THE GARDEN PRIMER 



whatever depth it may show — the grading may be done 

 with the subsoil, after construction work is over, and 

 then the top soil returned to the top^ where it belongs; 

 and the rest is easy. 



Very rich, or very much enriched, soil is not neces- 

 sary for a lawn. Fertilizers promote swift growth 

 usually, which is just what a lawn ought not to be forced 

 to make. Slow and sure suits grass better — and even 

 poor soil will support such growth, if the right kind of 

 seed for the place is chosen. Of course rich, deep loam 

 is the ideal, but there is no reason to be discouraged 

 if this is lacking, nor for drawing in quantities of top 

 dressing to help out. 



If one is possessed of patience enough to wait a 

 season for a lawn, for the sake of its future, a green 

 manure crop is an excellent thing to start with. Cow 

 peas are perhaps the best of the numerous leguminous 

 plants which may be used for this purpose, growing as 

 they do on any and all kinds of soil. They should be 

 sown about the middle of May, in the latitude of New 

 York, and plowed under in the early autumn. On 

 clay soil they are best plowed under while green, but 

 on sandy, loose soil the vines should be allowed to decay 

 before being turned in. 



Farther north where cow peas will not mature their 

 seed, field peas, which are sown in the spring, may be 

 substituted. These must be sowed a little thicker than 

 the former, three pecks to an area of loo x loo feet being 

 needed, while of the cow peas two pecks for the same 

 plot will be enough. An after treatment of lime at the 



104 



