THE CITY RESERVES

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 80, 4 April 1923, Page 6

THE CITY RESERVES

TOP-DRESSING OPERATIONS.

The top-dressing of the city reserves in preparation for winter, play is now occupying the attention of the director of reserves (Mr. J. G. MacKenzie) and his staff, and it is expected that all will be available for use on Saturday, 21st April. The Reserves Committee has not made a recommendation to the council yet as to the exact date on which they shall be thrown open for winter sports purposes, but it will probably be 28th April at the latest. All the grounds are being attended to, and there is every prospect that they will be in tip-top order for the commencement of the football season. Sporta bodies will this year have tho advantage of the Prince of Wales and Nairn Street Parks for matches, and at Northland the small reserve recently completed near the school will help to reduce the pressure on the larger playing area®. A little care on the part of the public will greatly facilitate the woiit of the reserves staff, for most of the playing fields are at present at that stage wnen they require a few weeks' rest m order to allow the young grass an opportunity to grow. The surfaces are soft in places where new seed has been sown, and it will be about a. fortnight before they are fit for play. It is customary for ■ about a hundred pounds of seed to be sown on the various reserves just before the commencement of winter sport, but this policy has been departed from to some extent this season in favour of surface dressing in the 6pring.