e will not cost a great deal, if it does not
happen to be at hand, and one will never regret the outlay.

If the ground is very uneven, it is well to have it ploughed, and
afterward harrowed to pulverize the soil and secure a comparatively
level surface. Do not be satisfied with one harrowing. Go over it again
and again until not a lump or clod remains in it. The finer the soil is
before seed is sown the better will be the sward you grow on it.

If the surface of the yard is _not_ uneven, all the grading necessary
can be done by spading up the soil to the depth of a foot, and then
working it over thoroughly with, first, a heavy hoe to break apart the
lumps, and then an iron rake to pulverize it.

I say nothing about drainage because not one lot-owner in a hundred can
be prevailed on to go to the trouble and expense of arranging for it. If
I were to devote a dozen pages to this phase of the work, urging that it
be given careful attention, my advice would be ignored. The matter of
drainage frightens the home-maker out of undertaking the improvement of
the yard, nine times out of ten, if you urge its importance upon him. If
the location is a rather low one, however, it is a matter that ought not
to be overlooked, but it is not so important if the lot is high enough
for water to run off speedily after a shower. If any system of drainage
_is_ arranged for, I would advise turning the work over to the
professionals, who thoroughly understand what ought to be done and how
to do it. This is a matter in which the amateur must work to a
disadvantage when he undertakes to do it for himself.

If there are hollows and depressions, fill them by levelling little
hummocks which may be found on other parts of the ground, or by having
soil drawn in from outside. In filling low places, beat the soil down
solidly as you add it. Unless this is done--and done well--the soil you
add will settle, after a little, and the result will be a
depression--not as deep as the original one, of course, but still a
depression that will make a low place that will be very noticeable. But
by packing and pounding down the earth as you fill it in, it can be made
as solid as the soil surrounding it, and in this way all present and
future unevenness of the soil can be done away with. It is attention to
such details as these that makes a success of the work, and I would urge
upon the amateur lawn-maker the absolute necessity of working slowly and
carefully, and