The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-06-18

HE CULTIVATES GRASS.
Mr.. oLcoTT'S HOBBY Is THE ScIEN-
TlFlc CULTURE OF SOD.


Three miles from the pretty Connecticut
town of South Manchester is the farm OF
James B. Olcott, who is becoming famous
for MS ideas about grass It seems strange
that while poets have sung and ordinary
people hsve admired grass for so many
centuries there yet have been SO few def
mite ideas about IL It might almost be
said that grass culture was unknown TN
til James B. 0lcots began 10 have practical
ideas about it and to pus these practical
ideas into demonstration.
Every one has observed lawns and parks,
has noticed the beauty of color, the striking
effects of carefully moved and weeded
plots of grass. has enjoyed the softneSs and
GOODNESS of such well kept plots. And yet
no one who has not seen Mr.. Qlcott's grass
garden can realize how imperfect. how
crude, how poor the best lawns are in COM
parison with what they might be. It Is the
might be that is Mr.. Olcott's purpose.
The other day reporter visited Mr.. Oh
colt and walked for many hours through
his grass garden and listened to what he
had to say for his grasses and his idea.
Mr.. Olcott began at the beginning and
built up his theory Systematically. "a
good many people, said he, do not realize.
TO begin with, that turf, or sod. is not nat
ural product. You do not find it in nature.
Take our own prairies, for instance. When
the great herds of buffalo roamed over
them there was no turf. The grass grew
wild and thin here, thick there. The buff
falo moved north in summer and south in
winter. Just as soon as men came and put
herds of cattle on this grass it disappeared
1t had no foundation.
CATTLE MAKE TURF.
"Turf is the product OF herds OF cattle,
sheep and horses. 1t takes constant gnaw-
ing in the same place and constant tram
ping to beat the roots together into turf.
Wherever there have been herds and past
ures, there turf has formed.
"And now, strange though it may seem,
while this turf has been cultivated in many
ways and has been used in all sorts of orna-
mentation, there has been no real science
applied to it. We have had flower garden
ing and landscape gardening, but no grass
gardening TO speak Of, important part OF
landscape gardening though it is.
'Take any lawn or greensward anywhere,
/ care not how carefully it may have been
laid out, and examine it closely. You will
find IN every square foot dozen different
kinds of grass represented, with weeds of
all sorts thrown in. And you viii find
that the turf is not thick and Homogeneous,
but is really thin and made up of all sorts
of odds and ends. You would think that
any gardener would see that this was all
wrong and ought TO be remedied-
For these different kinds of grasses are
of different shades of green and even OF
different colors. Some of them will mingle
into dense sod, others will not, and thus
interfere with the homogeneousness of the
whole. The weeds have no business there
at all Then, too. some OF these grasses
will stand frequent moving, while Others
require more careful handling.
IGNORANCE AMONG FARMERS.
'Then take this up from the farmers
standpoint. In his meadow or pasture he
will have all these grasses growing to-
gether promiscuously. Some grow close,
dense, and yield many tons to the acre.
Others are thin and poor and yield little.
Yet among the farmes the greatest igno-
rance prevails, both as to the heaviness OF
grass and the nutritive qualities OF the
different kinds.
"How much labor Is wasted, how much
more is misdirected or yields only small
return. | have even known farmers "a
grow acres of worthless weed, cut it and
harvest it under the impression that they
were growing good grass and were getting
an extraordinary yield. Nothing worthy
the name of science has been applied 20
meadows or pasture.
"These things show in outline the need
of grass gardening. 1t is TO this need that
have turned my attention for many years,
"A i
have done something toward accomplish
ing my purpose"
10 the south Of Mr.. Olcott's house lies
the acre of ground which makes up his
grass garden. in all probability the finest
grass garden IN the world. In five parallel
rows, extending the entire length Of the
field, are plots of grass, each plot four feet
square. There are $50 plots in all. repre-
senting over hundred different kinds Of
grass. Each plot is separated from its neigh
bors by a narrow path OF bare ground. Thus
each grows and thriyes by itself without
any intermingling.
Mr. oLCoTT's GARDEN.
In each of these plots there IS TO be found
one kind Of grass, and one only. There il
not merely a distinction Of family. but oi
species as well, so that, no matter how care
fully you may examine any one plot, you
will find that IL Is uniform throughout.
This result was obtained by extraordinary
precautions. IL you buy grass seed Of d
dealer you win find when IL grows that IN
der the name on the outside Of the package
a half dozen or dozen different kinds d
grass are included. So Mr.. O.cott could
not buy Of dealers
L g, 49, vi
from shred OF turf Some Of them came
from distant parts Of this country; other
from other parts Of the world. Mr.. Olcot,
would take bit Of sod, tear IL up into
small pieces, only n few roots TO piece,
and then plant those that were absolutely
alike Ia the same plot In this way theirs
was no mixing Of families or Of species.
For this planting SIR. Olcott has wooden
frame four feet square, with two parallel
stats across it az equal distances from Tia
sides and each from the other.
In these stats and in the sides Of the frAm=
are driven nails, equal distances apart
twenty-five points IN sill When this frame
II pressed down upon q plot txenty-fYs
small holes are made IN tbe ground and IL
each hoie a seed or . shred Of turf t. put
From these twenty-five centsrs Of growth
the sod forms and covers the entire Plot.
AL this gives only a faint idea Of ths
Minute care which Mr. Oloost tskss 70 "a
the bez. resalts- And when TIE plantln .
Is done the work il only begun Weed
must - kept cat. Osher seeas are con
SANITY sprinainz Up aud spoi the work
and the plants fFens these muse - upFcos
ed The care Of these 20 plots takes al hil
time and al h,s knowleegs q ths Small dir
fersnoez between zrs~sss which may - d
entirely different kinds yss similar or "a.
same 70 the unvTaetIoed sye.-Ssw Yofk
Sun
The Star Of the CombtnatISn-