Where the soil is soggy and retains too much moisture, this condition must be remedied before attempting to make it
into a lawn. The remedy is found by draining, and this is done by digging ditches or laying tiles under ground at varying distances apart, all tending towards the lowest part of the land, to which the water must be induced to flow. The number of drains is to be determined by existing conditions.
Land that could not be used before will, after a system of drainage has been installed, be so benefited that most anything can be grown upon it. Lawns made on such land are always luxuriant and resist the effect of drought even of long duration, drawing upon the supply of water that extends deep down below the surface.
GRASS SEED
SO much has been written on the subject of lawn-making that about every one interested in this work is fully competent, theoretically at least, to carry through the process of land renovation and preparation, whether it be for a small lawn or an area consisting of acres. The subject along these lines has been exhaustively treated, but, strange to say, the equally important subject of grass seed has been rather neglected. While many amateurs can talk freely on the preparation of the land, they are not so confident when treating of grass seed. It seems strange that this is the case when so much depends on the suitability of the grass seed to the land for the making
of a successful lawn. The only reason, as far as I can see, why people are not versed in this matter is that they have been frightened by the botanical names of grasses, which seem wholly unsuitable and too difficult of pronunciation for such commonplace things. There is, however, just as much individuality in a plant produced from a grass seed as in the choicest plant in a greenhouse. One kind of grass seed will produce a low-growing plant while another grows high; one wants a moist situation, another a dry one; some will germinate in the shade, others will not, and so on through the list. If a person knows each kind and its possibilities and requirements, he will be able to choose the grass best suited for his wants, and by careful trials arrange the mixtures with better success than the man in the wholesale house who is obliged to
guess at what is best for his wants. Start out, then, in the primer class and tabulate some of the best grasses used for lawns, and tag them with both their names, the botanical and the common ones.
