Milford chronicle., 1891-08-07
HB CULTIYATES GRASS.
Mr.. oLcoTTis HOBBY IS THE sclEN-
TlFlc CULTURE or SOD.

Three miles from the pretty Connecticut
tovvD of South Manchester Is the farm Of
James B. Olcott, who is becoming famous
for his ideas about grass 1t seems strange
that while poets have sung and ordinary
neople have admired grass for 50 many
centuries there yet have been so few deh-
mfr ideas about Il. It might almost oe
said that grass culture was unknown I'M
I'll James b. Olcott began to have practicai
ideas about it and to put these practical
ideas into demonstration.
Every one has observed lawns and PARKS
has noticed the beauty Of color, the striking
effects of carefully moved ana Weeue9
plots OF grass, has enjoyed the sottness anu
GOODNESS Of such well kept plots ana YET
no one who has not seen Mr.. Oicott's grass
garden can realize how imperfect no"
crude. how poor the best lawns are IN COM
parison with what they might be- u is the 4
might be that is Mr.. Olcott's purpose. =,
The other day reporter visited MI VI |
cott and walked for many hours through |
1is orass garden and listened to what he |
Mad TO say for his grasses and his idea; !
Mr. Olcott began at the beginning ana
built up his theory systematically A
good many people, +" said he, do not reallze'
10 begin with, that turf, orsod, is not a nat
urahproduct. 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 but-
falo moved north In summer and south IN
winter Just as soon as men came ana put
herds of cattle on this grass IL disappeared
Il had no foundation.
CATTLE MAKE TURF.
Turf Is the product OF herds OF CATTLE
sheep and horses. Ittakes constant gnaW-
ing in the same place and constant tram
plinQ 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-
Inentation, 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 1t IS.
"Take any lawn OF greensward anywhere
/ care not how carefully it may have been
laid out. and examine it closely. YOu. will
find in every square foot dozen diHerene
kinds Of grass represented, with weeds OF
All sorts thrown in. And you will 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 ana even OF
different cOlors. Some of them will mingle
into a dense SOL fhorhwill Dot, and thus
sn.essere.l sr5ilEQad righteousness 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-
Rether 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.
GLOW much labor is wasted, how much
more is misdirected or yields only small
return. ] have even known farmers to
row acres Of worthless weed, cut it and
tairvest 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 TO
meadows or pasture
"These things show in outline the need
"a grass gardening. 1t is to this need that
1 have turned my attention for many years,
and within the last two years l think l
have done something toward accomplish
ing my purpose"
10 the south Of Mr.. Olcott's house lies
,e acre of ground which makes up his
ass garden, in all probability the finest
grass garden in the world. In five parallel
1ows, extending the entire length Of the
ED, are plots of grass, each plot four tee'
plare. There are $50 plots in all, repre-
snting over hundred different kinds Of
.rass Each ploti separated from its neigh
,ors by narrow path OF bare ground. Thus
qch grows and thrives by itself wiz aoui
intermingling.
Mr.. oLcOTT's GARDEN.
each Of these plots there is to be iouno
kind Of grass, and one only. There Il
= Lrely distinction Of family but o.
Gas well, so that, no matter how care
tactu may examine any one plot, YOU
80, that Il is uniform throughout
met was obtained by extraordinary
hid ias If you buy grass seed OF
81 the WI will find when It grows that un
dee.,,,. s,ame on the outside of the packag
aitdozen or a dozen different kinds o
grass are included So ar, Olcott coul'
not buy OF dealers.
FOR the most part these plots were grown
from shred OF turf Some OF them cam
from distant parts of this country; other
from other parts Of the world. Mr.. Olcot
would take bit Of sod, tear It up int
small pieces, only few roots to piece
and then plant those that were absolutel
alike in the same plot. In this way Their
was no mixing Of families or OF species
For this planting Mr. Olcott has a woodel
frame four feet square, with two parable
Stats across It at equal distances from tn
sides and each from the other.
In these Stats and ia the sides Of the fran
are driven nails, equal distances apari
twenty-five points in all When TINS Tram
a pressed down upon a plot twenty-fv
small holes are made in the ground and
each hole a seed or a shred of turf is pu
From these twenty-five centers Of growt
the sod forms and covers the entire plot.
All this gives only faint idea OF I'll
minute care which Mr.. Olcott takes to g
he best results. And when the plantin
d done the work is only begun. Weed
must be kept out. Other seeds are col
stantly springing up and spoil the Worl
and the plants from these must be uproo
"a. The care of these $50 plots takes all b
time and all his knowledge Of the small d.
ferences between grasses which may be
entirely different kinds yet similar OF Il
same to the impractical eye.-New 1oi
Sun.
The Star Of the Combination.
visitor Gin dime museum. ls95)--I 8
nothing freaklike about you.
Al. ..sasn aIral.fN n M
crazy about souvenir spoons.-Jewelel
Circular.
Proof Positive.
Strawber-Is that a new suiti
Singerly Cproudly)-I paid for that d
other day.
Strawber-Then It must be last years