Evening star., 1932-09-21

Two and twenty robins 1oomed down
upon the lawn at exactly o'clock.
They were after robin food.
The genuine robin food. as every one
may not know, is composed Of Ken
tucky blue grass, red top, Dutch white
clover and rye grass.
Most people call it grass seed, in mix
ture, but the robins know it was in
tended for them.
At least they acted as II they knew it.
No sooner was the Fall planting of
grass seed ended, than they began to
gather.
That first evening they emulated the
famous blackbirdS Of the nursery rhyme.
lacking two of the -four and twenty"
the legendary number.
The next evening, just before dusk,
there were II Of the red-breasts.
Since then the number has varied, at
equaling the quota of the first day.
No doubt there isn't as much seed
left, after several days Of intensive
feasting.
They are such jolly fat beggars, in
their rusty red coats, no one would
have the heart to shoe them away.
It Is the sacrifice of perfectly good
grass seed which bird lovers are willing
to make to keep the friendship Of their
robin friends.
Cousin of the thrush, tamest and most
beautiful singer of them all, the robin
is everybody's friend. His song is not
great music, but it Is pleasant and
cheerful, especially when indulging in
the notes which country people name
calling for rain"
Just how much grass seed flock OF
robins can eat is difficult to compute.
To the householder it seems as If they
will not leave bit of the mixture for
termination. Probably it is not as bad
as that: perhaps the robins are more
interested in worms, after all, than in
grass seed. no matter how plump.
1t cannot be gainsaid, however, that
all Of the song birds are seed eaters.
From the tiny goldflnches, now to be
seen darting like erratic arrows across
gardens, to the solemn robins, one
and all they enjoy their meals Of rip
ened seed.
Happily for them they are under no
compulsion to know the names of the
varieties in which they are interested.
They simply eat, and, in the eating.
find the seed desirable, fit food for an
honest bird
The robin possesses fine drill, in
his sturdy beak; with this he can yank
up worms from the soil. and it is pos
sible that with it he is able to secure
many a covered seed which lesser birds
would overlook.
II the Fall planting Of grass seed has
been done half properly, however, there
Is no danger OF the birds making away
with all of it.
Enough will be left; at the same time
the feathered creatures will have had
their meals.
To secure this double duty from the
sowing of grass-seed mixture it is nee
eSsary to dig the seed in wherever there
is enough earth showing to permit this
action.
Few gardeners will advocate the up
roofing Of reasonably good turf to SOW
seed. but If there is bare spot. with
earth visible. the seed should be covered
slightly, with fine earth or peat moss,
and then tramped down.
II old turf is in what may be
called a halfway condition, so that
there are no really bare spots, but
nevertheless the lawn is thin. the best
way to SOW seed is to SOW in the thinner
places, distributing peat moss or earth
afterward.
Water should be applied soon. care
being taken to keep the spray fine, in
order to prevent washing out of the
seed
These are elementary rules in lawn
but to those interested in the
subject there is something interesting
in their restatement This is one of the
perennial wonders of the garden, that
amateur gardeners can talk so much
about the same thing. forever and
day, and yet never grow tired of their
subjects
One might think that every one in
terested in lawns had read all that there
is to be read about them. and desired to
hear no more, but exactly the opposite