Evening star., 1926-05-17

Two good rules for renovating youi
lawn follow:
]. Buy three times as much gras:
seed as the dealers, books and maga
zines declare Is necessary.
2. Sow twice as much in any one
place as your inclination prompts
you to.
The first of these rules we got out
Of an advertisement Of fertilizine
product, and the second Is entirely
our own composition.
Between the two, one ought tc
achieve a good lawn this Summer. foi
it is not too late, even at this late date
to put in grass seed with hope OF real
results.
Spring, so far, has been rather q
miserable affair, with it's drought and
coolness. it's warm days followed by
almost freezing weather. Yet gardens
have come on very well, despite the
weather.
The beautiful bridal wreath, queen
of the spireas, was just two weeks
later than last year. The first roses
of the present Spring opened apou,
the same number Of days behind lasl
years floral procession.
Annual seeds put in the ground tc
date have. in many instances, beer
small heads above the soil. The pri
mary cause of this bashfulness has
been the lack of rain. for there Is
something about a warm rain from
heaven that makes things grow, and
which no amount of Sprinkling with q
hose will duplicate.
Our idea Of the action of rain water
on the soil is that the good effect Is
due to the penetration of the rain
drops. falling several miles upon the
garden.
1t takes a long and hard rain, in
deed, to cause water to stand on the
surface of borders, but that result
may be attained in minutes with a
hose. This would seem to show that
the raindrops are forced in and down
to the roots, whereas the water put
on with the hose tends to stand on
the surface, and, when 1t sinks in.
some way or other does not soak in
right.
X X x X
Before we go back to our subject
(Which Is grass seed, etc.) let us con
slider the matter of watering the
garden.
Perhaps there is no phase OF garden
ing that puzzles the amateur more
than this, for the garden books and
magazines, and even the old garden
ers, are woefully silent about it.
Water when the plant needs it,
they will tell you, but as that is the
very thing you cannot decide for your
self-just when the plant needs it
you are as much at sea as ever.
Since no book gives precise direc'
tions for watering, one must neces
sarily come to the conclusion that the
busy authors of garden books do not
know any more about 1t than one
knows himself.
While this is a bit pleasing, 1t still
leaves one as confused and uncertain
on the matter of watering as ever.
Perhaps the one good rule to hold by
Is to water well when you do sprinkle
And the next evening be sure to stir
up the soil.
Refrain from "sprinkling," merely
every night, and soak-S-O-AK-
once a week, or perhaps twice a week
in dry weather. With d normal
amount of rainfall, perhaps no hand
watering Is necessary at all.
Where the average amateur falls
down in the watering business is IN
his fundamental error of watering the
top of the soil instead of the roots OF
the plants. While a spraying. now
and then, is beneficial, the real need
of water is down at the roots. not
only for the waters sake, but for the
intake of plant food. which the grow
ing thing can imbibe only in solution