A discussion of the Vital problems of lawn making and maintenance O. M. S C O TT & S O NS C O M P A NY - M A R YS VILLE« OHIO PUBLISHED SEVERAL TIMES YEARLY BY Vol. II - S E E D S M EN June-July 1929 No. 3 Grub Proofing Your Lawn AT this season of the year grubs, mx. beetles, and earthworms may in- fest lawns and cause considerable dam- age. The first named are especially de- structive since they feed on the roots of the grass and consequently cause the plants to die. In certain sections of the country, particularly to the south, grubs cause a great deal of damage. Other places they are scarcely known. ARSENATE OF LEAD. A means of checking the three pests listed above is the use of Arsenate of Lead. This is a light, fluffy, poisonous material, and to prevent blowing it should be mixed with moist (not wet) sand or soil before applying to the grass. The best method is to mix 5 pounds of this material with a bushel of fine moist sand or soil and apply it to 1000 square feet of turf. This should be worked into the turf with a broom or rake and applied when the grass is dry so that the poison will not stick to the grass and cause it to be burnt. A good soaking with the hose should follow. ALSO CHECKS WEEDS. In preparing a new lawn it is possible to avoid grubs, beetles and earthworms by mixing Arsenate of Lead with the top soil. The poison should be worked in the upper three or four inches about four or five days before sowing. The use of 5 pounds to the 1000 square feet of area will insure no damage from these pests for a period of several years. In addition to the benefits just mentioned it has been found that Arsenate of Lead is discouraging to the growth of certain weeds such as crab grass, chick weed, fennel, etc. COMPARATIVELY INEXPENSIVE. Arsenate of Lead may be purchased at most drug stores and is the same ma- terial used for spraying trees, shrubs, etc. The price is usually about 25c per pound. We can supply it at this price to anyone who cannot obtain it conve- niently otherwise. There will be a small additional charge for expressage as the postal regulations will not allow its being sent through the mails. Now is the Time To Fight Crab Grass IN L A WN C A RE for last September we called attention to the importance of digging out Crab Grass, or wire grass as it is often called, before it goes to seed. It is difficult to identify Crab Grass until too late, that is when it has gone to seed and become wiry and ugly. How- ever, if you will observe the following description you will have no difficulty in identifying young Crab Grass. The blades with short, flat stems spread out right from the crown. Several of these shoots grow from the same crown. The young blades at this time of year are especially noticeable after the lawn has been mowed as they grow much faster than other grass. Because of the yellow- ish green color they show up rather prominently in a lawn that is infested. If allowed to mature, Crab Grass, when cut with the mower, scatters thou- sands of seeds over the lawn. For that reason it will pay to start your drive on Crab Grass at once. Summer Fertilization MANY lawns need summer feeding, especially those on rather poor soils or in shaded locations. The fact that grass turns brown as hot weather gets into full sway is, of course, not neces- sarily a sign of impoverishment. If the sun has scorched the grass the burned condition is quite evident. Where it has turned brown from lack of plant food in the soil, there is a noticeable thinning out of the grass and it gives evidence of being starved. Grass may be fed with a complete fertilizer such as Scott's Turf Builder every sixty days if it is thin and unhealthy. Where a three times per year fertilizing program is carried out we sug- gest April, June and August. The sum- mer and fall applications demand a little greater care as to method and amount. METHOD OF APPLICATION. In order to avoid burning the grass we suggest mixing 10 pounds of Turf Builder with a bushel basket full of screened soil or sand (especially on stiff soil) and applying it to each 1000 square feet. Do this when the grass is dry, and if the top dressing is done by hand it is a good plan to use the back of a rake or a broom to spread the material evenly. Otherwise streaks will show in the lawn and those spots receiving the heaviest dose may be burned. Some purchasers have written us of producing such an effect but without exception they advised us later that the grass revived and looked all the better. A perfectly even distribution of Turf Builder alone at the rate suggested will not cause the grass to burn but in scat- tering it on by hand there is always the temptation to get too much on and also the difficulty of preventing streaks. Mix- ing the Turf Builder with sand or soil simplifies the task considerably and the topdressing material itself is quite bene- ficial to the grass. Among other things it tends to cover up the exposed roots and protect them from the glaring sun. WATER IMPORTANT. We advise applying Turf Builder late in the afternoon rather than during the heat of the day. Just before a rain is ideal. If you cannot select such a fortu- nate time, give the lawn a good, thor- ough soaking after the task is completed. For large areas a small spreader on the order of a lime spreader may be ob- tained. This will insure equal distribu- tion of the Turf Builder and eliminate the disadvantages of hand spreading. We shall be glad to supply information about such an implement to those who are interested. Best Lawn in Southern Ohio ^ TF YOU would like to see the best lawn in southern Ohio, see the one sown in the autumn of 1927 on the grounds of our new Scioto County court house. Frequent are the calls asking where we obtained the seed. We explain that preparation of the soil and fall sowing are quite as necessary as excellent seed. The trouble is everyone thinks that all he is required to go is to scatter seed on the ground. See Matthew 13 th Chapter, 5th and 6th verses." H A R RY BANNON, Portsmouth, Ohio. "Herbae Mira" or What Have You? ACERTAIN gentleman, if such he might be called, bearing the name of Dr. Miller, has been touring Indiana and Ohio the past two months in com- pany with a huge touring car and two colored attendants, delivering to the un- suspecting a marvelous lawn mixture which he called "Herbas Mira." It seems that this grass would grow only 2l/i inches high (at least before the Doctor left town), and thus the trusty mower might be left untouched from spring until fall — certainly not a pleasant thought for the lawn mower manufac- turers. "Herbas Mira" was sold at from $1.00 to $1.50 per pound depending upon the quantity purchased. A cus- tomer of ours, Mr. Carl H. Smith, of the Hemingray Glass Company at Mun- cie, Indiana, was good enough to send us a sample of the seed, which, we want to add, he did not buy. "Herbae Mira" was identified at once as a mixture of very ordinary domestic Rye Grass and Redtop, obtainable at almost any seed store for no more than 15c per pound. Both grasses used alone are far too coarse for a lawn and instead of growing iy2 inches tall they are objectionable in particular because they grow quite tall and very fast. The "Doctor" simply had his facts in reverse. After selling his product quite freely in Muncie the cara- van moved to Toledo, Ohio. By that time the Chamber of Commerce had notified the Toledo Better Business Bureau. A bulletin was promptly sent to local concerns which might be affected and the "Doctor" immediately checked out of the Hotel Commodore for parts unknown. Please accept this admonition in the is given: friendly spirit in which it Don't fall for anything radically new and novel in the realm of plant life with- out consulting your Experiment Station or the Department of Agriculture at Washington. They have nothing to sell and you may be sure they are abreast of the times. —> Citronella Again IN March L A WN CARE we asked this question: "Did you ever hear of Citronella Grass?" Mr. J. Q. Sherman, of the Standard Register Company at Dayton, Ohio, once heard of this grass which was supposed to be most obnox- ious to mosquitoes. You will find by re- ferring to your copy of the last issue of this little publication that the Depart- ment of Agriculture furnished the infor- mation that this grass, known botanic- ally as Andropogon Nardus, is grown more or less extensively in India and the Malay Peninsula. Now to Mr. Fred H. Hall, of Ottumwa, Iowa, we are in- debted for these facts: "While traveling in Java I saw a great deal of this grass and also the mills for extracting the citronella oil. If you desire any information regarding this grass I am sure you could get it from the agri- cultural department of the Dutch Col- onial Government. The Capital of Java, as you probably know, is Batavia, and the Dutch have, not far from Batavia, one of the most beautiful botanical gar- dens in the world." Thank you, Mr. Hall, for these inter- esting, first hand facts. We have already written the Dutch Colonial Government and hope to have something to report in August L A WN CARE. Folks who have summer homes near the water would cer- tainly fall hard for Citronella Grass if it really carries a "wallop" for mosquitoes. Dandelions Object WE are expecting to be made de- fendants in a suit to be brought against us by the mighty colony of yel- low haired dandelions. In March L A WN CARE we quoted Mr. Edward M. Koch of Canton, Ohio, as saying that he used 1 pound of Iron Sulfate in \l/i glasses of water. What we should have said was 1^2 gallons of water. Any dandelions treated with the former solution, if so small an amount of water would make a solution at all, certainly received a severe headache. Mr. Koch later writes: "We have used Iron Sulfate with great success, espe- cially on a small lawn which was prac- tically all dandelions and plantain. It simply caused these pests to disappear. I must confess that the lawn looked burned for a short time but the grass came along stronger than ever." We asked Mr. Koch just how much space a pound of Iron Sulfate would cover and this is what he says: "I cannot give you real definite data on the area a pound of crystals will cover. We used it very heavy. Tell your inquirer to fill his sprinkling can and walk fairly rap- idly over the area and he will be putting on the right amount." Two or three of our friends wrote that they could not get Iron Sulfate. One of our local druggists tells us that every drug store in the country should have it as Iron Sulfate, or Copperas Crystals, as it may be better known, is one of the oldest items in the drug busi- ness. The price should not be more than 10c a pound. N O T E: The solution produced with 1 lb. of Iron Sulfate should cover about 350 square feet (35x10). New Book on Lawns WE had the privilege not long ago of criticizing the copy for a new book on lawns written by F. F. Rockwell. This little book is now in print, hav- ing been published within the last month by the MacMillan Company. "Lawns" is a more complete treatise on the sub- ject of turf making and maintenance than is usually obtainable. There are eleven chapters, devoted to the following subjects: The Perpetual Beauty of a Perma- nent Lawn. Lawn. The Essentials of a Satisfactory Building Lawn Grasses; the Foundation. and How to Get Good Seed. the Lawn. Planting Weeds, Pests and Diseases. Repairing and Remaking Old Lawns. Lawn Tools and Their Uses and Lawns for Special Conditions; Grass Care. Seed. Formulce and Fertilizers. Those who wish to go thoroughly into the subject of lawn making will enjoy this book. The price is $1.00 and we shall be glad to send copies to any of our friends at this price, postage paid. —— Wonderful Results "Please send immediately, 500 pounds of Turf Builder. We have received won- derful results from the application put on early this spring." H O L L IS BAKER, Baker Furniture Factories, Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich.