A discussion of the vital problems of lawn making and maintenance O. M. SCOTT & SONS COMPANY - MARYSVILLE, OHIO PUBLISHED SEVERAL TIMES YEARLY BY - SEEDSMEN September 1929 No. 5 not be removed since the Buckhorn is too near the size and weight of clover to permit its separation. MANY SEEDS PRODUCED An average Buckhorn plant produces about a thousand seeds. As will be noted by the illustration the leaves are oblong, lance-shaped and hairy on both sides with a small tuft of brownish hair at the base. The scape or stem is very thin and wiry. The spike at its summit lengthens with the procession of bloom and becomes cylindric and more than an inch long. MEANS OF CONTROL Vol. II Every Farmer Knows Buckhorn SEEDING TIME: M ay to N o v e m b e r. TIME OF BLOOM: April to October. RANGE: Practically the whole America. of fashioned plantain This weed is perhaps less common in lawns than its broad-leaved relative. The old is probably the one weed which everybody knows, but Buck- horn Plantain, readily rec- ognized and despised by all farmers, is not so frequently seen in lawns. In the fall, however, the spindly stems with the seed heads decapi- tated by the mower are all too much in many yards. in evidence BUCKHORN Small areas of Buckhorn may be treated by piercing each plant to the root with a pointed stick which has been dipped into sulphuric acid, gasoline or carbolic acid. The surest method, of course, is digging or pulling when the ground is damp. Otherwise it is hard to re- Also called Rib-grass, move the tough stem, which : English and Black Plan- ^L. English and Black Plan- • ,i«„flIlv lrinlr^ n^r rUt> tain. A perennial which ls u ^ ^y KinKea near tne surface. It is unwise to run propagates from seeds, a lawn mower over a patch of Buckhorn that contains matured seed heads. The tips will simply be stripped of their seeds and your lawn will thus be guaranteed a future crop. It is better to dig out the Buckhorn plants before the lawn is mowed or at least pull off the long stems and prevent some of the shattering. _n_. SEEDS STICKY inch The seeds of Buckhorn in resemble a date seed shape. They are probably a sixteenth of an in length, brown and some- what translucent. When wet the seeds become sticky or as say "mucilaginous," a quality which aids in their distribution. It is this very characteristic of the seed which makes it separable from clover. By mixing seed which contains Buckhorn with moist sawdust and then recleaning it the weed seeds will stick to the saw- dust and screen out. Otherwise they can- the botanists When Shall 1 Sow Seed? HERE is one of the most frequently asked questions in connection with lawn making. The best answer we know —"Fall always"—never fails to bring a look of surprise. It just doesn't seem natural to sow seed in the fall. Winter is just ahead and the lawn isn't supposed to look like anything then, so after a family conference many folks decide to "just wait until spring." The fact that winter is just ahead is the very best reason for fall sowing. A normal winter is easier on grass than a hot, dry summer. Grass takes deeper root when seeded in the fall, there are cool nights which are particularly favor- able for growing grass, the fall rains usually come in sufficient abundance, and of utmost importance is the fact that there is not the interference from weeds that spring seeding encounters. A lawn seeded in the fall will not only be much farther along in a year's time than a spring-seeded lawn, but it is almost cer- tain to be in healthier condition. While there is no question as to the advisability of fall versus spring seeding, there is some question as to just what time in the fall to sow grass seed in dif- ferent sections of the country. We sug- gest below the ideal seeding time for each section. It should be noted that, in general, mountainous regions must be seeded earlier than lowlands. Then, too, sections where the climate is influenced by large bodies of water can be seeded much later than other sections having the same latitude. In the northern portions of the var- ious regions named below seeding should be done (where not otherwise indicated) near the earlier periods and the southern portions during the later periods: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois: September 1st to October 5th. Michigan, W i s c o n s i n, Minnesota: August 25th to September 20th. Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina: In general, September 1st to 30th in the mountains; September 15th to October 15th in the lower altitudes; and until November 10th near the ocean. Maryland: Early September in the western sections; late September for the northeastern portion; and October for the southeastern (lower Chesapeake Bay) regions. Pennsylvania: September 1st to 30th in northern and mountain regions; un- til October 20th in the south and east. New York: Early September in the extreme north and Adirondack portions, late September or early October in the south and east. Delaware: September 1st to October 5th. New Jersey: September 1st to October 10th in the western section; until No- vember 1st on the east coast. Connecticut, Rhode Island: September 1st to October 20th. Massachusetts: September 1st to Octo- ber 15th and later on the east coast. Vermont, New Hampshire: August 25 th to September 20th. Maine: August 20th to September 15th. Late Mowing of Laivns WE quote as follows from a bulle- tin published in March this year the Ohio Experiment Station at by Wooster: "For the elaboration in the leaves and subsequent storage in the roots of an abundant reserve of organic food with which to start growth in the spring it would seem advisable to allow the accu- mulation of considerable in the fall. Late cutting not only destroys the factory in which such reserves are synthesized but it removes a means by which considerable quantities of snow leaf area may be collected and held to serve as a protection to the roots through the winter. late-cut plot was "Some evidence to the effect that late cutting is injurious is afforded by the yield obtained during the last two sea- sons on a pair of plots that were fertil- ized and seeded alike, August 14, 1925. Neither was mowed in the fall of 1925, but each year since one has been cut a month to six weeks later in the fall than the other. The last clipped on November 2 in 1926 and on November 4 in 1927. The last cutting on the other plot was made September 21 in 1927. The clippings after each cutting were returned. The yield of late clipped plot as compared with that of the other plot was 14.1 per cent less in 1927 and 15.1 per cent less in 1928. Whether these differences are significant remains for future years to reveal.— Welton." Mowing Lawns in 1926 and on September 29 the His First Job Lawn mowing was the first indepen- dent job held by Mr. Andrew Wells Robertson, now head of the Westing- house Company, according to an article by B. C. Forbes in Forbes Magazine of June 5th. The Westinghouse Cooperative Store supplies employes of that company with several thousand pounds of Scott's Seed each year, so we invited Mr. Rob- ertson because of his early training in grass cutting to join the tanks. He re- plies as follows: "I thank you very much for your letter and the interesting pamphlet attached. It is true that in my younger days I was interested in lawns to the extent men- tioned by you, but I am interested now in having my own lawn look as well as possible, so if your pamphlets will help my gardener to that end we shall be very glad if you will send them to him. His address is * * *." Among the large industrial concerns having fine lawns (Scott's Lawns) are the following: General Electric Com- pany, National Cash Register Company, Esmond Mills, White Motor Company, Crane and Company, Carborundum Company, Connecticut Power Co., Ohio Edison Company, Jeffrey Manufactur- ing Company, Armstrong Cork Com- pany, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Com- pany, The Wehrle Company, Proctor and Gamble, Postum Cereal Company, and scores of others. Many executives of these companies come to us for their lawn seed. These Publications Always Available You may have for the asking one or more copies of the following: SCOTT'S SEED GUIDE. Published yearly and containing the most up-to-date in- formation on field seeds and the crops they produce. BENT LAWNS. A booklet of concise, easily understood facts about the plant- ing and maintenance of Creeping Bent on lawns. With this booklet is sent a folder of Questions and Answers about Bent and another in which a summary of the necessary instructions for planting Bent Stolons is given. T HE SEEDING AND CARE OF LAWNS« The title best describes this booklet. It tells how to go about making a new lawn; explains how best to keep and im- prove an old lawn; how to combat weeds and other pests. Just the sort of booklet every home owner should have around. SOIL. This booklet tells in an interesting way how and why legumes should be inocu- lated. FRIENDLY W O R K E RS OF THE L A WN CARE. O ur h o u se o r g a n; p u b- lished several times yearly and bringing to those who maintain lawns timely hints on the upkeep of the grass, new ideas on weed control, many of them actual ex- periences related by our own customers, some just home owners and others pro- landscape architects and gar- fessional d e n e r s. L A WN CARE, t he mouthpiece of our customers as well as ourselves. The following issues have been published to date and will be gladly sent to anyone upon request: s h o r t, in is 1928 August September October 1929 February March-April June-July August Feeding Trees THE tree expert looks with disap- proval upon the action of grass as it takes plant food from the soil for its own subsistence and robs the trees. The seedsman glances skyward and shakes his head as he sees the stately oak living in luxury upon the food which is sorely needed by the struggling grass. Several factors enter into the problem of establishing turf under trees. It is nec- essary, first of all, to sow the right kind of grass seed. Then, the grass and trees should be fed at regular intervals. With- out enough plant food even the grasses proper for shade cannot survive. The theory of feeding trees is (and we shall be glad to have any tree man tell us his views) that if you give a tree enough food the roots will not come up so near the surface to rob the grass of its neces- sary supply. The method of feeding trees ordinar- ily employed is briefly described here as follows: The lo- cated from the trunk out about as far as the branches spread, in fact, the root feeding roots of trees are M development below the ground usually balances the branch development above the ground. To make plant food easily available to these roots it is necessary to distribute it pretty well underneath the spread of the tree. Probably the easiest way to do this is to dig small holes about 10 to 12 inches deep at various places above the root system. The necessary number of these is four times the number of pounds of fertilizer to be used according to the following table: 21/2 pounds * 10 foot trees pounds 16 25 foot trees 65 pounds 50 foot trees 100 foot trees pounds 250 ^Distance from tips of branches on one side of tree to tips on opposite side. In other words a tree with a 25 foot branch spread would need 64 holes. About one-quarter pound of a good plant food containing a high nitrogen content [Scott's Turf Builder is ideal] should be poured into each hole with an improvised funnel to avoid spilling too much on the grass. This work will not harm the lawn if the sod is carefully cut out with a hand trowel before digging the hole. A crowbar or other sharp pointed tool is best for digging the holes. After in enough soil should be added to fill up the hole and then the sod can be re- placed without damage to the lawn. fertilizer has been put the Most trees need to be fed occasion- ally but those suffering from disease or injury should be fertilized several times during the year. A healthy tree is able to resist the attacks of many insect enemies and diseases. For further information on this sub- ject you are referred to The Davey Tree Expert Company, Incorporated, Kent, Ohio, who will cheerfully furnish a booklet on this subject.