(a) Having determined upon the particular portion of the field, the first work to be done will be to roll it as soon after rain as may be, with a heavy smooth agricultural roller. This will generally level the lawn sufficiently, at least as a first process. This done 2 or 3 times will show if there are any serious uprisings or tumps, or, on the other hand, hollows or depressions. If the latter, let the turf be lifted from such sunken parts, which should be filled up with some good garden soil. This should be rolled down to a smaller extent by a somewhat heavy garden roller, and when pretty firm the farm implement may be applied, as it will perhaps smooth down the hillocks to a level with the mended-up depressions; if not, it may be that the turf should be lifted beneath these slight hillocks, some of the earth removed, and the turf pressed into place. In operations of this kind, wherever the turf has been cut, it is well to sift some fine mould over the parts before the rolling is performed—at least for the first time the roller is used. The rolling will soon show if there be any hard-rooted tussocky kind of grass or other plants interfering; if so they should be removed, and the same finely-sifted earth restored, and a very small quantity of fine grass seeds sown on the bare spots before the roller be used.
(b) In laying down turves, care has to be taken to make the base as level and solid as possible; this is done by filling up and paring down, while the turves are being got ready from some nice even and fine grass, cut of uniform size and thickness, laid and stamped down with the utmost care, and when laid, fine rich mould should be sifted over the whole, especially over the joints. This, if dry weather supervenes, should be watered. At first light rollers should be used, to be succeeded by heavier ones. If well done, it is the quickest and most efficacious way of planting a lawn.
(c) Lawns may be well made by preparing the soil, then levelling, and sowing with grass seeds, which should be well rolled down. If only a temporary lawn is required, the best grass to sow will be Poa annua (annual meadow grass). This should be sown somewhat thickly; it comes up quickly, bears clipping well, and, if not allowed to flower, it will become almost a permanent grass. If the lawn, as is mostly the case, is to be permanent, less of the Poa should be used; but its quantity should be made up with the following proportions: Poa annua (annual meadow), 1 lb.; Poa pratensis (smooth meadow), 1 lb.; Festuca duriuscula (hard fescue), 2 lb.; Lolium perenne Devoniensis, (Devon ever), 4 lb. With this mixture the Poa annua will soon be lost, unless the grasses be seeded, which would not be good for the lawn; but the other three species, which grow well together, will soon form a good lawn. Lawns to be kept even and smooth want to be frequently mown and rolled; but, if the soil be poor, the constant mowing and removal of the grass will damage the turf. Injury of this kind may be prevented by a dressing of superphosphate in autumn, and of soot soon after the breaking up of frost.
Marking Grass Courts.—The following plan might be very useful to those who do not wish to disfigure a lawn with whiting, and do not object to some expense. The webbing ought to be 1½ in. wide, and if strained tight should be rather bare of the true measurements. Purchase 75 yd. webbing at 1¾d. a yard, being sufficient to go round a court 78 ft. by 30 ft. and allow for splicing and corners as follows (the webbing is that used in the manufacture of chairs): Take 5 rings nearly 3 in. in diameter; curtain rings would answer the purpose. Sew the first ring to the end of the webbing with saddlers’ needle and twine, lapping the webbing once through the ring. At 78 ft. farther cut the webbing and sew it to one side of a second ring; on the other side of the same ring again sew on the webbing, and you have turned the first corner of the court. The next corners, at distances of 30 ft., 78 ft., and 30 ft. are treated in the same way, except that the 2 ends should not be joined. Then, for convenience of painting, wind the webbing perpendicularly over a door or a gate; or a sort of tambour frame, made of 4 poles tied together to the shape of an Oxford picture frame, answers the purpose. Paint the webbing with 2 coats of white paint on one side, and one coat on the other. It will take a boy 2 long days, and consume about 3 kettles of paint. Make 4 hoops, about 3 in. high, and 1½ in. wide, of iron wire, nearly as thick as croquet hoop wire. Peg the webbing down by the corner rings with these hoops, putting as heavy a strain as possible on each piece before pegging. The 2 end rings will be pegged by the fourth hoop. Webbing so treated does not trip the players, only requires the above 4 hoops or pegs, is too heavy to be moved by wind, does not twist and kink like tape, and is practically indestructible. A light drum or winch, 16 in. diameter, 6 in. flange, and 5 in. wide, much facilitates carriage of the webbing to and from the courts, and keeps it stored in small compass. (D. W.)
Waterproof Net.—The nets dressed with gutta-percha by the Manchester Cotton Twine Spinning Company, Corporation Street, Manchester, are impervious to wet, are not affected by the sun, and may be left out in all weathers without injury.
Asphalte Courts.—(a) The probable cost ought not to exceed 10l. if laid down by own workpeople, and less if tar has not to be purchased. It is pleasanter to play on than real asphalte, having more elasticity, and the colour is excellent for seeing the balls, which are not blackened or worn out quickly, as is the case on cinder courts. Mix thoroughly well sand and gas tar, in the proportions of 1 cub. yd. sand to 24 gal. tar (the more it is mixed the better). About 8⅓ cub. yd. sand and 200 gal. tar will make a court. This quantity is to be made into a heap 3 days before laying down. Keep turning the heap every day, and, immediately before putting down, add 5 or 6 shovelfuls of dry lime to each cub. yd., and 24 gal. tar. For foundation, 6 in. of small broken stone or brick rubbish, on which put some fine gravel, or, better still, coal cinders, to give a smooth surface; bring this to a level with straight-edge and spirit level, and press down with a heavy roller. The mixture of sand and tar should be laid on 1 in. thick, and should be rolled well with a roller having round edges, sprinkling fine sand on it all the time to prevent the roller sticking to it. The court should have a slight fall of 4 in. from centre to ends, and the ground should be well drained underneath and around the court, which should be laid down with a large margin, to give plenty of room at the ends and sides. The best time for making the court would be late in the spring, after all chance of frost has disappeared, the ground having previously been prepared by drainage, &c.
(b) A mixture of coal tar and cinders makes a rough and dirty court, and is very liable to work uneven from the nature of the material. It is necessary to lay these courts on a dry foundation, or they would be lifted by frost, and the cost is from 20l. to 30l. Covered balls cannot be used on them, and shoes are soon cut to pieces. A way might be found to put a finer surface on these courts, but they can never be made very durable.
(c) Real asphalte runs into a very high figure.
Cinder Courts.—(a) Plain cinder courts may be laid at very trifling cost, wherever steam power is used, and engine ashes can be had gratis, and only cost the carriage. Cinders, however, if not laid on a dry foundation, after they have been beaten down to a smooth surface, will puddle up with frost.
(b) Pare the turf off, and level the ground; give a sprinkling of agricultural salt, to kill the grass roots; put in a drain or two of 2 in. pipes, if the subsoil is clayey or retentive. Get 25 cartloads of factory or other cinders; wheel on (as they are) as many as will make a strip all across about 9 ft. in width and 2½ in. in thickness; rake off the very large ones as a foundation for next strip. Roll all thoroughly well; then put on the 9 ft. strip a layer or covering of finely riddled cinders, and again well roll, and so on throughout. Keep the roll going every day for a week, and then you may play every day in the year except during snow or rain. Use uncovered balls in wet weather; they bounce sharper, and wash clean. (Geo. H. Wade.)