Cricket 1883

“ Together joined i'n cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. “ NO. I.' VOL. 2. registered for Transmission Abroad. FB IDAY , FEBBUABY 16, 1883. PRICE 2d. CRICKET GROUNDS. How 10 M ak e and R e p a ir T h em . By James Carter <&' Co. T h er e are tw o points of prim e im portance in preparing grou nd intended for cricket, and they are th at it sh ou ld be dry and level. If not naturally dry, but resting upon an im­ pervious substratum,the land must be thoroughly drained. Thisis a very important point, both as rendering the conditions more suitable to those grasses which form the best turf for the game, and also as affecting the comfort of those who have to traverse it. Our experience, however, in this respect is that cricket grounds resting upon a clay sub­ soil are seldom, if ever, efficiently drained. Someone is consulted whose experience in draining has possibly been limited to meadows or land for agricultural purposes, who, no doubt, gives very good advice as far as it goes ; but the conditions of a meadow and those of a crieket ground are very different. In the one case it is desirable to grow large grasses which require a good supply of water for their full development, and have a considerable absorptive and evaporative power, whereas, in the other case, small neat-growing grasses are required, which neither require so much water for their healthy . growth, nor have such great power of absorption and evaporation. Again, in the case of a meadow, it matters not though the ground be somewhat yielding under the fo o t; indeed, we never expect water to disappear very rapidly from a meadow; were this the case it would be cailed ‘ ‘ over-drained,” and we should have done more harm than good by the operation. But with a cricket ground, unless after very heavy and continuous rainfall, the land should become firm within a moderate time even upon the stiffest clay. To do this the drains should be from half to two-thirds of the distance apart usually allowed for meadows. Having made thoroughly efficient work of the draining, the next point, levelling, must be well attended to. Of course there should b3 no furrows such as are usually observable in meadows; these must be filled in with plough, harrows and spade when Preparing the seed-bed. Perhaps the best way to avoid these is to plough all the land one way (i.e. throw all the furrows in one direction). Then there will probably be slight elevations and depressions to remove. This and all other I levelling will be most conveniently and accur­ ately accomplished when the ground has been reduced to a fine tilht and made firm enough to receive the seed. A man experienced in this sort of work will do a good deal with the eye where there is not much ground to shift; but where considerable plots have to be levelled it is better to use pegs for the purpose. We will mw suppose the ground to be dry, level and in every way fit to receive the seed and manure. The seed may be sown at any time when neither heat nor moisture is excessive. As a general rule March is soon enough when sowing to form a turf, and February in mild weather for renovating, but any time between March and September (inclusive) may be chosen providing the weather is favourable. The next operation then will be to sow the manure. The best manure to use when sowing a cricket-field in the first instance is Permanent Pasture manure (see “ Earm Catalogue ” ) which should be applied at the rate of 5 to 10 cwt. per acre according to the condition of the land. In sowing the manure a straight line should be kept by means of sticks set up at such intervals that they can be easily seen, and when the man has sown up to a stick he shifts it upon the unsown land to the width of the cast he takes and then sows to the next stick shifting that in like manner, so that when he has crossed the field the sticks are set ready for him to return. The seed may be sown immediately after the manure, the best seed for the purpose being the cricket ground mixture, four bushels of which is sufficient for a statute acre, if sown before June. But after that time the quantity should be increased as the time for spreading has become shorter. Great care should be taken in | sowing the seed, to ensure its even distribution, the seed barrow being the most accurate and ex­ peditious implement for sowing a large area. The same plan of keeping a straight line should be adopted for sowing the seed, as was recom­ mended for sowing the manure, the sticks being of the same length as the box of the machine. It is also a good plan to go over the field twice, crossing the first sowing with the second. The seed and manure may now be covered in with either the light seed-harrows, the chain- harrow or back-harrow, finishing off with the roller if the weather is dry. The field will now need no more attention beyond any contrivance that may be adopted for scaring the birds. Mowing may take place whenever and as often as the grass is conveniently long for the scythe to take it, that implement being prefer­ able to the mowing machine, at any rate for three or four mowings. Mowing and rolling may now be continued whenever necessary, as indicated by the length of the grass, and the feel of the ground under the foot, the objects being to keep the grass moderately close, so as to induce it to tiller, and form a compact trap, and to keep the ground fairly solid and the surface even. If worm-casts appear, they should be back-har- rowed or swept about, which is preferable to rol­ ling themdown, and possibly causingabarespot. If any places have been missed in sowing, or are bare from any other cause, they should be sown as soon as possible, loosening the earth with a rake before sowing the seed, and covering the seed with a little mould, lightly patting it down if dry. These places should be avoided when rolling, until well covered with grass. With all due care in the preparation of the ground, and after treatment the turf will be ready for use the following season. Late Sowing .—The longer sowing is deferred, the more seed will be required to produce the same result by the following season. September is .the last month in which it would be expedient to sow, and the quantity of seed for this month should be increased to eight bushels upon the coldest description of land. Repairing .—Any reparation which must necessarily be done while the ground is in use will have to be done with turf, but if taken in hand at the end of the season, may be resown as described, filling up any holes with soil before sowing. Renovating .—All turf which has to undergo so much wear and tear as a cricket-field or tennis ground requires constant attention, not only in the way of mowing, rolling, &c., but a vigilant eye should be kept for all these places in the turf,which should be sown and a little mould scattered over the seed. By thus con­ stantly doing a little a heavy expenditure may be avoided. The sowing of manure, too, in the Spring (say three or four cwt. of Paris grass manure) would do much to keep the ground vigorous. Or the manure may be mixed with any earth compost it is intended to apply. The compost should be applied in winter or early spring, and back-harrowed several times at intervals.