HOUSE AND GARDEN 
272 
April, 
1914 
It is very important that this pounding 
of the sod should be done with vigor, as 
it serves to work it into place, making a 
firm contact with the loam beneath. 
After all the repair work, a great help 
to success is a frequent rolling, or, if a 
roller is not handy, a pounding with a 
spade or a mallet made out of heavy 
timber. It improves the mechanical con¬ 
dition of the soil greatly. 
These suggestions, closely followed, 
have been most effective many times in 
my own experience. As was said in the 
beginning, however, the above method 
will appeal more strongly to those who 
have small, shabby grass plots which 
would never be touched unless a mini¬ 
mum of labor and expense was assured. 
L. J. D. 
Sowing the Seed 
AVE you ever read instructions in 
garden books on how to sow 
grass seed, and have you noticed how 
these almost invariably include two main 
points, viz.: to sow when the wind is not 
blowing and just before a rain ? It is not 
always possible to wait for a quiet day, 
neither are we all good forecasters of 
weather. It is often necessary to make 
arrangements for seeding a day or two 
ahead, and to stand about waiting for 
the psychological moment is rarely prac¬ 
ticable. 
The following experience is a case in 
point. It was late in September and full 
time the seed should be sown. The work 
was being done by contract, and the men 
could not be held indefinitely; also rain 
had been threatening, and it was very 
necessary to take advantage of any pos¬ 
sible shower, as there was no artificial 
means at hand for sprinkling. 
The ground having been prepared, a 
batch of top soil was screened and placed 
in readiness the day before the seeding 
The sower spreads a pailful of mixture to each six-foot 
strip 
was to be done. The day turned out to be 
windy, with rain threatening. To insure 
even seeding and rapid work, the lawn 
space was divided into 6-foot widths; 
these were staked, and the first five 
lined off with a ball of white carpenter's 
twine. While one man brought the soil 
two others mixed the seed with it in the 
proportion of one pail of seed to a wheel¬ 
barrow of soil. The sower took a 6-foot 
strip at a time, using one pailful for each 
strip. A second man followed with a 
wooden rake, going over each strip as it 
was completed by the sower. As soon as 
the first five strips were seeded and 
raked, the string was taken up and 
moved ahead, another mixture made and 
another seeded. The roller followed im¬ 
mediately after the raker. 
The method proved both rapid and 
effective. The area was completed by 
noon, just as rain began to fall. Grass 
appeared in a week, and by the end of 
October there was a fine lawn. 
W. B. 
The New Lawn 
HE first and prime requirement for 
a new lawn is good soil. Rich 
garden loam is a necessity, and it must 
be deep. If the top soil of rich loam has 
a depth of one and a half feet the lawn 
will surely be a success. Such soil may be 
prepared by gathering the leaves in the 
fall and putting them in a compost heap 
with other rubbish from the garden. If 
this is left over the winter it provides a 
rich soil foundation. If you have not 
this depth of soil, at least see that it con¬ 
serves moisture. A good lawn may be 
had with a depth of only four to six feet,, 
provided its foundation is packed tight, 
or of clay consistency. This will form a 
basis to retain water. Of course, on a 
golf ground where the grass is low the 
(Continued on page 307) 
While one man brought soil, others mixed seed with it in proportion of a pail to 
a barrowful of dirt 
The lawn, thirty feet wide, was divided into six-foot strips, which were seeded sep¬ 
arately, then raked and rolled at once 
