APPENDIX. 
423 
As the neatness of a well kept lawn depends mainly upon the man- 
ner in which it is mown, and as this again can only be well done where 
there are no inequalities in the ground, it follows that the surface 
should be kept as smooth as possible. Before sowing a lawn, too 
much pains cannot be taken to render its surface smooth and even. 
After this, in the spring, before the grass starts, it should be examined, 
and all little holes and irregularities filled up, and the same should be 
looked over at any annual top-dressing that may take place. The 
When a lawn is in perfect condition, smooth, free from stones and inequali- 
ties, and is cut, as it ought to be, once a week, it is quite surprising how much 
gratification we derive from what used to be performed with great labor, and 
often with a very unsatisfactory result. There are very few places in the 
country where we can have complete lawns by the scythe, because, as the 
work must be performed early in the morning and late in the afternoon 
when the dew is on, it follows that a very large force, much larger than is 
usually kept even in our best places, must be required, to accomplish 
much in so short a time. In England, this is more easily done, because 
they turn on to the lawn at daylight, ten to thirty men, from all parts of 
the place, who separate after 8, or 9, A. M., to their respective and regular 
duties — to the garden, to the farm, to the forest. We cannot afford to do 
this, and as our sun is much hotter, and our dew much less time in dura- 
tion than in England, it follows, that any improvement, which will allow us 
to cut our lawns throughout the heat of the day, is very desirable. This 
the mowing machine does, performing its work better when the dew is 
off, than on, and allowing us to mow, roll, and gather up, at the same time, and 
by the same means. All that remains subsequently to do, is to clip with scythe 
or sickle around the edges and verges, as well as near trees, or masses of shrubs, 
very close to which the machine should not be allowed to pass. We have found 
more satisfaction in the use of this machine, than in any other thing we have 
done since we lived in the country, and have now got our lawn into such a 
responsive and genial condition, that (except during May and June, when the 
growth of grass is more rampant, and has to be gathered), we have removed 
our box for catching the grass as it falls from the rollers, and permit it 
to fly in a little shower all over the lawn, as the cutting progresses. In 
this way, the lawn-top dresses itself, by returning all that it produces. 
By cutting and rolling once a week, this weekly cutting amounts to 
little more than snipping off the points of shoots half to three-quarters of 
an inch long, which have projected above the cutting-grade of the machine, 
and which are scattered in this sort of grassy shower on the lawn, decaying 
or disappearing in course of two to three hours, while all below the grade 
becomes pressed and matted by the roller into a fine and verdant soc* — 
H. W. S. 
