THE BULLETIN

of the

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION GREEN SECTION

Vol. 9 

Washington, D. C., January, 1929 

No. 1

Contents

Page

The New President of the United States Golf Association....................................  2

Testing Turf With a Mechanical Putter. .John Monteith, .Ir.............................. 3

Soil Studies at the Rhode Island State Station.......................................................... 6

Cultivating Creeping Bent a Hundred Years Ago. John Monteith, Jr............. 

8

Complete Fertilizers to Contain More Nitrogen........................................................ 17

Fertilizer’s Value Independent of Odor......................................................................... 18

Fine Clay Particles Govern Fertilizer Needs of Soil...............................................  18

Caring for Trees on the Golf Course.............................................................................  19

E X EC U '1' IV E C OMM!TT E E

WyNANT D. Vanderpool. Chairman, I’. O. Box 

77. Newark. N. J.

Russell A. Oakley, Washington. D. C.
Harvey L. Westover, Wash’ngton. D. C.
IE Kendall Read. Philadelphia, Pa.

Walter S. Harran, Washington, I). C.
H. Y. Barrow, New York, N. Y.
John Monteith, Jr.. Washington. I). C.
Cornelius S. Lee. New York, N. Y.
Robert M. Cutting, Chicano, Ill.

RESEARCH C OM M1 TTE E

United States Department op Agriculture

United States Cole Association

Russell A. Oakley, Chairman.
Harvey L. Westover. Aefiny Chairman.

John Monteith, Jr. 
Kenneth Welton.

The Bulletin is published monthly by the United States Coif Association Green Section. 

Washington, D. C., at Room 7207, Building F, 7th and B Streets. N. W.

Address all MAIL to I*. O. Box 313, Pennsylvania Avenue Station, Washington, D. C.

Send TELEGRAMS to Room 7207, Building F, 7th and B Streets. N. W.. Washington, D. C.

Subscription Price: In United States of America, Mexico, and West Indies, $1.00 per year; in 

all other countries, $5.00 per year.

Entered as second-class matter. April 21. 1920. at the postoflice at Washington. D. C.. under 
the Act of March 3. 1S79. Copyrighted, 1929. by the United States Golf Association Green Section.

2

Vol. 9, No. 1

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

W. A. Alexander, Chicago, 111. 
Eberhard Anheuser, St. Louis, Mo. 
A. C. U. Berry, Portland, Oreg. 
N. S. Campbell, Providence, R. I. 
Wm. C. Fownes, Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
F. H. Hillman, Washington, D. C. 
Thos. P. Hinman, Atlanta, Ga. 
Frederic C. Hood, Watertown, Mass. 
K. F. Kellerman, Washington. D. C. 
Norman Macbeth, Los Angeles, Calif. 
E. J. Marshall, Toledo, Ohio.

W. L. Pfeffer, St. Louis, Mo.
George V. Rotan, Houston, Tex.
Sherrill Sherman, Utica, N. Y.
Frederick Snare, Havana, Cuba.
James D. Standish, Jr., Detroit, Mich.
Charles E. Van Nest, Minneapolis, Minn.
W. R. Walton, Washington, D. C.
Alan D. Wilson, Philadelphia, Pa.
M. H. Wilson, Jr., Cleveland, Ohio.
Frank L. Woodward, Denver, Colo.

The New President of the United Sates Golf Association
Mr. Findlay S. Douglas, who was elected president of the United 
States Golf Association at the annual meeting of the Association held 
in New York City January 5, 1929, was born in 1874 at that famous 
shrine of golf, St. Andrews, Scotland. On leaving Madras College he 

Findlay S. Douglas, recently elected to the presidency of the United States Golf Association

entered the University of St. Andrews, and after study hours prac­
ticed the game of golf so intensively and to such advantage on the 
old course that one year after arriving in the United States he won 
the 1898 Amateur Championship, and in 1899 and 1900 was run­
ner-up. Mr. Douglas in these early days of golf became very much 
interested in exemplifying the ancient and honorable traditions of 
the game as practiced in Scotland, and competed in all of the leading 
amateur events thereafter. In 1901 he won the Metropolitan Golf 
Association Amateur Championship and repeated in 1903. He served 
as a member of the executive committee of the Metropolitan Golf 
Association from 1910 to 1914 and also in 1925 and 1928, while from 

January, 1929

3

1922 to 1924 he officiated as president of the Metropolitan Golf Asso­
ciation. The United States Golf Association elected Mr. Douglas a 
vice president in 1926, and he was reelected to the same position in 
1927 and 1928. He is also president of the Burns Society of the City 
of New York and of the Twenty Club. His best known club affilia­
tions are the Apawamis Club, the Blind Brook Club, and the National 
Golf Links of America, of which he is a founder. The Green Section 
is highly indebted to Mr. Douglas for the personal interest he has 
taken in advancing its activities, and his genial presence while acting 
as chairman of the annual Green Section meetings during the past 
two years has served to lend an old-time dignity to the proceedings 
and the discussions.

Mr. Melvin A. Traylor, the retiring president, a well-known 
banker, is president of the First National Bank of Chicago and a 
former president of the American Bankers’ Association. In retiring 
from the office of president of the United States Golf Association, 
Mr. Traylor, we are happy to say, does not lose contact with that As­
sociation, since, as a member of the Advisory Committee of ex-Presi- 
dents of the United States Golf Association, his knowledge and keen 
judgment on golfing matters will hereafter be available in helping to 
guide the continued progress of the national governing body.

Testing Turf With a Mechanical Putter 
By John Monteith, Jr.

What grass will give the best putting surface? Probably every 
golfer who is sufficiently interested to know one grass from another 
and frequently many who do not know even that much about grass 
are likely to have most decided opinions on this subject. When called 
upon to furnish proof as to the superiority of such a grass from the 
putting standpoint alone, such an individual is soon forced back to 
the defense that it is the grass on which he personally can make his 
best scores. It is claimed that turf produced from one supply of bent 
seed is superior in putting qualities to that produced from seed of 
very nearly the same kind of bent. Advocates of fescue argue that 
its bristle-like blades produce the only true putting turf. Enemies 
of bent planted with stolons argue that there is always a tendency for 
the stolons to run in one direction, producing a “grain” which makes 
a slow turf when the putt is against the stolons and a fast turf for 
1he putt rolling in the direction in which the stolons have grown. 
Annual bluegrass, to-some golfers, affords the most accurate and uni­
form putting turf. Likewise each grass used on putting greens ap­
parently has its supporters who are willing to argue interminably in 
its favor and as vehemently to condemn all others.

During the past season at the Arlington Turf Garden we have had 
several large plots which have been kept in as nearly perfect putting 
condition as possible. These plots all have the same degree of slope 
and are mowed and otherwise cared for in exactly the same manner. 
The only difference between these several plots is that each was 
planted with a different grass. Each plot is provided with a regula­
tion cup, and visitors have been invited to choose the grass which 
looked like the>best putting turf and then to compare his choice with 
the other grasses. Anyone who has any misgivings as to an actual

4

Vol. 9, No. 1

effect of the much-discussed “psychological influence” on putting 
would no doubt have seen some convincing demonstrations on those 
plots. Many professionals and amateurs of no mean putting ability 
have tested that group of grasses. If a golfer expressed a decided 
preference for any particular plot before trying any he invariably 
holed a higher percentage of putts on that particular grass than on 
any of the others; on the other hand, another golfer who preferred an 
entirely different grass usually succeeded in holing more putts on his 
favorite than on the others; all of which further supported the old 
verdict that putting is largely influenced by one’s attitude of mind. 
It also demonstrated the utter futility of mere argument and espe­
cially the intense feeling that 
has marked some discussions 
as to the relative merits of 
various grasses in producing 
true putting surfaces, for 
when the evidence supporting 
any theory is so seriously 
overbalanced by the personal 
element no convincing deci­
sion is possible from argu­
ment.

There are many factors 
that must be considered be­
fore deciding as to the best 
grass for a putting green. 
Some of these are biological 
and have to do with the grow­
ing of grass, such as resist­
ance to trampling, ability to 
withstand extremes of heat 
or cold, response to the soil in 
which it must grow, disease 
resistance, and many others. 
These are important, for it is 
undoubtedly self-evident that 
if there is found some grass 
which is ideal from the put­
ting standpoint it may be im­
practical to grow it on greens in certain sections due to natural forces 
acting against it, and until those forces are understood and can be 
overcome by some artificial means such a grass would have no place 
on a putting green in such unfavorable regions.

The Arnott Mechanical Putter

The ultimate aim in developing putting greens is to provide an 
area on which a ball may be rolled with the greatest possible accuracy 
and a surface which will remain in good condition throughout as long 
a season as possible. It is therefore evident that even though a grass 
might be developed which possessed all the more desirable character­
istics of growth, such as suggested in the preceding paragraph, but 
which at the same time failed to produce the kind of surface that is 
necessary for good putting, that grass should be tabooed. Much has 
been said and written about greens which are beautiful to look upon 
but which are wretched putting surfaces. It is now generally recog­
nized that the surface of the soil, like the slate under the billiard 

January, 1929

5

table cloth, is the part that largely determines the accuracy of the 
green. The speed, uniformity, and other minor characteristics of a 
putting green may depend chiefly on the quality of the grass growing 
upon it. In carrying out a program of turf improvement it is neces­
sary to analyze the various factors to be considered, and it is im­
portant to know whether different grasses in themselves actually do 
exert any direct influence on putting, and if so, in what way.

The question naturally arises as to who shall decide which grasses 
shall be ostracized, if such action is necessary, and by what measure 
they shall be judged.' Certainly appeals to a large number of good 
golfers avail little, since for every bitter enemy one meets he finds 
another golfer equally as quick to champion the cause of any par­
ticular grass chosen for inquiry. Such balancing of opinions indi­
cates that some impartial method is needed for measuring the differ­
ences that may be found among the various grasses./ During the 
season of 1928, Mr. R. F. Arnott, of the Upper Montclair Country 
Club, kindly furnished the Green Section with a mechanical putter 
which should do much toward settling some of these disputes. Mr. 
Arnott’s machine simulates very closely the stroke of the ordinary 
putter, but unlike the human putter the machine is tireless and can 
continue in a test indefinitely without any deviations due to fatigue; 
it of course has the additional advantage over the human putter in 
that it has no “mental attitude” to handicap it in a decision; it has no 
favorites and can give impartial decisions; it sees no “grain,” weeds, 
footmarks, or other imperfections; and above all it is looking for no 
alibi for missed putts.

Mr. Arnott has succeeded in making a machine which is effective 
but at the same time essentially simple. It consists of a pendulum 
mounted on an adjustable tripod, the details of which are shown in 
the accompanying illustration. Four long aluminum tubes were used 
in making the pendulum in order to make it swing in exactly the 
same plane. This pendulum swings from waist height, as does the 
usual putter. The power, or “wrist action,” is furnished by a spring 
which connects the pendulum with a rod projecting forward from 
the tripod head. The length of the putt can be varied by using 
springs of different power, as well as by attaching the spring at differ­
ent points along the rod protruding in the front. Lateral adjustment 
is provided for in the tripod head. At the base of the pendulum is 
the “putter blade.” This blade can be adjusted to give a direct stroke, 
overspin, or underspin, and it swings in practically the same manner 
as does the blade of the ordinary putter. The height of the blade 
above the turf can be changed by adjusting the legs of the tripod. 
To operate the machine the tripod is set with the top level and at the 
desired height. The pendulum is allowed to swing free, and when 
it has come to rest a ball is placed just in front of the center of the 
blade. The spring is adjusted and the pendulum is drawn back and 
held by means of a hook attached to the back leg of the tripod. A 
slight touch releases this hook and the pendulum swings forward and 
strikes the ball.

I To test the influence of different grasses on putting it is essential 
that the conditions for all be as nearly alike as possible/ Dnvina- t)ie 
past summer the machine has been used on a series of plots at the 
Arlington Turf Garden, where the various grasses are grown on the 
same soil, with the same degree of slope (2 per cent), receiving the 

6

Vol. 9, No. 1

same compost and care, and are all cut with the same mowing machine 
at the same height. In making the tests the machine is set up at the 
edge of the plot and a ball is repeatedly putted from the same posi­
tion. The average distance of several (usually five) putts is taken 
as the distance for that setting on that particular grass. The ma­
chine is then moved to a corresponding position on a nearby plot and 
with the same spring and back-swing setting the test is repeated. 
After several repetitions of the above, both upgrade and downgrade 
on the different grasses, there is something more than mere personal 
opinions on which to base a judgment as to the relative putting quali­
ties, particularly that of speed, of the various grasses. /Before any 
scientific judgment is warranted from such tests it will be necessary 
to repeat them many times at different seasons of the year and in 
different localities.' It is perhaps sufficient for the present to state 
that, from the preliminary trials made so far, it is safe to predict 
that many of the dogmatic assertions of the past are doomed to be 
decidedly modified within the near future.

' As an illustration of the apparent failure of the golfer’s eye to 
detect slight differences in speed of turf a single example may be cited 
from the experiences of last summer at the Arlington Turf Garden. 
Three good players who were visiting the garden together were asked 
to look over six different grasses growing in adjoining plots and to 
choose the fastest and slowest.. Three of these grasses had been 
planted by the stolon method and three with seed, and all had just 
been mown. Each visitor chose the same plot, which for convenience 
we shall designate A, as the fastest, and agreed on the adjacent plot, 
B, as the slowest. The putting machine was then brought into the 
discussion. The machine reversed the decision for it showed that on 
both the upgrade and downgrade putts plot B was faster than A. In 
justice to these golfers, however, it should be added that the difference 
between the two grasses was small.,.

Soil Studies at the Rhode Island State Station

Many of our readers, especially those in New England, will be in­
terested in the results of the golf turf studies which have been con­
ducted for a period of years by the Rhode Island State College. These 
results were published by the college in June, 1928. For the benefit 
of our readers we are giving a brief review of the publication here, 
and suggest that those who are further interested write to the Agri­
cultural Experiment Station, Rhode Island State College, Providence, 
R. I., for Bulletin 212, “An analytical study of the putting greens of 
Rhode Island golf courses,” by Dr. B. E. Gilbert.

Especial attention has been given to the study of soil acidity and 
active soil aluminum (a chemical in a form which is toxic to plant 
growth if present in excessive amounts), in influencing the growth 
of turf grasses and certain weeds. It is pointed out in the bulletin 
that it is an open question as to whether weeds are discouraged by 
the acidity of the soil or by the presence of large amounts of active 
aluminum. Before investigating the matter further it was decided to 
make a chemical study of soils on which cultivated grasses were grow­
ing. In 1926 and 1927 samples of soil were obtained from putting 
greens of 22 Rhode Island golf courses and chemical analyses were 
made of the samples. Observations made in the collection of these 
samples are included in the publication.

January, 1929 

7

A table is given showing the chemical analyses of the soil samples. 
In the table the soils are arranged in the increasing order of their 
active acidity. The table includes figures representing the lime re­
quirement of each soil, the active aluminum present, the total nitrogen, 
the percentage of humus, and the green rating. A system of rating 
greens was adopted for.the purpose. Another table gives the results 
of a mechanical analysis of the soil samples, showing the percentages 
of coarse gravel, fine gravel, coarse sand, medium sand, fine sand, 
very fine sand, silt, and clay. “No relation was found to exist between 
the fineness of the soil,” the bulletin states, “and the rating of the 
greens. It would seem that with judicious fertilization, golf grasses 
will grow satisfactorily despite small differences in the physical state 
of the soil.”

The chief interest in the study was that of the chemical analyses. 
The courses where sulphate of ammonia had been consistently .used 
were all in the high-acidity group. The course “which had the least 
acidity had poor greens and had been subjected to applications of lime 
in previous years.” It was found that “there was no evident relation­
ship,” to quote from the-bulletin, “between the acidity of the spil and 
the active aluminum content with the golf soil samples. This is in 
agreement with the results already obtained with soils from different 
parts of the country.” It was further observed that the practice of 
top-dressing with sand caused dilution of the soils, with the result 
that active aluminum content was affected. An inverse correlation 
between the finer portions of the soil and the active aluminum was 
found. It was found that the nitrogen had as much to do with the good 
growth of grass as any other factor. The total nitrogen data are of 
interest in this connection. It was noted that all courses of “A” rating 
were high in total nitrogen. It was also observed that the nitrogen 
content was closely linked with organic matter. “Since the best turf 
was found on courses which had a high humus content,” the bulletin 
says, “it is doubtless of value to keep the organic matter of soil high.”
A series of tests was made to determine the relative amounts of 
phosphorus in the soil available for plant growth. It was found that 
many of the putting green soils would benefit from the addition of 
superphosphate (acid phosphate). The fertilizer formula recom­
mended as a basal application consists of 6 pounds each of sulphate 
of ammonia, superphosphate, and muriate of potash. - This .quantity 
is for 1,000 square feet and is to be applied in the spring before the 
grass starts growth.

A digest of the seeding practices showed a variety of grasses used 
for putting greens, chief of these being Rhode Island bent, redtop, 
and German mixed bent.

Only 4 of the 22 courses were found to have nurseries in which 
turf for use in plugging or returfing greens was grown. It was noted 
that all four of these had greens which ranked high in quality of turf. 
Thirteen of the 22 courses had water piped to their greens. Eleven 
courses reported brown-patch, and worm casts were troublesome on 
12 courses.

A digest of the fertilizer practices is given, which shows a wide 
variation but a more or less general use of compost, local loam, and 
sulphate of ammonia. The use of some of the common fertilizers is 
discussed briefly. With three courses definite indications were ob­
tained to show that weeds had been discouraged by the use of sulphate 
of ammonia.

8

Vol. 9, No. 1

Cultivating Creeping Bent a Hundred Years Ago

By John Monteith, Jr.

Since the bent grasses, seeded or planted with stolons, have be­
come so universally used on putting greens in the United States they 
have been the subject for almost endless discussion as to their merits 
or failures as well as to the best methods for their culture. After 
reading or listening to the dissertations on bent grasses so frequent 
today it is amusing to turn back over a hundred years and find a 
creeping bent enthusiast propounding to the world the virtues of his 
favorite grass and telling of his discoveries—which are so often re­
discovered in modern times. All bent 
enthusiasts would, no doubt, be in- —————— 
terested in reading the book of 173 
pages written by Dr. William 
Richardson and published in 1818, 
AGRICULTURE; 
the title-page of which is here repro- A G K 1 Cl LI IKE; 
duced. The book is, however, not AX IXTKODVCT1OX, ™';tH THE SCIENCEOr 
readily available to our readers; quo 
tations from it will therefore be pre- 
sented here, and rather freely. 

.oXTAIXIS*.
AN INTRODUCTION, IN WHICH THE SCIENCE OF 
AGRICULTURE IS POINTED OUT, BY A CAREFUL 
AGRICULTURE IS POINTED OCT, BY A CAREFUL
ATTENTION TO THE WORKS OF NATURE^

ATTMT,O!f To TUt™“ OF NATLM£;
thf means or rendcring barren soils

AX
pccav
ESSAY
fiooAi

" TT  „

AUG, 

ON 

The question naturally arises as

THF. MEANS OF RENDERING BARREN SOILS 
LUXURIANTLY PRODUCTIVE, AT A VERY 
MODERATE EXPENSE, AND OF BENEFICI­
ALLY EMPLOYING TUE INDUSTRIOUS AND 
UN-OCCUPIED POOR.

TO WHICH U AHOLD, 

to just why we print such ancient ALLY EMPLOYING TUE INDUSTRIOUS AND 
writings. It is partly because of 
historical interest for those with such 
likings, partly because the simple ad- 
vice contained in the volume is not 
HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS THE
unlike the most up-to-date advice archduke john of Austria, 
ARCH-DUKE JOHN OF AUSTRIA, 
available on the subject today, and 
OS TH, MATVBR AMD MtTRITIVE QUALITIES OF
partly because many of the dis- 
practical remarks on- abundant
coveries made by Dr. Richardson 
over a century ago have not yet been bating that extraordinary vegetable. 
“discovered” on many golf courses 
-  —
where attempts are now being made bt william bicihrdbom, d.d. 
Bt WILLIAM RICHXRDSON, D.D.
to grow creeping bent.

fiorin grass,
FIORIN GRASS, 
WITH PRACTICAL REMARKS OS ITS ABUNDANT 
PROPERTIES, AND THE BEST MODS OF CULTI­
VATING THAT EXTRAORDINARY VEGETABLE.

MFUfnm
A MEMOIR, 
A MHMU1K,

DRAWN UP. AT THE EXPRESS DESIRS OF 

OX TUB NATVBB AMD JBVTSmVE WV«LITIE« OF

Dr. Richardson’s degree of D.D. 

1818.

TsitT

PRINTED FOR WHITMORE AND FENN. 
(HARING CROSS.

indicates that he was not an agricul- ,’B'vrED 
turist by profession; but he appar- 
ently became so interested in his ----------------- —------------------
hobby that he came to be regarded as
an international authority on the subject of grasslands. He was inter­
ested in the development of agriculture as a means for bettering 
conditions in his native land of Ireland, and felt that one of the most 
promising fields for development was that of better pasturage, espe­
cially by the use of creeping bent, or “fiorin” as it is called in Ireland. 
Although by no means the first, Dr. Richardson certainly was one of 
the earliest of that group of humanity commonly designated as “turf 
nuts.” He saw in “fiorin” an opportunity to convert tremendous areas 
of unproductive land into profitable meadows, and felt that the de­
velopment of these wastes would largely solve the pressing national 
problem of his generation, namely of “employing the industrious and 
unoccupied poor.” Needless to say, in his day putting green prob­
lems were unheard of, but if he had lived in this present generation 
he undoubtedly would have enthused over creeping bent, not as a 

January, 1929

9

relief for the great mass of poor but rather for that wretched mul­
titude constantly struggling against par.

Richardson’s Discussion of the Problem from the Standpoint 
of Agriculture

Dr. Richardson studied and wrote about creeping bent from the 
standpoint of the farmer raising it for hay. In reading his lines one 
can substitute “greenkeeper” or “green committee” where “farmers” 
are referred to, and “golf turf” for “meadows,” and his writings will 
have surprising application today. In the first part of his book he 
discusses the need for new information on agricultural subjects. 
Much of the needed improvement which he foresaw has been realized 
in the many agricultural colleges and experiment stations through­
out the world; but such developments in turf studies are yet in their 
infancy, so his suggestions are still almost as pertinent as when 
written. Introducing his subject he writes:

“This'earliest, and most necessary of all sciences, ought, as I think, to be 
considered as consisting of three separate departments, distinct from each other; 
the THEORETICAL—the EXPERIMENTAL—and the PRACTICAL.

“The First, and Second, are at present quite absorbed by the Third, without 

any prospect of emerging in their proper and distinct characters.”

He then discusses the separate field and the desirable characteris­
tics of each of the three separate “departments.” The theoretical de­
partment he calls upon to furnish the new ideas based on a general 
knowledge of natural forces. These ideas are then submitted to the 
experimentalist for trial.

“The experimentalist should be careful, patient, and diligent, without 
prejudices, or even opinions on the subjects before him; he is to make his experi­
ments on the very smallest scale, so that he can diversify them without expence, 
and without having any interest in their success:—failure is to him exactly the 
same thing, as information is his sole object.”

“The third character in the drama is the practical agriculturist, of whom 
I complain that he has taken upon himself the whole three characters I men­
tioned : he treats the theorist with supercilious contempt, as presuming to obtrude 
his wild speculations into a department of which he considers himself as com­
plete master.

“Hence improvements are discouraged, and discoveries that might have 

proved useful, are nipped in the bud.

“The second character I wish to introduce, does not yet exist; whence it comes, 
that discoveries which have been forced into attention, rarely meet with a fair 
trial; they are encountered by the practical farmer with prejudice, and even with 
jealousy. They are considered as obtrusions; and treated as uninvited, unwel­
come strangers.

“Sometimes, indeed, the practical farmer pursuades himself, that he has 
assumed the character of the experimentalist, and tells us he has made the ex­
periment;—that is, he has cultivated a field in a particular way: but it is not 
from solitary trials on a great scale, that information is to be obtained; experi­
ments lead us to knowledge by comparison; they should be multiplied and diversi­
fied.

“Hence agriculture, as a science, is at a stand:—the present possessor of the 
field, perfectly satisfied with his own attainments, and in high admiration of his 
own practices, (often very good) does not admit improvement to be necessary, 
and indignantly rejects any innovation.

“He is encouraged in his contempt for theoretical speculations by the ridicule 

which a witty author throws on the agricultural projectors of his day.”

He adds:
“I have shewn that the writers, both agricultural and botanical, of the seven­
teenth century, had taken such notice of the agrostis stolonifera, as might have 
induced their successors to form good expectations from it, or at least to pay it 

10

Vol. 9, No. 1

some attention; but I was quite mistaken, for nothing similar followed. These 
latter gentry seem to be as little acquainted with the writings of their prede­
cessors, as with Nature herself, and to have taken no pains to improve their 
acquaintance with her, either by actual experiment, or further observations on 
this gi-ass.”

He then expresses his opinions on agricultural “book-makers,” 
whom he blames for blocking the progress of scientific agriculture. 
He points'outS that—rp
■ i * s > f 

i c i«। rT* ’ - r i(■

“Their object^yas, to detail to the world what th^jr.,saiv and knew; they were 
not looking for new discoveries: in short,'they were not experimentalists, and ic 
is by a succession of patient experiments aldrife, that the properties of new, or any 
vegetables, can be found out and established.”

Needless to say, it requires no stretching of the imagination to 
recognize in the above some of our modern writers who profess to 
be aiding greenkeeping but who in reality are using the ancient 
methods of obstructing progress.

It will interest many readers to know that even the earliest creep­
ing bent enthusiast met with much criticism; but to his critics he 
replies:

“L.havg Jong ceased to notice the silly cavils against the culture of fiorin, so 

often brought forward by hostile and prejudiced ignorance.”

He f.urthei’ observes:
“The incredulity of man is a more formidable obstacle to improvement, than 

any resistance, thrown in our way by Nature.”

Complaining of the lack of attention to turf problems, he writes:
“We have Sir Humphrey Davy’s high authority for the wretched progress 

this important branch of agriculture has made.”

Concerning this complaint it is interesting to turn to the criticism 
made by Dr. C. V. Piper over a century later. In 1924 Dr. Piper 
wrote: “The weakest place in our knowledge of forage production in 
American agriculture is unquestionably that relating to pasture and 
pasturage. * * * The better management and improvement of 
pastures is perhaps the most crying need of American agriculture.” 
It is therefore apparent that Dr. Richardson’s appeal failed to receive 
attention; and this lack of fundamental scientific information on turf 
for pasture explains the lack of understanding of problems on golf 
course turf.

Turf Diseases Suggested

It is of further interest to read his comments on plant diseases, 
especially since his remarks were largely in the nature of prophecy, 
for diseases in both animals and plants were then little understood. 
Many of the grass fans of today, in spite of the more advanced in­
formation available to them, can profit from Dr. Richardson’s obser­
vations. He writes as follows:

“It is in adversity, when the vegetables he is cultivating are attacked by vari­
ous disorders, that the agriculturist will find the benefit of the arrangement I 
have suggested, as it will enable him to meet with strength, and I may say, dis­
cipline, the difficulties he will have to encounter.

“That the vegetables we cultivate should be subject to disorders, is to be 
expected; since it appears, that not a single one of them is a native of the climate 
to which we have introduced them, all transplanted from regions more favoured 
by nature, habituated to a warmer, and generally a drier atmosphere.

“Thus then as the strangers we have transferred to our ungenial climate, 
have acquired disorders from which they were probably exempt in their own 
milder regions, it becomes the duty of the naturalist, that is, according to my 

January, 1929

11

arrangement, the theorist, to investigate the causes of these disorders, and to 
exert his ingenuity in devising remedies, to which the experimentalist is to give 
a fair trial on a small scale.

“Many of these disorders, I apprehend, will be found to arise from parasitic 
plants attaching themselves to the one we foster, and intercepting its nourish­
ment; others, I know, will be found to proceed from myriads of microscopic 
animals invading our plant, and forming their nidus in the most delicate and 
important parts of its structure; destroying its germ, or consuming and spoiling 
its farina.”

His “parasitic plants” and “microscopic animals” may well be in­
terpreted as the various fungi and bacteria which since his time have 
been found to cause diseases of plants.

Early Experiments With Creeping Bent

Concerning his early interest in grass (“gramina”) production Dr. 

Richardson writes:

“In my early agricultural pursuits, I soon discovered that the gramina was a 
subject, on which the practical farmer, and his instructors the modern agricul­
tural writers, all seedsmen, nurserymen, and agricultural book-makers, mostly 
from Grub-street, were equally ignorant.”

Referring to his first trials with creeping bent he states:
“I was now most sanguine in the pursuit of this new grass, and on November 
15, 1806, after potatoes, laid down a rood with it, in the following way;—I raised 
florin roots in abundance, from my plots which had luxuriated greatly in the 
summer. I planted them in drills eighteen inches asunder, trusting that the 
stolones, with whose properties I was now acquainted, would, in the summer, 
shoot across the intervals, and clothe the whole surface.

“I was right; in May the stolones began to project across, and so effectually 
to cover the new ground, that the rows were soon no longer distinguishable; the 
thick fleece was uniform, and obviously a most valuable crop.”

His early experience proved so encouraging that he experimented 
with the grass under widely different conditions and made extensive 
observations over a period of years. He found under some condi­
tions—
“* * * that in the practice of years, the plant abated gradually of the luxuri­
ance it first exhibited under them, shewing, after some time, that they were not 
to be persisted in with prudence.”

Nevertheless his experience led him to write:
“I boldly say, that my conviction of the value of this grass has never been on 
the wane, and that from MAY 1806, when I first began to make observations upon 
it, until this moment, my expectations of the benefits to be derived from the dis­
covery of florin, have been increasing, and my hopes at the end of every succes­
sive year more sanguine;—for, though I was obliged to give up some uses and 
applications, that I had previously recommended, others were perpetually occur­
ring, that more than compensated for them; these variations being the conse­
quence of the diversified, and I may almost say, contradictory habits of this 
strange vegetable.”

“That its crops can be raised and kept up in continued luxuriance, on the same 
good grounds, on cheaper terms, and with greater certainty, than those of any 
other grass, I persist in asserting, having my tenth and eleventh successive crops 
now making up, without a trace of diminution in their value.”

Referring to the wide range of adaptability of this grass, he 

writes:

“Fiorin, as I have often proved by respectable testimony, confirmed by my 
own ten years’ experience, luxuriates equally at the top of the mountain and 
bottom of the valley.—Not so the rivals it has to contend with in lower regions.”

12

Vol. 9, No. 1

Dr. Richardson soon learned the need for drainage. In spite of 
the fact that this need has been recognized for over a hundred years, 
how often do we find modern growers trying to maintain a stand of 
bent on putting greens where drainage problems are completely over­
looked ! He writes:

“The soil in which it delights most, is loose, dry, and of some depth, whether 

peaty or loamy.”

Later he explains:
“I say the soil should be dry; this is indispensably necessary: but I prefer a 
soil made dry by many surface drains, to one naturally so; for a soil kept wet, 
by a retentive bottom refusing a passage downwards to the deluges of rain, is 
clothed mostly with the grasses that affect such soil, and some florin among them. 
Change the nature of the soil, from wet to dry, from poor to rich, and the paltry 
ungrateful aquatic occupants pine and vanish; while the florin, now in its 
favourite soil, comes forward in luxuriance, and takes possession.”

In another place he writes:
“Though this grass preserves its existence, and even its health, under such 
opposite extremes, it luxuriates into value only under more favorable circum­
stances, for the soil in which it grows must be tolerably deep, and well drained, 
so as effectually to prevent any water stagnating about its roots.”

He cites several instances where the grass had been submerged 

for long periods without apparent injury. In one case—

“I found, that after seven months’ submersion, the emerging verdant sole 
was pure florin: a hard gravelly bottom precluded the aquatics; and other grasses 
would have been drowned.”
Again he writes:
“I have had florin stolones sent to me from its [Chester Dee] muddy and sandy 
banks belotv high-water mark, for this strange grass agrees equally with fresh 
and salt water.”

In spite of the apparent contradiction, he recognized that good 
drainage was essential to improve wet meadows for creeping bent. 
Concerning the improving of such land he writes:

“The only operation we have to perform on the area chosen, is to relieve it 
effectually from all under water, and to enrich the surface by good top-dressings.
“The former point we carry by frequent open drains, parallel to each other; 
their distance governed by the nature of the ground; if the subsoil be retentive, 
they should be the more frequent and deeper, not less than fifteen inches, and in 
the form of an equilateral or perhaps a right-angled triangle, that they may not 
be easily choaked up; and also that they may be readily cleared when necessary: 
the stuff raised in the formation of these drains is to be thrown into tall heaps, 
their distance from each other governed by the power of the labourer in pitching.”
As an example of results obtained from such treatments he refers 

to—

“♦ * * a rich florin meadow, so low that its surface never rose more than 
twelve inches above the level of the perpetually stagnant water: no other crop 
that I am acquainted with could have been advantageously pursued on such low 
ground; yet my seventh crop is now promising well upon it.”

He fully recognized the difference in response of creeping bent 
and what we know as Rhode Island bent on low, poorly drained land. 
Referring to this difference in behavior he writes:

“The vicinity of the water would, I am confident, prevent the obtrusion of the 

agrostis vulgaris, while it would not injure our amphibious stolonifcra.”

“Deep alluvial bottom occasionally submerged, would be far more pro­
ductive in this way than in any other. I should hope that upon such grounds 

January, 1929

13

the agrostis vulgaris would not obtrude, and occasional submersions would not 
injure my crop, standing or cut. Very frequent drains indeed will be required 
to let off the water rapidly, and to keep it as far distant as we can from the sur­
face and roots of the grass.”

He recognized, as many golf course men have recently learned, 
that wherever creeping bent occurred it could be made to take posses­
sion of the area, provided it were properly encouraged, without the 
aid of any seed, roots, or stolons. For such improvement he advo­
cated surface drainage, top-dressing, and feeding, together with 
weeding. Open ditches were used rather than the tile drainage 
system of golf courses. The material taken from these open ditches 
was used for top-dressing. He says:

“For top-dressings, our resources are most abundant; the heaps I mention 
are upon the spot, and when improved, only require to be thrown by the shovel 
on the contiguous surface.

“Our sources for this improvement are two, lime and ashes”
In another place he states:
“Any manure suits it, and- it agrees particularly well with ashes and lime, 

pure, and still better if mixed up in compost.”

The ashes were produced on the ground, for the territory of which 
he wrote was well supplied with peat, which was piled up and burned 
to supply the ashes. That of course was before the days of commer­
cial fertilizer. Concerning the cost he writes:

“We know that ashes alone, at threepence per cart, will give, pure or in com­

post, a good stimulating top-dressing on very reasonable terms.”

He apparently recognized the influence of lime, especially in en­

couraging clover, for in one place he writes:

“I am unwilling entirely to give up lime, it is so encouraging to the kindly 
grasses, and particularly to the smallest of the clover tribe, known to be most 
grateful to all cattle; and the certainty of such herbage instantly following lime, 
is well known by the experiment perpetually made, of scattering some lime on a 
peaty mountain, to show that the place will immediately be covered with white 
clover.”

When conditions were made favorable for bent he realized it was 

still necessary to help it by removing the worst weeds.

“Fiorin luxuriance, though very late in commencing, continues much longer 
in vigour than that of any other vegetable I know; so long, that its stolones form 
a thick mat on the surface, under which no other vegetable can exist:—thus, 
while coarser rivals are pointed out for man to extirpate, the fiorin itself suffo­
cates, and exterminates the more diminutive ones, and remains in exclusive 
possession of the field.

“Still, however, that possession must be watchfully guarded, and the destruc­

tion of intruders never intermitted.”

We might even read his lines to indicate that he was the first advo­
cate of acid soil for bent, since he recognized that certain soils favor­
able to bent were less favorable to some weeds. He writes:

“In cold, sour, low lands, we have a better chance of succeeding, because the 
change we most operate on the soil, will be injurious to the rivals in possession, 
and we may be able to weed out new intruders.”

Dr. Richardson records many other observations which are so 
often repeated in modern writings. For instance, he records the long 
life of stolons after they are cut and dried. He also recognized differ­
ent types of creeping bent, although he did not isolate separate 
strains. He learned that irrigation improved the grass, but found 

14 

Vol. 9, No. 1

that too much water was harmful in the end, and he therefore 
abandoned irrigation.

Creeping Bent for the Nineteenth Hole

Dr. Richardson apparently saw possibilities in creeping bent 
which even our modern enthusiasts have overlooked or, possibly, keep 
to their own counsel.

“My friend the Hon. George Knox, our first chemist, undertook to find the 
comparative quantities of saccharam, in florin, and common hay: I furnished 
him with the former, and he procured some of the best common hay in the market.
“I called at the laboratory of the Dublin Society, where Mr. Knox carried on 
his operations. When he reduced the residue from the two hays to a consistence 
like tar, that from florin was like rich molasses, while the other residuum was a 
nauseous and bitter extract.

“Mr. Knox’s brother, the Bishop of Derry, encouraged by this, attempted to 

distill spirits from a decoction of florin hay, and completely succeeded.

“I now applied to the Revenue Board for a licence to set up a small temporary 
still, and made the experiment eight several times, and always succeeded. Many- 
respectable persons called to witness the process. * * * All saw the still run, 
and tasted the spirits.”

Creeping Bent for the Metropolitan District

Many golfers wonder to whom belongs the credit or blame, as 
choice may designate it, for introducing creeping bent into this coun­
try. In this connection it is interesting to read Dr. Richardson’s own 
words:

“Since I commenced this Memoir I am called upon to a new and very promis­
ing field, the marshy (and I presume alluvial) grounds bounding the great 
American rivers.

“Mr. Swartswouth of New York, encouraged, as he tells me, by the suc­
cessful experiments of Judge Peters and others on European florin grass, is 
most anxious to have my opinion on the probability of its succeeding on the 
marshy banks of the North River, so as to enable him to supply the city of New 
York with hay.

“I had formerly declined to encourage the gentlemen of Boston to cultivate 
this grass; for finding I had been unable to persuade my English pupils to keep 
the florin I was teaching them to cultivate free from weeds, I feared I should also 
fail in New England, where the rush of summer vegetation was so much more 
powerful.

“I have given more encouragement to Mr. Swartswouth, and have trans­

mitted to him full directions. * * *”

“Directions for Laying Down and Cultivating Fiorin”

“In the first place, ! wish the soil to be deep- for although fiorin roots pene­
trate but a little way below the surface, yet it is of very great importance, that 
the loose and well-tilled soil should reach much lower.

“The ground should be already dry, or made dry, by many open surface 
drains; for if water, whether atmospheric or other, be allowed to collect and 
stagnate about the roots of the grass, it soon becomes acrid, and highly injurious: 
this rule is indispensable; yet occasional floodings, or even long submersions do 
not seem in the least to injure this grass, if rapidly let off. 

’

“Fiorin must have the exclusive possession of the surface, that is, all in­
truders, especially other grasses, must be carefully weeded out, whenever they 
appear. I may add, the surface must be frequently top-dressed; and these reno­
vations will abundantly repay the trouble and expence they occasion.

“In laying down fiorin crops, we neither use seed nor roots, when we can pro­
cure stolones, of which every cultivator has a superabundance; and the mode of 
proceeding is very simple.

“We commence at one end of the prepared area, and scatter stolones, at their 
full length, over a space extending along the fence, and about three yards wide.

January, 1929

15

I can not determine how thick they are to be spread; we know that nearly every 
joint will strike a root, and we must take care to secure roots enough.

“We now from the raw ground behind us take up shovelfulls of the loose sur­
face soil, and scatter it over the stolones, so as nearly to cover them, and thus 
the business is done for so far: we then take up another breadth of three yards, 
spread strings over it, and cover them in the same manner.

“Where we have tender rich compost, ready prepared, it is more desirable to 
drop loads, or barrowfulls of this, through the field, and to cover the stolones 
from these, rather than from the plain surface.

“It is thus I have clothed all my own meadows with florin, and I know not 
any annual crop laid down so cheaply; for the stolones cost us nothing, and it is 
not a crop for one year only, as I have now my tenth and eleventh crop in full 
luxuriance; and the sole of grass never seemed to require any style of renovation 
save top-dressing.

"Weeding, indeed, must be repeated, as often as intruders appear; and I do 
not find the labour lessens with the age of the meadow—but my contractor seems 
to think he has a good bargain, at five shillings per English acre.”

Where stolons are scarce the farmer “must use them more sparingly, and 
scatter the stolones thinly, or plant the roots at a greater distance; and to throw 
them into higher luxuriance, he must be liberal of his dung, or compost, which 
he can probably well afford, as, in the case I put, his area will be small.

“I would also in this case adopt the style I used in laying down my first crop; 
for by stretching them in drills, we economize the stolones: the early weeding by 
the iron rake will be very effectual, and the well-defined narrow drills will be 
easily weeded by hand.”

“I have often been asked what is the best season for laying down florin. 
Here, as in many other parts of his business, the farmer has not always an 
option; he must do several things when he can, though it be not the most desirable 
time: to determine that, we must speculate a little, a priori, and consider what 
difficulties our favourite has to encounter in its progress, that we may contrive 
to avoid them; none from seasons, for this hardy grass vegetates at all seasons; 
the roots equally, and the stolones tolerably; at the worst, that is, in the middle 
of winter, the only difficulty to be dreaded is the rush of intruding weeds and 
grasses.

“The best possible season must therefore be that, when this HOST of enemies 
is able to do the least mischief, which I find is from the 8th of September to the 
25th; for in this interval the efforts of vegetation are strong, and both florin 
and its rivals come forward vigorously; but the latter is soon destroyed by the 
winter frosts, to which the florin is quite insensible, and remains torpid, or rather 
languid, until it is with all other vegetables roused by the genial spring, and in 
its vigorous progress finds no rivals to encounter but those which are just be­
ginning to vegetate—of course diminutive and weak.

“Had we commenced earlier, the intruders would have time to acquire strength 
enough to sustain the frost, and the contest between them and the florin would 
have been carried on on equal terms.”

“If we lay down in spring, we have the enemy to encounter in full vigour, and 
in this case I advise laying down in drills, that we may have the assistance of 
the rake in exterminating the weeds.”

Approximately 257,000 short tons of cottonseed meal, or slightly 
more than 12 per cent of the crashings, from the 1927 cotton crop, 
were used as fertilizer. Of the 257,000 tons, about 170,000 tons were 
used directly on land and 87,000 tons by manufacturers in the pro­
duction of commercial fertilizers.

Nature abhors straight lines, uniformity, and regularity. Golf 
was originally played on land unaltered by the hand of man. To re­
gain the original charm of the game a golf course should abound in 
curves, variations, and simple irregularities.

16

Vol. 9, No. 1

Southern Emit of bent grass and fescue.—One of the rather 
puzzling phenomena connected with all temperate perennial plants is 
that every one of them has a fairly definite southern limit. Thus 
timothy can not be grown successfully farther south than about the 
northern limit of cotton. Apples are grown a litcie tarcher south 
than timothy, while both the pear and the peach succeed considerably 
farther toward the equator. The southern limit of bent grass and 
red fescue is about that of timothy. Curiously enough, in the drier 
half of the United States all these plants succeed farther southward 
than they do in the eastern part of the country. It is not, however, 
safe to assume that because bent and fescue are good in southern 
California they will do well also in Florida. Theoretical explanations 
of the phenomena involve temperature, humidity, and length of day, 
and are somewhat technical.

A Shipment of Synthetic Nitrogen

Courtesy of The Fertilizer Review.

This train of tank cars, loaded with anhydrous or pure ammonia, is ready for shipment at the 

new nitrate plant of the Atmospheric Nitrogen Corporation, at Hopewell, Va.

The plant began commercial production of synthetic nitrogen in the fall of 1928 and is now- 
operating on a production program which is greater than the maximum of 40,000 tons a year ex­
pected under most favorable circumstances at Muscle Shoals. The anhydrous ammonia is shipped 
in specially constructed tank cars to fertilizer factories, where it is used in making complete fer­
tilizers. Since it is pure ammonia it is transported at relatively low cost. It is reported that 25 
fertilizer companies are now using anhydrous ammonia in 70 plants. Some of it no doubt will 
reach greens and fairways during the coming season.

Soggy spots apparent in the turf in early spring are prime indi­

cations of inadequate drainage.

Haste makes waste. It is much cheaper and more satisfactory to 
extend construction or reconstruction work over two or three years 
than to waste money and pave the way to subsequent alterations in 
an effort to do it all in one season. It is on record that after a certain 
golf course was built and played on for a while it was decided to 
reverse the direction of play throughout. Another new course was 
soon reconstructed with the holes laid off at right angles to their 
original directions.

January, 1929 

17

“Complete” Fertilizers to Contain More Nitrogen

For the benefit of clubs purchasing “complete” fertilizers the fol­

lowing is quoted from The Fertilizer Review of January, 1929:

“In the area known as District No. 9 of the National Fertilizer 
Association, ammonia in fertilizers is no more. This district includes 
the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. In that area it’s nitrogen 
now. This small but important change in the designation of com­
mercial fertilizers should be thoroughly understood by every fer­
tilizer user for the change will no doubt also be made in the East and 
South during the next year or so.

“Since the beginning of fertilizer manufacture the terms used in 
stating the analysis or grade have been ammonia, phosphoric acid 
and potash. A 2-12-6 fertilizer has meant 2 per cent of ammonia, 
12 per cent of phosphoric acid, and 6 per cent of potash. Now a 
2-12-6 fertilizer will indicate 2 per cent of nitrogen, instead of 2 per 
cent of ammonia (equivalent to 1.65 per cent nitrogen). In making 
this change, fertilizer manufacturers believe that much confusion 
which has already existed in the use of these terms will be avoided. 
Most State laws require the fertilizer guarantee to state nitrogen. 
Soil scientists of both this country and Europe quite generally speak 
of nitrogen, instead of ammonia. A nitrogen basis in fertilizers is 
desirable from the standpoint of uniformity, universal usage and 
applicability.

“The change to a nitrogen basis makes the same fertilizer grades 
contain about one-fifth more nitrogen, the most expensive element in 
fertilizer. The 2-12-6, which before indicated 2 per cent of ammonia 
or 1.65 per cent of nitrogen, now contains 2 per cent of nitrogen, an 
increase of one-fifth in the nitrogen content. Similarly, a 6-8-6 fer­
tilizer now contains 6 per cent of nitrogen, as against 4.95 per cent 
on the old ammonia basis. The increase in nitrogen content is an im­
portant consideration in the purchase and use of fertilizers on the 
new basis.

“Both nitrogen and ammonia are gases. Neither can be used 
directly by plants, but must be combined with other elements before 
they can be taken up as food. Household ammonia, the kind pur­
chasable in bottles, is in reality ammonium hydroxide, or ammonia 
gas dissolved in water. Ammonia gas is one part of nitrogen by 
volume combined with three parts of hydrogen. By weight, ammonia 
consists of 14 parts of nitrogen and 3 parts of hydrogen. To con­
vert ammonia to nitrogen, multiply by the factor .925. To convert 
nitrogen to ammonia, the factor is 1.21. In stating the composition 
of a fertilizer, nitrogen is preferable to ammonia because the latter 
implies that the plant food is in the form of an ammonium compound, 
which may or mav not be true. Besides the ammonium form of plant 
food, there are the nitrate and the organic (natural and synthetic). 
The term nitrogen can properly be applied to all of these.”

The little points count. A greenkeeper we know insists that the 
tee boxes and tee benches be moved now and then. He doesn’t like 
the bare places that develop in the turf if these fixtures are not moved 
occasionally.

18

Vol. 9, No. 1

Fertilizer’s Value Independent of Odor

Notwithstanding the odor of a fertilizer has little or nothing to do 
with its food value for the plant, there is still a large percentage of 
farmers and greenkeepers who regard it as an important factor to 
consider when buying fertilizers.

The National Fertilizer Association during the past summer con­
ducted a survey in which over 48,000 farmers were personally and 
uniformly interviewed on the subject of fertilizers. These farmers 
were located in 34 states, including all those east of the Mississippi 
River, and Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, 
Oklahoma, and Texas. The results of this survey are reported in The 
Fertilizer Revieiv of January, 1929.

It was found that 26 out of 100 farmers considered odor an im­
portant factor, 19 per cent considered size of bag important, and 14 
per cent expressed a preference for color. To quote from the 
Review:

“It is pointed out by the Association that modern high-analysis 
fertilizer that has been shown by experiment stations to produce the 
most profit for farmers is very likely to be practically odorless. In 
fact, some of the new fertilizer materials, such as nitrogen that is 
fixed from the air, resemble sugar. Likewise, color has little to do 
with the effectiveness of commercial fertilizer in increasing the yield 
of a crop, hastening its maturity, improving its quality, or in making 
labor put on it more effective in growing a satisfactory crop.

“The Association also points out that those farmers who say they 
rely on their noses for determining quality got the habit when fer­
tilizers were made largely of waste products. However, much of the 
fertilizer now on the market contains mostly straight chemical ma­
terials that have practically no odor. Therefore the farmer who 
trusts his nose in buying fertilizer is likely to find that his olfactory 
organ is not a capable judge of the most important factor, which is 
the ability of a complete fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid and potash to feed a crop so as to increase the yield per acre 
and thereby lower the cost of production per unit to a minimum.”

Fine Clay Particles Govern Fertilizer Needs of Soil

One of the reasons why even the wisest experts in the fertilizer 
field advise farmers and greenkeepers to make small-scale experi­
ments on their own land, when this is possible, instead of launching 
into heavy purchases of untested fertilizers, is explained by Mr. P. L. 
Gile, of the United States Department of Agriculture.

“The soil,” he says, “does more to fertilizer than was dreamed of 
in the old fertilizer philosophy. Soil is not to be regarded as a recep­
tacle which merely holds fertilizer until it is needed by the crop. It 
seems that the soil as well as the plant has an ‘appetite’ or affinity for 
fertilizers. As soon as the fertilizers are applied, the soil starts 
changing the materials that have been prepared carefully by the fer­
tilizer manufacturer, and what the crop gets is largely affected by the 
activities within the soil.

“Exact knowledge of the reactions between soils and fertilizer ma­
terials will help improve fertilizer practice. At the present time more 
is known of the net results than of the reactions themselves. It seems 

January, 1929

19

probable, judging by many experiments, that the very fine clay ma­
terial of the soil, usually called ‘colloid/ is responsible for most of the 
changes that take place in fertilizers. The larger soil particles are 
comparatively inert. The colloidal material shows little affinity for 
chloride, sulphate, and nitrate; hence these fertilizer constituents are 
subject to considerable losses in regions where the rainfall is heavy. 
On the other hand, reactions take place between the colloids and other 
(basic) fertilizer constituents, such as sodium, potassium, and am­
monium. If the colloid takes up some of the potassium of a fertilizer, 
it releases to the soil water an equivalent quantity of one of its own 
constituents, usually calcium or magnesium.

“The fact that there is an exchange of constituents between fer­
tilizers and the soil colloidal material explains why a change in fer­
tilizer treatment is sometimes beneficial. If a soil is fertilized for a 
series of years with a single fertilizer, the clay or colloidal material 
may become loaded with a single constituent and have less of other 
elements to release to crops. Soils on which crops are likely to de­
velop nutritional disturbances following too heavy applications of lime 
or fertilizers (sometimes called ‘weak’ soils) seem to be those which 
contain a small quantity of colloid, or a colloid of low exchange ca­
pacity. The so-called ‘strong’ soils, on the other hand, seem to be 
t hose which contain colloids that insure a high capacity for exchange.”

Caring for Trees on the Golf Course

Golf courses are at first generally blessed with an abundance of 
handsome forest trees. As the virgin underbrush is cleared from the 
woods to make room for fairways and putting greens, the trees, 
however, are robbed of the natural layer of decomposing vegetation 
which is the source of their food and water. Fertilization and irri­
gation must be resorted to in most cases if these native trees are to 
be retained in locations where the turf is kept cut short, as on fair­
ways and tees and near putting greens. Often subirrigation is 
necessary to save trees in such locations, and it has been practiced 
successfully on some courses. Where subirrigation is impracticable 
or not deemed necessary, additional surface water beneath the trees 
can and should be applied. Soil beneath a tree is generally drier than 
soil in the open, due to the double draught on the moisture supply 
by the tree and the surface vegetation, and also to the interception 
by the branches of the natural rainfall coming from showers. There 
is also a double draught on soil nutrients beneath trees, and for this 
reason additional fertilization is called for in such locations. On the 
golf course this additional fertilization can perhaps best be attained 
by more frequent application of fertilizers under the trees. Of 
greater value perhaps are top-dressing with compost and, in early 
winter, spreading a mulch of thoroughly rotted animal manure on 
the ground over the spread of the roots of the tree. This mulch 
should be allowed to remain on the ground over the winter. Any 
residue that mav remain the following spring may be raked away if 
it is deemed objectionable. Trees must also be kept pruned if they 
are expected to thrive. Dead branches should be carefully removed 
to make room for new growth and to prevent the spread of decay. 
No annual budget of a golf club is complete unless it includes an item 
to cover tree surgery, tree replacement, and general care of the trees.

“The high level of excellence of American putting greens, sus­
tained under much more adverse conditions than prevail in any part 
of Great Britain, has long been appreciated as a particularly fine 
achievement of their greenkeepers.”—Golf Monthly, Edinburgh, No­

vember, 1928.