Issued By The

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION GREEN SECTION
P. O. Box 73 

Benjamin Franklin Station 
Washington, D. C.

MESSAGE FROM THE GREEN SECTION CHAIRMAN
Fielding Wallace, Augusta, Ga.

Several months ago the United States Golf Association offered the

services of Dr. John Monteith, Jr., to the War Department, which we understood 
was faced with the necessity of developing a Turf Unit in the Construction 
branch of the United States Army Engineer Corps.

It is with satisfaction and pride that we announce that his services

have been accepted. Dr. Monteith since 1928 has been Director of the turf 
investigations of our Green Section. Because of his nation-wide experience 
with turf and his intimate knowledge of the problems involved in its estab­
lishment and maintenance he was asked to serve as Chief of the Turf Unit. 
His wide experience, we know, will be invaluable to the War Department in 
helping its staff to answer the many perplexing problems involved in getting 
a tough, wear-resistant turf on airfields in many sections of the country with 
the least delay possible. We take this opportunity to wish him, and the many 
capable turf men who will be working with him, a full measure of success in 
this gigantic task.

In the meantime the Green Section must carry on. These are times

when our member clubs are faced with unprecedented problems of attempting to 
maintain turf at as near pre-war standards as possible in many cases with 
seriously reduced personnel and equipment. Added to this is the fact that 
many of the materials taken for granted in turf maintenance programs for use 
as fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides are no longer available because of 
their vital role in the war effort. Substitutes must be used. The questions 
in the mind of every club official are, where shall we turn and what shall we 
use when present supplies are exhausted?

This year the Green Section has been handicapped not only by the fact

that there have been unavoidable reductions in personnel due to the urgent need 
for experienced turf men in the war effort but also by the removal to Belts­
ville, Maryland, of the Arlington Experiment Farm, where our turf investigations 
were conducted for many years. Consequently, tests this year have not been 
practicable. However, through the medium of TIMELY TURF TOPICS suggestions 
have been made of war time substitutes and the results of the experiments of 
others have been cited to point the way for clubs to test possible substitutes 
for themselves. Suggestions have been given as to how to apply materials on 
test plots and clubs have been urged to report any interesting results in favor 
of or against any of the war time substitutes they may have tried. If our 
member clubs will cooperate with us the Green Section may in this way act as a 
clearing house for the experiences and the results from use of various possible 
substitutes in many sections of the country.

At present the Green Section is planning to devote a large share of

its efforts during the coming year to the problems connected with the develop­
ment of war time substitutes for generally accepted materials used in the main­
tenance of turf. Plans are being formulated now for comprehensive tests of 
many possible materials. These tests are to be made in collaboration with the 
Bureau of Plant Industry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, as has been 
the case heretofore when we had the Turf Garden at the Arlington Experiment 
Farm. It is hoped that the tests made in Washington by the Green Section 
staff may be supplemented by carefully planned and executed tests in other 
sections of the country.

August, 1942

TURF SPECIALISTS WORKING ON AIRFIELDS: In connection with the appointment of 
Dr. John Monteith, Jr., as Chief of the Turf Unit of the Construction Branch of 
the United States Army Engineer Corps, it is interesting to know that New Zealand 
has also turned to its experts on golf course turf for guidance in the construc­
tion of turf on airfields. According to the 15th Annual Report of the Rew 
Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, "Mr. Madden, Senior 
Agrostologist, has been seconded to the Public Works Department to advise, 
particularly on aerodrome turf production and to carry out research work where 
particular difficulties in turf construction are met with.” Previous to this 
appointment, Mr. Madden was’conducting research work on golf greens in New 
Zealand.

The Annual Report referred to above includes some very interesting 

conclusions which have been drawn in New Zealand regarding relationships between 
turf for airfields and that on golf courses. Because of the very timely interest 
in this subject some of the particularly pertinent statements are quoted:

’’From observations to date there is fairly clear-cut evidence that the 

type of turf most suited to aerodromes which are required to stand hard wear is 
that class of turf most closely approaching a playing green or lawn. The 
pasture species such as ryegrass and white clover are definitely unsuited to 
hard regular wear. Some other drastic treatments will be necessary to convert 
the pasture type of turf to a good hard-wearing mat. Some considerable 
expenditure will also be necessary to control white clover which up to now has 
been fairly well established but is already proving to be quite dangerous. 
Supplies of grass seed suitable for aerodromes have been secured, the main 
species needed for this work being Chewings’ fescue, certified browntop, Poa 
pratensis, and yarrow. In addition, according to soil type and climate, 
there is need for some creeping-bent seed and dryland browntop seed. At one 
particular aerodrome-site Puccinellia was sown, and a further quantity of this 
seed is to be sown now."...

"Several important factors have been observed, and these are closely 

associated with the greenkeeping research work of former years............
Some difficulty was experienced in securing satisfactory machinery for the 
distribution of seed and manure, but the position is now fairly satisfactory 
in view of some recent improvements to New Zealand-made machines. ’’

INORGANIC NITROGEN NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR TURF: In a letter dated July 11, 
1942, the War Production Board requested fertilizer manufacturers doing 
business in the Middle Atlantic and Middle Western states to in turn request 
their retail agents who now hold stocks of fertilizer containing chemical 
(inorganic) nitrogen not to sell, offer for sale or distribute any of such 
stocks after July, 1942, for any purposes other than 1942 vegetable production, 
in the following states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, 
Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.

Until a conservation order is formulated by the War Production Board 

covering the manufacture and distribution of fertilizer throughout the entire 
country, it is to be hoped that all who are interested in fertilizing turf will 
cooperate with the fertilizer industry in carrying out both the letter and the 
spirit of the above request. According to this request, fertilizers containing 
inorganic nitrogen are no longer to be sold for use on turf.

However, as discussed in the June, 1942, issue of TIMELY TURF TOPICS, the 

organic meals can well be substituted for mixed fertilizers containing chemical 
nitrogen. When available, cottonseed and soybean meals as well as activated 
sludge will be found to be particularly satisfactory for turf purposes since 
they usually show analyses of approximately 6-3-2.

Also the recommendation has been made that "All Organic" nitrogen formu­

lae be used for mixed fertilizers to be sold without restriction. Such mixed 
fertilizers could be purchased and used satisfactorily for golf courses, parks, 
lawns, etc. As these "All Organic” mixtures aje made available for turf use, 
information concerning them will be published in TIMELY TURF TOPICS.

August, 1942

T. T. T. 2

DICHONDRA REPENS - WEED OR GRASS SUBSTITUTE? Considerable publicity has been 
given recently to the use of Dichondra repens as a substitute for grass in 
turf, particularly in southern California. One large mail order house is sell­
ing it in flats under the name of Dew Drop grass. Their advertisements indicate 
that it is the panacea for all turf worries.

Dichondra repens is a low creeping plant related to the morning glories 

but superficially resembling white clover. The leaves, however, are kidney 
shaped and may under certain conditions be as large as an inch in diameter. It 
occurs natively from Virginia south to Florida and Texas and in southern Cali­
fornia. Because of its habit of spreading rapidly by means of runners it 
has been generally considered as a weed in turf.

According to California publicity regarding it, it "is able to compete 

with such grasses as Bermuda and crabgrass and will definitely retard such grasses 
although they may remain alive and require mowing. Cases have been reported 
where a small piece has increased to as much as 20 square feet in a season, 
although the rate of growth is less as an average. The roots and subterranean 
runners form a sod to a depth of about 3 inches,"

Department of Agriculture officials say that it occurs natively most 

frequently on wet moist lands but practically never on dry soils; that it seems 
to prefer heavy soils rather than light or very fertile soils; and that it will 
withstand partial shade or extreme sun when sufficient moisture is available.

In recent years, apparently successful lawns have been developed from 
this plant in California. Its general adaptability for this purpose throughout 
the warmer regions of the United States, however, has not been established nor has 
its general use in the replacement of grasses for turf purposes been justified.

Since it is difficult to destroy, once it becomes established as a weed, 

it probably will be wise for anyone who is considering it as a grass substitute, 
to try it out in areas which are carefully confined by walks, driveways, or good 
edging plants.

Seeds of Dichondra repens are not available commercially, but the plants 

can be bought in flats which contain enough vegetative material to plant 100 to 
150 square feet.

STOP THE LEAKS: Water leaking from a faucet in a stream the size of a common 
pin wastes about 150 gallons a day, engineers of the United States Department 
of Agriculture have found. Even a leak of only one drop a second causes a 
waste of about 4 gallons a day. Considering the number of hose connections 
or other outlets that are to be found on areas in turf, a great deal of water 
is frequently wasted in the course of one season. All outlets should be 
checked and hose repaired to prevent unnecessary waste.

MANUFACTURE OF MANY TURF TOOLS BANNED: On May 20, according to Order M-126, 
the War Production Board banned the manufacture of many civilian articles made 
of iron or steel. Materials on hand could be processed until June 19, and 
assembly of these articles was permitted until August 3. The only articles 
of direct interest to the turf culturist which were affected by this Order 
were grass shears, and hose reels.

On July 13, this order was amended by the addition of a supplemen­
tary list of more than 200 items including trowels, garden sprinkling cans, 
weed cutters and pullers, hand weeders, grass whips, lawn brooms, lawn edgers, 
lawn rakes, lawn rollers, lawn tampers, lawn seeders, sod lifters, and turf 
edgers. The manufacturer is given 30 days to process material he has on hand 
for these articles, but the amount processed must not exceed 75 percent of the 
average monthly weight of these metals used in 1941. Moreover, no processing 
must be started that cannot be completed in the specified 30 days. An addi­
tional 30 days are allowed for the assembly of parts already manufactured. The 
same order forbids the delivery or acceptance of delivery of any items included 
in the lists referred to above if they are known to have been manufactured in 
violation of this order.

August, 1942

T. T. T. 3

FAIRWAYS TO SHEEP PASTURES: Several golf clubs in this country have raised the 
question of the practicability of their participating in the war program and at 
the same time reducing their war-time maintenance costs by taking the mowers off 
the fairways and bringing on the sheep.

In Scotland, grazing sheep kept the golf courses closely clipped long 

before mowing machines were invented, and on some courses in that country 
this practice has continued to the present day. In England before the war some 
few well known clubs still continued grazing because by a condition of their 
lease the landlord retained the pasturage.

For the last two years, however, the Board of Greenkeeping Research 

has been emphasizing to the clubs of the British Golf Union the desirability of 
arranging for sheep grazing on their courses for the purposes of "1.- Helping food 
production; 2.- Relieving agricultural land for crop production and so helping 
to maintain the Sheep population; and 3.- Keeping down grass and weeds and so 
saving mowing." As a matter of fact, clubs in England are now expected, and can 
be compelled, under certain conditions, to graze sheep.

According to the British Board of Greenkeeping Research, "Sheep grazing 

will do much to keep down the growth but will not altogether replace cutting.
The sheep also will tend to keep down weeds, especially ribwort plantains (narrow­
leaved) . The greatest damage is likely to occur from scalding on the greens 
and the breaking down of bunkers, built up tees, and banks. Sheep often select 
certain greens for sleeping and the scalding nuisance can be mitigated by fencing 
these greens with light post and wire fencing during the night, removing it in the 
morning in readiness for play."

The problem of fencing off the greens to prevent the objectionable 
accumulation of dung on the green as well as the scald which is particularly 
severe in dry weather, became an acute one. Ordinary fencing consisting of net­
ting or barbed wire attached to posts, aside from being unsightly, interfering 
with play, and being only partially effective, is both expensive and extremely 
difficult to secure. The staff at the Research Station in Bingley, England, 
therefore, set up some experiments using electrified wire, which of course 
depends on its electric charge rather than its mechanical strength to keep out 
the sheep. They were able to protect greens by using two strands of 14-gauge 
wire placed at 15 and 30 inches from the ground respectively and attached to 
posts which were only 1^ inches square and 4^ feet tall, placed at approximate 
10-yard intervals. Where lambs were involved, a third wire placed at 7 or 8 
inches from the ground was desirable.

It was found, moreover, that sheep which experienced the shock from 
the charged wire eventually became "educated" and would not graze closer than 
within about 9 inches of the wire. So complete was their education apparently, 
that it became possible to turn off the current during the daytime hours for the 
convenience of the players. Mowing, of course, had to be continued on the narrow 
strip adjoining the fence.

The electrifying unit, as used at Bingley, consists simply of an 

induction coil unit and vibrator, well grounded and connected to the fencing sys­
tem, the current being supplied by a 6-volt dry or wet battery, the charge of 
which lasts about a month. The unit, enclosed in a weather-proof box, is set 
up in a closed shed. Its manufacturers claim it will furnish sufficient current 
to electrify 25 miles of wire. The wire is carried between the greens on 10- or 
12-foot poles. Simple gates are provided to the greens by means of a 4-foot 
length of wire fitted with a hook, spring and insulated handle. On the St. Ives 
course at Bingley, 7 greens were fenced in this way with only about 80 man-hours 
of work.

In this country, if grazing is to be permitted, in addition to pro­

tecting the greens, the course itself will have to be fenced in order to confine 
the sheep as well as to keep out dogs which are one of the greatest pests in sheep 
production. For this latter fencing, it may be possible in some sections of the 
country to borrow or rent from municipalities or highway departments snow fences 
which are customarily stored during the summer months.

August, 1942 

T. T. T. 4