Bulletin of the Green Section of the U. S. Golf Association Vol. II Washington, D. C., December 16, 1922 No. 12 A MONTHLY PERIODICAL TO PROMOTE THE BETTERMENT OF GOLF COURSES CONTENTS Annual Meeting of the Green Section.................. 326 Reprint of the 1921 Volume of The Bulletin—....... .....-........._......... 326 Enlarged Scope of The Bulletin____ _________ ________ _ ___________ __ 326 New Member Clubs of the Green Section......-........................................... 326 Annual Meeting of the U. S. Golf Association............... 326 U. S. Golf Association Membership Changes .............. _..... ......................... 326 Death of Mr. Ransom H. Thomas.................................. ...._......................... 327 Professionals and Prize Money...... ............................_...................................... 327 A Concrete Manure Pit. W. H. Thorne.... ............_.................... 327 ................... 328 Creeping Bent Plugs. L. W. Ellis.............................. ~ Let Us Take Stock.............................................—.............. _........................... 329 Winter Covering and Use of Greens. Wm. M. Noble - 330 How to Keep Crab Grass from Tees...................... 330 Maintenance Suggestions. G. P. F. Smith............... 331 333 Sodding. Lyman Carrier......................................... _ Shrubbery About Golf Courses. W. L. McAtee........ ............... 338 “Service.” Who Is Responsible? J. S. Clapper.... .........................._..........._... 339 Handling Plugs: A Discussion. W. J, Rockefeller and Lyman Carrier.......... 341 A Word of Thanks................................................. 344 An Additional List of Books for Club Libraries.................................. _......... 345 Questions and Answers................................... 345 Meditations of a Peripatetic Golfer........................................................... 348 _ MEMBERS OF THE GREEN COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION ' *Dr. C. V. Piper, Chairman Dr. R. A. Oakley, Vice-Chairman *E. J. Marshall, Vice-Chairman W. A. Alexander Frank B. Barrett A. C. U. Berry Wm. F. Brooks C. B. Buxton A. H. Campbell N. Stuart Campbell W. C. Ferguson Wm. C. Fownes, Jr. *Dr. Walter S. Harban Dr. Thos. P. Hinman A. J. Hood Frederic C. Hood Norman Macbeth A, E. McCordic L. C. Menager Sherrill Sherman James L. Taylor *Wynant D. Vanderpool W. R. Willett xAlan D. Wilson Frank L. Woodward Inverness Club Old Elm Club Hollywood Golf Club Waverly Country Club Minikahda Club Dallas Country Club Toronto Golf Club Agawam Hunt Club Glen Echo Country Club Oakmont Country Club Columbia Country Club Druid Hills Golf Club Detroit Golf Club The Country Club Wilshire Country Club Indian Hill Club Florida Country Club Yahnundasis Golf Club Ekwanok Country Club Morris County Golf Club Louisville Country Club Pine Valley Golf Club Denver Country Club Washington, D. C. Washington, D. C. Toledo, Ohio Fort Sheridan, Ill. Deal, N. J. Portland, Oreg. Minneapolis, Minn. Dallas, Tex. Toronto, Ont. Providence, R. I. Normandy. Mo. Pittsburgh, Pa. Washington, D. C. Atlanta, Ga. Detroit, Mich. Brookline, Mass. Los Angeles, Cal. Winnetka, Ill. Ortega, Fla. Utica, N. Y. Manchester, Vt. Convent Station, N. J. Louisville, Ky. Clementon, N. J. Denver, Colo. * Executive Committee member. PERMANENT MEMBERS Hugh I. Wilson, Merion Cricket Club. Haverford, Pa. F. H. Hillman, Washington, D. C. W. H. Walton, Washington, D. C. Lyman Carrier, Washington, D. C. Published by the Green Committee of the United States Golf Association, 456 Louisiana Ave­ nue, Washington, D. C. Subscription price: To golf clubs that are members of the Green Section of the U. S. Golf Association, $4.00 per year (included in membership fee). Entered as second-class matter December 16, 1921, at the post office at Washington, D. C., under the Act of March 3. 1879. Copyright, 1922, by the Green Committee of the V. S. Golf Association, 326 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE vol. 11, No. 12 Annual Meeting of Delegates and Permanent Members of the Green Section The annual meeting of Delegates and Permanent Members of the Green Section will be held at 10 o’clock Saturday morning, January 13, 1923, at the Pittsburgh Club, 452 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., the same date on which, in the afternoon and at the same place, the annual meeting of the United States Golf Association will be held. An interesting and instructive program is being prepared. At the same time the personnel of the Green Committee of the United States Golf Associa­ tion for the year 1923 will be acted upon, as well as all other matters affecting the interests of the Green Section. Member clubs are urged to be represented at the meeting. Visitors will also be cordially welcomed. Reprint of the 1921 Volume of the Bulletin On account of the numerous calls received by the Green Committee for copies of the 1921 Bulletin, the Committee is arranging for a reprint of that volume. The reprint will be available for distribution by the first of January. The price of the reprint is $2.25. The twelve numbers of the 1921 Bulletin will thus be available in a single binding. Tell your friends about it. Enlarged Scope of the Bulletin The Bulletin is now the official organ of the United States Golf Association. Hereafter it will contain regularly the official accounts of all actions of the Association, including all decisions as regards the Rules of Golf, all announcements as to meetings and tournaments, official handicaps, and results of tournaments. These official data will be of inestimable value for reference. New Member Clubs of the Green Section (For Previous Lists See Pages 199, 220, 248, 273, 294, and 319 of This Volume.) Wanakah Country Club, Hamburg, N. Y. Virginia Hot Springs Golf and Tennis Club, Hot Springs, Va. Valparaiso Country Club, New Valparaiso, Fla. Dixmoor Golf Club, Chicago, Ill. Inglewood Country Club, Seattle, Wash. Annual Meeting of the United States Golf Association The annual meeting of the United States Golf Association will be held at the Pittsburgh Club, 452 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., on Saturday afternoon, January 13, 1923. The usual announcements will be sent to each member club directly. In order that a quorum may be assured in advance of the meeting, active clubs should promptly forward delegate certificates to Mr. T. J. McMahon, Executive Secretary, U. S. Golf Association, 55 John St., New York, N. Y. In case a club is not in position to do this, the club should then promptly forward a blank proxy to Mr. McMahon. United States Golf Association Membership Changes At the November 24 Executive Committee meeting of the United States Golf Association the following membership changes were made: Friendship Golf Club, Washington, D. C. Elected to active membership. Inwood Country Club, Inwood, Long Island. Transferred from allied to active membership. Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 327 Death of Mr. Ransom H. Thomas Golfers throughout the country will be grieved to learn of the recent death of Mr. Ransom H. Thomas, a former president of the United States Golf Asso­ ciation. Mr. Thomas officiated as such in 1905 and 1906. He was a member of the Morris County Golf Club, Convent, N. J. A resolution of sympathy was passed by the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association at its last meeting. Professionals and Prize Money To Members of the United States Golf Association: The Executive Committee has noticed with some misgivings the practice of offering unusually large purses indulged in by member clubs and sectional asso­ ciations for the purpose of inducing golf professionals to compete in open tourna­ ments and exhibitions. While the United States Golf Association has no desire to hinder or hamper any professional from competing in prize money tourna­ ments or from earning money to the limit of his ability, nevertheless the present officials feel that if the practice now in vogue is not checked, great harm will be done in creating a class of professional players who will devote their entire time and attention to attending tournaments. The Executive Committee is aware of the great development of the game of golf within the past few years, both by professionals and amateurs. It is also aware of the keen desire of the ordinary golfer, throughout the country, to witness the performance of the leading pro­ fessionals, and we assume that the growing interest in the game is partly re­ sponsible for the money inducements offered in open competitions. The Committee feels that in their efforts to promote and keep alive the best interests of the game, they can not allow this practice to continue or increase without a protest. It is, therefore, earnestly requested that member clubs and sectional associations give this matter their earnest consideration and, in the future, when contemplating the staging of such tournaments, that the question of moderate prize money awards be carefully considered, bearing in mind that if this pastime is allowed to be commercialized by the professionals, as in other sports, the phenomenal interest now taken by the ordinary golfer in the game will be nullified to a great extent.—By Order of the Executive Committee, U. S. Golf Association, Cornelius S. Lee, Secretary. A Concrete Manure Pit W. H. Thorne, Broadmoor Golf Club, Colorado Springs, Colo. On account of the dry atmospheric conditions in Colorado, a condi­ tion which moreover affects to a greater or less extent the entire section of the country west of a line running through central Kansas, except the Pacific coast, it has been found necessary at the Broadmoor Golf Club to have recourse to the artificial moistening of manure when the straw con­ tent of the manure is considerable, in order to effect decomposition. To this end the Green Committee of the club has constructed a concrete ma­ nure pit. A general idea of the plan of construction of the pit may be obtained from the accompanying photographic view of the completed structure. The barn manure is dumped into the pit, the contents then watered, and seepage collected in a sump at the bottom across one end of the pit. The seepage is then pumped from the sump as needed. The floor of the pit has a fall of one foot toward the sump end, and the floor of the sump has a fall of six inches to the pump end of the sump. The pit is 150 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 8y2 feet deep. The concrete wall is 4 feet high 328 BULLETIN OP'' GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. II, No. 12 Concrete Manure Pit at Broadmoor Golf Club, Colorado Springs and 6 inches thick. The sump is 3i/2 feet deep. At the sump end the con­ crete wall is surmounted by a vertical stone wall 41^ feet high. At the end opposite the sump end the wall is surmounted by a sloping stone riprap. The sides of the pit above the concrete wall are sloping so as to facilitate unloading. A 4-inch centrifugal pump is used with 4-inch rubber suction hose and 3-inch discharge hose. The capacity of the pit is 2,361 cubic yards; of the sump, 4,875 gallons. The sump is covered by a flooring of oak poles, one end of which rests on an offset in the wall at the sump end. An entrance to the pit was provided by stepping the walls down 2 feet, and supplementing the step with a gang-plank. The top of the pit is natural grade at the end opposite the sump end. A 10-inch by 8-inch sill was bolted to studs set in the wet concrete. The pit was built entirely by the golf course force, and fortunately the Broadmoor Club is the owner of concrete mixers and such other equip­ ment as was needed for the construction work. The cut was 1,100 cubic yards. We used 655 sacks of cement, 150 feet of triangular reinforcing wire, and form lumber, using one 2-inch expansion joint across the middle of the pit and up through the side walls. Other expansion joints were put in the floor, and after construction the joints were filled with pitch. The cost of the pit including the installation of the pump and suction hose, was about $2,200, but we have a permanent improvement on our course which will be of immense value under our conditions. Creeping bent plugs.—Mr. Jones, greenkeeper at the Biltmore-Forest Club, Asheville, North Carolina, has a bent nursery. His greens are seeded, but when he gets ready to change the cups he cuts 18 plugs from his nursery and puts the new plugs in instead of the ones taken out of the green. In this way he is already making quite a start toward cover­ ing his greens with vigorous centers of bent.—L. W. Ellis, Canterbury Golf Club, Cleveland, Ohio. Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 329 Let Us Take Stock Now that the golf season in the North has ended or is rapidly draw­ ing to a close, is it not a good time for you, as chairman of your green committee, to review your year’s work? Possibly December, 1922, turns the page on the first year of your service, or it may be it adds only one more anniversary. A year ago, or at least nine months ago, you were outlining hazily, if not actually definitely planning, a program for the year’s work. Today as you look back over the season you can tell with considerable certainty whether your efforts have really borne fruit. If you take your job seri­ ously you should be willing to ask yourself,— Is the course I have been responsible for better than it was last year? Is it as good, or has it actually deteriorated? Has anything been done to correct the fundamental troubles that make it difficult to maintain good turf? Was the season’s work performed efficiently and economically? Was the budget properly adhered to and a cost-aceounting system in­ stalled ? Were purchases made intelligently and economically? Frankly and plainly, do I know anything more about handling my job than I did a year ago? It will do you a great deal of good to face these questions. It will help you in planning for next year and also in many other ways. If your honest answers show that you have been properly on the job, then cast about for something to help increase your usefulness for the coming year. In ease you should be looking for them, here are some suggestions. They are offered gratuitously—at least it will cost you nothing to consider them. 1. See to it that abundant, readily available good compost is at hand. 2. Look carefully into the matter of drainage and provide good drain­ age for the parts of your course where it is needed. 3. Establish a bent grass nursery and a bent grass sod bed for making new and patching old greens. 4. Install mechanical devices that will lessen the cost of upkeep of your course and do the work more efficiently. 5. Get on intimate terms with your turf grasses and with their cultural requirements. And do not forget that it is good for your soul as well as for your club’s golf course to admit to a certain degree of igno­ rance with regard to seeds, fertilizers and many other matters pertaining to turf culture. 6. Check up your cultural practices with a view to eliminating the unprofitable ones. Do this by leaving untreated a similar area for com­ parison. 7. Seek information from sources where reliable information can be had. After you have jotted down these suggestions so that they can not easily be overlooked, then take out your your check book and renew your subscription to the Green Section. (Bills will be sent out this month.) 330 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. n. No. 12 Winter Covering and Use of Greens Wm. M. Noble, Woodland Golf Club, Auburndale, Mass. Answers to Nos. 3 and 4 of Questions and Answers in the November number of The Bulletin (page 320) lead me to relate certain experiences we have had at Woodland. We tried dressing putting greens with manure, and found that while we had an earlier showing of green in the spring, still there seemed to come a chilling after we removed the manure, which set the grass back so that in the end such greens came into good condition later than greens which had not been covered in that way. We also found that if we left the manure on long enough to get by the sharp weather, the grass became yellowed and tender. The result has been that we gave up that procedure. I have since found that Mr. Shanahan, of the Brae-Burn Country Club, had reached the same conclusion, and he referred to some other green­ keepers who had done the same. I have noticed during two or three years back that with the first freezing weather the turf around the cups seemed speedily to become browned and almost killed. After the cups had been in place for a day or two I would get complaints that the cups had not been moved for two weeks and that the turf around them was getting all worn out. This puzzled me a good deal, because after two or three weeks of freezing days we did not get the same results. Last fall I allowed a light wagon loaded with kindling wood to pass over my door-yard lawn for convenience on a morning after one of the early freezing nights. Although the ground was frozen so that the wheels did not sink in at all, I noticed that the marks of those wheels showed brown all through the fall, and then continued to show in the spring for two or three weeks after the rest of the turf had become green. After carefully examining the grass which showed these marks and the grass about the cups on the greens which showed similar results, I came clearly to the conclusion that no use should be made of putting greens while they were frozen during the early freezes, believing That when the first freezing occurs the grass stems are still full of juices, and in that condition (that is, with those juices frozen) tramping on the grass breaks it down and mutilates it much more severely than at later times when the juices have receded and the grass has become sufficiently pliant to bend without breaking. This fall I have not permitted the use of the greens on mornings following a freeze, but have kept the men off until later in the day when the grass has thawed out. The results have demonstrated that we have correctly answered this problem so far as Woodland is concerned. How to keep crab grass from tees—A shaded tee will always be free from crab grass. Therefore plant a row of trees on the south side of the tee so that it will be kept shaded most of the day. The same scheme would work on putting-greens, only the trees would be in the way. On the tees the trees are really desirable, both for shade and to protect the good grass. Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 331 Maintenance Suggestions G. P. F. Smith, Brookside Country Club, Barberton, Ohio What are the greenkeeping problems of the small golf dub, and -what is the remedy for them? That sounds like a rather large order, and yet is exceedingly simple, for such a club has but one real problem—how to exist with the revenue that is available; and the remedy is entirely a matter of applying the sound business judgment that most of the club members exercise in the administration of their private affairs. The subject of golf course maintenance is not the mysterious and un­ approachable secret that so many seem to believe it to be. Rather it is a perfectly obvious reality—a matter of ordinary farming practice. Pre­ supposing intelligent planning and construction, there are just four things that your golf course needs to keep it in first class condition; weeding, fertilization, watering, and mowing. The degree to which these are done must be determined by the amount you have to spend, but all of them can be done by the club which spends $1,500 a year on its nine holes, as well as by the club which spends $5,000 and up. Our worst enemies are procrastination and a tendency to quit before we ever get started. We visit some larger and wealthier club, and see them doing a hundred and one things which we can not afford to do, and the idea becomes fixed in our minds that without the same treatment our golf course will never amount to much. Or we hear that a certain club spends $25,000 a year on its course, and we begin to figure that some such expenditure must be necessary in order to obtain any real results. I know of a dingy little hole in the wall, in one of our large cities, where you can get as good a dinner as anyone would want, for one dollar. Just around the corner is a wonderful restaurant, where an excellent meal can also be had, for five dollars. The food is not one bit better, if as good, but the patrons are more exacting. So it is, to a great extent, with golf courses. After the maintenance cost passes a certain point, it is either wasted, or it goes largely for little refinements, which add nothing to the course, but rather to the convenience of the members and the satisfaction they derive from the game. The first step, if you really wish to get anywhere with your course, is to get a real Green Committee on the job. That does not mean merely an aggregation of well-known men, whose names will look well on paper, but a live committee of men who can and will give a great deal of time and study to the subject. This is essential, for the club of limited means, while needing one badly, can not possibly afford a high-class greenkeeper. Nat­ urally, someone must take his place, if you are to get results, and this de­ volves upon the chairman of your Green Committee. He must become not a figurehead who issues vague orders, but a competent expert who knows what to do, how to do it, and why. Fortunately, this is being made easy for us through the efforts of the Green Section, which provides a clearing­ house of the experience and methods of men who have made a life-study of the subject. Probably the most important maintenance problem of the small club is the control of weeds. In most cases, this has been so long neglected that it now looms up as an almost impossible task. And yet every day that it remains untouched it becomes that much worse. The best method of han­ 332 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE vol. n, No. 12 dling it would be to put a gang at, it and get all of the weeds out. If this can not be done, put one man at it for as much of the time as you can spare him. from other work, and in a short while the results will surprise you. This can be done without any additional expense by slightly neglect­ ing other work. Whether you are mowing your fairways every other day or once a week, let it go one day longer, and use the day that is gained at weeding. Or if you have the right sort of spirit among your members, organize them into teams, and make each team responsible for the condi­ tion of one green. Get as many of them as possible out for an afternoon, each armed with a sharp piece of iron, about the shape of a chisel, and let them go to it. Once you get the weeds under control, keep them that way by devoting a couple of hours each week to taking out any new ones that may appear. It would also be wise to attend to the weeds in the fair­ ways and rough, at any rate in the sections close to the greens; never let them go to seed, and if your mowing does not prevent this, go after them with a hoe and dig them out. From a standpoint of neglect, the question of fertilization comes next. Like all other living things, grass must have food, and as it can not obtain enough naturally under golf course conditions, we must supply it arti- fieally. Without any doubt, barnyard manure comes closest to being the ideal fertilizer, and, for the small club, the most readily obtainable. Very few such clubs have any compost pile, however, and what manure they use—if any—is used fresh, and becomes a source of trouble rather than of assistance. This condition is doubtless due to the fact that a sizeable compost heap represents quite an investment, which is apt to scare them away from it, and they go on using unsatisfactory fertilization, or none at all. Get a compost pile started, in a small way if necessary, and keep adding to it until you get ahead of your requirements. It is obviously impossible for most small clubs to do much more than to fertilize their greens. However, if you find yourself a little ahead at the end of the season, take in the approaches, and after that a strip across each fairway at about the point where a properly played tee shot will come to rest, or on a three-shot hole where the second shot will finish. It is rather unfor­ tunate that the fairways can not be given the same treatment as the greens, but with a limited sum it is an impossibility; however, they do not need it as badly by quite a wide margin, for the grass is not cut so close, the clippings are not removed, and dense turf is not as essential. The water problem is a rather troublesome one, and one that must be provided for, else you can never expect a well-conditioned course. With the water system, it is entirely a question of the initial cost, as the subse­ quent operating expense is so slight as to be of no importance. If city water is available, it becomes an easy matter. Pipe it up to one green, and the difference will be so marked that your membership will take care of the rest. If you have to establish your own source of supply, it becomes a more difficult problem, but a method of financing it should be found, for* the dividends will be large. Mowing, while an important consideration both from the player’s and the greenkeeper’s viewpoint, is more or less flexible. If anything must be sacrificed, let it be the mowing, by all means. Instead of making your other work a filler for the mowing, as is almost universally the ease, reverse the process and let the mowing fill in. I do not intend to advise Dee. 16. 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 333 serious neglect of mowing, for without question it benefits the grass, particularly during the growing season; but the player should be sacri­ ficed rather than the course. There is no course so hopeless that it can not be helped. Were you to list everything that your course needs, together with the probable cost, it would undoubtedly present a staggering total. Do not let this fact dis­ courage you. If the money that is allowed your Green Committee for up­ keep, whether it be one or ten thousand dollars, is properly spent, and the weak spots eliminated one at a time, you will soon find things breaking the right way; and once they start coining they will come fast. Sodding Lyman Cabbies It is often desirable to resod portions and sometimes an entire green. Where it is imperative that a green should not be taken out of play for any considerable length of time, as in a case where it is not feasible to con­ struct a playable, temporary green, sodding offers the most feasible means of getting more desirable turf. Every golf course that can. afford to do so should maintain a turf bed of sufficient size to sod at least an average green. This turf should be kept at all times in putting condition. Emergencies will arise when it will be highly desirable. It offers a feasible plan for gradually transforming the turf of mediocre greens into first-class condition at a minimum of in­ convenience to the players. This is now being followed on a few courses where it is desired to change to creeping bent greens planted by the vege­ tative method. The Turf Bed The turf bed should be located out of the line of play but should have a position sufficiently conspicuous to insure its having attention. A turf bed is too often treated like a red-headed stepchild, when it should have the same care as the rest of the green family. It is not necessary to go to anything like the trouble and expense in preparing the turf bed that is usually done in constructing a green. Provided the land is fairly level, free from stones, and naturally drained, all that is necessary is to plow, then harrow, and work it down to a firm, fine, even seed bed. If the soil is poor, some manure or bone meal should be added. Stones interfere with the lifting of the turf. Wet or poor ground will not give satisfactory turf. If the bed is on a side hill it will be more difficult to use a sod­ lifting machine. 'Weak turf can not be handled satisfactorily. The seed­ ing or planting should be the same as for a green. Preparing a Green for Sodding The soil on which sod is to be laid should be firm. Where the green does not have to be rebuilt, all that is necessary in the way of preparation is to scalp off the old turf and smooth the surface with garden rakes. It seldom happens, however, that it is not desirable to reconstruct the green that is to be sodded. Many turf troubles are due to faulty construction, as well as the use of seed of inferior grasses. The faults should be corrected, 334 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. n. No. 12 drainage provided if needed, well-rotted manure added, and any needed changes is contouring made while the green is torn up. If the green is rebuilt, sufficient time should be taken to let it settle. Loose dirt never settles evenly, and it is a slow process to take bumps and depressions out of turf. The settling can be hastened with water. If it does not rain after the green is built and before it is ready for sodding, it should be thoroughly watered, and then if the soil is clay or silt it should be allowed to dry before anything further is done to it, to avoid puddling. With very sandy soils this precaution is unnecessary. But be sure that the soil is firm and the surface as even as that of a finished green. Most golf clubs have sod cutters or lifters; some are home-made; others were purchased. One of these is shown in Fig. 1, which is reproduced from Lifting the Sod Fig. 1—Using a Sod Cutter the July (1921) issue of The Bulletin. The reader is referred to that number, which contains an excellent article on sodding. Most greenkeepers prefer to have the sod cut into small squares, say 10 inches by 10 inches in size, while others use it in strips 10 inches by 36 inches, or any other convenient size. The character of the turf makes a difference in this mat­ ter. Tough, well-matted sod may be handled in larger pieces than weak turf which breaks easily. Thickness to Cut the Sod There appears to be no unanimity of opinion as to the best thickness to cut the sod for relaying. We have been making a study of this for Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 335 some little time, and now feel safe in making the assertion that it is better to cut the turf not over one inch thick. Turf of that thickness will attach itself to the soil beneath much quicker than will turf which is twice or three times as thick. The reason for this is easily stated. The true roots of plants become smaller and smaller the farther they grow away from the crown. A branch of a root, unless it is diseased, is never larger than the main roots. Roots of turf grasses give off stronger branches at one inch from the crown than they do at greater depths; so they knit into the soil beneath in less time. We recently took up some creeping bent sods and embedded them in sea sand in our greenhouse. Some of these were trimmed to one inch in thickness, others two inches, and still others three inches. After they had been allowed to grow for a month they were taken up and the new root growth observed. The two and three-inch sods had long roots ex­ tending down the sides which had come out from near the surface, but there were scarcely any which had come out from the bottom. There were many more roots from the bottom of the one-inch turf than from the others. We are not at all sure but that sod one-half inch in thickness, if it is kept moist, will not give quicker and better results than will that which is thicker, but for practical purposes sods one inch in thickness will prove satisfactory. Sod cutters, such as the one shown in Fig. 1, cut turf fairly uniform in thickness. If care is exercised, the same may be done with hand tools-, as illustrated in Fig. 2. But a much better job can be done if the turf Fig. 2—Lifting Sods With Hand Tools Courtesy of Macmillan Cq. 336 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. II, No. 12 is cut a little thicker than is necessary and all sods trimmed to exactly the same thickness. This can be done in a trimming box, which contsists of a flat bottom a little wider than the sods, with sides not over one inch in height. There should be a strip, the same height as the sides, across one end to hold the sods from slipping. For convenience, the trimming box should be supported about three feet from the ground. The sods are put in this box, dirt side up, and the surplus dirt trimmed off with a sharp draw-shave, scythe blade, or any similar instrument. We know some will say that this is fussy work and unecessary, but we have seen several job of sodding recently where the time spent in trimming the sods to a uniform thickness would have saved several times the amount of labor that would have to be done to get an even putting surface. Laying the Sod Fig. 3 shows one method of laying the sod. The work may just as well be done from the other direction if the footprints are kept smoothed out of the strip on which the sod is being laid. It is easier to do this extra raking than to move the boards and work in such an uncomfortable posi­ tion as the man laying the sod in the picture has to take. It would be worth while to take a few lessons from the men who lay paving blocks. The sod should not be crowded together in an attempt to obliterate the seams. New growth starts out first from near the edges of the sods; so a little space should be allowed or there will soon be lines of thicker grass where the sods are joined. Fig. 3—Laying the Sods on a Green Courtesy of Macmillan Co. Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 337 Finishing the Job In taking up and relaying sod much care should be taken to see that it does not become dry. It would seem that the need of keeping live turf moist would be obvious to the dullest laborer on the job. But we see sods lying around in the hot sunlight for hours, sometimes for days, with no watering; and still they wonder why the turf turns brown and dies when it is relaid. If it is hot, dry weather when the work is done, the newly laid turf should not be left more than an hour or two before it is watered, and then it should be kept moist. After the sod is all laid, it should be given a good top-dressing, which must be worked into the crevices, and then it is well to roll the green. Whatever else is done, do not neglect to keep it moist. Fertilizers, especial­ ly the highly soluble ones, like ammonium sulfate, are not desirable on new­ ly laid turf. What it needs is water—not so much that the green becomes soppy, but enough to keep it moist. Fig. 4—A Green One Day After Being Resodded Playing on Newly Sodded Greens It tickles the pride of the person who supervises the sodding to be able to say that the green is put in play immediately, and if the work is properly done it should be smooth enough to putt on. Playing on the green probably will do little, if any, harm. It would be safer, how­ ever, to give the sod two or three weeks’ time in which it is not dis­ turbed with trampling, thus allowing it to knit together and send its roots down into the soil below. Remember that the future growth of the grass depends not so much on the way the sod was laid as whether or not it forms an intimate connection with the soil beneath. 338 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE vol. n. No. 12 Shrubbery About Golf Courses By AV. L. McAtee U. S. Biological Survey and Washington Country Club The word about in the above title is used advisedly, for shrubbery on golf courses, at least on all parts of it where balls are in play, is, of course, wholly undesirable. The rough is cruel enough to most of us as it is. But in odd unplayed nooks and corners, as where a circuit of holes encloses a tract of unused land, and in all territory out-of-bounds, shrubbery can be used with benefit both to the appearance and upkeep of the course. There is no argument about shrubbery being an embellishment; and the benefits we have in mind are the destruction of pests of the greens by birds which will be attracted by carefully selected and properly planted shrubs. Some birds nest among the limbs or in cavities in trees, others on the ground, while many prefer to nest in shrubs and thickets. Methods of attracting birds in general have been discussed in previous articles in The Bulletin of the Green Section; the needs of the shrub-frequenters will be particularly dealt with in the present paper. However, it must not be forgotten that practically all small birds feed more or less upon the grasshoppers, leafhoppers, caterpillars, white grubs, and earthworms that constitute an army of pests so injurious to fairways and greens. Most of these birds relish also to some extent the fruits of shrubs, and by increas­ ing the quantity of these we can certainly increase the numbers of our bird friends. Most shrubs need full light, hence do best when planted in the open or about the edges of clumps. of trees. They are most attractive to birds when massed in imitation of natural thickets. Considered as ornamentals, the shrubs bearing fruit eaten by birds are far superior to the showy- flowered but often sterile growths so commonly used in decorative planting, for their fruit, changing color with the progress of the season, in many eases finally attaining most gorgeous hues, makes them objects of beauty and interest through a much longer period. The only objection we can think of to the use of fruiting shrubs in the proper places about golf courses is that they may prove another of the so numerous diversions that tempt caddies from the path of duty. The particular kinds of shrubs to use depend to some extent, of course, upon the geographical location of the golf course to be planted. Bulletins containing full lists for the Northeastern, the Middle Atlantic, the Bast Central and Northwestern States, and special lists for other regions can be obtained on application to the Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Here only a few plants for each region and for special situations can be mentioned. In general it is best to use shrubs native to the region concerned thus doing away with the experimental element in planting. Nurseymen specializing in such plants are accessible to most sections of the country. Among the best bird-feeding shrubs and small trees are: Bayberry, hackberry, mulberry, juneberry, wild cherries, wild raspberries and black­ berries, sumach, Virginia creeper, wild grapes, dogwood, hawthorn, blue­ berries and elder. Different species of these must be selected for the various geographic provinces of the United States, and there are some specialties Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 339 to be recommended for certain regions. In the northern plains country Russian olive, silver-berry, buffalo-berry, and snowberry are useful supple­ ments to native species of the fruit-bearers listed above. In the north­ western coast region the numerous wild species of currants are of value as well as some of the manzanitas; here also and across the Northern States in general, mountain-ashes provide much good bird food. In Southern California the introduced pepper-tree, the manzanitas again, the madrone, and California holly are favorites with birds. From Arizona to Western Texas such fruits as the knockaway (Eftretia) and ironwoods (Condalia and Forestiera) are available. From Texas east through what is popularly spoken of as The South, the china-tree, pepper-vine, Mexican mulberry and inkberry produce valuable bird foods. For sandy land along the coasts bayberry, sea buckthorn, sand cherries and the beach plum are especially adapted. For covering rocks nothing excels Virginia Creeper, but wild grapes can well be mixed in such a planting. Some of the best bird feeding plants are small trees like juneberry, mulberry, flowering apples and wild cherries, and usually these can be placed wherever there is room for shrub­ bery. A few herbaceous plants like pokeweed and Mexican mulberry also have a value equal to that of many shrubs. In conclusion we would again urge that when shrubs are to be planted let them be of fruit-bearing kinds that will benefit the birds. They are quite as ornamental as the others, and the birds they attract are not only pleasing to the ear and eye, but are beneficial as destroyers of the insect and other foes of the links. “Service.” Who Is Responsible? By 3. S. Clapper The word “service” has been handled in a very careless manner, both by the manufacturer and selling agent, and abused equally as badly by most of the owners of every kind of equipment, so that it is really a fifty­ fifty proposition when the whole thing is boiled down. The question of service, of course, necessarily starts with the manufacturer, but it should follow right down the line, including the ultimate purchaser of his prod­ uct. The manufacturer can not always control the methods employed by salesmen and the different agencies who indulge in extravagant and un­ warranted statements to influence the purchaser, but there is no excuse on the part of any manufacturer for failure to place directly in the purchaser’s hands a clean-cut and conservative statement of his product and the service he may expect with the proper care and usage, find this should be supported by a warranty which means good design, good ma­ terials, and good workmanship to insure efficient performance. The pur­ chaser should be furnished with full detailed information of the product, with complete instructions as to its operation and its care, and sugges­ tions for the operator’s guarding against possible trouble and unnecessary expense.- I have maintained that every manufacturer of a complicated product should have a greater interest in his product after it reaches the user’s hands than before the sale was consummated, and he should assume his share of the responsibility in having his product perform efficient and dependable work. The manufacturer who acknowledges and accepts sueh 340 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. n, No. 12 responsibility is pretty sure to follow up the sale of his product and see if the purchaser is ready and willing to assume his share of the re­ sponsibility which at this stage becomes equally as important and should be shared by the purchaser. There is no denying the fact that manufacturers have been greatly im­ posed upon by careless and indifferent owners of their product, and espe­ cially when in the hands of incompetent and careless operators who, through negligence, allow the equipment to go to pieces and persuade the owner to believe that the product was inferior to start with. It is discouraging to the manufacturer of a good, honest product to note the indifferent and careless usage and abuse of his, or any other manufacturer’s, product; and this is especially true with so many of the best golf clubs in the coun­ try, as very few of the clubs are properly equipped to service their full line of equipment or have a first-class mechanic to assume the responsibility of keeping every piece of machinery in good working condition. I have seen the very cheapest and poorest quality of lubricating oil fur­ nished the operator of power equipment. Every manufacturer of power equipment has determined by long experiments and at heavy expense the proper lubricant for his machinery; and no one can go very far wrong by following his recommendation. The best is the cheapest. It should be the policy of every manufacturer to place all informa­ tion possible in the hands of the purchaser of his product and to keep a card index of the operators of the machines so that he can send them bulle­ tins from time to time, offering suggestions that will be helpful; but it is surprising how hard it is to get the operator’s name. Every club using a machine should be requested to give the manufacturer the name and address of their operator so that the manufacturer can keep in touch with him and do his part to see that the machine will perform efficient service. In certain eases where such request has been made it is known, however, that not 25 per cent of the clubs have given consideration to this important request and sent in the name. I wish that all of the clubs could fully ap­ preciate what this class of service means to them, and I am sure that all of the manufacturers are more than anxious to cooperate in every possible way to see that their product is performing satisfactory work; but the user must realize and show his willingness to assume his share of the responsibility. I am afraid that many of the clubs have adopted the policy practiced by most of the farmers: When the season is over the equipment is usually piled up in some out-of-the-way shed and left covered with dust and grease, subject to rust and untold damage. Every piece of equipment should first be cleaned, painted, and well protected against rust by a heavy coat of grease or oil, or, better still, gone over carefully and put in first-class condition during the winter months; and when this precaution is taken and the necessary attention given to every piece of equipment now in use on the golf course, it will be surprising what a great saving there will be and how much more efficient and satisfactory service the equipment will render the user. May I offer the following suggestions to operators for preparing their tractors in particular for winter storage? The machine should first be thoroughly washed and cleaned of all grease and dirt. Remove the lower part of the motor crankcase and clean out all sediment and flush the pan with gasoline. Dee. 16. 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION . 341 Examine all bearings thoroughly and see if any need replacing or adjust­ ing; if so, attend to it right then and there. Remove the cylinder head, being careful not to damage the copper gasket. Clean out all carbon. Examine the pistons, piston pins, and rings, making such replacements as necessary. Examine valves and valve seats and, if pitted, re­ grind them before replacing the cylinder head. Drain all of the old oil from the crankcase and other gear housings and flush out with kerosene to clean out all sediment. Then refill with fresh oil and grease. Refill the motor crankcase with clean, fresh oil; start the motor and run the machine until you are sure all of the gears, bearings, and parts are covered with the new oil. Pour one pint of oil on top of the warm water in the radiator; then drain so that the inside of the radiator and water jacket in the motor will be coated with oil. Pour one-half pint of motor oil on top of each piston. Then crank the motor over by hand until the pistons and cylinder walls are covered with oil. Remove the magneto breaker box and fill with vaseline; then replace. This prevents rust and corroding of breaker points. Your machine will then not only be in good shape lor winter storage, but, with a little cleaning when spring comes, ready for another season’s work. Your interest in having the machine perform continuous service is no greater than the manufacturer’s. They are ready to serve you on notice. Do not trust your machine in the hands of the average garage mechanic. First tell the manufacturer your troubles. While doing this work, it will be well to give the same human con­ sideration also to your cutting units, putting-green mowers, and all other equipment. Handling Plugs: A Discussion AV. J. Rockefeller and Lyman Carrier {Mr. Rockefeller opens the discussion with the following contribution.'— Editors. ) At Inverness, where we have handled at least 10,000 plugs this year, we wonder where Carrier and Connellan “get that stuff” when they say that the soil removed with a hole cutter will not completely fill a hole, and that a greenkeeper should go around with a bucket of earth to supply the deficiency.1 Maybe so, but we don’t do it that way. Our equipment consists of the following: 1. A sheet, say, 18 inches square, of heavy tin, with a round hole in the center about 5 inches in diameter. 2. A hole cutter. 3. A hook to remove cups. 4. A loose handle on the hole cutter, say 2 feet long, and thick enough to fit loose. Our operation of changing a cup consists of the following: (a) Removing old cup with hook. (b) Laying plate of tin on the spot where new hole is to be cut. The tin simply prevents damage to the turf while the hole is being cut. (c) The first cut on the new hole with the hole cutter is as deep as it can be made, say 4 inches, so as to remove as much soil as possible around 1 See article, “Changing the Cup,” in the September Bulletin. 342 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE vol. n. No. 12 the roots of the grass. This cut of turf is then laid for the moment on the plate of tin. (d) The second cut is about as deep as it can be made, and this cut of earth is transferred by the hole cutter, put in the old hole, and tamped to firmness with the end of the handle of the cutter removed for that purpose. (e) The last cut is made deep enough to get the necessary earth for the old hole, the depth being guaged by the hole cutter and experience. This earth is placed in the old hole and tamped. (f) The last operation is to slip the cut of turf into the old hole by hand and tamp to surface. We never find it necessary to water plugs by hand, and it would seem that this should not be necessary if the soil under the greens is kept in proper condition. Once in a while a plug is handled carelessly and a noticeable depression is created, but that result is due to pure carelessness, and it occurs so infrequently that a little “jacking up” is all that is needed to get the plugs put into a true surface. Guessing at the number of plugs handled in moving holes four to five times a week and in plugging out pearlwort and ehickweed, we estimate the number handled this year at 10,000. No greenkeeper ever took too many pains to get the best result, and this comment is in no respect a criticism of the care used in the method described by Prof. Carrier. We have been getting good results by our method, and we believe it is not quite so fussy. (Prof. Carrier, who has reviewed the above contribution from Mr. Rockefeller, comments thereon as follows.—Editors.) Careful consideration of the above, together with a visit to Inverness, where a cup-changing demonstration was put on for my pleasure and profit, fails to convince me that the Rockefeller method is preferable to the Connellan, or that Inverness has reached 100 per cent efficiency in this important detail of putting green upkeep. This criticism of Mr. Rockefeller’s and the details of his method of changing a cup are doubly welcome, as they may help to call attention to the serious injury that is being done on a great many greens by careless workmen. Top-dressing will cover and correct a multitude of these faults committed in the past, but there is no way to prevent the damage that is continually being done except with more eare in the operation. Fortunately the question of fact raised (whether the dirt taken out by a hole cutter will or will not completely fill the hole), is capable of mathematical proof. The cutting rim of a hole cutter varies in thick­ ness from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch. If the unbroken plug of soil is put back into the hole from which it has been taken there is an open space of this thickness about it. Figured at one-eighth of an inch, if the hole is 6 inches deep, this open space amounts to over 9 cubic inches. The area of the hole is about 12 square inches; so if the dirt is thoroughly tamped back in the hole there will be a depression of three- fourths of an inch. This is what we get here in actual practice. The man who changes the cup at Inverness does not do a thorough job of tamping, and I believe he would get better results if he used a hammer or mallet and drove this dirt down firmly. Right here it is well to cau­ tion against putting dirt in the old hole if there is water in it, or in Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 343 using the dirt from the new hole if it is water soaked; for no matter how carefully the tamping is done the plug is sure to be puddled. . I have seen plugs which after a few days’ drying could be pulled out of the hole with the fingers. There is a strong advantage in having the pail of soil along to use in case it is needed. The Con'nellan method calls for the top piece of turf to be cut 1 inch thick, while Rockefeller makes the first cut to a depth of 3 or 4 inches As a matter of fact, both get live turf of exactly the same thickness. In all of the soils that I have had a chance to observe the plug begins to rotate with the cutter after the cut is an inch in depth. This means, of course, that all of the roots are broken below that top inch of turf. It is much easier to guage the proper height to fill the hole with dirt so that the piece of turf when put in place and pressed with the sole of. the shoe fits exactly into the surrounding sod, when the first cut is 1 inch instead of 3 or 4 inches in thickness. Of course, the quart of water added as the last detail in the Gonnellan method is not always necessary. But quite a little experience in .trans­ planting grass and shrubs leads me to believe it is pretty good life as­ surance for the plug. In a hot day that piece of turf might become suf­ ficiently dry to weaken its vitality even if it was not completely killed before the green was watered in the evening. The charge that the Gonnellan method is “fussy” will scarcely hold. The workman need make but one round trip between the old and the new hole. With the Rockefeller method he makes two or three. Then by the Rockefeller method of conservation of energy in tamping there frequently is a little dirt left over which has to be gathered up in the hands and carried off the green. I would guess that a man with the same experience with the two methods would complete the operation by the Gonnellan method in less time than by the other. (Further comments by Mr. Rockefeller.—Editors.) I can not agree with Mr. Carrier’s statement that if an unbroken plug is replaced there is an open space of 9 cubic inches. The cutting edge of the hole cutter is at the extreme outside. By cutting the plug the exact size of the hole, the plug is compressed and elongated in the operation and when removed to the old hole and tamped sufficiently to retain its former compactness it fills the hole completely. If it is necessary to pound the dirt in the old hole as hard as cement, why should not the whole green be packed in that manner? I have changed holes for a good many years and find it much easier to do a finished job with a 3 or 31/2-inch plug than with a 1-inch plug. As for the breaking of the roots at 1 inch by rotating the cutter, in our soil we would not turn the cutter as you would an auger way around, but slightly back and forth, not over % inch, and pressing on the handle of the cutter. It cuts very easily to a depth of 3 or 4 inches. As for speed, with our method, in comparison with Mr. Gonnellan’s, we can move two to his one. Comment by the Editors (These two methods of changing the cup are given in sufficient detail in this and the September issue of “The Bulletin” so that any greenkeeper 344 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. n. No. 12 who will may try them both and take his choice. We insist that humps, depressions, and dead plugs of turf resulting from changing the cup are unnecessary. The question of whether the work can be done by one method in less time than by the other is of minor importance. It should be done right.—Editors.) A Word of Thanks The Green Committee of the United States Golf Association, with the close of the second year of its existence, takes this occasion to thank those who have given them encouragement in one way or another. During the past two years the Green Section has grown from a mere idea to an organization of some consequence with a membership of 557 clubs. It may be well at this time to remind our readers that this is a co­ operative effort, designed to facilitate the work of Green Committees throughout the United States and Canada. It is the wish of the Green Committee to be helpful to all and particularly those who are obliged to conduct their courses at a minimum outlay of money. It is not always easy to make The Bulletin attractive or to obtain material that will be interesting to all, and the cooperation of our readers is eagerly sought. We hope during the next year and from year to year thereafter to make The Bulletin more and more attractive and of greater interest, but to do this we must have the active cooperation of green committeemen and greenkeepers throughout the United States. Those who have prob­ lems can be helpful by submitting them to the Green Committee of the United States Golf Association for consideration—not that the Green Committee is equipped to solve all problems, but so that it can collect information and perhaps be helpful to others who may at some other date encounter the same problems. Anyone having information that he believes will be helpful to others should send it to the Green Committee, of United States Golf Association so that it can be published and made available for others. We should be glad to have articles written by those interested in the work of green­ keeping, but when anyone has information that he thinks will be of value we should be pleased if it is sent to us in a letter or in any form, because if it contains only the germ of an idea it perhaps may be developed into something useful. It must be borne in mind that the editor and the Green Committee of the United States Golf Association are not omniscient, and that in the territory covered by the United States and Canada golf courses are maintained under the most widely divergent climatic and other condi­ tions, and it is not practical for us to cover all of these at once. Those who are interested in the conditions which prevail in the South and the Southwest, or the Pacific Coast, or in the North, should send us infor­ mation and endeavor to be helpful. It frequently happens that some method or practice used in one section can be applied with advantage in another. In closing the work for the year we offer our thanks to those who have given us aid and support, and we invite continued and further co­ operation so that the Green Section can be of greater service to all. Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 345 An Additional List of Books Suitable for the Libraries of Golf Clubs (Attention is invited to previous lists on pages 107 and 218 of the cur­ rent VOLUME.) cttwre, Washington, D. C.: The following may be obtained upon application to Department of Agri- Tractors on Southern Farms. Farmers’ Bulletin 1278. Excavating Machinery Used in Land Drainage. Department Bulletin 300. Portland Cement Concrete Roads. Department Bulletin 1077. Plain Concrete for Farm Use. Farmers’ Bulletin 1279. Tree Surgery. Farmers’ Bulletin 1178. Flytraps and Their Operation. Farmers’ Bulletin 734. The Green June Beetle. Department Bulletin 891. Grasshopper Control. Farmers’ Bulletin 747. The following may be obtained at a cost of 20 cents from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.: tomology Bulletin 108. Leafhoppers Affecting Cereal, Grass and Forage Crops. Bureau of En­ Professional golfers’ register. A register of professional golfers is main­ tained by the Professional Golfers’ Association. Clubs desiring the services of a competent professional are invited to make their wants known to the Secre­ tary, Professional Golfers’ Association, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. Questions and Answers AU questions sent to the Green Committee will be answered as promptly as possible in a letter to the writer. The more interesting of these ques­ tions, with concise answers, will appear in this column each month. If your experience leads you to disagree with any answer given in this column, it is your privilege and duty to write to the Green Committee. 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. 1. Winter treatment of greens; rolling top-dressing, fertilizing.—Greens upon which we have played during the winter (since Dr. Harban’s statement that winter play did not injure them) have done exceptionally well, and considering this we thought that maybe a light rolling, when conditions were right, might help, as we are not going to permit winter play this year, for various reasons. Would an occasional light rolling during the winter, to offset the heaving of the greens, be beneficial? We would also like to know if an occasional light appli­ cation of sulphate of ammonia during the winter would be beneficial in creating and maintaining a soil condition suitable to the growing of bent grasses. We have been making a very light application about every six weeks during the playing season, and our greens have stayed in good condition.—(Indiana.) An occasional light rolling of your greens during the winter is all right if you do the rolling when the ground is in good condition—that is, when the frost is not in the ground and the ground is not soggy because of too much water. Rolling at that time can do no harm and will doubt­ less be beneficial. Certainly it will improve conditions for play greatly. We do not believe you will get any results at all from the use of sulfate of ammonia during the winter. If your soil is at all heavy—that is, in­ clined to get pretty soggy—when it freezes and thaws the best thing to do will be to give it an occasional light top-dressing of sand. That is the only thing, we think, you can add as a top-dressing during the winter on greens upon which you are playing that will be beneficial. 346 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. n, No. 12 2. Winter top-dressing of greens.—It has been our intention to top-dress all of our putting greens this fall with a mixture of loam, manure, and sand. Owing to the pressure of other work we had contemplated postponing the dress­ ing until later in the season, in all probability after the ground had become frozen. We have, however, been informed that the placing of compost upon a frozen turf will result in the yellowing of the grass during the spring. Kindly advise us on this point.—(Pennsylvania.) You are perfectly safe in top-dressing your greens as you propose, but the top-dressing should not be over one-eighth of an inch deep. The yellowing of turf from top-dressing results only when the top-dressing is put on so thickly that light can not get to the grass. It is never de­ sirable to top-dress that heavily. 3. Winter seeding in Ohio.—~We are laying out our golf course and our archi­ tect has recommended to our committee that they seed in December. Is it your opinion that this is good policy here in Ohio? With our ground in good condi­ tion, when do you consider it desirable to seed in our section, aside from fall seeding ?—(Ohio.) We would regard the seeding of a golf course in December in Ohio as a very dubious proposition indeed. We think it would be much bet­ ter to have the land well prepared so that it could be seeded just as early in spring as possible. That would certainly be a safer proposition than to risk seeding in December. 4. Controlling Dallis and Vasey grasses; winter greens for the south.—Our 9-hole course is located in the hills, and naturally the soil in the valleys is richer than that on the hillsides. Both our fairways and greens are Bermuda turf. During the past year we have been confronted with a growth of a wide-blade, deep-rooted, tough bunch grass. This has spread very rapidly, especially in the valleys, but it has not appeared in the greens. We are sending you a specimen of this grass. Will you kindly identify it for us and advise us as to how we can fight this grass. We have noted that it is a good idea to sow greens with redtop or Italian rye grass for winter purposes. Is it too late to do this at this time (November 21)? What is the best kind of fertilizer to use on the greens?-— (Arkansas.) The specimen of grass you send us is Dallis grass (Paspalum dilata- tum)—a very valuable hay and pasture grass in the south. You will find it mentioned in Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1125, issued by the Department of Agriculture. This grass has great ability to spread in lawns and pasture lands, and both this species and the one related to it, namely, Vasey grass, have been more or less troublesome on golf courses around New Orleans. The Vasey grass, however, is much more troublesome than the Dallis grass, making larger, coarser bunches. If it is a serious detriment on your fairways there is only one way to fight it, and that is to grub out each plant, and then to take precautions that the grass does not go to seed in the rough or nearby so that the seed is blown over the fair­ way. This is rather an expensive proposition, but we can make no other suggestion. It is not too late to sow your Bermuda greens to redtop or Italian rye­ grass for winter purposes. We would advise doing this just as quickly as you can. For winter greens the plan is to cut your Bermuda as closely as possible about the first of October and then to seed heavily to redtop or Italian rye-grass. The redtop will produce the finer turf. The new seeding will remain green all winter. The best fertilizer for your putting greens is top-dressing, using good compost. In the absence of this, bone meal is satisfactory. Dec. 16, 1922 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 347 5. Use of lime in compost; undesirability of use of phosphatic fertilizer.—I note that in some of your Bulletins you suggest the use of lime in building up composts of muck soil. I have various other sources of information which advise that it is not wise to use lime with muck soil to make compost on account of the fact that lime will set the ammonia free which is in the muck and thus render the muck of much less value. I have been advised, however, to use acid phosphate or soft phosphate rock to compost with muck in order to render it suitable for top-dressing on greens. I further beg to advise that the muck we have available becomes hard on exposure to the air, and needs something mixed or composted with it which will do away with its tendency to harden and put it in good me­ chanical condition. I would like to obtain further information on this subject if there is any available.—(Florida.) We regret that there are very few definite data on the effect of lime on muck in compost beds, but it seems to be the consensus of opinion that lime is very helpful in rendering muck more useful as a constituent of compost. Some mucks or peats give a decided- acid reaction while some give a neutral or alkaline reaction. We think without a question lime should be used where the muck is acid and probably also where it is neutral or alkaline. Most mucks are slow in decaying, and compost of these used as a fertilizer should decay with reasonable rapidity. Lime hastens decay somewhat. As for its ammonia-liberating action, there is not enough of this to consider seriously when lime is used at the rate suggested in The Bulletin to which you refer. We are quite strongly of the opinion that lime in compost, especially where muck is an important constituent, is very helpful and a useful ingredient. Acid phosphate is also a very useful constituent of compost where the compost is to be used on certain crops, but it is not apparently desirable where turf grasses are concerned, since it is inclined to encourage the growth of white clover and other less desirable plants. We have no doubt that ground rock phosphate would be as useful as acid phosphate in a com­ post bed; but that neither will take the place of lime. The phosphates are sometimes used as absorbents in stables where free ammonia gas is being liberated. There is no evidence that any ammonia gas is lost from a compost pile. 6. Gulf turf for sand dunes.—We have an 18-hole golf course laid out over the sand dunes of this island. Originally the dunes were clear sand, then they were covered by the beach grass, etc., and now they are covered with a dry moss and tufted grass. Our method of treatment has been to lightly disk-harrow, loam, seed, and roll. We have had good results, but the grass is fine and light and does not stand hard usage. Would the creeping bent do well under the outlined conditions ?—(Massachusetts.) It is practically impossible to grow turf on dune sand for improving the soil. The grasses that do best on dune sand are red fescue and Rhode Island bent for the fairways, and sheep’s fescue for the rough. On the putting greens, of course, you can grow any kind of grass you want if you can make the soil conditions proper, and creeping bent is the best of all grasses for this purpose. In order to get your fairways established even with red fescue or any other grass and make good turf, you will have to add clay or clay loam or some such material to bind the sand into something resembling an ordinary soil. The method used at Pine Valley (New Jersey) on some of their very sandy fairways was to top-dress them with a light clay which they were able to get out of pits, and using manure as a fertilizer. In following this method it is best to do it continuously until your soil conditions are right. Employ an economical treatment and avoid trying to effect an immediate remedy but keep improving conditions gradually. Meditations of a Peripatetic Golfer “Peripatetic” as a noun means one who walks about; a pedestrian. A fa­ mous statistician has figured out that the last pedestrian will be killed by an auto in 1938. They paid $5 a square foot for velvet bent sod, while their rough and fair­ ways were spotted with it. Look’s as though a new one is born every minute. The standing of any club with its members and their friends depends upon its Green Committee. As one man put it, the Green Committee is the club’s “full-page advertisement.” The condition of the course determines the club’s position with its members. Fertilizing a green with humus is about as effective as a diet of sawdust. The secret of good landscaping is to avoid straight lines. “Salesmanship must be based on telling the truth,” says a prominent Ro­ tarian. Don’t think this is an accomplished fact, but follow the old Roman ad­ vice—Let the buyer beware! Greens top-dressed only with mediocre soil and commercial “humus.” No wonder they look starved. It is a wise greenkeeper who knows his own grasses. All will agree that divots should he replaced, and the players insist that they shall be replaceable. Fertilize the fairways occasionally. Whenever you play it in par you say the course is in perfect condition; when you fail to break eighty you should pronounce it rotten. Golf course architects, like poets, are born, not made. The construction work on a golf course will cost almost nothing on an old pasture except to mark the tees and the greens. There is every step upwards from this to the most expensively built courses. Compliments to the Green Committee when the turf is good are more helpful than knocks when something goes wrong. High rectangular tees. Even if they were not so high they would be blots on the landscape. At least round off the corners. No farmer is fool enough to work clay soils when they are wet. Yet some golf course contractors commit just this folly. A natural lake of clear water on a golf course is a thing of beauty. An artificial pond of muddy or stagnant water is an abomination. Dam the archi­ tect, but not the streams which go dry in summer. Bunkers half concealed by a ridge across the front. The architect’s idea is not discernible to an ordinary mortal. A Christmas present for your greenkeeper—a carload of manure. 348