THE BULLETIN

of the

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION GREEN SECTION

Vol. 10 

Washington, D. C., January, 1930 

No. 1

Contents

Page

Green Section Summer Meeting at Interlachen............................................................ 2

Annual Meeting of the Green Section.............................................................................  2

Annual Report of the Green Section for 1929. By W. D. Vanderpool...................  3

Carpet Grass for Southern Fairways. By Robert White....................................... 5

Some Turf Problems of the South. By Thomas P. Hinman................................  7

Two Serious Problems on Southern Courses. By Cornelius S. Lee...................... 10

Questions and Answers ........................................................................................................12

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

W. D. Vanderpool, Chairman, P. O. Box 77, 

Newark, N. J.

Ganson Depew, Vice-Chairman, Buffalo, N. Y.
Harvey L. Westover, Washington, D. C.
H. Kendall Read, Philadelphia, Pa.
Walter S. Harban, Washington, D. C.

H. Y. Barrow, New York, N. Y.
John Monteith, Jr., Washington, D. C. 
Cornelius S. Lee, New York, N. Y. 
Robert M. Cutting, Chicago, Ill.
Robert F. Arnott, Upper Montclair, N. J.

RESEARCH COMMITTEE

United Status Department of Agriculture
K. F. Kellerman, Acting Chairman
A. J. Pieters
Harvey L. Westover 
Russell A. Oakley

United States Golf Association 

John Monteith, Jr. 
Kenneth Welton

ADVISORY

COMMITTER

W. A. Alexander, Chicago, III.
Ebixhard Anheuser, St. Louis, Mo.
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.

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

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

Address all MAIL to P. 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.
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all other countries, 85.00 per year.

Entered as second-class matter, April 21, 1926, at the post office at Washington, D. C., under the 

Act of March 3. 1X79. Copyrighted. 1930. by the United States Golf Association Green Section.

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Vol. 10, No. 1

Green Section Summer Meeting at Interlachen

Requests have been received from friends in the Middle West that 
the Green Section call a meeting at Minneapolis at the time of the 
National Open Tournament. It has therefore been decided to have a 
gathering of those who are interested in the turf problems of golf 
courses, on July 9, at the Interlachen Country Club. One of the Green 
Section’s demonstration gardens is located on the Interlachen course, 
and it is planned to give visitors an opportunity to discuss the various 
tests under way at this garden during the course of the meeting. The 
many grasses and fertilizers used on these demonstration gardens, as 
described in the Bulletin for December, 1929, will provide much of 
interest to club officials who have charge of courses. Details of plans 
for this meeting will be given later in the Bulletin.

Annual Meeting of the Green Section

As previously announced in the Bulletin, the program for the 1930 
meeting of the Green Section was reduced to a single session instead 
of including three sessions of meetings as held in previous years. 
This change was made as a result of the increased activities of the 
Green Section during the summer months. During 1929, meetings 
were held at Washington and Chicago, at which the attendance was 
well above that at any of the winter gatherings. In addition to these 
summer programs various local meetings during the season in dif­
ferent golf centers provided an opportunity for the Green Section 
staff to carry its work to a much larger number of individuals inter­
ested in turf improvement than had been possible in any previous 
year. Our experience indicates that visitors are more likely to obtain 
useful information from these summer meetings than from lengthy 
programs consisting entirely of lectures and indoor discussions. 
Therefore it was decided that the Green Section program might profit­
ably be changed this year, not with any idea of reducing its activities 
but merely to shift its efforts to summer programs, which prove more 
interesting and profitable to all concerned.

The annual meeting of the United States Golf Association was 
held on Saturday morning, January 11, and, as customary, the Green 
Section annual meeting was held on the preceding day. The Green 
Section’s various activities throughout the season were briefly sum­
marized and several interesting talks given. These will be printed 
in the Bulletin for the benefit of those who were unable to attend.

A new feature of the annual meeting was an exhibit of seed, fer­
tilizers, and soils. The specimens were exhibited in the Green Sec­
tion’s customary impartial manner and proved of much interest to 
many who lingered long after the close of the regular program. One 
of the most attractive features of the exhibit was a set of tubes of 
soil showing the effect of type of soil on the movement of water from 
the subsoil to the surface. Many of the visitors expressed much in­
terest and surprise when they saw the effectiveness of an extremelv 
thin layer of peat in checking the natural movement of water through 
the soil. In a nearby tube it was clearly demonstrated that the same 
amount of peat properly mixed with soil had no appreciably harmful 
effect on soil water movement. Many who witnessed this exhibit re­
membered having seen thick layers of peat applied to soil for the pur­

January, 1980

3

pose of increasing the water available for putting green turf; conse­
quently the effect of even the very thin layer which was used in this 
tube of soil was decidedly instructive.

A French entomologist killed the ants in five hills by means of a 
poisonous gas and undertook to count the dead. In the smallest hill 
18,000 dead ants were found, in the largest 94,000, and he was afraid 
to estimate how many live ants had escaped.

Annual Report of the Green Section for 1929
By Wynant D. Vanderpool, Chairman

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Green Section in New York City, 
January 10, 1930

During the past summer the Arlington turf garden was reorgan­
ized. Much of the turf which had served its purpose for experimental 
work was discarded. Approximately two-thirds of the garden was 
planted anew or sodded with old turf. During the season the experi­
mental work was continued as usual. Particular attention was paid to 
the control of leaf-spot disease of turf grasses, and promising results 
in controlling this type of disease were obtained with certain chemi­
cals. Further work will be necessary before these methods can be rec­
ommended for general golf turf use. The number of strains of velvet 
bent being tested at the turf garden was greatly increased and the 
work attracted much attention from visitors throughout the summer. 
A new soil and tool shed was built and the old clay road was graded 
and surfaced. These improvements should greatly facilitate the work 
in the future.

The new experimental garden at the Mill Road Farm Golf Course 
in the Chicago district developed rapidly during its first year. In the 
fall the planting at the garden was almost doubled, so that now prac­
tically the entire property leased to the United States Golf Associa­
tion Green Section is in use. It was too early to expect any striking 
results from any of the tests started at this station, but the behavior 
of the various grasses proved of much interest to those working at 
the garden and to those who visited it.

During the season members of the Green Section staff availed 
themselves of the opportunity to work on turf problems at the uni­
versities of Chicago, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Some investigations 
of physiological problems have been undertaken at the University of 
Chicago and snow-mold studies have been conducted at the univer­
sities of Minnesota and Wisconsin. These institutions have furnished 
laboratory facilities and personal advice gratis to the Green Section. 
The Green Section staff feels greatly indebted for the many courtesies 
and privileges they have received from these institutions.

The Green Section has continued its cooperation with State experi­
ment stations in conducting turf investigations. The New Jersey, 
Florida, Nebraska, and Kansas experiment stations have received the 
usual small amount of financial assistance from the Green Section.

During 1928 demonstration turf gardens were planted on 15 golf 
courses in various golfing centers. In addition to those planted on 

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Vol. 10, No. 1

golf courses, similar plantings were made at the Massachusetts Agri­
cultural College at Amherst and the Leland Stanford University in 
California. During the summer these demonstration turf gardens 
have been a source of much interest to greenkeepers and green-com­
mittee members in the neighborhood of the gardens. At intervals 
during the summer reports were made of the condition of the various 
grasses and treatments in these plantings. The reports were pre­
pared in duplicate, one copy being retained for the home files and 
the other copy sent to the Green Section office in Washington. These 
reports have been consolidated for publication in the Bulletin. Al­
though representing only a single season’s observations, the summary 
has much of interest to those interested in golf turf production.

During the season many requests were made for further expan­
sion of this work in sections not represented in the 1928 plantings. 
New plantings of this same series were made in 1929 on the course 
of the Druid Hills Golf Club, Atlanta, Ga., and on the Niagara Falls 
Municipal Golf Course, Niagara Falls, N. Y.

The demand for Green Section advice on turf problems showed an 
increase over previous years in spite of the fact that on the whole the 
season was a most favorable one for turf production. Due to the 
small personnel, most of the service to clubs had to be limited to cor­
respondence. Approximately the same number of visits were made 
to golf courses as in the previous year. During these visits many 
problems were discussed with the club officials and many helpful sug­
gestions were made.

There was the usual large number of interested visitors at the 
Arlington turf garden throughout the year. The new experimental 
turf garden in the Chicago district was frequently visited by club 
officials of the Mid-West. The new demonstration gardens through­
out the country also attracted the attention of large numbers of those 
interested in turf culture. These visits to the experimental and 
demonstration gardens served to help the Green Section present its 
findings to those who are best able to carry them to the golf clubs 
of the country.

During the summer two Green Section meetings were held, one at 
the Arlington turf garden and one at the new experimental garden 
in the Chicago district. Over 300 greenkeepers and green-committee 
members attended these meetings. In addition to these meetings 
there were several local gatherings on the various demonstration turf 
gardens, at which members of the Green Section staff were present 
to take part in the program.

The Green Section had exhibits at the International Golf Shows 
in New York and Chicago, and at the National Greenkeepers’ Golf 
Show in Buffalo.

Members of the staff were called upon to give lectures at or other­
wise to take part in various meetings of greenkeepers during the year.
During the year there were printed nine 20-page issues of the 
Bulletin and three 16-page issues. The policy of this publication has 
been much the same as that adopted the preceding year. The paid 
circulation of the Bulletin showed an increase of 125 during the year, 
but many names were dropped from our complimentary mailing list’ 
so that the total circulation is only slightly higher than last year. The 
present circulation is as follows:

January, 1930 

5

United States Golf Association member clubs receiving

Green Service service (2 copies per club)..........................   2,200

Privately owned or daily-fee golf courses receiving similar

service (2 copies per course)........................................................... 38
Canadian clubs receiving Green Section service (2 copies 
per club)............................................................................................. 12

Canadian clubs receiving the Bulletin through the Royal

Canadian Golf Association..............................................................  165
Private subscriptions, domestic................................................ 382
Private subscriptions, foreign..................................................  69
Municipal courses receiving the Bulletin without charge. . . 
45
Complimentary mailing list......................................................  221

Total Bulletin mailing list..............................................  3,132

It is very gratifying to report that the New Jersejr State Legis­
lature made an appropriation of $5,000 for work to be carried on at 
the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at New Brunswick, 
and it is understood that this appropriation will be continued from 
year to year. This research work, under the direction of Dr. Jacob 
G. Lipman, Dr. Howard B. Sprague, and Mr. Evaul, is being con­
ducted for the development and improvement of turf for golf courses, 
parks, and homes. It is to be hoped that other legislatures may take 
similar action where the State agricultural colleges are cooperating 
with the United States Golf Association in research work.

It is a pleasure to report that Dr. R. A. Oakley has returned to 
Washington, and while he has not entirely regained his health and 
strength is still actively interested in the direction of the work of the 
association.

It is earnestly hoped that the Green Section will continue its active 

work for the next year and many years to come.

Carpet Grass for Southern Fairways
By Robert White
Ocean-Forest Country Club, Myrtle Beach, S. C.

(Mr. White was requested to present to readers of the Bulletin these experi­
ences of his with certain Southern turf problems as detailed by him in a discussion 
of the subjects at the annual meeting of the Green Section in New York City, 
January 10.—Editors.)

In the construction of our course at Myrtle Beach we proceeded on 
the assumption that Bermuda was the only grass suitable for seeding 
fairways in the South. It is indeed the prevailing grass over most of 
the South for both putting greens and fairways. The suggestion, 
however, was made that we try some carpet grass in the fairways. 
We accordingly seeded the fairways with a mixture of 90 per cent 
Bermuda grass and 10 per cent carpet grass. Much to our surprise 
we got parts of fairways that are all carpet grass, and the percent­
age of carpet grass all over the course is increasing rapidly. It has 
proved to be much better for us than Bermuda grass. Like Bermuda 
grass, carpet grass wilts after a frost, but unlike Bermuda grass it 
will produce green leaves again after a few warm days have come. 
We have reached the conclusion that the solution of our fairway turf 
problem in our climate is carpet grass.

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Vol. 10, No. 1

Southern golf courses should be grateful to Dr. Hinman and his 
associates for developing the system of double greens in the South. 
Of course we have to depend on Bermuda grass for our putting green 
turf during summer, and in providing a winter putting turf we have 
followed the prevailing custom in the South of sowing in the fall 
either redtop or rye grass, or both, on top of the Bermuda turf in the 
greens we use for summer play. This is the third year we have tried 
to make winter greens on the Ocean-Forest course in this way. The 
first two years we were fairly successful. I have always considered, 
however, that we were sowing the redtop or rye grass a little too late.

Club house of the Ocean-Forest Country Club. The foreground shows the type of sandy soil on 
which the course is built

So this year we sowed the rye grass the last week in September and 
followed later with redtop. Then, unfortunately, we did not have any 
cold weather. We had a rather hot fall, with the result that the Ber­
muda grass kept on growing and there was as much of it at the end 
of October as at the end of September, so that the redtop did not have 
a chance to grow. I went down there early in December, when they 
had just had their first frost. This year we have seeded these greens 
two or three times with redtop and are now, in January, gradually 
getting them covered. Conditions are doubtless worse in this respect 
in South Carolina than they are in Georgia, in that frost comes a 
little earlier with us and the season for Bermuda grass is apt to be 
shorter than in Georgia. As Dr. Hinman has pointed out, however, 
with two sets of separate greens, one for summer play and the other 
for winter, it is possible to skin the Bermuda off the winter greens be­
fore sowing them in the fall with the winter grass. Putting on top of 
dead Bermuda is all right, except for its looks. You can putt well 
enough, but the green looks badly. The greens we have this year, in­
stead of being green all over, as they were the previous winter, show 
a great deal of the white stolons of the dormant Bermuda grass be­

January, 1930 

7

cause the rye grass and redtop had been unable to make proper 
growth.

In the control of the mole cricket we have had some success with 
the use of arsenate of lead as a poison, but we have to use tremendous 
quantities of it. The mole cricket is a serious pest with us. We have 
tried in many ways to rid the turf of these insects, and have not been 
able to achieve any success with carbon bisulphide in our sandy soil.

Some Turf Problems of the South
By Thomas P. Hinman

Druid Hills Golf Club, Atlanta, Ga.

(An address delivered at the annual meeting of the Green Section in New York- 
City, January 10, 1930)

Golf turf problems in the South are different from those in the 
North. The basic soil in our section is red clay. At Druid Hills we 
started with sand greens, first keeping them wet, as they did at 
Augusta, Ga. Then we put oil on the sand greens. Later we used 
fuel oil or road oil to make a putting surface. Instead of a flag we 
had a small post. On the end of the post we put a cross-piece, and 
then a bit of carpet was put over that. It was about 2 feet wide, and 
when you went to putt the caddy dragged the cloth across the green; 
and that gave you your putting line. Later, about 1914, George Adair, 
who was one of the men in charge of the greens (and he was a man 
who probably did more for golf in our region than anyone else), fig­
ured that it was possible to combine a grass green with a sand green. 
Accordingly he put in the center of the grass green, which of course 
was of very poor quality, a small sand green about 6 feet in diameter. 
After a while we found that did not work well. Then we started to 
develop a putting green grass.

In the South we play all the year round. So far the only satis­
factory grass that we have found is Bermuda grass. However, the 
trouble with Bermuda grass is that just as soon as a heavy frost 
comes it stops growing and when freezing weather arrives it becomes 
dormant. Sb it made a very unsatisfactory putting surface for winter 
play. After the Bermuda died down in early winter, annual blue­
grass (Poa annua) began to come in on the greens. It appeared in 
little bunches all over the greens, so that after the latter part of Jan­
uary we could not putt at all.

In 1916, Scott Hudson, who is president of the Atlanta Athletic 
Club, conceived the idea of sowing a winter grass for winter play. He 
first sowed redtop, red fescue, and rye grass on the summer green. 
We then discovered that after a green had been played on all winter, 
the constant trampling on the dormant Bermuda grass so injured it 
that it was the latter part of July before the grass would recover suf­
ficiently to make a satisfactory putting surface. Thereupon Mr. Hud­
son decided to make two greens for every hole; and that is the pro­
cedure we are following in our district today.

The new course of the East Lake Country Club has very large 
greens; and they are splendid. There are two types of these double 
greens; one is a very large green divided in the middle and the other 
is two separate greens. The latter type is certainly the more desir­
able. Unless Bermuda grass is protected over winter it does not 

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Vol. 10, No. 1

come up quickly in the spring. Particularly is this so at Atlanta, 
where we have temperatures as low as 10 degrees above zero. We 
have accordingly developed a method of covering the summer green 
as soon as the grass stops growing or as soon as we have the first 
killing frost or freeze. We use pine needles or wheat straw as a cover­
ing, and are now experimenting with cottonseed hulls. The object is 
to protect the dormant grass and keep it as warm as possible. Along­
side of this covered summer green we have the winter green. We are 
now just gradually solving the problem of this winter green. We first 
tried to plant it on a Bermuda grass base; but found that if we sowed 
the seed on the Bermuda base too early, the Bermuda grass, as it kept 
growing, tended to heave the newly planted seed out of the ground. 
Therefore, as soon as we are ready to sow the winter grass, we take 
off all the Bermuda grass, mowing it as close as we can, then raking 
it, and then mowing it close again. We have tried several winter 
grasses. Neither redtop nor red fescue will answer in our climate. 
We have found that rye grass is the best grass we can use for our 
winter greens. The sowing of rye grass is a very simple matter.

The only objection to the double green is that in the play during 
the winter you have to drop off of this covering of pine needles, wheat 
straw, or cottonseed hulls into the fairway to play back to the green. 
Therefore at Druid Hills we have adopted the plan of building two 
distinct greens as nearly alike in type as possible and separated from 
each other as far as possible.

After a good many years of experience with rye grass and closer 
observation of what it really does under play, we have found that it 
gradually gets much coarser and then disappears to a great extent 
during late winter. We consider rye grass today as simply a vehicle to 
carry us over from the 1st of December to about the 1st of February. 
In the meantime our natural spring grass, which is annual bluegrass, 
comes in and fills the interstices, beginning to seed about the 1st of 
January. This seeding gives rise to a new turf, with the result that 
about the middle of February the rye grass has nearly disappeared 
and we have a beautiful green of annual bluegrass. There is no green 
that I have seen anywhere at any time that putts as well as a really 
"good green of annual bluegrass. Our problem has been to maintain 
this green of annual bluegrass as long into the season as we can. 
About June 1 we have found, however, that the annual bluegrass be­
gins to disappear.

In the spring we take the thick covering of pine needles or wheat 
straw off of the summer green, which, owing to the protection 
it has had over winter, will come in from two to three weeks earlier 
than an uncovered green would. So our problem is entirely one of 
maintaining a golf course with two separate and distinct greens for 
12 months in the year.

I might say that the Green Section has been exceedingly good to 
us. It has established a demonstration garden at Druid Hills, where 
we are testing a good many grasses. We are hoping later to be able 
to make a satisfactory report on what we are doing. We are conduct­
ing at least twelve experiments with Bermuda grass and a number of 
experiments with the native fescue and bent.

There are as many strains of Bermuda grass as there are of bent. 
The interesting thing about Bermuda is that it is a first cousin to 
bent. It looks very much like bent. If you are going to plant a Ber­

January, 1930 

9

muda green, take my advice and do not plant it from stolons unless 
you know where the strain comes from and the type of Bermuda you 
are using. In the giant strain of Bermuda grass the stolons are very 
large and the leaves rather large. The type of Bermuda that is 
wanted is one that has small stolons and about four or five times as 
many leaves as the giant strain.

The handling of Bermuda grass through the summer is not diffi­
cult. So far it has not seemed to be subject to any diseases or pests. 
If the season is rainy, as it was last year, the Bermuda green has to 
be mowed twice a day. The ordinary mower is practically useless 
for this purpose. If Bermuda greens are to be kept in good condition 
they have to be top-dressed frequently. Where we have this heavy 
red clay soil we make the top-dressing compost half of woods earth 
and half of sharp sand.

We have on our course three or four streams, and for a long while 
we took our sand from those streams, sifted it, and put it on our 
greens, with the result that we were planting weed seeds all the time. 
We have actually found it much cheaper to go out and buy building, 
sand for the purpose of making top-dressing compost than it is to use 
the sand on our own course; and I believe this will apply to most 
courses generally.

The heavy stolons of Bermuda grass must be kept underground. 
You can never get a really fine green out of Bermuda grass, because 
if the weather is very dry the tips of the stolons come up above the 
surface of the soil and form a layer much like a door mat. We hope 
later to be able to develop a putting grass for the South that will be 
satisfactory. We have no particular trouble with our fairways, as 
Bermuda grows luxuriantly on them.

We have one real pest in the South, and that is nut grass. Of all 
things to get in your greens, nut grass is the worst. It is a problem 
with which we have not been able to do anything. If it once gets a 
foothold on a farm it will run the farmer off his land. There is a 
story of a man who had nut grass on his farm. He saw an adver­
tisement in a paper in which it was claimed a remedy for nut grass 
would be furnished for the price of five dollars. He sent the five dol­
lars, and the answer came back, “Move off.” If you are going to 
build a green in the South, be very particular where you get your soil. 
Be sure to select your soil in summer, when you can see whether or 
not it is infested with nut grass. I have seen a good many courses 
built in and about Atlanta, and I have so frequently found the mis­
take made of unwittingly introducing nut grass into the greens that 
I feel a word of warning is in place for anyone contemplating the 
building of a southern golf course.

A chain harrow is a valuable implement for spreading manure or 
top-dressing on fairways. It breaks the clods and drags the material 
into low places without damaging the turf. With such a harrow 
coarser material can be applied with safety.

It is much more satisfactory to start a new creeping bent or 
Bermuda grass nursery each year than to attempt to carry over an 
old nursery. Nursery rows make much less new growth the second 
year than the first year, while stolons of young growth establish them­
selves on a green more quickly than stolons of old growth, and thus 
need not be used so thickly.

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Vol. 10, No. 1

Two Serious Problems on Southern Courses
By Cornelius S. Lee
Jekyll Island Club, Brunswick, Ga.
(Paper read at the annual meeting of the Green Section in New York City, 
January 10, 1930)

The last few years have witnessed an enormous increase in the 
growth of and interest in the game of golf. Hardly any section of 
the country has not shared in this movement. With the increased 
interest has come a demand from golfers for perfection in course up­
keep. In some localities this is a fairly simple matter; in others, due 
to extremes of temperature and to insect pests, good greenkeeping is 
a serious problem and an arduous task. The Jekyll Island golf 
course, situated off the southeastern coast of Georgia, has gone 
through a trying period the last few years. I shall endeavor to set 
forth our major problems.

A fairway at Jekyll Island

Our playing season lasts from the middle of December to the mid­
dle of April. During this period the temperature ranges from 25 to 
80 degrees above zero. These extremes of temperature make it diffi­
cult to insure good putting greens, and, as is the case throughout the 
South, the greens have to be planted anew each fall. Experience and 
experiments have convinced us that a Bermuda grass base, top- 
dressed and sown in September with redtop, gives the best putting 
surface. The main problem lies in maintaining a proper balance be­
tween the base of dormant Bermuda grass roots and the surface of 
active redtop. If the Bermuda base is not scraped off sufficiently 
deep and the redtop is sown too early in the fall, a subsequent wet 
season will result in the Bermuda’s crowding out the redtop. If, on 
the other hand, the redtop is sown too late or too much of the Ber­
muda base is removed, frost will damage the redtop and the light 
sandy soil with its insufficient base will afford a poor putting surface.
The problem of securing a satisfactory grass base over winter is 
one which has given us no little concern. The best results so far have 
been obtained by cutting off the stolons of the Bermuda grass in the 
fall by the use of sharp hoes; this, however, is a laborious process, 
and uniform results are hard to obtain. No machine has yet been 
devised that will just skim off the surface Bermuda. A sod-cutter 

January, 1930

11

will not work properly. Any device using knives simply churns up 
the stolons and induces a more active growth. This season we 
are planning to conduct several experiments with a base. In one 
experiment we shall make use of fine wire as a base; in another 
we shall treat the surface of a plot of Bermuda grass with arsenate 
of lead; in another we shall burn a plot with a heavy application of 
sulphate of ammonia.

For fairway grasses we have found carpet grass the best, and 
Bermuda next. Experiments with centipede grass have yielded no 
tangible results. Carpet grass, while slower in germinating, makes a 
thicker mat, remains greener in the winter, and is damaged less by 
the mole cricket than is Bermuda grass.

A drive to a trreen at Jekyll Island

Six or seven years ago our old course was suddenly attacked by 
the mole cricket, which is one of the worst pests Southern golf courses 
have to contend with. Overnight this insect practically destroyed 
entire fairways for us. The cricket somewhat resembles a long, 
brown grasshopper, with short legs. Its head is covered with an 
armored shield. It has a powerful pair of claws, like a lobster, which 
it uses in cutting the roots of grass. It flies, jumps, springs, swims, 
crawls, and burrows. In cold weather it digs five or six inches under­
ground. As its burrows consist of countless passages, the use of 
poison gas is rather ineffective in combating it. We waged a short 
and hopeless war against the insect, and then sent to Washington for 
help. On the request of the Green Section, W. A. Thomas, of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, was sent down and spent 
two seasons at our course working out control measures. The follow­
ing three methods of poisoning the crickets were finally adopted: 
spreading arsenate of lead mixed with soil over infested areas; squirt­
ing bisulphide of carbon in the burrows on greens that had been at­
tacked; scattering a bait made from a mixture of rice flour, cotton­
seed meal, and arsenate of lead, in August when the insect was flying 
about, or at other times during warm weather when the insect was 
active at night. We abandoned our old course three years ago and 
built a new one out on the sand dunes. After using these methods of 
warfare against the mole cricket, I am pleased to say we are com­

12

Vol. 10, No. 1

paratively free from the pest. Had the Green Section not rendered 
us this invaluable service in securing the cooperation of the United 
States Department of Agriculture in attempting to solve our prob­
lem, I know there would be no golf course on Jekyll Island today. Our 
old course had been utterly destroyed by the mole cricket.

Let me solemnly warn anyone building a southern golf course to 
make adequate provision for combating the mole cricket before he 
does anything else. In time the insect will unquestionably work far­
ther north, invading even the country north of the Carolinas. At 
Aix-les-Bains, in southeastern France, a place almost surrounded by 
high mountains, the mole cricket suddenly appeared last year. I dug 
a few up there and was surprised to see that they were at least three 
inches long. As labor at that place was very cheap, they could afford 
to fight the pest with bisulphide of carbon, which must be squirted by 
hand into the burrows.

New pests are certain to appear from time to time as the game of 
golf grows and more courses are built in other sections of the country. 
It is only by broadcasting knowledge gained from various sources, in 
a medium such as the Bulletin of the Green Section, that intelligent 
and steady progress in greenkeeping can be obtained. I firmly believe 
that the greenkeeper today occupies the most responsible position in 
the game of golf. Good results can not be obtained without a good 
greenkeeper. Under the guidance of an inferior man thousands of 
dollars may be wasted and the best conditioned course may go to 
pieces in a few years.

In closing, I want to express my thanks for the valuable advice in 
the use of fertilizers, preparation of soil, and other matters given to 
us by the Green Section when we built our new course. By following 
their recommendations we saved a large sum of money and obtained 
most gratifying results.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

All questions sent to the Green Section will be answered in a letter 
to the 'writer as promptly as possible. The more interesting of these 
questions, with concise answers, will appear in this column. If your ex­
perience leads you to disagree with any answer given in this column, it is 
your privilege and duty to write to the Green Section.

While most of the answers are of general application, please bear in 
mind that each recommendation is intended specifically for the locality 
designated at the end of the question.

Early spring treatment of putting turf.—After the frost is out of 
the ground in the spring and the greens have been rolled, should the 
first treatment be the application of top-dressing, mowing the grass, 
or scarifying the turf with sharp-tined rakes? (Ohio.)

ANSWER.—After the greens have been rolled with a roller weigh­
ing from 150 to 200 pounds to the foot and having a diameter of at 
least 18 inches, the first treatment should be mowing the grass. Top­
dressing should be delayed until the grass is growing sufficiently to 
require almost daily cutting. At that time the turf should be scarified 

January, 1930

13

with sharp-tined rakes and then top-dressed and fertilized. Covering 
grass that is not growing is liable to result in smothering; also less 
injury will result from raking if this operation is delayed until the 
grass is growing vigorously. For the first application of fertilizer in 
the spring the use of a complete fertilizer is recommended, such as 
poultry manure tankage, cottonseed meal, or activated sludge (Milor- 
ganite). This should be applied at a rate of 15 to 18 pounds to 1,000 
square feet, either by itself or mixed with the top-dressing. It would 
not be necessary to mix the fertilizer throughout all the top-dressing, 
but just in sufficient quantity to insure an even distribution. Such an 
application of a complete fertilizer should carry the greens for the first 
month or so in the spring, at the end of which time regular light appli­
cations of sulphate of ammonia should be started; these applications 
should be continued through the season until time for the last treat­
ment in the fall, which should consist of another application of a com­
plete fertilizer and a top-dressing and which may be expected to carry 
the turf over until the following spring. It is in early spring and late 
fall that complete fertilizers can be used to best advantage. Between 
these periods light applications of sulphate of ammonia (2 to 3 pounds 
to 1,000 square feet) and an occasional light top-dressing are all that 
putting turf seems to require.

Preventing the formation of crust on greens of stiff clay soil.—Our 
soil is a very stiff clay which becomes sticky and slimy after rain or 
if watered too much and baked hard in summer. The greens were 
constructed rather hurriedly two years ago. None have subdrainage, 
nor was sand, manure, or fertilizer worked into the soil at the time of 
construction. A hard scab forms on the surface of some of the greens. 
To improve the condition of the soil we have been top-dressing it with 
sharp sand. It is claimed by some that this practice is bad, in that 
the sand tends to form a crust under trampling, injures the grass by 
cutting into the growing shoots, and does not work down into the soil 
but is washed away to a considerable extent by rains. It is not prac­
tical for us to reconstruct the greens at present. What treatment 
would you suggest? (New York.)

Answer.—If the drainage of any of your greens is poor, perma­
nent improvement may not be expected until satisfactory drainage is 
provided. It is evident that your soil is deficient in organic matter or 
humus. Such a soil may be so tight that even ordinary drainage will 
not benefit it. On the other hand, a soil of good physical structure 
will not drain properly if it is not elevated sufficiently to drain away 
free surface water. The formation of a scab on the surface of soil is 
usually not due to an accumulation of sand, although a considerable 
accumulation of sand on the surface of soil is liable to injure young 
grass by bruising it. A scab on soil is formed generally by the growth 
of algae resulting from poor drainage, or by the cohesion of top­
dressing material when applied to a thin, poor top soil. The growth 
of algae on the surface of soil is sometimes not noticeable, but the 
constant growth of this low type of vegetation will leave a scabby 
residue. Where the improvement of drainage or soil texture fails to 
prevent the growth of algae, the growth can usually be checked by an 
application of corrosive sublimate at the rate of 1 to 2 ounces to 1,000 
square feet; but if the grass does not again cover the bare spots caused 
by this scab, the algae will doubtless return. Such scabby areas 

14

Vol. 10, No. 1

should therefore be broken up and steps taken to stimulate the 
growth of grass by reseeding and fertilizing.

We do not recommend the applying of sand alone, but we recom­
mend mixing it with fine soil and decayed organic matter so as to 
furnish a sandy loam top-dressing. The continuous use of such a 
top-dressing does not work sand into the soil but does build up a 
sandy-loam top soil.

To benefit conditions such as yours the following procedure should 
be helpful. After the free moisture is out of the grass in the spring, 
rake the dead material from the greens by the use of sharp-tined 
rakes. Top-dress with clean, sharp sand at the rate of about 2 yards 
to 5,000 square feet. If the soil is acid or even neutral, apply ground 
limestone mixed with the sand at the rate of 225 pounds to 5,000 
square feet. Then go over the greens with spiked rollers, or better 
still with spiked tampers. The spikes should be driven through the 
surface and as deeply as possible into the soil. As long as the putt­
ing surface is not made bumpy, the spikes may be agitated in the soil 
so as to loosen and break up the crust. Then brush or rub the greens 
so that as much sand as possible will be worked into the channels left 
by the spiking. Follow this after several days with an application of 
a good organic fertilizer, such as poultry manure tankage, cottonseed 
meal, or activated sludge (Milorganite) at the rate of 10 to 15 
pounds to 1,000 square feet. Then water the greens with a fine spray, 
so that as much as possible of the sand, fertilizer, and lime will be 
worked into the spiked surface. Repeat this treatment the last thing 
in the fall, omitting however the lime. A single application of lime 
in spring would not likely bring in weeds or clover, as the fertilizer 
used would stimulate the growth of the grass sufficiently to prevent 
the undue development of weeds or clover. A single application of 
lime at the beginning of this treatment would be sufficient for sev­
eral years. Lime has a tendency to make soil friable, although its 
continued use would make the soil too alkaline for the best develop­
ment of turf grasses. We have seen good results follow in a few sea­
sons by this procedure.

Sulphate of ammonia for bluegrass fairways.—Is sulphate of 
ammonia a good fertilizer for Kentucky bluegrass fairways? (New 
Jersey.)

Answer.—Kentucky bluegrass thrives best on soils derived from 
limestone or supplied with ample calcium carbonate (lime). Sul­
phate of ammonia will in time deplete a soil of lime, but with soils 
which are nearly neutral or are on the alkaline side it would be quite 
safe to use sulphate of ammonia either alone or along with organic 
fertilizers. It requires considerable time to change a neutral or an 
alkaline soil materially with sulphate of ammonia when the sulphate 
is applied only at rates required by turf. Acid soils should receive 
sufficient lime to make them at least approach the neutral point in 
reaction. Bone meal contains considerable calcium and is good for 
bluegrass on acid soils. Bone meal is more beneficial, however, when 
its nitrogen content is raised by the use of a little sulphate of am­
monia. The sulphate may be mixed with the bone meal just before 
applying it to the turf, or it may be applied alone in the spring and 
the bone meal applied in the fall. Organic fertilizers such as cotton­
seed meal, activated sludge, poultry manure, and well-rotted manure 
also give excellent results on bluegrass fairways whether the soil is 
alkaline or acid.

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Art little? Do thy little well. 

And for thy comfort know

Great men can do their greatest work 

No better than just so.

Goethe