AGRICULTURAL  BULLL  FIN 
OF  THE 
STRAITS 
AND 
FEDERATED  MALAY  STATES. 
No.  9.]  SEPTEMBER,  1903.  [VoL.  II 
TURF  AND  FODDER  GRASSES. 
The  question  of  turfing  ground  for  lawns  and  tennis  courts  is  one 
that  is  constantly  recurring,  and  some  notes  upon  the  subject  may 
be  of  use  to  gardeners  and  others  in  the  Malay  Peninsula.  To  pre- 
pare a lawn  for  tennis  and  other  such  games,  the  first  requisite  is 
of  course  to  level  the  ground,  and  dig  it  well  over,  eradicating  all 
unnecessary  weeds  and  especially  Lalang  mperata  cylindrica). 
In  rolling  the  prepared  soil  it  is  not  advisable  to  use  too  heavy  a 
roller,  especially  if  the  soil  is  stiff  clay  with  much  iron  in  it.  In  one 
instance  many  years  ago  this  was  done  with  a cricket  pitch,  on  new 
made  ground,  and  after  it  had  been  used  for  many  years,  it  was 
found  that  the  turf  peeled  off  in  places.  Investigation  showed  that 
the  grass  roots  had  been  unable  to  penetrate  sufficiently  deeply 
into  the  stiff  under  soil  which,  by  rolling,  had  been  packed  into 
what  had  become  almost  a rock  from  the  depositing  of  iron  oxide 
so  that  when  the  dry  weather  came,  the  turf  had  no  hold  on  the 
soil  at  all  ; it  is  much  better  to  roll  new  made  soil  gradually  rolling 
it  down  as  each  layer  is  thrown  on  the  ground.  On  the  top  of  the 
soil  levelled  and  raised  as  high  as  required,  should  be  thrown  a 
top-dressing  of  a mixture  of  cowdung  and  earth  in  about  equal 
proportions,  which  has  been  well  mixed,  allowed  to  dry  in  the  sun, 
and  then  passed  through  a sieve. 
The  ground  being  prepared,  suitable  turf  must  be  procured  cut 
into  pieces  about  6 inches  square,  planted  two  or  three  feet  apart, 
being  well  pressed  into  the  soft  soil.  If  the  weather  is  excessively 
dry  it  may  be  advisable  to  water  the  lawn,  but  it  is  not  usually 
necessary.  In  from  3 to  6 months  the  ground  should  be  completely 
covered,  and  the  turf  carpet  level.  The  turf  should  then  be  well 
rolled  with  a fairly  light  roller,  and  all  objectionable  weeds,  such  as 
Tutup  Bumi,  Elephantopus  scabcr,  Sensitive  plants,  and  Lalang 
should  be  weeded  out. 
This  turf  will  consist  of  mixed  grasses,  together  with  a few  other 
I plants  which  are  not  grasses,  but  wliich  occur  in  most  of  our  turfs  ; 
i the  most  useful  of  these  are  the  little  clovers,  Desmodiuni  heteio- 
\ phyllum  and  D.  trifiontm.  'rhese  play  the  part  of  the  white  clover 
