Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-06-26
HE CULTIvATES GRASS.
Mr.. oLcoTT's HOBBY IS THE soleN.
Tlflc CULTURE or SOD,

lie Il the Pioneer In the Study Of ru,f
Planting Good oreen.ward 0. No, n
Natural crowth-Orcat Care Ses..,ar,
In Keeping Grasses separate.
Three miles from the pretty Connection,
town " South Manchester I tho fam, ~
James u. Olcott, who Is hccotnlnp fapop.
for HE ideas about grass II sosms gtr,n,,.
that while poets have sung and orllnarv
people have admired urnss for 40 u,,y
centuries there yet have btcn 90 frw AM.
mite IDEAS about H. Il miaht almost la
said that grass culture was unlnown san
tll james u. Olcott begnn 70 have practical
ideas nbout " and n put these .ftleai
ideas Into dcmonstratlon.
Every one has observed lawns and nnrt.
has noticed the beauty Of color, the stfitine
effects ~ carefully moved and wee,lr,i
plots OF grass, has cni0ycd the snfturss and
coolncss OF such well kent plots And yrt
no one who has not seen Mr. Oicott'a rrls,
garlcu can realize how Imperfect, how
crude. how poor the best lawns aru 10 cnu.
pari.on with what they might h. thtLs
might be that Is Mr.. Oicotts purpose.
The other day n reporter visited Mr. Ol.
colt and walked Tor May hours tbrunpb
his grasa garden aud listened 10 what m
had 10 say Tor his grasses aud M liea.
Mr.. Olcott began nj tho beginning and
built up his theory systematically "a
good many people, said he, do not realize
tobcgin with, thatturf, or sod. IL not a nat
ural product You 10 not dnd ID In nature.
Take our own pralriss. for Instance. When
the great herds Of buffalo roamcd over
them there was no turf. Tho grass grew
Wild aud thin here, thick thcrc. The buf
falo moved north In summer aud south In
winter just ~ soon a. men came and mi
herd. Of cattle on this grass IL disappeared
lthad no foundation.
CATTLE MAKE TuRT
Turf II the product % herds Of cattle
sheep and horses lttakcs constant guaw.
ing In the same place and constant tram
plug h beat the roots together Into a turf
Wherever there have been herds aud past
urca. there turf has formed.
And NOW, strange though Il may seem
while this turfha bccn cultivated la man,
ways and has been used Ia all sorts Of orna
montntlon, there has bccn no real acieuo,
applied 10 IL. We have hal Hover garden
INK and Landscape gardening. bat no grhg
gardening to spcak ~. important part o.
Landscape gardening though u Il.
Take any lawn or grccnswarl anywhere
] carc not how carefully Il may have leei
laid out, and examine Il closely. You vii
Ind In every square foot dozen different
Kinds 81 grars represented. with weeds o
all sorts thrown Ia. And you will fn,
that the turf IL not thick and Homogeneous
but a really thln and made up 81 all on.
Of odds aud ends You would think thu
any gardener would 40 that this was al
wrong and ought TO b. fcmciIcd.
"for these different kinds of grasses ar
Of different shades Of grrcn aud even q
different colnts. some oi them will mlngll
intb u dense sod. others will not, and thu
interfere with tho homogcneousncrg Of th
whole. The weeds have no business then
ut ALL Then, too, some 81 these gfaasc
will stand frequent moving. while oihcu
require more careful handling.
IGSoaAScE A'ioS0 rAR,ur1
"rhen take thls up from tho farmer
standpoint. In his meadow or pasture 81
will have all thcs, grasses growing u
Fcther promlseuously. Some gov clos,
dense. and Yield many tons ~ the ncfa
Others arr thin and poor and yield liit''
Nct among tho farmcs the greatest irur
fanra prevails. both a. 10 the heav.nola a
gras. aud tho nutrltiyc qualities u Oh
different kinda
low much labor il wasted. bow mnel
mo II mlsdlfcctsd or Yields only small
10 n. | have even known farmers 4
Know ncrrs Of worthless weed, cut II an
harvest IL under tho Impression that the
werr Rrowing good grass and were griiln
an extraordinary Yield Nothing worth
tho name Of science has been applied \
meadows or pasture
These thlngs show IN outline tho nee
Of grass gardening ltisto tbs nred ihh
have turncd my attention Tor many YEAR
aud within tho Last two years ! think
have done something toward accomplish
ing ms purpose"
10 the south % Mr olooit'u house W
the acre Of ground which makes ny OIL
grasa garlcn, In all probability tho lur'
grass garden IN the world 10 l,r iafall'
rows. extending the entire length u Oh
field. arc plots " rrnfs. each plot four o.
HquaTc. There are 30 plots IN OIL, MN
,sntihg over hundred dilefeai klnd.. I,
gfaas Elchploi Is separated from ~ neisl
horu By narrow path u hare ground INV
each grows and thriyca b. itscll W1thou
any inisrnlngIlng.
Nn olouTT's oAnprs
In each of thtac plots ihorc j. 10 he foun
ono klnd Of grass, aud onu only There
not merely q distinction " family, but
species ~ we'll. 10 that, no matter how car
fully YOU may examine any one plot, so
will nnd that II u uuiiorm thfuughou
This result WIS obtained hy extrAouiinhi
precautions. II you buy grass tsci OF
dealer YOU will flnd when u grows that NJ
der tho name on the outside " the plesai
ahalf dozen or a dozen different kinds
nrass are included. 80 Mr. oleptt oouI
not buy Of dealers
Nor the most part these plots were grow
from SHRED " turf some OF them can
frum distant parts Of this oountIy' eluv
from other part. " the world. Mr o'gn
would take a biz Of kod. tear II w lnl
small pieces, only a few roots 70 plrn
aud then plant those that were absolute
alike In the Ainn plot In thla way ihe'
wis no milking of families Or OF specie
For this planting Mr. olcott has Wool,
frame four feet square, with two pafHi
slats across Il at equal distance. IFolh "
side. aud each from the other
I'm thesa slat. and IN the ,lhea OF the iran
~. drlyen nails, equal distances aphf
twenty-five polntsln ALI When this ga, y
L. pressed down upon plot twenty ~
small holes nre made In the GROUND anu
each hole ssed or shred Of turf = pg
PROM these twenty-five oen'ers OF Gov
ihe sod forms and covers the enlire p'sL
All ibis gives oaly a faint idea ~ y
minute care which NJ. oleo't taxes 20 y. :
liz, bost results And when tue pant.
i done the work Is only begun Ns,'
.-.I. l.,t ont Other seeds arc co