The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1916-03-23

though tankage and fish scraps, some
of which. however, have an unpleas-
ant smell, also give good results. Pre-
pared sheep manure is an excellent
tonseed meal, where o%btainable at a
low enough price, may be used to ad-
vantage. In connection with these fer
t~ilizers, however, it is desirable to use
some wood ashes or other fertilizer
containing potash. AS fertilizers with
this element are unusually high priced
this year, the natural inclination will
be to use minimum quantities. With
soils that have been well fertilized in
the past, failure to use a normal
amount of potash will probably not
affect the lawn badly in n season.
These fertilizers should be applied at
the earliest possible moment.
Temptation to get On the lawn and
clean it up is strong as soon as the
snow is gone and the weather begins
to settle. lmpatience, however, should
be curbed until the ground is settled
fairly well. so that footmarks will not
show in the turf. Where a lawn has
been trampled down during the winter
or played upon when it was soft in
winter or early spring, the owner
should take steps to compact its sur
face at the earliest possible moment.
This compacting, however, should not
be done until all trash has been re-
moved. AS soon as the ground Is
sufficiently settled so that a rake does
not dig into the turf, the owner should
rake it gently with a wooden-toOthed
rake. Frequently, however, all that is
necessary is to pick off the litter. If
a lawn has been covered with manure
in the fall, it will be necessary to
break the manure up with a rake in
the spring and remove some of the
coarser portions. A wooden rake is
best for this purpose, as it will leave
SO much more of the fine material upon
the ground. Do not rake off so much of
the manure that the lawn will have a
thoroughly clean appearance. All of
the fine manure that the summer
growth of grass can possibly hide
should be left. 1t is surprising how
much litter the grass will obscure in a
lawn, as n or two heavy rains will
beat down a quantity of such ma
terial.
When to Sow Grass Seed
Before freezing weather is entirely
over, fresh grass seed should be sown,
for it must be remembered that only
by repeated applications of grass seed
can a good lawn be produced. Then
ordinary seeding of grass on a new
lawn is ] pound of seed to every 400
square feet-this is, to a piece 20 feet
square. For reseeding a lawn, one
tenth to one-half of this amount should
be used, according to the condition of
the lawn at the time. For the north
ern part of the United States Ken
lucky blue grass and redtop are the
standard varieties. However, where
there are many bare spaces it will be
found well to use some white clover.
A hn1tt Anntnnth Tho nItoptit,, Of ,I,,y,,
as of the other grasses mentioned will
be required.
Probably as good a time as any to
apply grass seed will be some morning
when the ground is frozen, so that
when the ground thaws during the
middle of the day the sown seed will
DE covered sufficiently to terminate
well. The most successful seeding is
that done while the ground is freezing
a little each night and thawing again
in the daytime. Many people have
success in sowing grass seed Upon a
light snowfall at a time when the snow
Is likely o to melt. With either of
these methods, however, there Is dan
ger that birds will eat some Of the
seed before it is covered in the soil.
In spite of this. however, there is a
better chance of getting a good lawn
by these methods than when the seed
is sown on land that will not quickly
i've It.
The last operation in a preliminary
spring care of a lawn is to give it a
good rolling. This rolling, which
should be done with as heavy a roller
as can be handled, should not be be-
gun, until after the lawn is dry enough
so that the roller passes over it with
out sinking at any point below the
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