slighting nothing. Undue haste and the lack of
thoroughness will result in a slovenly job that you will be ashamed of,
before it is done, and so disgusted with, on completion, that you will
not feel like doing the work over again for fear another effort may be
more unsatisfactory than the first one. Therefore do good work in every
respect as you go along, and the work you do will be its own reward when
done.

It is impossible to put too much work on the soil. That is--you cannot
make it too fine and mellow. The finer it is the finer the sward will
be. A coarse, lumpy soil will always make an unsatisfactory
lawn-surface.

Most soils will need the addition of considerable manure, and poor ones
will need a good deal. To secure a strong, luxuriant stand of grass it
is very essential that it should be fed well. While grass will grow
almost anywhere, it is only on rich soils that you see it in perfection,
and the ideal lawn demands a sward as nearly perfect as possible.

But I would not advise the use of barnyard manure, for this reason: It
contains the seeds of the very weeds you must keep out of your lawn if
you would have it what it ought to be,--weeds that will eventually ruin
everything if not got rid of, like Dandelion, Burdock, and Thistle, to
say nothing of the smaller plants that are harder to fight than those I
have made mention of. We cannot be too careful in guarding against these
trespassers which can be _kept_ out much easier than they can be put to
rout after they have secured a foothold. Therefore I would urge the
substitution of a commercial fertilizer for barnyard manure in every
instance. Scatter it liberally over the soil as soon as spaded, or
ploughed, and work it in with the harrow or the hoe or rake, when you
are doing the work of pulverization.

If you do not understand just what kind of fertilizer to make use of,
tell the dealer as nearly as you can the nature of the soil you propose
to use it on, and he will doubtless be able to supply you with the
article you require. It is always safe to trust to the judgment of the
man who knows just what a fertilizer will do, as to the kind and
quantity to make use of. Soils differ so widely that it is not possible
to advise a fertilizer that will give satisfaction everywhere. This
being the case, I advise you to consult local authorities who understand
the adaptation of fertilizers to soils before making a choice.

April is a good month in which to seed th