TflE FOBMATION AND CARE OF LAWN8 AND GOLF-GREENS. 13 



it has been found to roll down into a splendid surface in the spring, and 

 to stand constant hard wear in a way which the original soil would have 

 been quite incapable of doing. 



This plan might be followed with advantage in the preparation of 

 many lawns of a light and crumbling character, especially when intended 

 as tennis courts. The comparative slight depth of the clay is not sufficient 

 to prevent drainage, while the surface is improved at least 50 per cent. 



On land of a very light or sandy nature little success can be hoped 

 for without a coating of soil of a more retentive character. Such 

 operations may be dreaded on account of their cost, but in view of the 

 fact that a lawn once put down is expected to stand for many years, it is 

 really false economy to avoid such expenditure as may be necessary in 

 order to obtain a satisfactory surface. 



It should also be remembered that no amount of manure can com- 

 pensate for an unsatisfactory soil, as in the case of very light soils all 

 soluble manures will be washed through immediately, and at the end of 

 a couple of years the land will be just as bad as it was before the 

 application. 



A word of warning is, however, necessar}- as to imported soil, inas • 

 much as, however good it may look in quahty, it is almost certain to 

 contain seeds of many objectionable weeds, and unless steps are taken to 

 destroy them, w^hen the grass seed is sown they will grow up with the 

 grass and may eventually kill the finer grasses. It is not too much to 

 say that 90 per cent, of the complaints which the seedsman receives 

 about alleged impurities in the lawn seed supplied is not traceable to the 

 seed, but to the w^eeds that have been introduced in imported soil ; 

 indeed, to anyone who understands the subject at all, it is obvious that 

 many of the weeds complained of come from seeds which, from their size 

 and shape, could not possibly be included in the mixture of lawn seeds by 

 any seedsman possessing the slightest knowledge of his business. 



The only perfect remedy is to burn all imported soil, and in the case 

 of heavy or clay soil the burning has such beneficial results that it is a 

 practice worth adopting quite apart from the seeds of weeds. It must, 

 however, be remembered that the process of burning removes most of 

 the fertilising properties of the soil, and these must be returned in the 

 form of manure, as care should always be taken that the land to be used 

 for forming lawns is in thoroughly " good heart." 



The expense of maintaining lawns would not be nearly so heavy if 

 the preparatory work were carried out efficiently. The top spit of the 

 soil, or at least the upper six inches, should consist of a good loam 

 into which a heavy dressing of well-rotted farmyard manure has been 

 incorporated, and any expense and trouble will be fully repaid, whilst 

 the beneficial effects will be noticeable for years. Thirty cartloads, or 

 even more, per acre will not be too much, or where farmyard manure is 

 not easily obtainable an application of superphosphate of lime, Peruvian 

 guano, and bone dust, at the rate of two cwt., one cwt., and four cwt. 

 respectively, will generally prove beneficial when evenly spread and well 

 worked into the soil. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to urge how 

 extremely important it is to get land into thoroughly good condition 

 before any seed is sown. 



