

attacks of Snowmold because such cover- 
ings retain excess moisture. 
Repairing the Injury 
The severity of attack will determine 
whether the plants will revive or if 
reseeding is necessary. In either event 
the affected spots should be brushed or 
raked in early spring to remove the dead 
growth. Then examine the stems and 
roots to see if new growth is starting. If 
not, seed as early as possible and topdress 
lightly with screened soil. 
—@— 
Problems of Salt vs. Lawns 
This innocent subject aroused more 
comment than anticipated. The general 
summary should read like this: An over- 
dose of salt will kill the grass while a 
light dose will do no harm—might even 
have some slight benefit. 
The whole question arose when a reader 
of Lawn Care asked about using salt on 
the sidewalks in icy weather being fearful 
that the grass along the walks might 
not live to tell the story. The discussion 
became complicated by introduction of 
evidence to the effect that salt was detri- 
mental to the cement so should not be 
used, regardless of whether or not grass 
figured in the argument. 
Since the release of Lawn Care No. 75 
which brought up the salt question, these 
interesting comments have been received. 
We feel they do a good job of wringing 
the subject dry and that folks with lawns 
may use salt this winter or not use salt, 
depending on which side of the debate 
checks with their own experience. 
Chicago, Illinois—“Because of the un- 
usual amount of ice this winter, several 
times I had to put a small amount of rock 
salt on the cover of my underground 
garbage can. I now have a three-inch 
band of dead grass around this cover.” 
Toluca, Illinois—‘T read in a catalog that 
salt would kill Dandelions but would not 
harm the grass. I tried it last fall on a 
small area of lawn and now it is as dead 
and barren as the road.” 
Cicero, Illinois—“An old gardener told 
me that the only type of vegetation that 
was benefited by salt, at least not harmed 
by it, was asparagus. He uses it to keep 
the weeds out of his asparagus bed. I have 
found salt definitely harmful to grass.” 
Mansfield, Ohio—‘Please explain why 
the grass is so healthy growing between 
the flagstone walk where I used more salt 
this year than usual.” 
Chicago, Illinois—“As a retired mail 
man with 32 years’ experience on icy 
walks, I believe I am qualified to say 
something on the subject. In my estima- 
tion, for slipping, salt is the worst thing 
you can use for this reason—when going 
across a salted walk a coating of water 
forms on the soles and acts like grease 
when going from a salted walk onto an 
unsalted one. I would suggest using sand. 
It will not harm the lawn nor injure 
concrete and is not messy like ashes and 
will not puncture rubber footwear like 
unsieved ashes. A bucket of sand gath- 
ered in summertime is a blessing in 
wintertime.” 
Baltimore, Maryland—“During a violent 
storm our lawn was covered entirely by a 
high tide. Everyone felt sorry for us, 
believing we would lose our grass. As a 
matter of fact, the salt water was on the 
lawn just long enough to fertilize it. The 
result was that last summer we had the 
best grass in many years. Salt water on 
grass is like a good many medicines—the 
proper amount for the proper duration is 
beneficial but too much is injurious, even 
to the extent of killing.” 
Detroit, Michigan—“TE salt is used once 
or twice sparingly, the grass is not harmed, 
but two winters ago I used salt about five 
times during the winter and when spring 
came I discovered the lawn was destroyed 
for a distance of 6 to 8 inches from the 
walk.” 
Rochester, New York—“This is the first 
year that I have used salt, due to the fact 
that we have probably had more trouble 
with our sidewalks than ever before. Most 
of the ice and snow had to be carried 
about five feet and was all placed on a 
pile on the lawn. The grass at this spot is 
completely burned and I can see no other 
reason than the salt.” 
3 
