Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-10-02
Beautifying school Grounds.

Identifying School Grounds.
A greater interest is now being
manifested in beautifying the school
grounds than ever before, and if the
teachers In charge will give this i'm
porfant work the proper attention, It
VIII be only a question of few years
before the now barren Grounds sur
rounding the school houses will be
converted into a beautiful garden
with green grass, flowers and orna-
mental plants. 1t' $
With the small space allotted to me,
1t will be impossible to treat the sub
1ect fully, SO ! shall confine myself
to the first, and, to my mind, the
most important thing in beautifying
the school grounds.
The walks should be located ac-
cording to the SURROUNDINGS; avoid
locating walk in such q way as to
! make 1t inconyenient and thereby
tempting the children to make short
cuts across>the grass These paths
are very unsightly and will not be
made IL the walks are properly locat-
ed. Curved walks should be made
whenever practicable rather than
straight ones. The straight, broad
| walks so often seen in front of the
school buildings detract much from
the beauty Of the grounds and the
| glare Is very trying on the eyes.
In making our plans we should
think we'll before destroying q tree
that would require years to replace.
There are some trees around nearly
every school house, but as a rule they
are treated with little respect. We
should always bear in mind that trees
are living things and treat them ac-
cordingly. If the trses are too thick
they should be thinned out SO the
lower branches may receive the sun
light, which Is absolutely necessary
for their proper development. In
thinning out the trees, give prefer
ence as far as practicable, to the
white oak, water oak, hickory, maple
and dogwood and holly. If trans
planting is necessary, it should be
done in the fall. The hickory and
white oak are rather difficult to
transplant, but the others grow off
readily If the work Is carefully done.
About -two-thirds of the top OF the
trees should be removed when trans
planted, and as many of the fibrous
roots should be gotten up with the
tree as possible, the large roots cut
| of smooth SO the wound will heal up
| readily. The roots Of the trees should
not ne allowed to dry out before
transplanting, and a good mulch of
| woods earth and Ieaves placed
around each tree to prevent the
ground from becoming hard and dry.
The clay soils so often seen around
our school houses will produce excel
lent grass II thoroughly prepared
| and fertilized. In October the
ground should be thoroughly plowed,
cross-plowed and narrowed. A few
loads of manure and good applica-
tion Of complete fertilizer should
| be applied before plowing, and thor
oughly incorporated in the soil. The
surface should be made as smooth as
possible by narrowing, and If the soil
Is harsh and crusts badly after rains
1T would be we'll to cover the surface
with a thin layer of woods earth; /;
this, however, is not necessary on
anything but stiff clay soil. ....
For quick permanent lawn that
will be green all the year, the follow
ing grass seeds are recommended:
Italian rye grass. Kentucky blu
grass, and white clover. For best re-
suits, the seed should be sown about
the first of November, but good re-
suits may be obtained from early
spring sowing The seed should not
be mixed before sowing, but each va
riety sown separately, as the seeds
vary considerably in size and cannot
be evenly distributed when mixed.
Two bushels Italian rye grass, Ave
pecks Kentucky blue grass, and five
pounds of white clover should be ap-
piled per acre. After the seed are
sown, they should be raked in by
hand, or with light tooth harrow,
and then rolled lightly in order to
firm the soil about the seed. This
mixture Of seeds will form beauti-
full lawn within four weeks after SOW
ing, If the weather conditions are
favorable. The grass should be cut
three or four times during the spring
and summer Flowers and shrubs
should be grouped about the grounds,
a privet hedge will hide an unsightly
fence, and the clematis and Marie
Henrietta rose will shade a sunny
porch to advantage.-C. G. Newman,
Clemson College.