The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-03
GREENSWARD Ills HOBBY.
BRADFORD OLCOTT AND
MS GRASS GARDEN.
For Seven Years RE u.. Labored on "The
New Testament IN Turr"-Hs Hopes to
Heclothe the Pasture Lnnds OF New Eng.
lnnd-What lie Has Accomplish ed SO Far


New Testament In Turf"-He Hopes to
Heclothe the Pasture Lnnds OF New Eng
lnnd-Whatu lie Has Accom- pIishe ed SO Far
HAnTFoRp. Conn. May The New Tes-
lament in turf" is what James Bradford olcott
calls his grass garden in South Manchester.
which has grown more wonderful year by year
until II Is now unparalleled in all the world. Mr..
OlCott returned this week from his annual globe
circllng trip In search of new grasses to conquer.
This journey is one uf the most extended he has
taken and he anticipates that II will be fruitful
in results. Mr.. Olcott said to THE SrS reporters.
II thought ! would take n little run down to
New South Wales white my grass garden
here was locked in ice and snow. went
by way Of Honolulu and Samoa, stopping ten
days in Hawaii. ! got back here none too soon.
Nature has been travelling faster than a rail.
road train the past few days"
Mr.. Olcott was asked to give some OF the fea.
lures of his trip. and said regarding Il:
II had no sooner landed in Sydney than I
started for the great public park, or botanical
gardens. passed through the great iron gates
to sec 5000 people enjoying themselves OH the
g~reensward, mingling with the grazing animals
all together on the turf. I went to New South
Wales because that is the Oldest colonized part
Of Australia. Some people wonder how horse
racing is allied with tho turf Well, they
would see there. as in England. The racing is
uOlt VII Illt uIu IL lSh InuIh DTtlNltE
spectacle than your dirt tracks. The question
OF speed I-care nothing about.
I'm Hawaii | found the gardeners trying to
make turf under their cocoanut trees. with the
result that they were killing their cocoanut
trees at wholesale. They were Germans. which
is to say that they went at II in @ bungling way.
Germans and Americans know nothing about
turf making. They have from earliest times
been wrapped up In tillage OF the soil--plough-
ing. sowing, and reaping. This is entirely for
eisn to the grazing some other nations have
practised. The British are the best turf makers
on the face of the globe for this reason.'
MI. Olcott brought back with him from New
South Wales $50 varieties of grasses. which he
will set out, each variety In q separate bed, and
watch their growth. In his trip to Europe last
year he visited. among other countries. England,
Scotland, Wales, France, Belgium. Norway,
Denmark, Prussia, Austria, and Switzerland.
From this jaunt he brought back 700 varieties
of grasses. which occupy one section of his
grass garden. The past winter has killed some
of these entirely, although he had transplanted
nine specimens of each variety; but by far the
most have either partially or entirely survived
the severe season. Having been an open"
winter, the plants were without the protection
Of the bedquilt of snow and suffered more dam
age than they would have done in a much more
rigorous winter.
This is the eighth year of Mr.. Olcott's green
sward garden. And a moro unique undertake
ing it would be difficult to find. 1t occupies
something more than one acre Of nearly level
ground. sloping gently to the south and east.
The general view shows a bewildering maze of
color, a hundred different shades of green. rare
tints tn at would make the fortune of the milliner
could they be transferred to cloths and ribbons
in this season, Of fashionable, greens. The
ground Is blocked Off into small squares like a
checkerboard, each square containing aditfer-
ent variety of greensward. At first; spaces
for walks were left between these blocks OF
green. hut now the sward has SO spread that
spaces no. wider than a lead pencil show the
d.marcation between the plots. The whole is
squares Of multi-tinted greens. SO soft. so deli
cate. and OF such fine texture that 1t seems IA sin
to touch foot upon II. But here is where the
visitor makes a great mistake. No signs Keep
off the grass " will be found here. Instead il
any signs there were they would read keep
The fundamental idea Of Mr. Qlcott's philoso-
Is never allowed to seed. He deduces this law
from the recognized fact that the best turf is
fot,id IN tc sra ibn countries ~ tries Where sheep bee and
there will he found the finest grass and the irm-
est sod. My experiment has proved, neverthe-
less" he says. that this same result may be
achieved BY artificial means. Some time, If l
live. the sheep and cattle shall browse on this
Thousands OF people, forses,, and carriages
from one to eight times a day. wedding it. BE.
sides. it is gone over four or five times u week
more ike a Sleeps hoof than anything else.
THE reason that all other similar expert
had charge ofthsm have allowed the grasses to
blossom and seed. This may be commercially
profitable, but it DESTROYS the practical value Of
blows, every rain that fails. blows and washes
the seeds Unfortunately from one bed to an
other, so that all INDIVIDUALITY is lost. In my
garden there are over l.50O pure cultures. each
variety distinct. This illegitimacy in grasses
has bred all the trouble in securing a pure grass
culture. You buy seeds. and the result is an IL
legitimate crop OF heterogeneous varieties, and
dividual variety to its perfection"
1t is a wonderful sight TO see the blue grass
Of Kentucky growing, beside the grasses that in
their natural state flourish under salt tides of
from eight to ten feet: the brownish grass of
the great plains cheek by jowl with the chick
the Australian opal: and the broad -bladed grass
Of Corea growing sprucely beside the fine, mesh
hot skies OF Hindustan. Here all are subjected
to the same treatment. When first set out the
after they take root they have to go it alone"
No matter how .parching the drought or how
a asr tsem the # su IS s c dsrts 81 t a s%yr gst 10 Of f9 sss t turned
Every patch of turf In this acre is an aristocrat
afro ~b Mrf olf fp6m , yhlsw aISai I II T. a a, p ;Ss P..
cihc, the bonny braes o scotland, or the steppss
of Siberia. it has to prove its virtue ana title to
When last In England Mr.. Olcott rode with
the Duke Of Areyll about his magnificent
sward. The Duke was vexed because Mr..
Olcott showed no enthusiasm over the result Of
his painstaking care of his grounds. and re-
proved him when he ventured to criticise the
quality of the turf. "A few days later" says
Mr.. Olcott in telling the story. II brought down
to his lordshipR piece of turf from the farm OF
one OF his tenants. 1t had been grazed on for
many years and was as fine as satin. Then the
Duke ~forgave my criticisms, for he readily saw
that his tenant. who was obliged to WORK for his
living, had by far the hest OF him"
Although the British have the best turf in the
world, yet Mr. OlCott says they had better turf
there 500 years ago than they have to-day. He
sees In .his grazing characteristic OF tho Britons
the reason why OF all nations they make the
best colonists. Politicians have something yet
to learn IN this school, he says. We have taken
the secret ballot from the Australians, md we
could get men from there to Ill our Offices to
advantage.
Mr.. Olcott has all the love and enthusiasm Of
the true artist for his work. He had been re-
volving the problem Of grass culture in his
mind for forty years before he started his grass
garden seven, years ago. He may be said TO be
a horn Rgrostologist. for when only seven years
old he was asking his father all sorts OF Ques-
tions about grasses and their habits. He has
little use for bOtanists as n class. He says they
prove their uselessness when they pronounce,