The surface of good pastures, especially of commons, is often pared for the purpose of forming an artificial turf for ornament or for the purposes of pasture. In the first case those spots are chosen where the grass is of the finest and closest pile. The surface Is pared as thin as can conveniently be dune, so that the sward shall not break. A proper spot having been chosen, it is divided by the spade, or some sharp instrument like a knife stuck across a long handle, into strips about a foot wide; and a very sharp fiat instrument with a bent handle, so as to work horizontally, is thrust an inch, or a little more, below the surface, paring off the strip which has been marked. As the workman who cuts the sod advances, another rolls it up before him, until it is of a proper size to be carried oft. A cut is then made across the strip, and another roll is begun. Thus a large space may be completely bared, or parallel stripe may be cut out leaving some of the turf uncut between them. In this case the loss of the herbage will be soonest repaired by the spreading of the grasses from the strips which are left.. When an ornamental lawn is to be formed by laying down the turf, the ground is levelled, or laid in any desired form. It is well rolled and beaten, to make it firm, and, if the weather be dry, it is well watered before the turf is applied. As lawns require frequent mowing, a close, slow-growing turf is a great advantage : it should therefore be taken, if possible, from a poor thin soil. The turf which lies immediately over the chalk is best adapted to this purpose. If the ground to be covered is of a rich quality, it is best to remove the soil and lay some of the poorer subsoil bare, to place the turf on. A rich moist soil would make the grass grow too rank, and require con stant mowing and rolling to keep it down. Brickbats and rubbish are often spread over the ground, where a lawn is to be formed by turfing it over : these not only form a poorer soil, but also keep it drier by their porosity. It need not be observed, that where turfing is resorted
to, to cover bare places in meadows or pasture, tho reverse of all this should be done, and manure spread over the places where the turf is to be laid, so that the roots may be invigorated, and a rich pile of grass may spring up.
Wheu there are banks and inequalities in pastures, it is often useful to pare off all the turf, rolling it up, from the places which are to be levelled. The superfluous soil is then removed, and if it has been long in the form of a dry bank, it is spread over the grass, which it greatly invigorates. The new surface is enriched with manure, if it requires it, and in moist weather or after watering it, the turf is rolled over it and well beaten down. A heavy toilet drawn over it will greatly assist its rooting, and thus an unsightly bank, on which the grass was usually either coarse or burnt up, according as the season was wet or dry, becomes a good and neat pasture. Another important use of turf is to cut it into small stripe and divide these into pieces of a square inch in size, or somewhat more, fur the purpose of laying land to grass by inoculation. This is only a partial turfing. which extends rapidly, and in the course of a very few years converts a field which was not very productive as amble land into a valuable meadow, especially if it is so situated as to be capable of occasional irrigation.
The advantage of an extent of fine turf for the exercise of high-bred horses has given a name to the pursuit of breeding and training horses for the purpose of racing. The annals of the turf record the deeds of famous horses and the success of their owners. The turf has its rules and codes of laws, and the highest individuals in the nation often sit in judgment on some disputed point of turf law, with as much gravity as they would decide the most important interests of the state.