The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
487 
Renovating a Lawn 
Will you suggest how to renovate a 
lawn? What grass there is on it now 
grows very poorly. Would a little White 
clover seed be any good on it? I. c. 
Connecticut. 
It is probable that this lawn Is starved 
and in need of fertility, or it may not 
have had proper preparation in the first 
place. It. should have had a good dress¬ 
ing of manure last Fall, which is raked 
off in the Spring. If this has not been 
done, it would be well to sow fine bone 
meal over it now, raking in with a sharp 
rake. In early April sow a good mixture 
of lawn grass seed at the rate of 50 lbs. 
to the acre, scratching in with a rake 
both ways. Then roll with a heavy 
roller. If the work is done early, there 
should be a good growth. If a lawn is 
not well made at. first there is always 
trouble with it later. The following in¬ 
structions. given previously for making a 
lawn on rough clay ground, will be ap¬ 
plicable to most cases, and emphasize the 
need for careful working: 
It will be well to use old. rotted cow 
manure in liberal quantity. I would ad¬ 
vise this he spread broadcast as evenly 
as possible, covering the ground at least 
■ me inch, then work it into the soil with 
the disk harrow, going over it both ways, 
and if it does not seem to be cut up as 
finely as it should he, go over it again 
diagonally. After the disk use the smooth¬ 
ing harrow, making the surface as smooth 
and level ns possible. A clod crusher 
made in the stone boat style will be use¬ 
ful in crushing the small clods and level¬ 
ing the surface. You will find that the 
use of these horse-drawn implements will 
leave the surface more or less uneven. 
There will he numerous bumps and hol¬ 
lows that will have to he leveled before 
the ground can be considered ready for 
seeding. The steel rake and shovel must 
be used to correct this trouble. The 
ground should he raked over, and when¬ 
ever or wherever a bump is found it 
should he leveled, and the soil taken off 
it put into the hollow, which is nearly 
always adjacent. Sometimes this un¬ 
evenness can he corrected by the use of 
the steel rake alone, but often the 
shovel will have to be used. After the 
whole plot has been raked over and lev¬ 
eled. a hand roller weighing 500 lbs. or so 
should be run over it ; this rolling will 
reveal all the soft, spots, which must be 
filled. After these have all been attended 
to. the ground should be rolled again, 
going the other way across it this time. 
This rolling will reveal the remaining soft 
spots, which must be filled and leveled off 
as before. These depressions made by 
the roller can easily be filled by raking 
in fine soil from the surrounding surface. 
Don’t, be afraid to use the roller; if your 
ground is in good working order, the 
roller will do no harm, and, besides, it is 
the only way you can find the soft spots 
and [nit them in shape so they will not 
show up after ground is seeded. The sec¬ 
ond rolling and leveling should put the 
ground in shape for seeding. 
The seeding down is a very important 
factor in making a good lawn. In the 
first place, only the very best lawn grass 
seed should be used, and it should be used 
in sufficient quantity, too; for to skimp 
in the sowing is to spoil the whole job. 
At least 100 lbs. of seed t<> the acre should 
be used. This should be hand - sown. 
Lawn grass seed is too fine and light 
weight ro he sown with a machine. The 
only time a seeder can be used is when 
there is a total calm. The slightest wind 
is apt to carry away the seed and deposit 
it anywhere except where it should he. 
when sown by a machine. When sown by 
hand the sower can bend over until his 
hand almost touches the ground, and thus 
scatter the seed just where he wants it, 
even though there should be considerable 
breeze moving. 
After the seed is sown the ground is 
In be raked over, preferably with a 
wooden hand rake. This raking is best 
accomplished with the forward and back¬ 
ward movement, as is employed with the 
steel rake in the breaking down of rough 
and uneven places in the garden when 
getting ready for planting. ^At'ter this 
ground is raked over ns described above, 
it must be gone over with the hand roller 
to settle the seed in the ground. Right 
here I want, to emphasize the importance 
of finishing the job with the roller. If 
(he roller is imt used after seeding, and a 
drv spell of a few days should come on at 
the time the seed is germinating, it will 
in all probability be destroyed. There¬ 
fore, do not neglect rolling the ground 
after seeding. When seeding is done dur¬ 
ing hot, dry weather, a light mulch of 
clean straw should he spread over the 
ground to give partial shade and thus 
protect the young grass from injury at 
n critical time iu its existence. Some 
lawn men sow a small quantity of oats 
with the grass seed in Summer. The 
oats come up quickly, grow rapidly and 
afford protection to the young grass. 
Newly made lawns should not lie cut 
until the grass is 5 or 6 in. high; for the 
first cutting a one-horse mower is admir¬ 
ably suited. The cutter bar should be set 
so that it will cut the grass 8 in. above 
the ground. At the second and subse¬ 
quent cuttings the lawn mower can be 
used. Imt cut high if weather is dry. and 
cut only when actually necessary until 
the grass becomes well established. Weeds 
will bother some at first, hut the growth 
of grass and the mowing will soon put 
them out of commission. That is, all 
kinds except plantain, dandelion, and 
luiekhorn, which may have to be hand- 
pulled. 
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have become interested in Hope Farm and its people. They may not 
know that these notes have been printed for 20 years and more. 
Some 25 of the best of these old-time sketches have been published 
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HOPE FARM NOTES 
Every reader of the Rural New-Yorker should own a copy. Among 
other remarkable tributes is the following: 
Mr. M and 1 have just finished Hope Farm Notes, 
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RURAL NEW-YORKER. 333 West 30th St., New York 
Gentlemen—Enclosed find remittance for $1.50. for which send 
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