1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
221 
Making  the  Lawn. 
QUESTIONS. 
1.  What  In  your  experience  is  the  best  grass  seed  to  sow  for  permanent 
lawns:  for  dry  lawns;  for  damp  lawns? 
2.  What  advantages  have  you  found  in  the  current  lawn-grass  mixtures 
over  pure  Blue  Grass,  Red  Top,  etc.? 
3.  When  is  the  best  time  to  sow  the  seed  ?  How  much  to  the  acre  ? 
4.  When  should  the  new  seeding  be  rolled?  When  cut  for  the  first 
time  ?  What  fertilizers  do  you  use — stable  or  commercial  ? 
No  Use  For  “Lawn  Mixtures.” 
The  secret  of  a  good  lawn  is  far  more  in  having  a 
fertile  soil  than  in  sowing  any  special  mixture  of 
seeds.  With  a  good  soil,  and  the  frequent  use  of  the 
lawn  mower,  the  turf  will  be  all  right ;  without  these, 
the  most  carefully  prepared  mixture  in  the  world  will 
not  make  a  fine,  dense  turf  that  holds  its  fresh  color 
through  dry  weather.  I  have  generally  sown  and 
recommended  equal  parts  by  weight  of  Kentucky  Blue 
Grass,  Red-Top,  and  White  Clover.  Some  prefer  to 
leave  out  the  last,  but  I  think  it  improves  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  the  turf.  Another  secret  of  a  fine  turf  is  in 
thick  seeding.  Mr.  Scott,  in  his  “  Beautiful  Homes,” 
recommends  half  a  bushel  of  the  above  mixture  to 
each  100  square  feet.  This  is  not  too  much  where  the 
finest  turf  is  desired  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  I 
do  not  always  have  the  courage  to  follow  this  rule, 
nor  to  recommend  it  to  others,  but  it  would  be  erring 
on  the  safe  side  to  adhere  strictly  to  it. 
I  have  never  used  any  of  the  so-called  lawn  mix¬ 
tures  sold  by  seedsmen  either  here  at  the  Wisconsin 
Experiment  Station,  or  elsewhere.  The  experiences  of 
Dr.  Beal  and  others  who  tested  the  vitality  of  the  seeds 
in  such  mixtures  and  published  the  results  a  few  years 
ago,  prejudiced  me  against  them.  As  a  rule,  I  should 
sow  the  seed  on  a  lawn  as  soon  as  the  soil  can  be 
got  in  proper  condition,  regardless  of  the  time  of 
year.  The.  exceptions  would  be  late  in  the  fall,  and  in 
mid-summer.  In  the  former  case  the  seed  would  not 
germinate  until  spring,  and  would  be  likely  to  be  re¬ 
moved  by  washing  during  winter  ;  in  the  latter,  the 
droughts  of  July  and  August  would  tend  to  destroy 
much  of  it  in  its  attempts  at  germination.  I  should 
prefer  to  roll  the  ground  before  the  seeding  and  then 
rake  the  surface  afterwards.  I  should  cut  the  grass 
as  soon  as  it  attains  the  height  of  three  inches,  and  as 
often  as  it  attains  this  height.  I  should  use  commer¬ 
cial  fertilizers  only  when  fine,  well  rotted  stable 
manure  is  not  available.  E,  s.  goff. 
June  Grass,  (Kentucky  Blue  Grass)  Every  Time. 
1.  With  us  here  in  the  Memphremagog  Valley,  Ver¬ 
mont,  it  comes  to  that  anyway  after  a  few  years,  and 
it  is  every  way  best  to  start  with  it.  I  use  it  as  pure 
and  unadulterated  as  I  can  get  it.  I  lived  in  Kentucky 
a  dozen  years,  and  do  not  see  that  the  Blue  Grass  there 
is  any  better  than  here.  I  can  find  leaves  of  it  in  the 
fall  that  are  all  of  a  yard  long.  The  soil  of  the  Great 
St.  Lawrence  Valley  and  its  tributaries  is  almost  iden¬ 
tical  with  that  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  my  lake-shore 
farm  has  always  seemed  to  me  an  almost  exact  dupli¬ 
cate  of  that  I  once  owned  near  Louisville. 
2.  I  have  tried  various  mixtures  advised  by  seeds¬ 
men,  but  should  never  do  so  again.  But  it  is  of  no  use 
to  try  to  have  a  nice,  rich  lawn  on  poor  ground.  You 
cannot  get  it  with  any  kind  of  grass.  Start  with  the 
ground  in  good  heart,  and  keep  it  up  by  top-dressing 
at  the  first  signal  of  distress.  Next  to  richness  of  the 
soil  comes  a  supply  of  water  for  irrigation,  or  abun¬ 
dant  sprinkling,  in  time  of  drought.  This  is  the  time 
the  weeds  get  in  and  take  hold,  and,  once  in,  it  takes 
hard  fighting  to  dispossess  them. 
3.  Late  summer;  or  very  early  spring,  after  careful 
preparation  in  the  fall.  Althougn  well  rotted  and  fre¬ 
quently  turned  stable  manure  is  good — perhaps  the 
best — yet  unless  you  have  sprouted  and  killed  the  last 
weed  seed  in  it  before  using  it  for  a  lawn,  you  will 
wish  you  had  stuck  to  the  commercial  fertilizer. 
4.  It  should  be  carefully  plowed,  enriched,  harrowed, 
cross-harrowed  and  raked,  every  care  having  been 
taken  to  get  a  smooth  surface  and  even  grade — and 
then  it  should  be  seeded,  smoothing- harrowed,  raked 
again,  and  rolled.  If  the  ground  and  the  weather  are 
dry,  liberal  sprinkling  with  the  hose  is  very  important. 
Without  liberal  seeding  and  prompt  growth  of  the 
grass,  the  result  will  be  disappointing.  1  should  wait 
until  the  grass  is  six  or  eight  inches  high  before  the 
first  cutting,  and  would  cut  high  the  first  few  times, 
wetting  down  well  with  the  hose,  if  the  ground  needs 
it,  after  each  cutting.  There  is  no  place  where  thor¬ 
ough  work  is  better  rewarded  than  in  making  a  lawn, 
for  there  is  nothing  half-way  about  it,  a  lawn  being 
either  an  object  for  pride  or  for  shame.  I  have  had 
no  experience  in  starting  a  lawn  on  clay  soil,  but  in 
that  case  the  first  thing,  evidently,  would  be  thorough 
tiling.  T.  H.  HOSKINS. 
Red  Top  Gives  “Body”  to  “Central  Park.” 
1.  I  have  noticed  a  great  increase  of  value  in  Hen¬ 
derson’s  Central  Park  mixture,  when  mixed  with  one- 
third  of  Red  Top.  It  gives  a  “body”  to  the  sod, 
which  I  found  wanting  in  the  Central  Park  mixture  of 
itself.  I  have  used  the  above  mixture  nearly  ex¬ 
clusively,  the  exception  being  on  very  low  land,  where 
I  would  not  use  the  Central  Park  mixture  in  whole  or 
part. 
2.  The  majority  of  the  current  lawn  grass  mixtures 
give  a  closer,  smoother  and  more  handsome  lawn 
than  the  ranker  growing  grasses,  such  as  Blue  Grass 
and  others,  which  are  more  suitable  for  cropping  and 
grazing. 
3.  As  a  rule,  the  best  time  to  sow  the  seed  is  in  the 
spring  here  in  Orange  County,  N.  Y. — from  April  to 
May — the  earlier  the  better,  providing  the  ground  is 
fit  to  work.  I  have  also  had  splendid  results  from 
sowings  daring  the  later  part  of  August  and  the  early 
part  of  September.  I  have  learned  that  about  five 
bushels  is  the  right  quantity  to  sow  to  the  acre. 
4.  I  use  the  roller  directly  after  the  seed  has  been 
sowed.  I  would  cut  the  grass  for  the  first  time  when 
it  is  about  six  inches  high,  and  let  the  crop  remain  on 
the  ground.  I  think  rolling  at  this  time  very  bene¬ 
ficial,  when  the  work  can  be  done  at  reasonable  prices. 
I  am  always  in  favor  of  stable  manure.  In  the  absence 
of  this  requirement,  I  use  fertilizers,  and  even  when 
the  ground  is  well  enriched  with  stable  manure,  I 
almost  invariably  use  400  or  500  pounds  per  acre  just 
before  the  last  harrowing.  t.  j.  dwyer. 
Profit-sharing  in  Farming. 
In  the  article  on  Farm  Partnerships  in  The  Rurai, 
of  December  19,  mention  was  made  of  the  union  of  capi¬ 
tal  and  brains  for  the  development  of  a  farm,  whereby 
the  owner  and  operator  should  share  in  the  profit.  Why 
not  broaden  the  scheme  and  give  labor  a  chance  for  a 
share  in  the  “mutual  benefit?”  Profit-sharing,  that 
is,  the  division  of  profits  between  the  capitalist,  the 
manager  and  the  laborers,  has  proved  to  be  a  benefit 
to  all  concerned  in  many  cases  in  other  industries,  and 
there  is  a  splendid  opportunity  for  its  application  in 
farming.  I  have  had  personal  experience,  East  and 
West,  both  as  laborer  and  as  manager,  and  believe  that 
many  of  the  difficulties  that  occur  in  securing  and  re¬ 
taining  capable  workmen  and  enterprising  managers 
on  farms  would  be  much  diminished,  and  the  incomes 
of  all  concerned  increased  by  a  trial  of  profit-sharing 
which  is,  whatever  else  may  be  said  of  it,  somewhat 
more  Christian-like  than  the  present  principle,  or 
rather  lack  of  principle,  that  prevails  in  the  relations 
between  capital,  brains  and  labor.  The  division  of 
labor,  the  production  of  specialties  and  profit-sharing, 
would  form  a  strong  combination  in  farm  manage¬ 
ment.  The  Yankee  farm  described  in  The  Rural  of 
January  31,  1891,  was  an  illustration  of  the  success 
following  the  adoption  of  the  first  and  second  rules. 
The  discussion  of  this  matter  in  the  columns  of  The 
Rural  and  the  statement  of  any  facts  bearing  on  the 
subject,  either  in  farming  or  in  other  industries,  might 
be  helpful  and  profitable.  leinad. 
Words  That  Help. 
The  Rural  New-Yorker  has  just  won  its  case  in 
a  libel  suit  brought  because  of  an  honest  exposure  of 
dishonest  methods  of  advertising.  The  suit  was  for 
$50,000;  and  Tiie  Rural  remarks  that  such  suits  are 
discouragingly  expensive  affairs.  If  our  American 
farmers  appreciated  such  loyal  service  as  the  Thk 
Rural  has  rendered  in  this  and  other  like  cases,  its 
subscription  list  would  be  at  once  increased  by  at 
least  10,000  new  subscribers.  But  we  are  sorry  to 
say  that  it  is  doubtful  if,  for  this  cause,  it  gets  as  many 
as  10  more.  When  our  farmers  come  to  have  a  strong 
and  honest  pride  in  themselves  and  their  art,  such  as 
they  should  have,  they  will  unite  in  grand  testimoni¬ 
als  of  gratitude  to  such  faithful  guardians  of  their  in¬ 
terests.  As  it  is  now,  most  farmers  seem  to  be  ashamed 
of  their  trade,  and  are  about  as  likely  to  kick  as  to  pat 
a  dog  that  barks  in  their  behalf.  But  they  are  not 
all  so;  and  those  who  are  not  will  remember  a  good 
turn  like  this.  It  seems  to  us  that  it  would  be  appro¬ 
priate  work  for  the  Grange  and  the  Alliance,  the 
country  over,  to  see  that  the  newspaper  champions  of 
their  cause  and  interests  do  not  lose  by  their  cham¬ 
pionship. — Dr.  T.  H.  Hoskins  in  Vermont  Watchman. 
Business  Bits. 
An  Exhibit  of  Weeds.— It  Is  proposed  to  have  an  exhibit  of  all  the 
worst  weeds  of  the  country  at  the  coming  Columbian  Exposition  and  u 
circular  has  been  Issued  giving  necessary  Instructions  for  preparing 
and  forwarding  samples.  Write  to  Prof.  Byron  D.  Halstead,  of  the 
New  Jersey  Experiment  Station,  New  Brunswick,  for  a  copy  of  the  cir¬ 
cular  and  see  what  you  can  do  to  help  him  In  Ills  labor  of  love— not  of 
weeds  but  of  their  ghosts. 
A  HardGrind-stonk.— Throe  years  ago  l  boughtanew,  large  grind¬ 
stone,  and  then  It  did  very  tine  work,  but  It  seems  to  bo  very  hard  now. 
I  never  kept  It  In  the  sun;  I  have  kept  It  In  summer  under  a  good  shed, 
and  in  winter  In  a  idee,  dry  cellar.  I  have  always  been  very  particular 
about  the  water  used  In  grinding,  and  thought  well-water  the  best. 
What  Is  the  cause  of  the  trouble?  F.  M. 
Ans. — We  do  not  think  the  water  used  on  the  stone  has  had  any 
material  ellect  on  It,  one  way  or  another.  The  only  thing  to  do  now  Is 
to  “  turn”  off  the  stone,  taking  oil,  say  a  quarter  of  an  Inch  on  the  out¬ 
side.  To  do  this,  get  a  soft  Iron  rod  to  be  used  as  a  turning  tool.  Get 
two  or  three  Btout  men  to  reltove  each  other  at  the  crank  and  use  the 
Iron  rod  as  you  would  a  gouge  in  turning  wood.  In  a  half  hour  the 
work  will  bo  done.  Be  careful  to  leave  the  stone  round  and  with  a 
square  face. 
Newtown  or  Albkmaiii.e  Pippins.— I  have  Just  been  looking 
over  a  tine  lot  of  Newtown  Pippins  and  It  occurred  to  me  to  tell  The 
Rural  family,  happily  a  large  one,  how  a  variety  that  is  almost  aban¬ 
doned  here,  came  to  bear  such  good  fruit  as  It  once  bore, about  75  years 
ago,  when  the  elder  Wm.  Prince  disseminated  the  variety,  as  It  once 
boro  lino  crops  there  must  be  a  cause  for  the  present  failure  of  this 
valuable  variety.  What  was  It  ?  From  long  cropping  of  the  land, 
taking  oil  the  potash  and  restoring  but  a  small  part  In  stable  manure, 
the  soil  became  deficient  In  this  necessary  fertilizer.  We  have  for  a  few 
years  past  spread  over  the  orchard  Canada  unleached  ashes,  and  under 
the  Pippin  trees  a  quantity  of  coal  ashes  In  addition,  more  for  a  mulch 
than  for  their  manurlal  value.  The  trees  awakened  Into  new  growth, and 
the  apples  Improved  so  that  It  was  a  delight  to  gather  them.  Although 
hard  and  unripe  now,  they  promise  many  a  luscious  feast  ere  long. 
The  most  productive  young  orchard  we  have  on  Long  Island,  and  a 
profitable  one  too,  has  been  liberally  fertilized  every  year  with  these 
wood  ashes,  not  spread  round  the  tranks— for  doing  that  will  kill  any 
tree— but  put  on  as  far  as  the  roots  extend.  Isaac  hicks. 
A  Cream  Starter. — In  several  of  Its  notices  of  prominent  dairy 
farms  The  R.  N.-Y.  has  referred  to  the  “  Boyd  Cream  Starter,”  a  pro¬ 
cess  sold  by  John  Boyd,  of  Chicago.  In  a  recent  note  Mr.  Boyd  writes, 
as  follows  about  his  “starter.” 
“The  ripening  of  cream  Is  by  far  the  most  Important  and  dltlicult  step 
In  making  butter,  because  It  is  a  chemical  reaction  and  one  of  a  very 
delicate  nature.  The  only  means  the  butter  maker  has  of  determining 
the  proper  condition  Is  his  or  her  sense  of  smell  or  taste,  and  one  can 
well  imagine  how  reliable  such  a  test  Is  In  the  great  majority  of  cases. 
If  cream  Is  too  ripe,  or  not  ripe  enough,  there  Is  always  a  loss  of  but¬ 
ter  In  the  butter-milk.  If  the  mass  of  cream  Is  not  exactly  of  one 
chemical  condition,  there  is  surely  a  loss  of  butter  In  the  butter-milk; 
hence  the  necessity  for  some  uniform  method  In  the  operation.  To 
produce  the  best  results  In  quantity  and  quality  of  butter,  the  cream 
must  be  brought  to  one  chemical  condition  every  day  before  churn¬ 
ing;  the  operation  Is  anologous  to  that  of  making  bread  or  brewing 
beer— the  change  is  the  result  of  a  ferment  In  the  cream,  a  lactic  fer¬ 
ment  that  progresses  just  so  far  and  no  farther.  My  process  does 
this  with  absolute  certainty  every  day,  regardless  of  the  changes  of 
the  seasons.  To  put  It  In  operation  requires  no  skill,  simply  a  strict 
compliance  with  theslmple  rules  laid  down.” 
Maple  Sugar  at  Christmas.— In  The  Rural  New-Yorker  of 
March  4,  It  Is  stated  that  ail  the  first  maple  sugar  of  the  season  put  on 
the  market  is  old,  melted  over,  and  that  there  Is  not  any  made  until 
March.  I  am  in  the  habit  of  making  over  1,000  pounds  a  season,  here 
In  Chenango  County,  N.  Y.,  and  I  know  that  the  sap  does  not  come  In 
any  certain  month;  It  Is  the  weather  that  controls  maple  sugar  making. 
This  year  I  have  already  made  an  equivalent  in  syrup  of  100  pounds 
of  sugar,  and  all  on  February  25  and  27,  and  when  I  took  It  to  the  mar¬ 
ket  to  sell,  It  went  quickly,  for,  as  people  said,  If  I  stated  It  was 
new  they  did  not  doubt  it,  and  when  they  tasted,  they  spoke  for  more, 
and  I  could  not  supply  them  all.  I  have  made  maple  sugar  In  Decem¬ 
ber,  February,  March,  April  and  May.  I  have  an  evaporator  made  by 
the  Vermont  Farm  Machine  Co.  and  a  building  constructed  expressly 
for  it,  and  I  claim  1  can  make  as  line  sugar  as  any  one.  Some  Is  now 
contracted  for  in  Illinois  and  Montana.  frank  j.  tuttle. 
COMMERCIAL  VALUE  OF 
BAUGH’S  RAW  BONE  MEAL,*??;i4 
An  ordinary  piece  of  bone  may  remain  in  the  soil  for  twenty  years  before  It  entirely  decays.  The  smaller  the 
surface  the  sooner  the  bone  Is  dissolved.  Therefore  when  using  ground  bone  have  It  In  the  tlnest  condition  possi¬ 
ble.  For  Immediate  results  use  it  AUdl'S  FUllK  DlssSOLVEl)  UONEs,  but  for  more  permanent  and  lasting 
benefits,  especially  on  heavy  soils,  BAUGH’S  PURE  RAW  BONK  HEAL  Is  the  very  best  article  known  In 
this  country.  Note  the  Latest  Analysis  of  these  brands  by  the  PENNSYLVANIA  BOARD  OK  AGR1- 
!  CUKTURK:  made  Nov.  28th,  1891. 
Baugh’s  Pure  Dissolved  Animal  Bones 
SAMPLE  802. 
Ammonia,  3.91  per  cent..  Available  Phos.  Acid,  10.59  per  cent.,  Insoluble,  8.30  per  cent. 
Commercial  Value  per  Ton  (2,000  lbs.)  at  Station’s  Prices,  $37.27. 
ANALYSIS 
OF  THE 
Pennsylvania  Board 
of  Atrrlculture, 
MADE 
November  28,  1891. 
Sample  No.  983. 
BAUCH’S 
RAWB0NEMEAL 
MECHANICAL  ANALYSIS  CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS. 
Fine  Bone  Less  *>a  10.-52%  Nitrogen,  .  -  i  78% 
Fine  Med’m  6  ’  /0 
Bone  “  in. -40%  EQUAL  TO 
Mea’m  Bone  “  V2  in.—  6%  . _ •  0. 
Coarse  Bone,  None.  - -  Ammonia,  -  -  4.59% 
100%  Phosphoric  Acid,  21.75% 
COMMERCIAL  VALUE  PER  TON  0,000  LBS.),  AT 
STATION’S  PRICES,  $39.14. 
BAUGH  &  SONS  C0MPT,Of  ^D^resTArer6 
Original  Manufacturers  of  RAW  BONE  PHOSPHATE.  Works:  Foot  of  Morris  to  Moore  Sts. 
Animal  Bone  $25  Phosphate.  Double  Eagle  Phosphate.  Bone  and  Potash  Compound. 
