PARK AND CEMETERY. 
333 
weeds on this account. One of the worst 
weeds affecting new lawns is crab grass 
(Digitaria humifusa), but it lasts only a 
year or two, as a rule. It is much more 
troublesome on dry lawns, where the catch 
of grass is poor. Frequent close cutting 
of the grass in the fall is a good prevent- 
ive, since the seed is not allowed to mature. 
Two of the plantains, P. lanceolata and P. 
major, are troublesome in lawns, more 
especially where the grass is thin. Cutting 
plantain at different distances from the 
roots with a special device has not always 
proved satisfactory, and our observations 
have shown that when cut in this way a 
large percentage of the plants renew their 
FERTILIZER SPREADER FOR LAWNS. 
growth. This appears to be true, also, of 
the dandelion. 
The following table shows the results of 
cutting plantain stems. The experiments 
were made by A. J. Sullivan, a student as- 
sistant : 
Table I. 
Showing Results of Cutting Plantain Stents 
(Plantago Major L). 
Number of Results: 
Plants Method of Cutting No. 
Lot 
Used 
Stems 
Growth 
Growth 
A 
25 
Very close to roots 
17 
8 
B 
25 
Yi in. from roots 
16 
9 
C 
25 
Y% to Yt in. from roots 20 
5 
D 
25 
J4 in., from roots 
15 
10 
E 
25 
% in. from roots 
20 
5 
125 
88 
37 
After being cut the plants were set out 
in boxes in good soil and under favorable 
conditions for growth. They were planted 
slightly below the surface of the soil to 
prevent the death of the cut surface. The 
results do not show much difference as re- 
gards distance of cutting from the roots, 
although those plants cut near the roots 
show a weak and more tardy response. Of 
the total number of plants cut, 88 started 
to produce new foliage and 37 failed to re- 
spond. 
The stems of plantain are, as a rule, 
•only about or 1 inch in length, and if 
cut quite deep below the surface of the 
ground a considerable percentage could 
possibly be destroyed. 
The effects of the prevailing winds on 
plantain seed are often shown in their dis- 
tribution on lawns. In winter their seed 
spikes are often found protruding above 
the snow, and when the snow has a crust 
the seeds are easily carried long distances, 
and often land at certain points corre- 
sponding with the action of the wind. 
Many other weeds, when cut below the 
surface, will not renew their growth. The 
device illustrated consists of an asparagus 
cutter inserted into a handle, and is a 
cheap, practical and easily used tool for 
cutting roots below the surface. 
Frequent applications of fertilizer to 
lawns is of some service in exterminating 
weeds. For this reason we have devised a 
lawn fertilizer spreader, consisting of a 
holder mounted on rubber-tired wheels, 
with an opening three-fourths of an inch 
in width which can easily be opened or 
closed while operating the machine. The 
spreader is provided with a revolving 
cylinder which keeps the fertilizer pulver- 
ized and in motion. This device was 
designed to improve upon the clumsier 
method of hand spreading, and it will 
spread the fertilizer so evenly and thor- 
oughly that every root can be reached. 
With its use more fertilizer may be re- 
quired to completely cover the lawn, but a 
great deal is gained by the thorough appli- 
cation and even distribution. It is not de- 
signed to spread • coarse manure, but may 
be used with pulverized sheep and cow 
manure and commercial fertilizers. 
Besides using pulverized sheep or cow 
manure in the spring or fall, wood ashes, 
nitrate of soda, sulfate or muriate of pot- 
ash may be applied. We have found it well 
to fertilize in late summer when the grass 
is losing its vigor, which keeps it growing 
and in good condition up to the end of the 
season, and also helps greatly to crowd out 
undesirable fall weeds. 
Pulverized sheep and cow manure, while 
excellent for lawns on account of the large 
amount of organic matter which they con- 
tain, do, like other manures, possess a dis- 
advantage in the undesirable weed seeds 
often found in them. Most of the pulver- 
ized manures come from the Chicago stock 
yards, and western seeds are likely to pre- 
dominate in them. An analysis of pulver- 
ized sheep manure shows the following 
weed seeds in one pound : 
Table II. 
Showing Number and Kinds of Weed 
Seeds in One Pound of Pulverized 
Sheep Manure. 
Number of 
Kind of Seed Seeds 
Ladies’ thumb 580 
Tumble weed 670 
Sorrel 390 
Timothy 1,000 
Foxtail 400 
Panicum and other species 820 
Plantago lanceolata, etc 200 
Total 4,060 
The figures given in this table show the 
great number of seeds in pulverized sheep 
manure — 4,060 to 1 pound, which would be 
equivalent to 406,000 seeds in a 100-pound 
bag. But this table represents only one 
analysis, although taken from a typical 
sample on the market. Some of the seeds 
named are of little account, while others, 
like Plantago lanceolata and certain Pani- 
cums, often prove noxious. One lawn with 
which we have experimented, and to which 
sheep manure was applied freely, became 
badly contaminated with Plantago lancco- 
lata, which had never been noticed in the 
lawn before and must have come in with 
FIG. 1. WATERING CAN WITH DEVICE 
FOR APPLYING ARSENATE OF SODA. 
the sheep manure. It was most abundant 
in the poorest part of the lawn. In an- 
other case where pulverized sheep manure 
was used plentifully a remarkable catch of 
a beautiful little lawn grass growing about 
4 inches high and known as Poa annua 
was found. The seed of this grass cannot 
be had in the market, and yet it is one of 
the most desirable lawn grasses, thriving in 
the shade where other grasses will not. 
Whether the sheep manure contained the 
seed, or whether it merely furnished a 
suitable environment for its development, 
as does potash for clover, was not learned. 
The large amount of organic matter con- 
tained in sheep manure makes it an excel- 
lent lawn fertilizer, although from the 
point of view of plant food contained it is 
more expensive than most chemical fer- 
tilizers. Still, we believe that no chemical 
fertilizer can take its place on lawns. The 
number of weed seeds it contains is its 
worst feature, but this might possibly be 
overcome by some system of sterilization. 
The application of steam would have a 
tendency to increase the ammonification 
and would be a troublesome process, but if 
the weed seeds could be killed by an ap- 
plication of formaldehyde and potassium 
permanganate it would be a practical meth- 
od. Fumigation with this substance will 
kill onion seed very quickly, but whether it 
would have the same effect on weed seeds 
we do not know. 
