ven grass, will
flourish on a poor soil. The quality of the soil varies in different
localities. We often find a fine sward on a stiff clay soil, and also on
a light gravelly one. The soil best adapted to the growth of a good
sward, is a sandy loam with a gravelly bottom. In making new lawns,
there is sometimes more or less grading to be done, and often where a
knoll has been cut off the sub-soil is exposed, and it will not do to
sow the seed upon these patches until the spots have been thoroughly
covered with manure which is to be worked in. If a new lawn of any
extent is to be made, it should first be plowed deep, and if uneven and
hilly, grade it to a level surface. The surface should have a heavy
dressing of manure, which should be lightly plowed under, and then the
surface should be dragged several times until fine, and then rolled with
a heavy roller. The seed may now be sown, after which it should be
rolled again. The spring is the best time to do this work, although if
the fall be dry, it will answer nearly as well to do it at that time.
The dryer the ground in preparing it for the seed, and for the sowing of
the same, the better. In preparing a small plot of ground for a lawn,
the spade, hand-rake, and small roller may be used in place of the
larger implements.

SEED.

Much difficulty is often experienced in obtaining a good mixture of
grass seed for the lawn, and different mixtures are recommended and sold
for sowing lawns, some of which are entirely worthless. Great pains
should be taken to have nothing but first-class seeds, which should be
obtained direct of some responsible dealer. The finest sward we ever saw
was made from the following mixture:

10 quarts Rhode Island Bent-grass.
4 " White Clover.
8 " Kentucky Blue-grass.
6 " Red-top Grass.

Sow at the rate of six bushels to the acre. Grass seed can be sown in
the fall any time from the first of October to the first of December. If
the seed be sound, a good sward may be expected the following summer,
and a good turf may be expected from spring sown seeds if the season is
not too dry. The dryer the ground is when the seeds are sown, the
better. To keep the lawn in a flourishing condition, fresh and green all
summer, it will need a top-dressing of well-rotted manure applied in the
fall, at least once every two years. Grass roots derive their
nourishment close to the surface, hence the great advantage of
top-dressing. In s