The times., 1901-06-09
ORNAMENTATION OFLAWNS
Patient Work Required to Make
Grass Plats Beautiful.

Methods of Improving the Appear
ance of Miniature Pnrks-Perfec-
tion Not the Work of n Single Sen
son of Cnre-Vfeyvs of an Expert.
Good grass and how to obtain 1t is a
question appealing to all those who take
pride in their premises and in one of the
most distinctive and beautiful features
of Washington. Lawns are the most fas-
Cinating and delightful features in land
scape gardening, and there is nothing
which more strongly bespeaks the char
acter of the owner than the treatment
and adornment of the lawns upon his
place. How to establish lawns and the
varieties of grasses best suited for the
purpose are among the most frequent en-
quiries received by the Division of Agros-
tology of the Agricultural Department.
1T is the general desire says Prof.
T. Lamson-Scribner, Agrostologist of the
department, Ito have a lawn made quick
ly, to have the turf fine as well as per-
manent, and these results are often ex-
pected under impossible conditions. Fine
ness and permanency may, indeed be
secured, but they are results which cannot
be obtained by hasty and unskilled prep
aration. A perfect lawn cannot be made
in season, and the highest excellence
sought comes only through intelligent
care for period of years. A green sur
face may be secured within a few months
under favorable conditions, but a soft,
velvety turf, which is both a delight to
view and to walk on, comes only with
years of patient care.
The value and beauty of a lawn de-
pend upon the color, texture, and turf
forming habit of the grass selected A
grass may be of good color, but harsh
in texture and Incapable of producing a
turf, or 1t may form a good sward and
have satisfactory texture, but be de-
hcient, or even unsightIy, in color. Peo-
pie in this city who trust to itinerant
venders for the sods wherewith to form
their lawns are often disappointed in the
result. Good sod is a very difficult thing
to obtain, and l believe there is money
for some one who will start business of
raising fine sod for the planting of lawns.
The quality of forming turf is of first
Importance in the selection of a lawn
grass, for unless it possesses a good turf
forming habit, it can have no value as a
lawn grass, however excellent it be in.
color or texture.
The turf-forming grasses are chiefly
natives of the moist, temperate regions
of the world. In the semi-arid districts
of the West and Southwest, the grasses
are, for the most part. bunch grasses,
that is, they grow in isolated punches,
forming no continuous turf, such as is
seen in the pastures and meadows of the
East. In the Tropics, except upon the
higher mountains, turf-forming grasses
are almost unknown. the native species
belonging chiefly TO the class termed jun
gle grasses.
only those grasses with creeping root
stocks, or with PROSTATE creeping habit
of growth, form a continuous turf, and
hence are the only varieties furnishing
| lawn grasses. Orchard grass has no
place upon the lawn, because 1t is a
bunch grass, and however closely clipped
and frequently rolled 1t maintains it's
/ characteristic tussock-like growth. In
marked contrast with orchard grass, both
in uniformity of surface and fneness of
LEAKAGE is Kentucky blue grass. The lat
ter forms sod by its creeping rhizomes.
which are all underground. These send
up at frequent intervals leafy shoots.
which form the turf of the lawn. Under
the most favorable circumstances these
leafy shoots are rarely so numerous or
fine as to make the soft, springy turf so
much desired In lawns.
Turf grasses are the pasture grasses
I of the New England and Middle States
! Nowhere is found better turf. OF finer
! or more even texture or more pleasant
/ to walk on, than in some of the pastures
[ near the New England coast which have
/ been grazed by sheep for the past hum
/ lures have been grazed the closest and
I trampied the most there will be the
! closest and most even turf, composed
I generally of a single variety of grass,
geNr FasHHa al mir
lieyc to produce better result than the
mixtures In vogue with most gardens.
Turf suitable for lawns is produced
/ either by the grazing of stock, particu-
{ larly by sheep, or by the frequent and in
/ teuigent use of the lawn mower and the
/ roller. The value of sheep in turf fOrma-
/ tiun is recognized BY the managers of
public parks and t-s been taken adVan-
/ tage of by some. This is notably the
/ case in Central Park, New York, and
/ Druid Hill Park, Baltimore.
/ "A deep, rich emerald green is the
/ shade most desired In a lawn grass, as
/ it is generally pleasing and certainly the
/ most beautiful of all tints. No grass in
I the Northern and Middle States fills this
/ requirement so well as the Kentucky blue
/ grass; the color of this grass, when grown
under favorable circumstances, may be
/ regarded the standard upon which TO
/ base comparisons. Different varieties or
! Kentucky blue grass show slight varia-
! tions in color, some being lighter than
/ others, but upon the whole, the deep. rich
I of the fescues possess an equally deep
! shade of green, but the best turf-foIming
/ varieties of this class usually have grey
ish tint which is more or less objection
able. The color of Bermuda grass which
/ IS common in the vicinity of this city,
/ where It is locally known as wire grass,
is highly pleasing, but it turns brown
( upon the approach of cold weather, max
/ ing It undesirable as a lawn grass in
| Washington.
THE principal lawn grasses of this
| country are Kentucky blue grass, creep
( ing bent and Rhode Island bent. White
| or Dutch clover is often sown with
| Kentucky blue grass, and this mixture
is not Objectionable, because the shade of
! green in the clover is nearly the same as
. that OF the grass. 1t cannot be too
strongly emphasized that the best lawns
( those presenting the best turf and great
I est uniformity in color and texture-con-
/ sist of pure cult IreS of single varieties.
/ Other grasses occasionally recon-
/ mended for lawns, especially in lawn
/ grass mixtures, are Canadian blue grass,
, crested dogs tail creeping fescue, rough
/ stalked meadow grass, meadow foxtail,
| velvet grass, and sweet Vernal grass. A
| lawn should be watered once a day in dry
weather and cut close, so as to preserve
an even color"
THE FUNERAL OF GUAM CHUNG.