The Daily Alaska empire., 1941-05-09

meal contained nlne percent pnOS- phorus and four percent nitrogen while the steamed bone meal con- tained 12 to IA percent phosphorus and only 8 percent nitrogen.
 Cottonseed meal and soy-bear meal are rich in nitrogen and con- tain some potash The chemica elements are more quickly avail able in steamed bone meal thar in raw bone meal.
 Tankage, blood, fish meal, sheer guano are all good fertilizers but they have terrible smelll
 Air-slaked lime "sWeeten = ol neutralizes the soil, helps to aakc plant food available and improves the texture of the sil. Practically all forest soil, especially where hemlock predominates, is acid ano needs lime to make good garden You may also use shell on the garden and this adds lime, al- though slowly An interesting thing is that slugs do not seem to want to crawl over the sharp-edged stuff Maybe this is one way to get re- lief from these pests.
 Natural fertilizers that are avail able here consist mostly of man. ures, fish and seaweeds. Cow man urG, some goat manure and possi- ply some chicken manure are avail able around Juneau. Cow manure usually lasts for two years on the garden. It improves the texture of the soil and contains the three vital elements. It should be well routed. I have noticed that many people are using manure on their garden this year. I am afraid they are going to have a lot of trouble with weeds. Manure is especially troublesome in this respect. For this reason alone. many people will not use it.
 Fish or fish heads are used by many people. Fish are especially rich in nitrogen, and contain some phosphorus. Some pile them up in the fall on the soil and let them rot-but it takes a strong person to stand that! Others bury the fish and let it decompose where the smell won't be so strong.
 The natural fertilizers are usu- ally added to the soil when spad- ing. In this way they can be worked into the soil better Manure should never be left in large lumps. Wherever there is a large lump, it will shut out the light and give the weeds an excellent start; and if on lawn it will kill the grass It covers. If you have been using manure or seaweed for mulch for winter, you of course spade it in the spring. Chemical fertilizers can also be worked into the ground when spading. Or they can be scattered on the ground around perennials and scratched in; or in the trench for seeds, with a little soil between them and the seeds: or Watered into the lawn.
 A good lawn must be made-it doesn't just grow. It must be kept up or it will rapidly deteriorate. There are four main steps in pre- rarlng NEW lawn. Sometimes the first step is not necessary as the character of the ground may be such that it takes care of drain age properly. However you can de- termine whether your ground needs Q drainage system or not.
 If you have water standing on your lot or if there seems to be a seepage somewhere on the place or if you have clay soil which does not allow proper drainage, then you must put in drains to carry off this excess moisture. Neither lawns nor flowers do well with water around their feet. So your first step toward a good lawn is proper drainage.
 Grading
 The second step is grading for the purpose of controlling surface drainage so as to allow it to run off gradually, so as to be mostly absorbed where it falls and to ob- tain pleasing slope for the lawn. A gentle slope from the house foundations to the edge of the pro- posed lawn, drains water away from the house and gives a pleasing line. Variations in grades such as terraces, rock walls and slopes of different degrees, are used when needed by the character eff the ground.
 The proper preparation of the soil is the third step. If you have a new home that has just been constructed, your first step is to clean up the rubble that accumu- lates around construction work. Hunks Of cement, rotten wood. 10th ,o1a efa,. A,. atl,n,, ,l..t.x:.