The Care of the Lawn 
By ROBERT H. STERLING 
T EIE chief horticulturist of the Arlington Experi¬ 
ment Farm, near Washington City, says that 
the greensward is the canvas upon which all 
architectural and landscape effects are produced. 
As the lawn is now to go into “winter quarters” 
it should receive proper treatment in the way of a 
mulch of well-decomposed stable manure, not heavy 
enough to disfigure or mar the plot, hut so fine and 
completely decomposed that it will be carried beneath 
the surface by the rains and snows of the winter. If 
this is not done it should be treated to a top-dressing 
in the early spring of fine-ground bone at the rate of 
one thousand pounds to the acre. 
The extent of a lawn matters little—whether it is a 
few square feet at the side of the steps leading to the 
brownstone front of the city dwelling or the more 
spacious surroundings in villages and suburbs—its 
inherent qualities are the same, and its intrinsic 
worth is determined by its character and the manner 
in which it is kept. Green grass is not only of great 
esthetic value but it is also of great economic value. 
It is Nature’s balm and healing for all erosive scars, 
and it is the soothing effect of Nature which comes 
from well-kept greenswards that makes them so 
congenial. Man likes to get his feet upon the soil, 
but better still upon the soft, yielding turf. 
A lawn is the accompaniment of every effort to 
beautify the surroundings of an abode. The in¬ 
crease of interest in suburban and rural life has 
caused a corresponding increase of interest in matters 
pertaining to the making and maintenance of lawns. 
Suburban railways and electric lines into the country, 
and the return to the natural way of living are all 
powerful factors in creating interest in lawn surround¬ 
ings. To make a lawn beautiful as well as useful is of 
primary importance. Its beauty depends upon the 
contour of the land, the color and texture of the grass, 
the uniformity of the turf, and the manner in which it 
is kept. The use of the lawn is to provide a suitable 
setting for architectural adornment and landscape 
planting. When working with small areas effort 
should be made to give the lawn the greatest extent 
possible. A convex surface tends to give the effect 
of increased size, while it is seemingly diminished by 
a concave surface. The extent is amplified by pre¬ 
serving as large areas of unbroken greensward as pos¬ 
sible. Hence, trees and shrubs should he used upon 
borders or margins rather than a promiscuous dotting. 
The ideal soil for grasses best suited for lawn 
making is one which is moderately moist and con¬ 
tains a considerable percentage of clay—a soil which 
is somewhat retentive of moisture, but never becomes 
excessively wet, and is inclined to be heavy and 
compact rather than light, loose and sandy. A 
strong clay loam or a sandy loam underlaid by a 
clay subsoil is undoubtedly the nearest approach to 
an ideal soil for a lawn. If Nature has not supplied 
an approximate to one or the other of these types, 
the deficiency should be supplied by artificial means 
which can be done by a little well-directed effort and 
at a nominal cost. 
Only such grasses as are capable of making a close 
turf are best for lawns. Those grasses which have 
creeping rootstocks, short joints, and produce long, 
narrow leaves in abundance about the crown of the 
plant are most desirable. Besides this a desirable 
lawn grass should possess a pleasing color which does 
not change decidedly from season to season, is drought 
resistent, responds quickly to a change from winter 
to spring and bears repeated clippings. As the 
requirements are exacting, it is not surprising to find 
the list of such grasses a limited one. 
Kentucky blue-grass is the great lawn maker for 
all that section of the Atlantic coast region north of 
Washington City and for the Allegheny region as far 
south as Northern Georgia where the soil is reten¬ 
tive and rich, and where there is an abundance but 
not an excessive amount of moisture. For the 
lighter soils in this region and where precipitation is 
greater, such grasses as redtop, Rhode Island bent 
grass, and white clover are better adapted. Upon 
light soils found in the States south of the latitude of 
Washington, a mixture of white clover and blue-grass 
produces excellent results. Korean lawn grass is a 
maritime grass from Asia and Australia, and is prov¬ 
ing of value along the seacoast from Charleston, 
South Carolina, southward. It thrives well in the 
latitude of Washington, but the leaves are not hardy 
and assume a light straw color in winter. Seashore 
lawns are each year becoming of more and more 
interest because of the great number of residences 
which are being established along the Atlantic coast 
from Maine southward. 
The successful establishment of a lawn depends 
upon the careful preparation and fertilization of the 
soil, the selection and planting of appropriate seed, 
the keeping of the plants in a luxuriant, vegetative 
condition and never allowing them to seed. 1 he 
frequent use of the mower is essential, and a general 
plan of keeping a lawn clipped to a height of two 
inches is a very safe one to follow. Before growth 
has advanced to any considerable extent each spring, 
the lawn should be gone over with a heavy roller so 
as to embed any of the grass roots which may have 
been loosened by frosts and to reduce the surface 
to a uniform condition. 
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