The first thing to be done in the making of a lawn is to establish the proper grade. This should be worked out with the greatest care, from the fact that when a lawn is once made, it should not be necessary to change its level and contour.

Preparing The Ground

The next important step is to prepare the ground deeply and thoroughly. The permanence of the sod will depend very largely on the fertility and preparation of the soil in the beginning. The soil should be deep and porous, so that the roots will strike far into it, and be enabled thereby to withstand droughts and cold winters. The best means of deepening the soil, as explained in Chapter IV (The Handling Of The Land), is by tile-draining; but it can also be accomplished to some extent by the use of the subsoil plow and by trenching. Since the lawn cannot be refitted, however, the subsoil is likely to fall back into a hard-pan in a few years if it has been subsoiled or trenched, whereas a good tile-drain affords a permanent amelioration of the under soil. Soils that are naturally loose and porous may not need this extra attention. In fact, lands that are very loose and sandy may require to be packed or cemented rather than loosened. One of the best means of doing this is to fill them with humus, so that the water will not leach through them rapidly.

Nearly all lands that are designed for lawns are greatly benefited'by heavy dressings of manure thoroughly worked into them in the beginning, although it is possible to get the ground too rich on the surface at first; it is not necessary that all the added plant-food be immediately available.

The lawn will profit by an annual application of good chemical fertilizer. Ground bone is one of the best materials to apply, at the rate of three hundred to four hundred pounds to the acre. It is usually sown broadcast, early in spring. Dissolved South Carolina rock may be used instead, but the application will need to be heavier if similar results are expected. Yellow and poor grass may often be reinvigorated by an application of two hundred to three hundred pounds to the acre of nitrate of soda. Wood ashes are often good, particularly on soils that tend to be acid. Muriate of potash is not so often used, although it may produce excellent results in some cases. There is no invariable rule. The best plan is for the lawn-maker to try the different treatments on a little piece or corner of the lawn; in this way, he should secure more valuable information than can be got otherwise.

The first operation after draining and grading is the plowing or spading of the surface. If the area is large enough to admit a team, the surface is worked down by means of harrows of various kinds. Afterwards it is leveled by means of shovels and hoes, and finally by garden rakes. The more finely and completely the soil is pulverized, the quicker the lawn may be secured, and the more permanent are the results.

The Kind Of Grass

The best grass for the body or foundation of lawns in the North is June-grass or Kentucky blue-grass (Poa pratensis), not Canada blue-grass (Poa compressa).

Whether white clover or other seed should be sown with the grass seed is very largely a personal question. Some persons like it, and others do not. If it is desired, it may be sown directly after the grass seed is sown, at the rate of one to four quarts or more to the acre. . For special purposes, other grasses may be used for lawns. Various kinds of lawn mixtures are on the market, for particular uses, and some of them are very good.

A superintendent of parks in one of the Eastern cities gives the following experience on kinds of grass: "For the meadows on the large parks we generally use extra recleaned Kentucky blue-grass, red-top, and white clover, in the proportion of thirty pounds of blue-grass, thirty pounds of red-top, and ten pounds of white clover to the acre. Sometimes we use for smaller lawns the blue-grass and red-top without the white clover. We have used blue-grass, red-top, and Rhode Island bent in the proportion of twenty pounds each, and ten pounds of white clover to the acre, but the Rhode Island bent is so expensive that we rarely buy it. For grass in shady places, as in a grove, we use Kentucky blue-grass and rough-stalked meadow-grass (Poa trivialis) in equal parts at the rate of seventy pounds to the acre. On the golf links we use blue-grass without any mixture on some of the putting greens; sometimes we use Rhode Island bent, and on sandy greens we use red-top. We always buy each kind of seed separately and mix them, and are particular to get the best extra recleaned of each kind.

Frequently we get the seed of three different dealers to secure the best".

In most cases) the June-grass germinates and grows somewhat slowly, and it is usually advisable to sow four or five quarts of timothy grass to the acre with the June-grass seed. The timothy comes on quickly and makes a green the first year, and the June-grass soon crowds it out. It is not advisable to sow grain in the lawn as a nurse to the grass. If the land is well prepared and the seed is sown in the cool part of the year, the grass ought to grow much better without the other crops than with them. Lands that are hard and lacking in nitrogen may be benefited if crimson clover (four or five quarts) is sown with the grass seed. This will make a green the first year, and'will break up the subsoil by its deep roots and supply nitro- gen, and being an annual plant it does not become troublesome, if mown frequently enough to prevent seeding.

In the southern states, where June-grass does not thrive, Bermuda-grass is the leading species used for lawns; although there are two or three others, as the goose-grass of Florida, that may be used in special localities. Bermuda-grass is usually propagated by roots, but imported seed (said to be from Australia) is now available. The Bermuda-grass becomes reddish after frost; and English rye-grass may be sown on the Bermuda sod in August or September far south for winter green; in spring the Bermuda crowds it out.