The Republican journal., 1877-05-03
Observations o. Men and Things.
BY OUR GEORGE.

OF mousse and lot OF his own is to have lawn in
front OF his tenement, on nicely arranged terrace
on which the grass shall be trimmed neatly, and
have dotted here and there bush or shrub that
shall bud and bloom and fill the air with its per-
fllme, and in measure affect the odor of the
! skunk or the blossom of the alanthus tree in ease
there be any of those rare cXotlcs in his immediate
nelghborhood. To own a bit of land is to have an
intense idea to construct lawn; gardens and or
chards come along in due time but the lawn is the
first symptom of the landed proprietor, and he sets
himself at work Immediately to accomplish his OBJ
jcct.
tiulllver, though prone to avoid the truth on
most occasions once made remark the tenor Of
which was that he who caused two blades of
grass TO grow upon spot of ground where only
one grew before would deserve better Of mankind
than the whole race OF politicians put together :"
When CULVER made that sage remark he evident
| ly had Inc i'll mind somebody lust like me If
there is any kind of farming that enjoy it is rails
ing grass. don't really enjoy raising it with IA
pitch fork, but i'll seeing it grow If | had eleven
hundred of land in front of my house |
should have it all laid down to grass aud the very
best grated variety that could obtain. If there
is anything like it is to deserve we'll of mankind
with fair slnattering OF womankind thrown in
and if raising two three blades OF grass where
one grew before will do it, there is yet /, brilliant
prospect before
Any one who has owned drive way or walk
which he desired to have free from grass labors
under the dcusion that grass will grow anywhere
He imagnes that all one has to do is to point out
| he flrt all hat bp
grass 10 grow there, and it will grow He gets this
idea from his experience with his drive way He
| learns that nothing is more obstinate and porsis
tent than grass, except sitting hen He knows
that where he does not want grass to ,row is
where he generally gets his biggest crop OF hay,
and hc may put his hat wrong side to and
scratch his head all lie pleascs bat no cannot
solve this problem
Grass will grow where it wants to, il will not
grow at ALL Right alongside Your drive way is
your lawn The former is made OF oyster shells
and gravel, while the so" on the lawn is rs rich as
the Rothschilds You put Grass seed without
stint; You put on more top dressing than girl
does with spring hat on; Won rake in the
seed; You water it; you it you hold
Moody and Sankey revival over it, perhaps but,
notwithstanding all Your efforts, yonr lawn is as
bald headed the dome of the Capital at Wash
| ington You feel torlorn and YOU look for lawn
but fail to see it, You wheel on more dressing
and purchase moro seed You rake it in and
smooth it off and grade it till it is as even rs
wonan'S temper and still the grass fails to ap
pear; but You greyc to notice that it takes all
Your spare time, with hoe and spade to cut down
and die up the grass that fills your driveway and
which crows like the interest an unpaid mort
gage.
You are now desperate. You are bound to have
your lawn sowed down to grass, if Won have to hire
Il woman to sew it down with Il sewing machine
As last resort, you come to the conclusion
that the seed vou have bought has been poor,
! and You take il basket, and proceed to the hay
loft and gather it full of hay seed and dust.
The seed YOU put into tho basket, who the
dust fills your and throat, and you emerge
! from the barn. your mouth feeling dry if you
| had been reading the last census. You your
seed with prodlgal hand prodigal hand is the
correct thing to say in this connection. 1t is
Il scriptural phrase and means to-that is-if We
well as was saying, You are at last rewarded for
your labor and in due time YOU note with pride,
| the dirt At first they came up in cumps here
and there, and then there will be places bare as
| the naked truth but at last YOU cannot desire a
better dress than Your lawn wears, but by the
middle of summer, your hair begins to rise up as
the fact dawnS upon you, that You have sown your
lawn with an assortment and variety of grasses
and weeds that defy competition, and you become
that it will require the services Of govern
ment drcdger. to root cat the weeds you do not
want You have assortment of every grass
that can be found in IL set OF cyclopedias
There quite variety OF grasses that are as
unpleasant to have round poor relation. There
is the chick weed, thistle, grass widow and couch
grass The chick weed is hardy little shrub.
Gou never hear it singing DR.. Muhlenbcrg's favor
lite hymn Il would not liv" always, for it knows
it Will. 1t enjoys living well an Alderman.
About as diSeouraging job as boy can do is to
pull chick weed. 1t is than picking Bar
berries. The first time he takes in job Of this
kind ho is well satisfied with it. The weeds come
up as easily pulling his finger out of :. custerd
pie, and the ground is left as clean and smooth as
one of Phillips sentences, but when he comes to
look at the spot in the of couple OF days,
more, growing away as if nothing had happened,
he begins TO doubt the wisdom OF providence, and
he longs to crawl into post hole and die,
The most energetic grass that it ever my
lot to meet i'll personal encounter Vas the couch
grass might have called it witch Grass, but if
had everybody except Webster and Worcester |
would have known what | meant, but respect the |
dead even if | offend the living. This grass is the |
sassycst weed that grows, 1t can out root a hog |
II is the only thing on record that has but one
end | once tried to pull up some Of this grass
From mere curiosity followed Il root of it mile
and three quarters, and then gave it up 1t is my
opinion that it went clear round the world The |
only way to rid your garden Of it, is to dig the dirt
all out about six feet deep and sit it through Il |
fine cambria handkerchief, and then bake it three
days in red hot This is not q remedy, !
but is the best know Of.
Then there j. the thistle Jackasses like this
ties but | don't know Of any body else who does.
There is only one sure way you can take hold Of ii
thistle without hurting yon, and that is, let Your |
hired man do it. Pulling up thistles by proxy is
not Very bad business, except for the proxy There
is 4 good deal Of fun in thistle knew of boy |
who once cut the tops off from lot of bull this |
ties, and when he went to bed he gently placed |
the thistles inside the seat of his brothers trow
sers they laid the chair, and he said when
the owner of those trowSers got into them the next
morning that there was more fun round that room
for Il few minutes than he ever had at camp meet
ing in his life
1t is with all these weeds that man has to |
struggle in getting a lawn into paving condition,
but after it is once nicely grown upwith grass and
clipped short with lawn mower, then is the time |
that the proprietor thereof sits in his doorway and |
smokes his cigar and listens to the chirping of the
cricket and admircs his lawn and assures himself |
over and over that he would not take five hundred |
dollars Tor it, if should count the bills right
into his hand when the merry MARBLE of the mos
quito, and the fact Of his putting bill into his
hand atmonshes him that the best place for u |