Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, January 9, 1910, Page 14

THE OMAHA MAKING THE PERFECT LAWY First Step is to Prepare the Ground Properly. KEEPING THE LAWN IN CONDITION Very Rich Soil Needed for the Hest Results — Advantages of the Sown Over the Sodded Lawn. “It s easy enough to have a perfeet lawn I one will only go about it right.’ declared a nurseryman who has to his credit some of the most beautiful lawns in Westchester county Shrubbery can be replanted, flower beds rearranged every vear with very little trouble, but the making of & lawn requires the uprooting of the entire groundwork “A lawn is expected to look attractive from all points of view and at all times of the year. For that reason the land must be prepared and the seed so selected as to give the best results at all seasons I say seed, because for all lawns larger than & city lot the planted lawn Is muca more desirable as well as more economical than the sodded lawn “For a good lawn you must get the very richest soil. It is impossible to get soll too rich for a good lawn. If the land {s naturally fertile the proper soil can be made by deep plowing without sub- solling. ~ If on the other hand the land 18 poor, as most land ls, the first step is heavily manuring or dressing with com- mercial fertilizer. On light soils manur {s much to be preferred to commerclal fertilizer, as it not only helps to retain the moisture, but is much more enduring. “The land must first be cleared of all roots of trees and weeds as far as possible. The heavy dressing of (fertilizer shouid then be spread on and ploughed under. The ground should then be gone over with & harrow, graded, raked and then the seed sown. “Immediately after the seeds are sown {he ground must again be harrowed and raked 50 as to cover the seed. As a fintshing touch it must all be gone over with a ®ood heavy roller, to make the surface compact and insure contact of the with the soll, “When it is possible 1 advise growing a crop of corn, potatoes or some other farm crop that requires constant cultivation of the land the year before the actual lawn making beglns. Attention to the growing farm crop assures the cultivation of the 1end without the labor being a dead loss. It also destroys the weeds that will spring up in any newly turned soll. “After this crop Is harvested spread manure at the rate of twenty tons to the acre, turn it under with the plow and har- row thoroughly. This harrowing cannot be too thoroughly done. Care should be taken to go' over each spot two or three tim es, removing all stones and roots. If it 1s early enough In the season to allow the first crop of weeds to germinate, 80 much’ the better. After this crop of weeds is well up, but still less than an inch high give the ground another thorough harrow- ing. “Where the land s not dry lor holds water in pools after rains it is useless to think of making a lawn without aitering this condition. Drain tiles should be laid three feet apart, smaller tiles leading into larger main drains, and the whole giving a gradual fall to the lowest portion of the grounds or the natural outlet. Uniformity in the finish surface before the seed is sown is one of the essentials to a perfect lawn. “To Insure this grading Is necessary. ‘Where there is no engineer nor landscape arehitect about the best way to do this grading Is to drive stakes in the ground and sight from one to another by a car- penter's level. The earth can then be moved from the places that are too high and put in the hollows that are too pro- nounced. “This grading is usually done after the land has received its first ploughing and harrowing. 1 do the grading first, then I.do the ploughing, following the plough with a subsoiler in the same furrow, if the subsoll is hardpan. ‘““The hext step with me ls the harrow- ing, then the clearing of all roots and stones; next the seeding, followed by a light harrowing to cover the seed about half an inch; next a second seeding, sow- ing the seed at right angles to the first; then a second light harrowing, and last a heavy rolling. “Besides haying the surface of your lawn perfectly ‘smooth you want to have the grass of a uniform color and thick- ness. In oases where the ground s en- riched by bringing the top soll from other places it should be put-over the entire surfuce s & top dressing rather than filling in In patches. “Where top soll is drawn from several sources and Is consequently of neither a uniform quality nor the same texture that which 18 brought from each place should be distributed over the entire area. In dolng this the heavier soll should be first distributed, finishing off with the lighter. To make a lawn s0 that one part is top dressed with a heavy soil and the other with Mght loam to insure its having & patchy appearance. ““There are two seasons at which a lawn may be successfully sceded, In the spring in April and May and again in September. “The ideal lawn grass s one with creep- ing permanent stems. Kentucky bluegrass though slow in germinating makes & strong permanent turf, but it does not at- thin its proper development until the third year after fts sowing. Where immedlate yesults are wanted the mixtures offer dis- tinct advantages, because all contaln some quicker germinating varletles. | If the Quality of the land is uncertiin or mixed the grass mixtures are again valuable be- ocause one grass or another will surely sult each speclal soil condition. “As the Kentucky bluegrass will thrive in any but an acid soll, it is the ground- work of all lawn mixtures, The most com- mon addition to the bluegrass is one or FAT REDUCTION IS NO SIN. The purpose of beauty is (o refine the native uncouthness of human nature. We all bow to its power, It is the only autocracy that has 7o nihillst shadow Alas! this means the fat woman must serve instead of rule, for beauty In woman 18 u composite of both line and feature. Thoysands of fat women are beautiful of face. But they lag behind in the race for preference——because & too ponderous outline dashes the favor their face has ined them. Now, pretly fat women can reduce that fat (not the ood pure-lined flesh) in & y simple way. No exercise—no dleting is necessary. Let them take one Marmola Prescription Tablet after each meal and at bedtime for & month, The fat will simply fade. No wrinkles or pouches of skin will form, but the loss will be uni- form. The fat will go as steadily as it oame; fade away. The health will improve, the eye grow more ‘rilllant, the wif springhtlier. Marmola Tablets are a boon g harmless (being made from the famous fashionable prescription, % o= Marmola, % o F1. Ex Cascara Aromatiq 3 u.r‘cppnnrlm Water). and are ke se_cheap, & large case of the druggist Or the Marmola Co.. 533 Farimer- Blg, Detroit, Mich., costing unly seventy-five more of the bents or red tops, quickly germinating creeping grasses. These are expressly adapted to the drier sandy solls of the seacoast, which are usually too acld for the perfect growth of the Kentueky | rass. Where a greensward for imme te of. tect is wanted I sow to each acre in the fall a mixture of ten quarts of Kentucky bluegrass, eight quarts of Rhode Island bent and three quarts of English rye. The English rye will begin to grow almost as soon as it is planted and by the end of the first month wili make a presentable sheet of soft green. The Rhode Island bent comes along soon after the rye and If the moll is not just what it shouid be In the way of fertility it will take hold and form a good, close turf where the blue- grass would hardly make a showing. The English rye, unfortunately, is a blennlal and will disappear during the second sum- mer “Eventually the lawn will be of blue grass and some persons seem (o think that planting these quicker germinating grasses Is only a waste, but they forget that the Kentucky blue will not make a turt before the third year and in the mean- time you have been enjoying a beautiful temporary lawn. “There are other grasses put into mix- tures for varlous reasons. The swaet vernal is to give the odor of new mown hay when the lawn is mowed. Under the shade of trees where other grasses fail the wood meadow grass makes a very satisfactory lawn. “White clover is added to nearly all the mixtures at the rate of about one quart to an acre. Whether this is an advantage depends entirely on the taste of the owner of the lawn. Many persons tell me they think It lucky to have clover growing on thelr lawns. - “In the southern states the blue grass is killed out by the sun and about the best and only grass that can be con- sidered permanent for lawn purposes there {s the Bermuda grass. This is a rapld creeping grass and - ls propagated by planting sections of the root. In spite of the name of this grass it does not grow well in the island of Bermuda. There all who care for a lawn must depend on the 8t. Augustine grass, “Now as to making a lawn by sodding I never recommerd it unless the lawn is small and Immediate effect is desired. In the first place It is next to impossible to get good sod In any great quantity; in the seqond there is the expense of ut- ting, lifting, carting and laying down the turf and then beating it down, and in the third place it s impossible to make perfoct unions between different sods. If the sods are lald in the autumn it s likely to Le seriously injured by heaving during the winter, while_if it is laid in the spring it is equally as certain to be so dried out that great gaping channels will be made where the sods should join. “After a lawn is well started there comes the question of keeping it in condition. Other crops are not only fertilized, but the ground is kept copstantly stirred by repeated workings. You can't work the lawn as you do other crops, so that is all the more reason why you should be gener- ous in glving It the necessary fertllizer, “If the land has been thoroughly en- riched before the lawn was made the autumn following & top mulch of well rotted manure should be put on, This not only keeps the roots of the young gras in proper condition, but supplies food for the coming spring. “In some parts of the country where tobacco stems can be had readily they are used for muiching the lawns to good advantage. As this does not enrich the land when they are raked off in the spring a surface of wood ashes and ground bone should be supplied. On old lawns this annual top dressing should 'never be omitted. It should always be remembered that these chemical foods should be scat- texed on just before a rain, or in a Nquid form, using one pound to forty gallons of water. A8 to moyng, T have seldom Known a lawn sown in the fall to need to be mowed before the next spring or summer. Then the grass should be cut as soon as It has attained the helght of three or four inches and the cut grass left on the lawn to act as & mulch for the roots. After the grass hes begun to grow freely It may be cut once every ten days or se. “During the first season the grass will not be rooted very firmly and the pulling of the knives of the lawn mower will not help things along. If it is possible use a scythe. The grass then will not be out 100 elose, bat if a lawn mower 15 the only way be careful to see that the knives are set high and keep the grass about two inches high all the season. During the hot weather stop mowing and use the roller. “All new lawns need rolling frequently to make the roots take firm hold and the heavier the roller the better. A thousand pound roller s none too heavy, though many lawns get along very well that have to be contented with only 30 pounds. “The texture of the turf on a lawn made as I have descrfbed will improve for the first four years of its existence. As the Kentucky grass grows and crowds out the other kinds the surface will become more and more beautifully uniform’ and firm under the tread. To keep it in condition it should have its annual top dressing, should be mowed sufficiently often to Keep the grass under three inches and should be rolled early in the spring and again in the autumn. Lawns should not be mowed after the middle of September. BATTLESHIP OF CONCRETE Huge Fort, Reared on Pinnacle of| Rock, Equipped for Bus- Recently there have been references in the news dispatches to a curious foriifi- cation which Uncle S8am is erecting on a small island named El Fralle, as a part of the line of defense of Manila bay. It was styled a concrete battleship, Which was to be fixed upon the island. What would a concrete battleship look like, and why should one be erected as a part of a pe manent and immovable fortification, were natural questions, El Frgfle Is a Spanish term which has more than one meaning. Translated it means elther “the friar” or & kind of sea tish. Whether the origin of the-name. is due to its resemblance in appearance to some physical characteristic of a friar or 1o the kind of sea fish indicated by the word is not revealed, but the island itself formed an interesting problem when the question of forufying it arose, It is merely a pinnacie of rock rising a few feet above the surface of the water. It was at first & question how the island could be made to serve Its purpose. Ac- cording to a story as to the way the idea developed of creating on top of the rock & structure of conerete somewhat resembling 4 battieship In shape and style of arma- ment, it was first planned to enlarge the island in order to obtain the essential space for the big guns. This would have cost a good round sum, said to be more than - 000,00, and would have provided only a mollest fort after all, Then it was sug- gested to shave off the top. A young man connectéd with the engineering corps brought forward the stationary ‘“battle- ship" plan. The fort, which is already In process of construction, In an ellipse about 30 feet long and 150 feet wide, the walls of con- UNDAY BEE: JANUARY 9, | b The Smith Premier pewriter Co is receiving old friends and new in its new home in the ‘New Kennedy Building 19th and Douglas Street; Omaha’s Newest Commercial District The Smith Premier Typewriter Company M. O. Plowman, Manager crote being forty feet in height. Within the inclosure will be two steel turrets of the kind found in battleships. Each will hotise two of the big new fourteen-inch guns. The use of the turrets economizes space. Besides these great guns there wil be four six-inch guns. The entrance Lo the fortification, or ‘“concrete battieship,’ will be by means of a sallyport. It is be lieved that the unique fortification will be impregnable, The armament itself will be Interesting, as the fourteen-inch gun for the nayy is a new arm. It is believed that this weapon will withstand the wear and tear of use much better than the twelve-inch gun, whose life has been estimated to be not more than elghty shots. It is believed that for a permanent fortification, a large gun, 80 bullt as to last mdch longer than this, is & necessity. A battleship can go to a navy yard for renewals of its armament, while a fortification has no such recourse for refitting. It Is estimated that the life of the fourteen-inch gun, such as is now being constructed, will be from 215 to 300 shots. The gun will be fifty-three and one-half feet long. Nine men, five feet eleven and one-third inches long could lie on its bar- rel. It Is almost exactly three feet longer than the present twelve-inch gun, which is fifty feet seveninches long. A fort of concrete formation resting on piles and stone has been'suggested for the entrance to Chesapeake bay. The two capes forming the. mouth of the bay are 5o far apart that fortifications upon them would not fulfil the purpose of commanding the entrance. By placing a fopt near the channel in the entrance this difficulty can be obviated. The fort which it is planned to put here has been denominated “Tafi's blg fort at Newport News,” because It has been strongly advocated by President Taft. Only tentative plans for it have been dis- cussed. If built it may be of concrete like the one on Kl Fraile—New York Tribune, IR L S ) Coughs, colds, croup and Whooping cough arc promptly cured by Chamberiain's Cough Rem.edy ow It Began. Man was experiencing his first ache. “It warns me,”" he reasoned, “that I have vio- lated a law of my nature, and puts me on my.guard against doing so again,™ | But just here he happened to discover some anodyne herb which put an end to the ache. “‘Ha! I needn't trouble, after gll—I o Ko on and do as I please!"” he «'“x('lmm:d“ highly thanking his luck stars 3 . rom such beginnings rose ) L art of huun:—l’ucfi. e oo . This Insutution is the only one in the central west with separate buildin situated in their own ample grounds, yet entirely dis- tinet and rendering It possible to classify cases. The ome bullding teing fitted for and devoted to the treatment of noncontagious and nonmental diseases, no others be- ing admitted. The other, Rest Cottage, beéing designed for and devoted to the exclusive treatment of select mental cases, requiring for a time watchful care ana spe- cial nursing. A et R UNION PACIFIC Better Be Safe Than Sorry =UNION PACIFIC - “The Safe Road to Travel” Gives You the Best of Everything. Electric Block Signals 14 Electric Lighted Trains Every Day New Steel Passenger Equipment Dining Car Meals and Service “Best in Dustless, P the World” erfect Track. R LR For Information relative to rates, routes, etc., call on or address. CITY TICKET OFFICE ‘Phones: Bell, Doug. 1828 and Ind., A-3231. 1324 Farnam Street \