134 
MUDDY LAWNS. 
A typical piece of worm infested, soft, muddy 
turf. Requires brushing and rolling daily 
from September to June, which means damaged 
turf, roots bruised and exposed, fine grasses 
smothered, and ultimate hare patches. 
The soft, sticKv, muddy, and wet condition of tennis courts and lawns during - the 
autumn and early spring- is entirely due to the movement of millions of worms, which loosen 
the soil and throw to the surface tons of slimy, sticky, wet mud. 
If any attempt is made to make the grass firm by rolling, the casts either stick to the roller 
and soil is actually taken away from the lawn, or else they roll down hard and smother out the fine 
grasses. If they are swept off with a broom, the lawn is not only impoverished bv loss of soil, 
but the grass, being smeared over with the slimy mud, becomes unhealthy, and the action of the 
broom bruises the surface roots of the grass and exposes them to the air, with the result that 
many of the finest grasses die; and, in both cases, the lawn remains soft, 
dirty, wet, and cannot be used. 
When the worms are exterminated a soft, wet, sticky lawn improves immediately, 
and becomes firm, clean under foot, and healthy, and games can be played both early 
an the spring and quite late in the autumn, when wormy lawns are absolutely unplayable. 
Seedsmen by Appointment to Ilis Majesty the King— High Holborn, London. 
