uld be summer fallowed or cultivated every few weeks throughout the
summer, to kill the weeds and make it fine and level. A thick seeding of
lawn grass-seed should be sown early the next spring and raked lightly
in. All levelling and preparation must have been done the previous
season.

Coarse grasses, such as timothy, should not be used on a lawn. Red top
and Kentucky blue-grass in equal parts are best and, if white clover is
desired, add about half as much white Dutch clover seed as red top. If
the soil has been prepared as above, there is no need to use a foster
crop of oats or barley, as is done in seeding down meadows. Roll the
lawn after seeding and also after heavy rains as soon as the surface
dries. Shortly after the grass appears, begin to run the lawn-mower over
it, so as to cut weeds or native grasses that may be gaining a foothold.
Watering is dangerous, unless carefully and regularly done during the
summer, the evening being the best time. Merely wetting the surface by
sprinkling encourages shallow rooting and therefore rapid drying out.
Regular mowing and rolling are more important.

REFERENCES

Parsons: _How to Plan the Home Grounds._ Doubleday. $1.00

Waugh: _The Landscape Beautiful._ Judd. $2.00

Department of Education: _Improvement of School Grounds._

SOIL STUDIES

WEIGHT

Using a balance, compare weights of equal-sized boxes of different
soils, dried and powdered fine. Note the comparative lightness of humus.
Weigh a box of earth taken fresh from the field, from this compute (1)
the weight of a cubic foot of such soil, (2) the weight of the soil to
the depth of a foot in a ten-acre field.

Repeat the experiment, making it an exercise in percentage.

Fill two glass tubes (lamp chimneys will do), one with finely powdered
clay, the other with sand. Set the tubes in a pan containing water. Note
the rise of the water due to capillarity. Through which soil does it
rise faster? Farther? Try with other soils. Try with fine soil and also
with the same soil in a lumpy condition. From this give a reason (1)
for tilling soil, (2) for rolling after seeding.

SUBSOILS

Procure samples of soil from different depths, four inches, eight
inches, twelve inches, sixteen inches, etc. Note how the soil changes in
colour and texture. In which do plants succeed best? In most fields the
richest part of the soil is contained in the upper nine inches; the
portion below this is called subsoil. This extends to