Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-06-09
AGRlCULfURAL.


The Care Of Ldrns.-In response to
the inquiries of a correspondent, the
Country GeatlessaR gives the following
directions for the preparation of . lawn
and keeping it in order: - 4
Ii the surface is rough. there are two
ways for making it smooth and even.
The first is By breaking mp the whole
ground, working and rewOrking until
fine and mellow, and re-seeding or re-
turfing. If the ground is re-seeded,
SOW at the rate of at least two bushels
of grass seed per acre, and roll or
brush it in. Red-t0p, white clover and
kentucky blue grass will give . good
green carpet. If re-turfed, make the
bare surface perfectly even and level /;
cut the turf from an old even pasture,
with straight edges, by means of a
stretched line, and then invert the
pieces or blocks on a broad board, AID
scraDe the earth side perfectly even by
means of a sharp hoe. They will thrs
form an even surface when laid. and
rolling will make the whole as smooth
as a floor. The second mode of making
an even surface, is to apply sand or
fine sandy loan to the surface, and
rake it level, by which it will fill up all
hOllOws or depressions, and the grass
will grow through the sand. This is
well adapted to lawns which have but
slight inequalities of surface.
If the defect consists in the grass
being too thin or sparse on the lawn,
the whole surface may be lOOsened with
a sharp steel rake (or fine sharp har-
row on o larger scale), and grass seed
sown as already directed and its ger
minatioH and growth will be greatly
assisted if the whole surface is dressed
with a fine compost before sowing and
raking. In some instances, a better
seeding will be affected by breaking mp
as already described.
If the lawn is defective from the
growth of coarse glass or weeds, there
are two modes of Treatment. One is to
pull up all the weeds Immediately after
long rain, when the ground is soft. or
to cut them out with a spud and the
other is to summer-fallOw the whole
ground for one season, keeping the sur
face stirred and clean all the time,
which will kill nearly all weeds. This
is to be resOrted to only In case the
lawn is full of weeds and in a rather
desperate condition to warrant it.
To keep a lawn in good condition,
apply a top dressing of some fertilizer
late in autumn, spreading it perfectly
even. Coarse manure Is Objectionable
for two reasons, namely, its repulsive
character all winter, whenever the
ground is bare of snow and the liabil-
ity to scatter foul seed in this way.
But if nothing better can be had, be
careful TO spread it perfectly even and
not leave il in humps, as well as to rake
off all the fibr0us material left on tie
ground, early in spring. Finely pull
verized compost answers well or COM
post made of guano, OF of hen manure.
The latter may be undiluted, pro-
vided il is in fine powder, or it may be
made into fine compost with road
dust. On some soils superphOsphate
answers well Ou others it has no effec..
The manure or compost may be an
piled in autumn the more concentrated
fertilizers early in the spring.
The surface having been already
made perfectly even, will require no
more rolling than is given to it by the
lawn mowers. When the whole lawn
is not more than an acre or so, it may
kept cut short in perfect condition by
means of hand machine, and at
trifiing expense. In early summer,
when the grass grows rapidly, it should
be cut as often as every five days;
later in the season, not SO often. This
will enable yOu always TO tread on
velvet"