20th Year No. 97 PUBLISHED FIVE TIMES YEARLY FOR LAWNTHUSIASTS PAY DIRT offering their stuff to gullible home owners at fancy prices. They usually operate from trucks loaded with a large quantity of dark colored substance vari- ously described as fertilizer, humus, blood and humus, etc. "The usual procedure is to drive around in residential areas watching for men who are working on their lawns. Saturday and Sunday are good days for this scheme. When they see a man working on his lawn, they stop and engage him in conversation, point- ing out the bare spots in his lawn indi- cate there is a need for the type of fer- tilizer or humus on their truck. After a certain amount of negotiation, it is agreed that they will spread a layer of the so-called fertilizer on the lawn at so much per bushel. "The trick is the price made per bushel, because the average person does not realize the number of bushels it DURING the gold rush days the term "pay dirt" applied to soil containing enough of that shiny stuff to make it worth the screening. There was a gamble in dirt in those days. There's a gamble in it now for the home owner who wants to fix up his lawn. He finds himself confronted with the misrepresentations of itinerant peddlers who drive up with a load of "rich black dirt, pure humus." Talk of high fertilizing value and weed killing action paints such a pretty picture that resistance is difficult, especially when it's right there on the scene. Unfortunately the victims of these soil sharpsters are legion. In St. Louis the complaints came in so regularly that the Better Business Bureau sent this warning to its members: "This is the season of the year when unknown itinerant humus or fertilizer vendors circulate in the outlying areas, will take. One of the important phases of the scheme is the fact that one of the men on the truck persuades the owner to leave the front lawn on some pretext, so that he is in no position to count the actual number of bushels used on the lawn." slightest connection with The boys make quite a flourish and haste with their application. It's not all for effect either as they dare not stay in one neighborhood for long. As they finish up, the front man writes out a bill, usually in odd cents, having not the the amount used but what he thinks the traffic will bear. His victim is usually astounded at the $69.78 or $98.63 and if he argues long enough gets off for the racketeer does hand- half—but somely. The black stuff is usually swamp humus or muck or maybe even raw peat that costs him a few dollars for a full truckload. A variation reported from Buffalo was the sale of "blood and humus." The former from a previous victim, no doubt. For something over two hundred dollars, one gullible customer received ten dollars' worth of fertility and some hundred million unwanted weeds besides. One resident of a small city in Illi- nois sent us a sample of some of his purchase for analysis. The price quoted SIRS: I am sending a tip which I learned from practical experience of a way to maintain a beautiful lawn at no cost (or in other words, how the lawn can be made to pay for its own keep.) Feed your lawn plentifully with Scotts Turf Builder to promote a luxurious growth, cut it regularly but save the cuttings and spread them around the rows of garden vegetables. This method will increase die yield of many kinds of vegetables so that the value of said increase will be more than the cost of the Turf Builder used. Beaver, Penna. VERNON KEENAN. reasonable and seemed the owner agreed to pay three cents per pound. This sounds cheap enough except that the material figured about 75 percent water, so he paid at the rate of 22% cents per gallon for water. His local water company would give him at least 2,000 gallons for a quarter. Worse than that, the owner guessed the job would run him $30.00 or $40.00 so he groped for a chair when pre- sented with a bill for 575 bushels totalling $862.50. It isn't only city folks who get taken in. A neighbor in our community paid $174 for a couple tons that proved to be over 60 percent water. On his own farm he had rotted manure which was worth vastly more. Another case—this time a defense- less widow. She was even promised an all time weed eradication from the application of this wonder dirt, but the first rain washed all the fluffy muck into the gutter along with her invest- ment of many needed dollars. Remember Herba Mira? Readers of earlier issues of LAWN CARE will recall the self-styled doctor NUMBER 97 who peddled his Tasmanian Herba Mira which would grow to only two inches, then stop—no mowing, no wa- tering. He rode around in great style with two liveried attendants but the seed he peddled was really common hay grass, then worth 6 cents a pound. His selling-price was $2.25. Hundreds who should have known better—estate owners, golf people, pro- fessional and business men—fell for the eloquent salesmanship only to find they were the victims of a hoax. Leav- enworth eventually opened its doors to him, but today some of the "black dirt" salesmen make him look like a piker. What About Humus? Black dirt isn't always a poor buy. Darker soils are usually considered more fertile because decaying organic matter, called humus, usually imparts a dark color. The trouble is that most muck and swamp land is dark because the organic matter has completely de- composed and only carbon remains. Most lawn soils are deficient in hu- mus because they were originally built on fill from cellar excavations. This is unfortunate because it is the decaying organic matter that holds together a sandy soil or makes a heavy soil more friable. It acts as a reservoir for mois- ture and mineral food elements applied in fertilizers. It is what improves the physical condition of a soil, its tilth, friability. Near many large cities are swamp or prairie areas having what looks like good black dirt to a depth of many feet. It may look "rich" but it isn't much good for top dressing lawns, because the physical structure is not right. It is not "Pay Dirt." As a general rule, raw organic mat- ter should not be applied to the sur- face. It is only valuable as it becomes a part of the soil and this cannot take 3 place except as it is actually washed into the soil. If a surface dressing is desired, a good topsoil is the material to use. This is not brought around by peddlers but is obtained from reliable people who operate from established places of business and whose standing in the community can be verified. In some Worthwhile humus materials include weathered or cultivated peat moss, spent mushroom soil, rotted animal manures. localities sewage sludge is available, also decaying leaf mold, well rotted sawdust or other by- products. The important thing is to deal with a known local source of sup- ply such as good landscape contractors, nurserymen or operators of greenhouses. SIRS: Our lawn has always been more or less a poor one, but the suggestions that we received from you made us realize that our lawn from now on can be much more of a pleasure. It is our intention to feed and care for our lawn in the Scott manner. This is a great simpli- fication over our past procedure wherein a beautiful lawn resulted but twice a year; it would get terribly scorched and burned, and the waiting while its health was always embarrassing. it would again gain L. C. S. Cleveland, Ohio. SIRS: your own. or sandbox. Here is a sure way to kill the international lawn pest, Crabgrass. Especially recommended for small spots in the back yard. 1. Get youngsters, ages 3 to 6, preferably 2. Buy play equipment such as swing, slide 3. Place equipment squarely over Crab- grass areas. My neighbor is getting fair results with a I also did well with tethered terrier pup. chickens. A tent will work, too. Evanston, 111. FRANK S. ENDICOTT. Are you receiving duplicate copies of Lawn If so, won't you please tell us so we Care? can correct our lists? Do we have your name and address spelled correctly? If possible re- turn the Lawn Care envelope. 4 SCOTTS LAWN CARE Washing and oiling a Scott Spreader. Care of Scott Spreaders Before you put your Scott Spreader away for the winter, we suggest the following servicing: 1. Washing. Use the hose with noz- zle attached. Wash thoroughly inside hopper and underneath to remove accu- mulation of materials. 2. Dry by wiping with rags. Run Spreader back and forth to get water out of agitator and axle housing. Open and close a few times. 3. Oil. Use machine oil. Stand Spreader on end, oil between axle and wheel hubs. Also between agitator and bushing inside hopper. Stand on oppo- site end and repeat to other wheel. This small amount of care will help your Spreader give smooth, accurate service for many additional seasons. Wash or brush out spreader, then oil it after each use. Free Service Offer Any Scott Spreader purchased since 1944 will be serviced and put back in first class operating condition—if re- turned prepaid to us at Marysville, Ohio. The only cost to the owner will be transportation both ways. Trade-in Offer The new models of Scott Spreaders incorporate many improvements. We are anxious that owners of pre-war models enjoy these benefits. Accord- ingly, we make this offer, good until December 1, 1947: Return the old Scott Spreader prepaid to Marysville, Ohio. We will make you an allowance on the old spreader equal to 50 percent of the cost of a new spreader—your choice of model. Scotts will pay shipping charges on the new spreader. It is not necessary to box or crate the spreader. The express company will handle it assembled, though at a higher rate. Because of the unusual features of this offer, it can be handled as a direct transaction only and not through deal- ers. Old spreaders must be returned prepaid to us at Marysville, Ohio, only. O M SCOTT & SONS CO. ( S c t i f f i i) M A R Y S V I L LE - - O H IO EVERY PACKAGE OF SCOTTS LAWN CARE PRODUCTS BEARS THIS TRADE • MARK AND IS SEALED FOR YOUR PROTEC HON