 

 plot. With it you can renovate old or 

 make new 



LAWNS AND GRASS PLOTS 

 as soft as velvet and as green as emerald 

 all summer long. It is matchless for 

 CEMETERIES AND PARKS. 



HOW TO MAKE A LAWN 



. . . BY . . . 



PETER. HENDERSON. 



Gradin2". ^" e no ^ ur| f :rec i tlerll ly see, after a 

 ** dwelling costing 5, io, 20, or 30,000 

 dollars is erected, that the grounds surrounding it are 

 left to the tender mercy of some ignorant pretender 

 to grade and put in shape The educated, intelligent 

 architect's duties, in many cases end with the comple- 

 tion of the building, and the "garden architect," — 

 is installed to grade for the lawn ; and a common 

 consequence is, that the beauty of the place may 

 be forever marred — for this matter really in many 

 cases requires as much intelligence and good judg- 

 ment, as the construction of the dwelling itself. One 

 of the first conditions for a perfect lawn is, that 

 the land be perfectly drained, either naturally or arti- 

 ficially; if the subsoil is sand or gravel, so that water 

 can quickly pass through it, then there will be no 

 need for artificial drains, but if there is a stratum 

 of adhesive clay for a subsoil then drains are indis- 

 pensable every fifteen or twenty feet. As the for- 

 mation of the lawn is the foundation of all subsequent 

 operations, it is imperative that it be careful])- 

 dor.e ; for if badly done at first it cannot be changed 

 or altered, unless to the great detriment of trees or 

 shrubs that have been planted, or flower beds or walks 

 that have been laid out. 



The first thing to be done is to get the ground shaped 

 to the desired grade, taking care in grading that when 

 hills or rocks are removed, sufficient subsoil is also 

 removed to be replaced with top soil, so that at least 

 five inches of good soil will overlay the whole in all 

 places ; and where trees are to be planted there should 

 be twice that depth of good soil. When the grading 

 is finished, if the nature of the ground requires it, 

 drains should be laid wherever necessary ; then the 

 whole should be thoroughly- plowed, a subsoil follow- 

 ing in the wake of the common plow, until it is com- 

 pletely pulverized. A heavy harrow should then be 

 applied until the surface is thoroughly fined down ; 

 all stones, roots, etc., should be removed, so that a 

 smooth surface may be obtained. We have used, 

 with great effect and saving of labor the "Disc 

 Smoothing Harrow," which fines and levels the land 

 equal to a steel rake ; and wherever large areas are 

 in preparation for lawns, or in fact for any field cul- 

 ture, requiring a fine smooth surface, this implement 

 will be found to be of great value. 



Seeding. When the seed is sown a light har- 



** row should be again applied, so as to 



sink the seed one inch or so in the soil, and after that 



a thorough rolling given, so that the surface is made 



as smooth and firm as possible. In the latitude of 

 New York the seed may be sown any time from April 

 to October. When sown during the months of April 

 and May. a good lawn will be formed by July or 

 August, if the preparation has been good, or in about 

 one hundred days from the time of sowing. If sown 

 in the hot months of June and July, a sprinkling of 

 oats should be sown at the same time, so that the 

 shade given by the oats will protect the young grass 

 from the sun. Lawns are very often sown during the 

 early Fall months (September being the best) with 

 excellent results. On some soils Kentucky Blue grass 

 is used alone, but for a firm carpet-like lawn we con- 

 sider the " Henderson" Lawn mixture is preferable, 

 as it contains some grasses which give quick results, 

 and form a good turf the same year as sown, while a 

 satisfactor)- turf cannot be established by using 

 Kentucky^ Blue grass alone under two or three years. 

 Kentucky Blue grass will not succeed unless there is 

 an abundance of iime in thesoil, and unless it is known 

 that there is lime present in some form it is much 

 safer to use a mixture. For small plots, of course, 

 digging, trenching, and raking must be done instead 

 of plowing, subsoiling and harrowing, and the surface 

 after sowing should be patted down with the back of 

 a spade or rolled with a roller. 



Quantity of As a & u j de f ° r the P r °P er 



C. j r> ■ j quantity of seed required to 



Z?eed Keqilired. form a perfect lawn, we may- 

 state that one quart of Lawn Grass mixture is suffici- 

 ent to thoroughly sow an area of 20 feet by 15 feet — 

 300 square feet— or to cover an acre five bushels will 

 be required. It should be borne in mind that in order 

 to produce the best results, grass seed for lawns 

 should be sown at least twice as thick as if sown for 

 hay. In fact, if very rapid results are wanted, a 

 lawn will be much quicker obtained by using one-third 

 more seed per acre— in a lawn of about an acre in 

 extent, which we made, six bushels of the "Hender- 

 son" Mixture were sown on the 25th of April, har- 

 rowed well in, then rolled firmly with a heavy iron 

 roller — the result was that by July 1st. or about sixty 

 days from the date of sowing — a perfect lawn was 

 obtained, having had to be twice mowed over by 

 Machine previous to that date. 



Terraces and Slopes. hSSBSBE? 



to use sod. as the rains wash the soil off before the 

 grass seed has time to germinate. It is sometimes 

 even necessary, in sodding very steep banks, to use 



