Drainage, acts of husbandry, amelioration of soil by rubbish of all kinds where too tenacious, manuring them by farmyard dung, or, failing this, such artificial manures as bones, superphosphates, guano, nitrates, soot, &c.,—these are the sheet anchors in the improvement of our pastures; and by these we should realize the hope of _making two blades of good grass grow where one did before_. CHAPTER XVI. ON THE MANAGEMENT OF LAWNS. The homes of our fair country are so much beautified by our nicely-shaven lawns, which nowhere are so green and smooth as in “Merrye Englande,” that a few words upon their management can hardly be out of place in a treatise on grasses; we would, therefore, direct attention to the following questions connected with the maintenance of lawns in a good condition. 1. Lawns should have grasses which combine the finest possible leaf-growth with a capability of restoring growth and colour under constant cutting. 2. Lawns should be entirely free from plants other than grasses, unless we except the Dutch clover. 3. Lawn grasses should possess the property of intimately weaving one with the other. 4. After cutting, they should grow as near the same height as possible. 1. _Fine Lawn Grasses._—The annexed engraving (_Festuca ovina_) represents one of our finest-leaved grasses; it is one, too, that will even bear the constant nibbling of sheep without losing either its vitality or its colour. This, and a larger variety called the _F. duriuscula_, are two forms of this genus well adapted for lawns. If to these we add the _Lolium perenne_, _Poa pratensis_, and _Cynosurus cristatus_, we shall have nearly all the useful lawn grasses. As regards _Poa pratensis_, we should, however, leave it out where we have borders cut in the turf, as its creeping underground stems are mischievous, from their habit of getting into the borders with the flowers. This, of course, would lead us to discourage any couch-like grass. If, then, we have plots, and the soil of the lawn be sufficiently moist, we should recommend _Poa trivialis_ to be sought in its stead. [Illustration: _Fig. 22_ (_bis_). Sheep’s Fescue.] Something like uniformity of colour is desirable; as, if we see bunches of the silvery-leaved Soft Grass, or the brown patches of the _Fiorin_, it is so unsightly that we should feel the necessity of introducing a new turf where it occurs.