FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
35 
have found that the most economical way 
of digging these roots, is to have a one 
or two horse plow precede a crew of men 
armed with ordinary potato hooks, with 
which to turn the furrows and shake the 
loose soil from the plants, so that, with 
an additional shaking with a fork whdh 
loading on the wagon or truck, the grass 
roots are practically free from soil. The 
plants are then brought where they are 
to be planted and thoroughly watered, 
or, if water is available where the grass 
is dug, it is always advisable to wet them 
at once, although this adds considerably 
to the weight, in carting. 
Whether the fertilizer to be used is 
commercial or barn-yard, can only be de¬ 
termined by each one, after considering 
the cost of each, availability and the needs 
of the soil. The soil which shows a good 
native cover crop, requires less of the or¬ 
ganic matter than one that is barren and 
lifeless. If we should decide on the sta¬ 
ble manure, and there is nothing better, 
it is a very good time to apply this, imme¬ 
diately preceding the planting of the grass 
roots, so that it can be plowed in with 
them. 
There are several methods of planting 
that can be followed, greatly depending 
on the acreage to be covered. For the 
small area, a forked orange tree stake, a 
lath, both sharpened at one end, or a 
small hand plow, can be used, but for 
the large area, the old reliable mule and 
plow will give the best results. 
The thickness in planting the grass 
roots, can only be determined by the re¬ 
sults desired. One can skip a furrow or 
plant in every furrow, depending on how 
long he wants to wait for his lawn, or 
how soon he wants to get through with 
his work. We plant in every furrow, 
tearing the roots apart so that they will 
cover as much ground as possible, laying 
them, practically, continuously in the fur¬ 
row. The grass needs only to be covered, 
thoroughly, and I do not believe that 
there is any specific depth that could be 
recommended, although we try to cover 
the roots at least, two or three inches, 
running the plow only deep enough to 
hold the furrow. 
After the grass is planted, the fertil¬ 
izer, if commercial, is applied, the ground 
smoothed and rolled, this smoothing and 
rolling serving to mix the fertilizer with 
the soil. This last year, we applied a for¬ 
mula analyzing 4-7-1, derived from ni¬ 
trate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, 
cotton seed meal, goat manure, Peruvian 
guano, super-phosphate and ground to¬ 
bacco stems, at the rate of 1,200 pounds 
per acre, making a second application in 
sixty days of a smaller quantity per acre. 
On grass that was planted on August 15, 
we had a perfect stand by the first of De¬ 
cember. There are, of course, different 
formulas, and one need only ask any rep¬ 
utable fertilizer concern, or their repre¬ 
sentative, for advice, to determine what 
to use.. 
In watering lawns, it is always advis¬ 
able, as far as possible, to do this either 
in the early morning or late in the even¬ 
ing, when the heat of the sun is not nearly 
as liable to burn the. wet tender grasses, 
as would be the case if the watering were 
done during the heat of the day. Then, 
too, the evaporation is less at these, stated 
periods, than at mid-day. 
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