266 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
progress. The rubbish should be screened, to separate from 
it the dust of old mortar, plaster, and broken brick to the 
size of walnuts at the utmost. This may be spread thinly 
two or three times in autumn and spring, and will greatly 
benefit the texture and density of the turf. 
It cannot be said that in British gardens grass is gene¬ 
rally well managed and properly understood, for the lawn is 
the last place on which either manure or water is generously 
Bestowed. We may ofttimes see the flower-beds deluged with 
water that they do not need, while the grass is fast parching 
into a hideous condition of sterility. If we could persuade 
the industrious folks to spread the water, by means of a hose, 
over the grass two or three times a week during summer, 
and give the geraniums none at all, the result would be a 
brighter blaze of flowers in a rich setting of delightfully fresh 
verdure, instead of, perhaps, geraniums growing like cabbages, 
and scarcely flowering at all, and the grass becoming as thin 
and black as if a flame had passed over it. 
Two contingencies are to be especially guarded against in 
the management of grass turf—the machine must be set so 
as to cut fair, and it must be kept in the best order by 
constant cleaning and oiling. If set so as to cut very close, 
it will occasionally pare off the surface soil, and with it the 
roots of the grasses; many a good lawn has been ruined by 
the foolish practice of making the machine cut as close as 
possible, under the absurd impression that one cut is better 
than two. The more cuts the better, provided always that 
the machine is properly set and in the best working order. 
Another mode of making a present effect at the expense of 
the lawn consists in continually cutting a fresh edge with 
the edging iron. A gardener who cuts into the turf on the 
edge of the lawn to make a finish ought to be compelled to 
eat all that he removes. If the practice is persisted in, tbe 
grass is reduced in breadth, and the walk is widened, and in 
time there is formed a deep gutter and a sharp ugly ridge. 
If properly finished at the edge with the shears, the width of 
the walk will not vary an inch in fifty years. One of the first 
things we look after in the work of a new man is his manage¬ 
ment of the edges of lawns, and we are always careful to 
explain our views upon the subject in good time to prevent 
a mischief wbick cannot be easily remedied. The man who 
persists after warning and explanation in chop, chop, chop' 
