Bulletin of the Green Section of the U. S. Golf Association Vol. Ill Washington, D. C., May 21, 1923 ho 5 A MONTHLY PERIODICAL TO PROMOTE THE BETTERMENT OF GOLF COURSES CONTENTS Paying Seed Bills------------ - ------------------------------------- ------------------------ 130 Ridding Putting Greens of Crab Grass. Walter S. Harban--------------------- 131 The Golf Architect and the Golf Club. William S. Flynn---------------------- 133 Thin Turf and Luxuriant Turf, Their Treatments and Relations to Par. Maynard M. Metcalf__________________________ _________________ 135 Golf Course Rain Shelter. Charles L. Lawton________________________ 136 Uses for Evergreens on Golf Courses. W. L. McAtee------------------------- -— 138 New Member Clubs of the Green Section--------------------------------------------- 138 Advice to Players-------------------------------------------------------------------- -------- 139 Principles in Golf Architecture. Max H. Behr-------------------------------------- 139 Hole Cup with Flag Pin Guide and Ball Holder. Harry Pryke--------------- 144 Combined Pumping .Outfit for Liquid Manure. Alfred E. McCordic-------- 144 Advantages of Top-Dressing Direct from the Dump Cart. Arthur Laver— 145 The Greenkeeper’s Pay. J. J. McNamara—__________ ----------------------- 146 Tractor and Mower Combination at Shannopin Country Club-----------------, 146 Concrete Tanks for Collecting Liquid Manure. Alfred E. McCordic-------- 147 Some Decisions on Rules of Golf of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club-------- 148 Let Us Repeat____________________________________________________ 149 Peat or Humus as a Water Holder__________________________________ 149 Power Mower with Three Cutting Units_______________________________ 150 Questions and Answers___________________ ;_________________________ 150 Meditations of a Peripatetic Golfer________________________________ 156 MEMBERS OF THE GREEN COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED *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 J. K. Bole 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 L. C. Menager Sherrill Sherman James L. Taylor Iverness Club Old Elm Club Hollywood Golf Club Waverly Country Club Mayfield 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 Florida Country Club Yahnundasis Golf Club Ekwanok Country Club Morris County Golf Club Pine Valley Golf Club •Denver Country Club *Wynant D. Vanderpool *Alan D. Wilson Frank L. Woodward STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION Washington, D. C. Washington, D. C. Toledo, Ohio Fort Sheridan, III. Deal. N. J. Portland, Oreg. South Euclid, Ohio 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. Ortega, Fla. Utica, N. Y. Manchester, Vt. Convent Station, N. J. Clementon, N. J. Denver, ~Colo. * Executive Committee member. PERMANENT MEMBERS W. R. Hugh I. Wilson, Merion Cricket Club. Haverford, Pa. 1 Lyman F. H. Hillman, Washington, D. C. 1 Walton, Carrier, ■Washington. D. C. Washington. D. C. Published by the Green Committee of the United States Golf Association, 456 Louisiana Avenue. 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, 1923, by the Green Committee of the U. S. Golf Association. 130 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Voi.ni, No. 5 STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1912, OF THE BULLETIN OF THE GREEN SECTION OF THE U. S. GOLF ASSOCIATION, PUBLISHED MONTHLY, AT WASHING­ TON, D. 0., FOR APRIL 1, 1923. District of Columbia, ss.: Before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, personally appeared W. B. Lydenberg, who, having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he is the business manager of the Bulletin of the Green Section of the U. S. Golf Association, and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management, etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption,, required by the Act of August 24, 1912, embodied in section 443, Postal Laws and Regulations, to wit: 1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business manager are: Publisher, Green Committee of the U. S. Golf Association, 456 Louisiana Avenue, Wash­ ington, D. 0. Editors, 0. V. Piper and R. A. Oakley, P. O. Box 313, Pennsylvania Avenue Station, Wash­ ington, D. 0. Managing editor: none. Business manager, W. B. Lydenberg, 456 Louisiana Avenue, Washington, D. C. • 2. That the owners are the United States Golf Association, a mutual organization of golf clubs. President, J. Frederic Byers, Pittsburgh, Pa.; vice-presidents, Robert A. Gardner, Chicago, DI., and Wynant D. Vanderpool, Newark, N. J.; secretary, Cornelius S. Lee, Tuxedo Park, N. Y.; treasurer, Edward S. Moore, 14 Wall Street, New York, N. Y. 3. That the Association has issued no bonds, stocks, mortgages, or other securities. (Signed) W. B. Lydenberg, Business Manager. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 2d day of April, 1923. (Signed) ^BERNARD CONNOR. My commission expires August 6, 1927. Golf Architecture This issue of The Bulletin contains several contributions on golf archi­ tecture. The best interests of golf are more and more demanding of its devotees an intelligent interest in golf architecture. The publication of any such article does not imply the approval of its tenets by the Green Committee. The Green Committee. does, however, believe in giving its readers the ideas of any sincere student of the game. Pay’ing seed bills.—We have recently received a complaint from a seed dealer to the effect that golf clubs, as a rule, are very dilatory in paying their seed bills. This seedsman expresses the opinion that the high cost of seeds to golf clubs is partly due to slow pay. If this be true, then every golf club ought to be able to get a discount on a C. 0. D. basis. The matter is certainly worth the consideration of the manager or chairman of the green committee of every golf club. May 21,1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 131 Ridding Putting Greens of Crab Grass Walter S. Harban In the article by Piper and, Oakley on pages 88 to 92, along with references on pages 149, 165, 166, and 215, Volume I of The Bulletin, will be found about all that ean be said today of the two weedy crab grasses, as well as of the vari­ ous methods that have been employed for their eradication. Suffice it to say that I agree with them in their conclusions that picking by hand is the only safe and sure method of treatment known, and that if this is done properly the least injury will occur to the turf and putting sur­ face. How to do this is the object of this article. By reference to the drawings on pages 89 and 91 it will be seen that crab grass is unlike a plantain and a dandelion, both of which have long tap-roots. Crab grass in contrast develops by branching from the base above the ground, making a more or less circular stool. If this stool is removed, the mass of small roots below will die and not reproduce. If the entire plants and roots are removed it will leave deep un­ sightly holes so often observed on some courses. The knife or tool in the accompanying illustra­ tion, which is shown full-size, is the most con­ venient instrument for this purpose. A large one-bladed pocket knife, a sharp fruit or paring knife, or an old breakfast knife ground to this shape and size and kept sharp on both sides, answers every purpose. Early or hairy or common crab grass usu­ ally appears in Washington in May on bare ground, but in putting greens rarely before June. Late or smooth crab grass is much later. Between the two, putting greens require weed­ ing from early June until September. Both are destroyed by the first frost in fall. The green should be watched for the first appearance of the weed,' which is easily distinguished by its broad blade and light apple-green color, for at that time much of it can readily be removed by the fingers alone without, the use of the knife. With us here at Washington, in a region which may be termed the hot-bed of crab grass, picking is a continuous job from the first appearance of the plant on the greens until September, ar ■which time the greens are entirely free from it and have none of the pieked-turkey-hen appear- anee seen when other methods are employed. । Now to the weeding methods. First of all, when the course is in p^iy, cut temporary holes for the golfers’ use, as men 132 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. m, No. s can not work and keep out of danger at the same time. Cords should be stretched across the green at intervals of two and one-half to three feet apart so that each man can have plenty of elbow room and see what he is doing. Each man should be furnished with a small cushion, bag, or mat upon which to kneel so as not to disturb the turf or surface by undue pressure of his knees. I mention this because I have no use for a picker who sits down all day to pick -weeds, as he must be free to use both hands at all times, as I shall explain later. If you have ever picked weeds day in and day out for a month or so you will appreciate that a man must at times change his position to get the kinks out of his legs and otherwise rest himself. But for the most part, kneeling is the most effective position. When large or well-rooted plants are to be removed the knife described above should be inserted about one-half inch deep directly under the plant. If the knife is kept sharp this will sever the stronger roots, and with the other hand the plant is lifted with ease without disturbing the soil surface'. In no ease should the plant be lifted with the knife alone, as it will always remove the soil with it and leave an ugly hole, and will moreover leave the surface of the green bumpy. I do not know of any work on a golf course that requires more watching of the workmen than does this, or where more injury can be done by careless workers. Therefore if there should be one on the force who can not be trained to do his work right better dispense with his services. You may notice that I have always mentioned men in connection with this work. We are unable to get women here, and we find boys too trifling to do it right. As the work progresses, a number of plants can be held in the hand and at the same time others lifted, when they are placed in small piles along the line and gathered up and destroyed later. It is often desirable after picking a green to give it a light dressing and at the same time apply about 10 pounds of ammonium sulfate. Brush well, roll, and water before putting the green in play again. This should be done immediately after picking. To some the process described above may seem very troublesome as well as expensive. To such I will say it is both. Situated as we are it is this or nothing. We prefer clean, playable, greens, and our members demand it. In more favored locations the work is much less; but let me strongly advise against the common method so prevalent on many of our eastern courses of allowing the weed to remain until fall and then by raking and cutting hoping to eliminate the pest. By such treatment you are only adding fuel to the fire, as every strong plant will drop a thousand seeds or more to add to your troubles the following year. Volume I of The Bulletin (1921) has been reprinted, and may be obtained in one cover for $2.25. Concave places in the fairway.—Owing to the difficulty of cutting sueh places short, it is best to fill them up, lifting the turf first and relaying it after filling. Such basins or grooves with tall grass make the lie of the ball very unfair to the player. May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 133 The Golf Architect and the Golf Club William S. Flynn, Ardmore, Pa. The question, of the relationship which should exist between the golf architect and the golf club is one on which there are a great many varying opinions. The following embody the opinions of the writer and are offered merely for what they are worth. In establishing a new golf course, the first essential is to secure a desir­ able piece of land. Perhaps the best plan for a club to follow is, to obtain options on several tracts and then get a golf architect or other competent judge to determine which is the best. Too often a group of men not suffi­ ciently informed or who have but slight knowledge of the desirable land­ scape features for a golf course select the site and then the golf architect is called in to lay out the course. Many golf clubs have unfortunately made very bad selections of land, with the result that a really desirable course is out of the question or can be obtained only at inordinate expense. In selecting the man to lay out the course, the club should consider the architect from three standpoints, namely: Does he know the ideals of the game? Does he know construction and maintenance? What has he pro­ duced ? It is also well to discuss the merits of the available architects with amateur golfers who have made a study of golf courses and golf architects. Such men have no other motive than the general advancement and better­ ment of golf. Good courses advance the interests of the game, -while poor courses invite ridicule from critics and never create enthusiasm in the club. When the committee appointed has decided on the architect they want, they should have a conference with him and talk over their situation in general. The club committee should discuss with him, at that time, all their ideas or suggestions. If suggestions are made that are good, a com­ petent architect should have no hesitancy in incorporating these in his layout. Clubs may very properly disagree with what the architect pro­ poses. They can not always agree with what an architect thinks is best, and its committee should have perfect freedom to discuss with him the plans of their future playground. It must be remembered, however, that in nearly every club a large proportion of the members are inclined to object to all “difficult” features on the course; but, if the architecture is sound, these same objectors will be the very ones to “point with pride” afterwards. Consequently, the architect must exercise the requisite taet, good judgment, or persuasiveness to convince the club that his ideas are reasonable and that they will prove satisfactory. The architect should then be allowed to go ahead and do the best pos­ sible job that he can, without further suggestions, because it is to be pre­ sumed that his record should show that he is capable of laying out a course with variety and interest and that it will be well constructed and main­ tained at a reasonable cost. The club should not expect the architect to submit plans and specifica­ tions and then not supervise the work, because in nine cases out of ten the man or men engaged to build the course do not, or can not, interpret the ideas that the architect plans. It is practically impossible to put on paper or incorporate in a model, ideas that fit in well with the general landscape. These must be worked in as the construction progresses. 134 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vol. in, No. 5 Au architect should never lose sight of his responsibility as an educa­ tional factor in the game. Nothing will tend more surely to develop the right spirit of the game than an insistence upon the high ideals that should inspire sound golf architecture. Every course needs not be a Pine Valley or a National, but every course should be so constructed as to afford incen­ tive to and provide a reward for high-class play; and by high-class play is meant, simply the best of which each individual is himself capable. For laying out the golf course, the architect’s fee should properly include the cost of supervising the construction of same. He should make a suffi­ cient number of visits to see that his plans are being carried out absolutely; and indeed the club should insist on this. Under no consideration should an architect consent to submit plans and .specifications for building a course without his supervision, because this is not only an injustice to the club, but it is not fair to him if his plans are not carried out as he intended. No conscientious architect should take on more work in one season than he can properly supervise. The plans submitted by the architect should.be complete in so far as the framework of the golf course is concerned. It is unwise for the architect to submit or for the club to accept a complete scheme of bunkering the course. Tn the beginning, pits and hazards should be put in, in conjunc­ tion with the construction of the greens, and also certain other bunkers on the fairway that have a definitely fixed position, such as a carrying pit off a tee, etc. He may, however, submit a scheme for ■•the bunkering of the fairways, which bunkers can be put in later and the location of which can best be determined by the play. It also would seem advisable that the club retain the architect in an advisory capacity during the year following the main construction, or through the whole period of construction if it is to take several years. In this way the architect can serve the club most satisfactorily and secure for it the best results that he is capable of producing. Finally, a really conscientious architect, one devoted to the game and to his profession, will make the club’s interests his own. His reputation must rest both on what he accomplishes and in the satisfaction he gives his clientele. The K. C. Gr. A. Caddie Book A fourth edition of this most excellent book has just appeared. It contains not only an extensive discussion of the caddie system and instruc­ tions for caddies, but also a valuable condensation of the rules of golf of the United States Golf Association and of the Western Golf Association, definitions of golf terms, etiquette of golf, brief history of the game, emergency and first-aid hints for caddies, and lists of golf champions—126 pages of information in a pocket-size volume. The price of the book is 30 cents. It can be secured from the Kansas City Golf Association, 708 R. A. Long Building, Kansas City, Mo. May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 135 Thin Turf and Luxuriant Turf, Their Treatments and Their Relations to Par Maynard M. Metcalf Par allows two strokes on the putting green and adds for each hole the number of strokes necessary to reach the green when perfect golf is played, all hazards being avoided. In good golf architecture the slope of the ground is taken into account, an all-uphill hole being laid out with shorter distance than is an all-downhill hole and par being reckoned in part in accordance with the slope.. It is true that on some courses par is reckoned without reference to the slope of the ground; but such ignoring of a very salient feature can hardly be justified, the relation of distance to results from perfect golf being decidedly affected by the ground slope. But the slope of the ground is not the only thing that affects the dis­ tance attained by the stroke. A clay course with ordinary turf gives great run to the ball in ordinarily dry weather, while a sandy soil, with any turf it will grow under ordinary treatment, is much more dead. On the other hand, to mention two examples of the opposite extreme, the East Potomac Golf Course, in Washington, D. C., and the course at Chautauqua, N. Y., have a very rich turf, of almost featherbed quality, which deadens the ball, preventing any great run unless it be cut shorter and be cut more fre­ quently than is usual in fairway mowing. Both of these sorts of dead fairways, those on thin soil and those with luxuriant turf, should be taken into account in laying out the course and in determining par. Chautauqua (9 holes at present) is 3,344 yards long, 6,688 for the 18. With its feathered turf it is very, very slow on the fair­ ways, making the course in effect nearly a thousand yards longer than the ordinary full-length course of say 6,200 yards. Such turf as Chautauqua’s is a great asset, but it involves special treatment in one of two ways. If the grass in the fairways is to be cut the usual fairway length, the holes should be somewhat shorter than usual and the par reckoned with allowance for the very short roll. With this treatment there is the decided disadvantage that small hollows in the fairway will be left w’ith longer grass, so long that the ball will sink half its diameter or more into the turf, making an unreckoned and undesirable type of hazard. It is far preferable to plan the holes with the usual distances and the usual par and then to mow the fairways very short and mow them every day during growing weather, or at least every second day. When so treated, luxuriant turf is a great blessing; but, like many luxuries, luxuriant turf is expensive if properly eared for. Even with daily mowing and cutting very short it is important to fill the slight hollows two feet or less across, making the fairway surface unusually even, thus avoiding spots of longer grass. If there is luxuriant turf in the rough it must be kept mowed with a rather low-set hay-mowing machine to prevent “gumming up” the course by lost balls. In estimating budget for a course with luxuriant turf there should be fully double the ordinary allowance for mowing fairways and rough. 136 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Voi.ni.No.s G-olf Course Rain Shelter Charles L. Lawton Last spring the Portage Lake Golf Club, Houghton, Mich., deemed it essential to have more rain covers upon the course, and being limited in funds the Green Committee designed a very cheap rain cover which has proved to be very satisfactory. Thinking that possibly some other clubs would be interested in this feature, I am submitting herewith plans and specifications of the shelters we constructed. These shelters can be turned around the post to any point of the compass against the wind, thereby affording protection from a summer squall. They furnish ample protection for a foursome with the caddies. The golf clubs are placed back of the seat. May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 137 138 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Voi.in.No.5 Uses for Evergreens on Golf Courses W. L. McAtee Let me seek the good graces of the reader at once by saying that I am not in favor of having an evergreen or other tree anywhere on a golf course so that it may be in the way of a reasonably well-hit ball. However, even with this reservation in favor of satisfactory golf, good uses for evergreens m the links can easily be pointed out. Evergreens have a solidity and all-the-year sameness of appearance that fit them as ideal markers for distances or boundaries. How comforting it is, when shooting for a hole, to have a clump of evergreens at the back allowing an easy estimate of the distance, which, if unmarked, puzzles one in the shimmering sunlight of summer, or if set off by deciduous trees is made nebulous by their grayish twigs and branches in the leafless seasons. How much more ornamental as well as more distinctly visible are evergreen trees than out-of-bounds posts. If the golf course has any space permitting ornamental planting, then evergreens can scarcely be omitted. I bespeak especial consideration for evergreens, because they are the best roosting places for the birds which should be attracted to every links. Among these trees the various junipers are most valuable because they provide food also for birds. In­ stead of the dryeone characteristic of most evergreens and from which only comparatively few birds, as crossbills, pine grosbeaks,' and nuthatches ean extract the seeds, the junipers have a modified fleshy cone that is practically a berry. These are swallowed entire by many birds and are especially important as a bird food because they are on'the trees all winter. Junipers exist in every stature from prostrate shrubs to tall trees, so there will be no trouble in getting the size desired. Most of them may be called self-pruning, as they form dense, shapely erowns. Every section of the country has its native kinds of these trees, and the species show a wide range of adaptability to soil and climate. Consequently junipers can be had for golf courses anywhere. For standards, posts, markers, screens and group planting they are excellent, but as hotels for birds, providing both food and lodging, they are even better. New Member Clubs of the Green Section Long Meadow Country Club, Long Meadow, Mass. Ashbourne Country Club, Ashbourne, Pa. Doylestown Country Club, Doylestown, Pa. Transit Valley Country Club, Buffalo, N. Y. Napoleon Golf Club, Urbana, Ohio. Pekin Country Club, Pekin, Ill. Rock Island Golf Club, Rock Island, Ill. Urbana Golf and Country Club, Urbana, Ill. Black Hawk Country Club, Madison, Wis. Maple Bluff Golf Club, Madison, Wis. Normandie Golf Club, St. Louis, Mo. May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 139 Advice to Players The author of “The Golfer’s Rain Jacket” is evidently a golfer. There is much feeling embodied in his set of “Dont’s.” We pass along his advice. “Don’t move, talk, whistle, cough, sneeze, groan, grunt or even think loud— while a stroke is being played. “Don’t stand close to, in front of, behind or cast shadows across the player’s line—while he is addressing a ‘putt.’ If the ball ‘rims’ the cup it then becomes your duty to restrain the player from any acts of violence. “Don’t play from a tee until the party in front have all played their second strokes, replaced their divots, relighted their pipes, concluded their golf stories, collected their caddies, selected their next clubs—and are well out of range. “Don’t play up to a putting green until the party in front have all holed out, practiced their missed putts, replaced the flag, fixed up the score cards, ex­ changed the putters for drivers—and all players and caddies are off the green. “Don’t be vexed if the players in front can’t find their lost ball. Should they, eventually, signal you to ‘play through’ (and then play along with you), show your appreciation by giving each of them a cigar. The ‘Flor de Killdead’ is made for this purpose, and is sold by all fireworks stores. “Dpn’t fail to fill up and to smooth over neatly all footprints in the bunker sand. If you carry in your bag a small garden rake, a bricklayer’s trowel and a wire broom, the operation will require only about half an hour. “Don’t neglect immediately and properly to replace the turf. A small sprinkling can, a canteen of water, an ordinary rolling pin, a package of grass seeds and one pound of dehydrated ostrich manure, added to your equipment, will reduce this obligation to a mere pleasure!” Principles in Golf Architecture Max H. Behr. Golf is a sport, not a game; and this distinction is fundamental if one is to attain a correct perspective of it, for both are endowed with prin­ ciples of a different character. A game is enclosed in principles, strictly speaking, because everything about it is man-made. He levels the ground according to a predetermined scheme, marks it off, and superimposes a logical idea upon it. He is in every way master of the situation, and, to him, the surface of the earth is merely one of the exact tools of the pastime he creates. But are we in a like situation when we deal with golf? Even if the last thing we would think of doing would be to level the ground, are we not, by setting up positive principles as to the manner in which it should be employed, applying a mental level which must tend to inhibit the imagination and accustom the golfer to expect certain things that must eventually establish themselves as prejudices’ Prejudices are like diseases; they creep upon us unknown, and, once established, few are able to be rid of them. And set principles upon golf architecture must finally turn into prejudices. This is exemplified today by the divergence of opinion over the Alps and Redan types of holes. To the golfers of the past, who knew only links-land golf, who were unso­ phisticated to any definite ideas upon golf architecture, these holes were 140 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Voi.ni.No.s great holes. But it seems to me—and I have heard the arguments—that those who today condemn these holes as infamous, have not approached them in innocence, but have looked upon them through a matrix of certain principles associated with prevalent ideas of good architecture. Games are civilized institutions as subject to change as are fashions in dress; but golf is nature, a beautiful nude, capable of giving an infinite variety of impressions according to the mind of the beholder. She is a three-dimensioned being, subject to the vagaries of ever-changing light; but once we have drawn her with the pencil-point of principles, we have reduced her to two dimensions, and we no longer behold her, but an orderly image of her mirrored upon the quiet waters of our mind. And perhaps in the drawing of her, we will have added something of our own, draping her figure becomingly with clothes of logic. We see this in the Rules of Golf, many of which are mere drapery upon the law of golf that the ball must be played as it lies, because we are not courageous enough to accept the law in its nakedness. Were the playing of golf still confined to its natural habitat, this would never have taken place; but when courses came to be constructed out of inhospitable material, a modification of the golf of links-land and commons had to be made. Golf was going upon a journey into strange lands. It was no longer a matter of breathing the spirit of golf upon ground ready for such an awakening; on the contrary, its new and unfa­ miliar home had to be prepared to evoke this spirit. But spirit is a very intangible thing and is apt to evanesce when the object that gives it being comes to be analyzed. The new synthesis is apt to be corroded by logical thought. And, in the case of golf, the result of this process was its enclosure in a straight-jacket of rational ideas and theories, as much akin to true golf as cut hedges, mannered walks and formal beds of flowers are akin to a natural landscape. Thus was born the Penal School of golf architecture; and its thought persists today. It is pervaded 'with the puritanical idea that all error is a sin. It is not satisfied that it has accomplished its high purpose until it has dug a pit for every transgression from the consecrated path it has provided from the tee. It revels in that type of smartness which is ever discovering subtle errors in the conversation of others. Like a true Puritan, it thinks of life in terms of a beneficent future, and of unfettered joy as a positive sin. And that is about as much pleasure as there is to be had out of golf courses planned in this ehurchly manner. Bunkers are provided to punish every conceivable indiscretion of the player, and the intervening ground is, in consequence, a horesome expanse affording only the negative satis­ faction of reflecting upon one’s virtue. Golf becomes a contest concerned only with the avoidance of sin. and the way to the hole a prim path guarded on either side by the devil. The golfer, under the stress of this searching confessional, gradually succumbs to the habit of counting his beads, think­ ing to attain heaven when he is able to count no more than the par of the course. And it follows that this Penal School is not satisfied that nature can accomplish its high tasks. Concerned only with human error, joying in the May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 141 punishment thereof, nature must be bent and torn asunder until it eeases to exist, and in place of it the hand of man is seen on every side. And thus those who belong to this school invent irrelevant and expensive ideas, because the ground that is to receive them is a secondary consideration. But thankfully there were a few who took up golf architecture who had an instinctive love of nature, who never thought they were imbibing true golf unless it had the salty bouquet of sea breezes and their steps felt the spring of turf under foot as they wandered over that newborn, undu­ lating, tumbling ground thrown up by the sea and modeled by the wind and rain of ages. They perceived that the holes they played at had no evident design, the greens having been placed where the grass grew most delicately; and these were, in numerous instances, table-lands, some so small in area that the ball could only be laid near the cup by a skillfully played run-shot. And they saw that the wind had eaten into the turf, or else the grass had not yet conquered the sand, and they understood what a bunker was. And in the company of a friendly rival they contested against the obvious difficulties and hidden mysteries of this land of enchantment; their worldly dut'ies fell from them; the manners of the counting-house were forgotten; and they played “the like,” “the odd,” “one off two,” and so forth, to the strokes of their opponent. Golf to them was not only a recreation involving an exercise of skill, but in links-land—that is, old sand dunes—they found a place of rest from the works of man. Whereas the Penal School thought that it could sublimate golf by the imposition of rational ideas upon it, these lovers of nature were actuated to an evaluation of golf under a stimulus of emotion. It was evident that if they were to understand golf, it could only come from an analysis of that which excited pleasure. Thought, then, became the handmaiden of feeling; and in their searching examination to disclose its inherent quali­ ties, they found that nature lay at the bottom of everything. They eame to realize that in accepting nature as their playground, they were mastered by her, and to the extent they humbly admitted her supremacy, to that extent would they possess golf intimately. Thus the message their art was to communicate was revealed to them, and the Natural School of golf architecture was born. This school has principles, but the ideas back of them are like flowers whose roots of perception lie in nature, whereas the Penal School is ever troweling the ground to bed its hothouse plants. The limitless possibilities of this newer school are still in course of realization. It has not yet altogether broken from that stillborn inventive genius of the Penal School. To give oneself up entirely to nature requires a self-abnegation that few are blessed with. Such principles as equity, fair play, a just reward to skill, principles that govern in games, are con­ tinually obtruding. They undoubtedly have their proper place in golf, but fs they are not to be found in nature, it behooves us to be very chary in marrying these ideas to her, that our offspring will not prove to be mongrels. To perceive golf intimately we must do what the artist endeavors to do; that is, to regain the innocence of the eye. We must not allow our perception to be warped by accepted ideas, for golf is nature just as much 142 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Voi.in.xo.s as the landscape the artist paints. If he approached his work with the prevalent idea that foliage in general, and grass in particular, was green, he would never see the true colors of nature at all. Nevertheless, if he is a true artist, he will not be satisfied to paint the reality of a scene before him, but will endeavor to express some idea of how it affects him, some mood of it, and feel himself at liberty to recombine its parts, to compose it in such an harmony that his idea will arise out of it as a chord of music. And yet with all the liberty he takes, his finished ivork must be a true representa­ tion of nature. In this respect, he is tied hard and fast. Thus limited, and yet not limited, does his fantasy hover over nature, and through his work we are given to see the world with new eyes. And I conceive that the golf architect must approach his work in the same spirit. He, however, is limited in his juggling of the parts of nature. His art is one of interpretation. But his power to interpret correctly must be limited if he approaches his work with preconceived ideas that this or that must be. He immediately becomes argumentative, and a battle ensues, and to battle nature is costly. Undoubtedly there should be present in his mind certain desirable and commendable features that he should endeavor to interpret from the ground; but these should not be in the shape of rigid formulas, but be present in the consciousness as a restraining influence. They should never obtrude to the extent of stifling the emotion which any bit of ground is capable of exciting by itself. That is, he should not endeavor to perceive his ideas in it, but should allow it to generate ideas for him. And it is this very lack of feeling that so much golf architecture gives evidence of and that explains why many of our courses are laid out in a mechanical and cut-and-dried fashion. It seems dangerous, then, to put that which is desirable and commendable in the form of categorical prin­ ciples. The moment this^is done these things are elevated to the regions of the mind—are put on ice, as it were. What we want is to keep our ideas shot through with feeling, and not to take them from cold storage and plant them where we will, without any regard to their appropriateness. We must first feel a situation. We shall never have to worry ourselves about our ideas; the right one will pop up and marry itself to the situation. And yet a tendency to standardize is inevitable. At one time courses ranged all the way from five to twenty-two holes. Eighteen holes is now the accepted number, and considering the cost of land, and often an inadequate acreage, it is, in most cases, very difficult to design eighteen good holes. And even here standardization has e.rept in, and it is now incumbent upon the architect to give a certain variety in the length of holes. In all standardization, danger lies in a general hardening toward the center. This is exemplified by the evolution of thought upon the funda­ mental law of golf that the ball must be played however it lies. This law is as nertinent to Golf Architecture as it is to the Rules of Golf. So obvious was it, that it does not appear in the Rules until 1857. If we now examine it carefully, reflect deeply upon it, we must per­ ceive that its universal application imposes a penalty upon every stroke. This penalty may be either in the lie itself, the stance required to play the ball, or in its relative position to the hole. May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 143 If we can dispense with looking at golf through the binoculars of the rules, the lenses of which are divided by hair-splitting dialectics, we must see that a ball lying upon sand is in no way to be differentiated from a ball lying upon the fairgreen or in the rough. The edict that the club shall not be soled when the ball lies upon sand, merely interprets the law, in that an impression of the club-head made upon the sand changes the lie of the ball. This practice the law would enjoin upon the player whether the lawgiver had thought to state it in the Rules of Golf or not. Nevertheless, this redundant edict, necessary to inform the ignorant, has created a sharp distinction between ground defined as hazard and ground upon which one is permitted to sole one’s club; and the latter we have divided into three parts, fairgreen, putting green and rough. With this convenient parcel of tricks in our hand, we are tempted to establish principles governing each, forgetting that the law knows no such distinctions, all being subject to its universal governance. But having separated a bunker as a thing apart from the other three divisions, we say that it must be a ehastener, a guide, cut in such a fashion this year, in another fashion the next, and the bed of it be raked. The rough must be just so long, the fairgreen just so short, and the green itself must be eoeked at a proper angle; and thus we brew the law into a potion accept­ able to the palate of our ideas. We no longer play the ball as it lies, but as we make it lie. Natural golf upon links-land knew nothing of this. In constructing artificial courses it is evident that we have to prepare the ground upon which the ball is to lie; but the moment we dogmatically lay down that the ball must lie this way or that in our various arbitrary divisions according to some preconceived formula that we have established for each, we have placed a corroding hand upon the law of golf. It is for us to interpret the law of golf according to the peculiarities of every situ­ ation; and the demands of each, if we have seeing eyes, will manifest themselves. And if the golf architect is an artist, he will be guided by the particular topographical formation of the ground which he has to contend with, and his work will be stamped with success if all his modifications of it seem the result of natural forces. What I have endeavored to convey is that golf architecture is not amenable to a yard-stiek. It is not that we can dispense with certain desirable and commendable features; but if we make of these rigid prin­ ciples we must rob golf of that variety, uncertainty and mystery which is its true nature. A golf course might be laid out according to the ten commandments of Golf Architecture, and yet afford little pleasure. And the pleasure which a course excites is, after all, the final test. The Green Section does not guarantee or certify the goods of any commercial dealers in seeds, fertilizers, machinery, or other golf-course supplies. Beware of the dealer who states or implies that his goods have the endorsement of the Green Section. 144 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE vol.ni.Xo.s Hole Cup with Flag Pin Guide and Ball Holder The accompanying illustration represents the hole cup in use at our club and which is found to give the best results. It is made of strong-gauge galvanzied sheet iron, with a funnel-shaped receiver riveted inside half way down. No matter how care­ lessly the pin is replaced after holing out, the point of the pin slides into its proper place automati­ cally ; also the cup is well drained, and the ball not soiled. Any tinsmith can make this much cheaper than the ready-made cup.—Harry Pryke, Green­ keeper, Calgary Golf & Country Club, Calgary, Alberta. A Combined Pumping Outfit for Applying Liquid Manure, Chemical Fertilizers,Corrosive Sublimate, and Bordeaux Alfred E. McCordic The illustrations herewith show an efficient and economical combina­ tion pumping outfit for making applications of liquid manure or solutions of ammonium sulfate, nitrate of soda, Bordeaux mixture, or corrosive subli­ mate, which has been used very successfully at the Indian Hill Club, “Winnetka, III. It consists of a power plant and a storage tank. The May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 145 tank is a galvanized steel thresher tank of nine-barrels capacity, perma­ nently fixed on a wagon. The pumping outfit is fixed on a low truck with a platform 9 feet long and 3y2 feet wide, upon which is placed in the center a three-horsepower gasoline engine; at one corner an ordinary one-eylinder pump for spraying liquid manure, ammonium sulfate, or sodium nitrate; at the diagonally opposite corner a power spray for Bordeaux mixture; at another corner a hose-reel; and near the engine a 50-gallon wooden barrel for Bordeaux or corrosive sublimate. The steel tank on the separate truck is for holding liquid manure or the chemical fertilizers in solution. The power plant and thresher tank wagon are hauled from green to green, either by horses or auto. With this outfit Bordeaux mixture can be sprayed on eighteen greens in three to four hours, using, of course, a Bordeaux spray nozzle. A better, though more expensive plan, would be to have the platform permanently fixed on a light automobile truck which eould be used also in hauling the thresher tank wagon. Advantages of top-dressing direct from the dump cart.—I have read a great deal in The Bulletin of the different methods of topping greens by using a wheelbarrow. I find, however, that by mixing everything that is needed for topping, at the compost pile, including seed, and then taking as many loads as necessary and topping direct from the dump cart, I ean save time and material. Furthermore, by this method nothing objection­ able remains near the green to annoy the golfer; no grass seeds are shoveled up with the top dressing, and that cherished rendezvous of the’Japanese beetle—spots where manure has been dumped—is no longer close to the 146 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Voi.iii.No.s green. I have tried all methods of top-dressing, such as carrying around planks, etc., and with the result that I find I can top-dress more quickly and better from the earts.—Arthur Laver, Greenkeeper, Oakland Golf Club, Bayside, L. I. The greenkeeper’s pay; some questions for the readers of The Bulletin.—Why is the greenkeeper the lowest paid of the three employees who run the golf club? Most golf clubs have three employees who figure in the running of the club—the golf professional, the steward, and the greenkeeper. Many a good golfer never took a lesson from a professional. He can play golf without taking lunch or dinner at the club, but he can not play golf without tees, fairways, and greens. How is it that the green­ keeper is, as a rule, the lowest paid of the three? In fact, the ehef gets more pay than the greenkeeper, in some cases. Whose fault is this? Is it the fault of the greenkeepers themselves? Only a short time ago A. G. Spaulding and Brothers gave a purse for all the golf professionals of this section of the country to play for, and they were given a dinner at one of the hotels in the evening. They did not even thank the greenkeeper who went to the trouble to get the course ready for them.—J. J. McNamara, Pittsburgh Field Club, Aspinwall, Pa. Tractor and mower combination used by the Shannopin Country (Tub, Ben Avon Heights, Pittsburgh, Pa. Dr. J. L. McBride, Chairman of the Grounds Committee, writes that the combination was in use daily last sea­ son. the only expense being for gasoline and oil. Much hauling has been done on the course by attaching a dump-cart to the tractor. It consists of a chassis of standard make converted into a tractor by the use of a special attachment manufactured for the purpose. May 21. 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 147 Concrete Tanks for Collection of Liquid Manure Alfred E. McCordic It is generally conceded that manure is by far the best fertilizer for turf grasses. The great objection to its use, however, is the introduction of weed seeds. This danger can be avoided by applying the fertilizing ele­ ments of the manure in liquid form. An efficient means for collecting liquid manure that has been worked out at the Indian Hill Club, Winnetka, Sketch of system of concrete tanks at Indian Hill Club for collecting liquid manure. HL, is a set of two concrete tanks, shown in the accompanying illustrations. One tank is a shallow tank containing a wooden cradle on which the manure is stored, and the other tank is a deeper one into which the liquid is drained and stored. The shallow tank is 12 feet square by 3 feet deep, outside measurements. The wooden cradle consists of two rows of six 8-inch by 6-inch timbers, one row on each side of the tank, one end of the timbers supported on the edge of the tank and the other end resting on the bottom of the tank near the opposite side. Over these timbers are nailed crosswise 2-inch planks with narrow spaces between them. Upon this framework manure is piled and water applied at the top with a hose running con­ stantly until the deeper storage tank, into which the seepage flows through a 6-ineh tile, is filled. The deeper tank holds about 20 barrels and can be filled in two days. The deeper tank is 7 feet square and 6 feet deep, out­ side measurements; its top is 1 foot lower than the top of the shallow tank. The manure pile, of course, gradually shrinks in size and fresh manure is put on from time to time. Eventually in the fall there will be found a small residue at the bottom of the pile thoroughly decomposed, which is 148 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Vot.ni.xo.s The shallow tank piled with manure. most useful mixed with earth and sand and used as a top-dressing. In the spring and fall we apply 9 barrels of the liquid, undiluted, to a putting green and in the summer 5 barrels of the liquid diluted with 4 barrels of water. It is well to treat weak spots on the fairways and the approaches to the putting greens in the same way. Grass responds promptly to such treatment, and the results have been exceedingly satisfactory. Some Decisions on Rules of Golf of the Golf Committee of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club Question.—Pursuant to a local rule, A lifted his ball, and in dropping it over his shoulder, the ball fell into his golf bag, which was slung over his shoulder. Was A entitled to redrop without penalty, or should he have played the ball from out of the bag, or given up the hole? Some contend that the ball "should be treated as lodging in anything moving” (rule 17 (2). Is there any difference in princ'ple between a "ball played into the turned-up part of the trousers which the player is wearing” and a "ball dropped into a golf bag which a player is carrying”? Answer.—A was entitled to redrop the ball without penalty. The player, his caddie, and his club can not be held to come under rule 17 (2). May 21, 1833 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 149 The difference between the eases mentioned is that, in the first ease, the ball is in play, and in the second ease the ball is not in play until dropped. Question.—In a match play knockout tournament played in foursomes, A and B as partners played C and D as partners. In playing to the third hole, the ball of the former couple went into the bunker, into which sand was being wheeled at the time, and it lay between two loads of sand which had not been raked down. After consulting together they agreed to lift out of the bunker and count two strokes. On.playing, A and B lost the hole and also the match. Should C and D be disqualified from the competition tinder Rule 3 of Special Rules for Match Play Competition for allowing A and B to lift as above instead of (1) playing the ball where it lay or (2) dropping it in the hazard as in Rule 11 if it was considered that that part of hazard was under repair? Answer.—The ball should have been lifted and dropped in the hazard under rule 11 (last paragraph) without penalty. A and B lost the hole by lifting the ball from the bunker. Stroke rule 11 does not apply to match play. C and D can not be held to have infringed rule 3 of Special Rules for Match Play Competitions, and are not disqualified. Question.—In a match a ball played toward a certain hole pitched on the fairway of another hole, lying parallel to the hole played at. Before the ball had stopped it struck a horse mowing-machine which was at work coining toward the player on the adjoining fairway; the knives of the machine cut a large piece off the cover of the ball, and the roller of the machine went over the remainder of the ball, forcing it into the ground. The ball, because of the piece sliced off, became unplayable. What should the player do ? Answer.-^-The player was, in equity, entitled to assume that the ball came to rest before being rolled into the ground. Rule 17 (3) applies. .The player could therefore have dropped another ball. Let Us Repeat 1. Don’t use commercial humus. It looks good but really is worth very little. 2. Don’t sow seed at a heavier rate than the Green Section advises. 3. Never build greens in layer-cake fashion. Artificial layers of any kind are not advisable. 4. Sowing seed on old turf is usually of no avail. There are two excep­ tions. Bent will catch on turf of any other grass in the north. In the south carpet grass may be sown on any low-lying soil on old turf and a good catch will result. 5. Never buy mixed fertilizers. Peat or Humus as a Water Holder There is no question that peats hold water with great tenacity. This feature, however, can not be practically utilized when moist peat is mixed with soil. Peat material in a finely divided condition contains large amounts of water but it holds the water so strongly that plants can not secure it. As a matter of fact, plants resist drought better on heavy clay loam soils than on any others. Furthermore, most peats are peculiar in that once dried they become practically waterproof. This means that dry or artificially dried peat mixed in soil does not become a water reservoir. If mixed while wet into the soil it will serve as a water holder, but the •grass can not get the water which the peat holds. 150 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE voi.iii.no.s Power mower and three curting units, with lifting device which may be operated while the machine is in motion and which raises the cutting units off the ground, a desirable feature when going over rough ground, roadways, or obstructions. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS All questions sent to the Green Committee will be answered as promptly as possible in a letter to the writer. The more interesting of these questions, 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 Com­ mittee. 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. :— ... .... . ................... ■ ■ .................. — ...... ...... 7 1. Constructing and renovating turf on putting greens; value of spiked roller and disking machines.—Our greens were built in 1911 and 1912, but owing to the fact that we did not install a water system until 1922 the greens have gotten into a deplorable condition. They will ultimately have to be rebuilt. It is our plan this year to rebuild three of the greens and renovate the remain­ ing fifteen. In renovating a green we expect to proceed as follows: (1) Sweep the green with a willow brush; (2) cut the grass as closely as possible; (3) roll and cress-roll with a spiked roller; (4) rake and cross-rake with a fine-toothed iron rake; (5) seed by means of a wheelbarrow seeder to a mixture composed May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 151 of 50 per eent Chewings feseue and 50 per eent superfine redtop, applying the seed at the rate of 5% pounds per 1,000 square feet, crossing and recrossing the ground in all directions with the seeder until this amount has been applied; (6) top-dress lightly with screened top soil; (7) rake lightly with a fine-toothed wooden rake to cover the seed and distribute the top-dressing evenly; (8) roll; (9) water by hand, using a spray nozzle. Our plan for constructing a green is as follows: (1) Plow, disk, and harrow; (2) remove the top-soil and place it to one side; (3) grade up the green to conform with the plan; (4) replace the top soil, screening the last inch through a quarter­ inch screen; (5) fallow to get weed seeds to germinate, raking as the weeds appear; (6) seed by means of a wheelbarrow seeder to a mixture of 50 per cent mixed bents and 50 per cent superfine redtop, at the rate .of 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet; (7) rake lightly with a fine-toothed wooden rake to cover the seed; (8) roll; (9) water by hand, using a spray nozzle. Our soil varies from a medium clay loam to a heavy black loam. During the past four years the greens have been top-dressed many times with top soil, rotted manure, and sand. In the fall of 1921 a chemical fertilizer composed of bone meal, nitrate of soda, and superphosphate was applied. We found last year that this had the effect of a hothouse treatment, stimulating the growth of the grass too early, with the result that an early frost killed off the grass on portions of some of the greens. Our reason for using fescue in renovating the fifteen greens is the fact that it is much cheaper than bent seed.. Indeed, we are advised by a seed house to use fescue throughout, as the quality of the bent seed on the market is unsat­ isfactory. (Alberta.) As your method of renovation will destroy all the vegetation on the greens, we would suggest that you make use of an ordinary farm disk harrow and a team to do the work, as in this manner it can be done in only a small fraction of the time it would take to do the work with hand-spiked rollers, and the results will be just as satisfactory in the end. We would first put on some well-rotted stable manure, if it can be had, and if not some light woods-earth, which will tend to loosen up the hard soil now on the greens; this should be worked thoroughly into the soil, and can be done most satisfactorily with a disk harrow, as outlined above. The usual pro­ cedure is to use a team and harrow and go round and round the green until it is thoroughly pulverized. It has been our experience that spiked rollers and disking machines are of no value in connection with established turf; we have tested these machines and in all of our experiments they did more damage than good. With regard to seed for your greens neither Chewings feseue nor redtop gives satisfactory results for putting greens in this country. They germinate well, and in the seedling stage give promise of excellent turf, but in the great majority of the cases the grass either dis­ appears about the middle, of the summer or becomes coarse and unsatis­ factory. We would advise you by all means to get some bent, if possible. It is true that the bent seed now on the market is poor, but we have never seen any bent seed that had the true bent in it which we would not take in preference to anything else for putting green purposes. There is no other turf grass that is anywhere nearly as good under the conditions exist­ ing in Canada and the northern part of the United States. Your sugges­ tions for seeding are perfectly satisfactory. Now that your water system 152 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Voi.ni.No.s is installed we have one suggestion to make, and that is, not to overdo the watering. 2. Vegetative propagation of bent grasses.—We have learned that eighteen greens were planted vegetatively in New York state by the following method: The greens were prepared ready for planting and then ditches were run diag­ onally across the greens three inches deep and four inches apart. In the bottom of these ditches was sown Chewings' fescue, a light layer of soil was put on top of this, then creeping bent stolons were laid in the treneh and covered with from two to two and a half inches of soil, and then the greens were sown with redtop. This is a different method from the one we understand you recommend for the vegetative planting of greens. As we expect to plant some greens this coming year, will you kindly advise us as to which is the proper method? (Pennsylvania.) The vegetative planting of turf grasses is rather new, and it is not at all strange that there should be many differences in opinion as to how it should be done. In fact, it is highly desirable that there be experiments conducted to find just the best way of getting a first-class turf. We have ourselves experimented with this method since 1916, but, of course, have not exhausted all of the possibilities. The method of planting which you describe must be looked upon purely as an experiment, and it would be unfair to condemn it until it has been tried out to see if it gives satisfactory turf or not. We can hot help but think, however, that there may be some things in the method which will not give the creeping bent a fair ehanee. First of all, we can see nothing to be gained by using seed of redtop and red fescue with creeping bent; on the contrary, it puts an added burden on the creeping bent, which will have to crowd those grasses off the green before first-class turf will result. It has been our experience that it slows up the spreading of creeping bent very materially to have other grasses growing in competition with it. As creeping bent planted by the vegetative method will make turf suitable for putting in less time than has ever been done by seed, we can see no advantage whatever in using seed with it. The experi­ ence of a public golf course in this vicinity is to the point. Some of the greens on this course were the first to be planted by the vegetative method. They were hit by the brown-patch fungus, but there was no remedy then known to control the trouble. The first year they were infested with the fungus they recovered in the fall and were in perfect condition during the winter and snring months of 1921. They were again hit by the fungus that year, and as there was a change of management in the control of the course, the greens, instead-of being allowed to recover naturally (as they would have done in the fall), were forked to pieces, raked over, and seeded to redtop and red feseue. Fortunately the creeping bent plants were not killed, and they came on again in the spring of 1922 and crowded the redtop and feseue into patches. One of. the greens, especially, has come back into very good creeping bent turf, but not as good as it was in the two preceding years. We believe this green, however, will eventually be all creeping bent. As the result of the exnerienee on that course, of seven new greens which were planted this past fall, six of them were planted by the vegetative method without the use of any seed; the seventh green would have been planted vegetatively had there been enough stolons to do so. We have experimented with the row method of planting. In fact, it was the May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 153 first method used, but we discarded it, first, because it was slower in giving perfect turf than the method we now advise using, and second, there was a row effect which persisted for some little time after the ground was com­ pletely covered with turf. 3. Reseeding bent greens; use of redtop in reseeding.—We have a fair stand of grass on our putting greens, but the turf still needs to be improved. Would you advise reseeding in the spring or fall? Would you use only Colonial bent and creeping bent, or would you add redtop? In reseeding, would you mix the seed with, compo^? We have already broadcasted our greens with a fine quality of mushroom'soil. I may say that the new greens before seeding were constructed with a layer of about six or eight inches of mushroom soil to which some sand was added. (New Jersey.) We have not obtained very satisfactory results from reseeding either in the spring or fall, but prefer fall, if it is to be done. However, we have suggested to many clubs that have had reseeding in mind, to do so, and if some good is derived it will really be worth while. The seed should be mixed with compost or good loam, as compost or loam makes a much better medium for germination than would be the case if either of these were absent. A mixture of Colonial bent and creeping bent is entirely satisfactory, and if redtop is included no 'serious harm is done. Redtop, however, while it persists, is considerably coarser than the bents and to this extent is undesirable. As for reseeding, we are inclined to think that, whether it is to be done on greens or fairways, redtop is quite as desirable as the bents, provided there is already a fair bent turf. The redtop seedlings that develop as the result of reseeding usually do not last long, if they come at all, but they make a very good putting sur­ face, and when they give way the bents are in a position to occupy the area they have occupied. For reseeding thin greens three pounds of reeleaned redtop to 1,000 square feet is an ample quantity, if it is well mixed with compost. Compost should be added so that it is approximately one-quarter of an inch in thickness. Redtop is likewise equally as good to use in re­ seeding fairways; in fact, it is probably preferable to the other grasses be­ cause of its cheapness and the quickness with which the seed germinates and the seedings start. Of course, it is not usually feasible to employ the same methods in reseeding fairways that are advised for putting greens, and it is rarely practicable to do more than scatter the seed on the soil and roll afterward when the ground is sufficiently dry. As for mushroom soil, we would not think of advising its use in layers six or eight inches thick. Mushroom soil is an excellent form of organic matter, especially for use in compost piles, but it should be mixed with clay and sand or loam and not used in any considerable quantity alone. 4. Bent greens in Kansas.—Please let me know what your opinion is of creeping bent. Is it subject to brown-pateh? Is it best to sow it with other grass seed, and if so, what kind? (Kansas.) The bents are by all odds the best turf grasses for putting greens in the north with which we have had any experience. German mixed bent hives excellent results, and so does Rhode Island bent (harvested in New England) and Colonial bent (harvested in New Zealand). There is, how­ ever, much inferior seed on the market sold as bent, and if you buy any it 154 BULLETIN OF GREEN SECTION OF THE Voi.m.xo.s should first be submitted for examination. We do not advise mixing bent with other seed, if you can get enough seed of bent grass to do a straight seeding with it. There is no other grass that benefits the bents at all when mixed with it, although sometimes, due to the scarcity and high price of bent seed, it is advantageous to mix it half and half with redtop; eventually the bent will crowd the redtop out. The bents are subject to brown-patch, but we have found this trouble fairly easy to control with dry Bordeaux powder dusted on the greens. The Bordeaux should not be used until the brown-patch appears. There is, however, another disease which makes small brown spots one to two inches in diameter in bent turf, but which has not been controllable with Bordeaux, and as yet we have found no remedy for it; it usually does not injure the grass for play, but it does make it somewhat unsightly. 5. Converting into bent turf greens formerly seeded to a mixture.—We are sending you a sample of special bent seed which was sold to us as a mixture of the highest grade of bent grasses. Please advise whether or not you consider the quality of this mixture best suited to our purpose for reseeding greens formerly seeded with putting green mixture which contained very little bent grass. (Pennsylvania.) The sample of seed you send is 44 per cent redtop, 37 per cent red fescue, 9 per cent Rhode Island bent, and 10 per cent inert matter. This is a very inferior mixture for planting on putting greens. To improve your greens which were originally seeded with a mixture containing very little bent grass, the best seeding plan is to seed on top of the turf about August 15 with good bent seed and top-dress the green after the seeding. The bent grasses are very aggressive under putting green conditions and eventually crowd out most of the other grasses so that you get approximately a pure bent green. Spring seeding is not nearly so satisfactory, and on the whole we doubt whether it is worth while. 6. Bate of seeding bent grass; seed mixture for greens under Kansas con­ ditions.—We are planting greens this spring of about 3,600 square feet. What rate of seeding bent grass would you advise for our greens? (Kansas.) We advise seeding bent at the rate of three to five pounds per 1,000 square feet of area. 'With first-class seed the minimum rate is ample, while with the ordinary seed obtained at the present time, which has a great deal of chaff in it, it is safer to use five pounds per 1,000 square feet. We are inclined to believe that for spring seeding under your conditions it probably would be safer to mix the bent, with some bluegrass and redtop. If it had been thoroughly demonstrated that bent was the grass for your locality we would not advise this, as there is nothing better than bent, but to be on the safe side you might make a mixture of about 50 per cent bent, 40 per cent bluegrass, and 10 per cent redtop. As soon as your seed arrives, put some of it in a box of soil where it can be kept moist, and test it for germination. 7. Converting redtop and Boa annua turf into, bent turf by vegetative plantings.—We would like your advice as to the advisability of planting bent runners in rows in a Poa annua green. We understand that if bent runners are planted in a redtop green the bent will crowd the redtop out in a very short time. Poa annua, however, seems to he more persistent than redtop and we are wondering if it would be possible to try to change a green from Poa annua to bent. (Pennsylvania.) May 21, 1923 UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 155 Our experiments in putting creeping bent runners in old redtop turf have been very satisfactory, but further experiments are necessary before we can make a definite recommendation with regard to the advisability of such planting. Poa annua is likely to invade any turf to some extent. It is a short-lived annual; that is, it sprouts from seed and matures in the course of a few weeks and then dies. If, however, it does not crowd out the bent, we do not see that it can do any particular harm. In early spring Poa annua is usually an asset to a putting green. 8. Renovating bent greens.—Last September our greens were seeded with South German mixed bent. Will it be necessary to seed again this coming fall? Method used: Each green was gone over in one direction with a putting-green cultivator, the seed then sown with a wheelbarrow seeder, and this followed by a light rolling. When finished in one direction the greens -were gone over again in a cross direction. (New York.) When once a fair stand of South German mixed bent is obtained there is very little to be gained by reseeding. If there are spaces more or less bare, seeding will do some good, but if these spaces are small, patching will be better. A thin -stand of creeping bent can be thickened up by good treatment much more rapidly than by any other method. By good treat­ ment we mean fertilizing, watering, etc., but using no additional seed. Seedlings really have little chance to develop in competition with the turf already established. 9. Redtop-bent mixture for seeding new greens.—Would you advise the mixing of redtop seed with bent seed in planting new greens? (New York.) Our experience with bent and redtop is favorable to the mixture. While one would not get the first year or two the fine turf that is obtainable from bent alone, oui- experience has been that the bent will eventually replace the redtop. 10. Treatment of heavy clay soil; value of spiked roller.—The soil of our greens is a heavy clay which in summer dries out fast and becomes very hard. As the work on the greens when under construction was rushed, it happened that sufficient sand and rotted manure was not used in this clay soil to make it satis­ factory for the purpose. We intend, therefore, to top-dress the greens with sand and humus, and have thought that in order to work this top-dressing into the soil to a depth of one or two inches, the use of a spiked roller would be ad­ vantageous. Do you think that a spiked roller disturbs or damages the roots? (Missouri.) Top-dressing with sand will prove very helpful to your greens. There is no objection to mixing humus in with the sand, if by humus you do not mean the commercial peat called humus; that we regard as practically worthless. We believe you will get satisfactory results by liberally and frequently top-dressing with sand, and at the same time continuing your regular top-dressings with compost. The sand may be applied at any time of the year and as often as desired, until you get a sufficient surface layer of the sand or sandy soil. Our present opinion is that the spiked roller will not do any good, and in midsummer it may do harm. As a matter of fact, you do not want to get the sand down into the soil, as it will go down fast enough. 'What you want is a surface layer of sand or sandy loam which will promptly absorb the water and thus prevent the elay beneath from puddling and later baking. Meditations of a Peripatetic G-olfer It is money well spent to send your greenkeeper to see other courses and talk with other greenkeepers. They are all getting away from raised tees that look like a pulpit or the base of a monument. If the Lord were to make a tee it would conform to the contours of the land in the vicinity and would simply be level and smooth enough to play on, and more than likely it would be so arranged that it could be cut with the power mower instead of by hand. Letting the grass grow tall on the putting green to get strong rooting! This is a delusion. Keep your putting green cut down to playing condition the whole season. Pete, the greenkeeper, reports that in his experience peat will make greens peter. Any observer who has once used peat will not repeat. One water hazard on a course is splendid. Two make assets of doubtful value. Three are too many. “Never water grass in the hot sunshine,” advises a theorist. Of course, when it rains the sun is obscured, but usually it comes out again right after a summer shower. If the first-quoted advice is good, then Dame Nature sets a very bad example in any region where thunder-showers are prevalent. Top-dress the poor spots on the fairway in fall. The results are usually surprisingly good. The fellows are now active in discussing golf architecture. This is a fine portent for the advancement of the game. The end-result can only be better agreement as to desirable features of architecture. The only legitimate excuse for a raised tee is to secure better visibility. Standardization reduces greatly the possible types of golf course. A private course for the use of only relatively few players and with the maximum amount of pleasure would be a very different thing from any course now existing. Weed the “approaches” to your greens about as carefully as you weed the greens. The approach should be a “fighting-ground” or buffer to keep weed seeds from the greens. In business, love, and war, let fancy be your guide; but in construction work around a golf course, follow nature. The art lies in making the work'look natural. Some seedsmen and some golf architects are giving very bad advice with regard to . seeds and seeding. It will pay you to get the advice of the Green Section. The Hula-hula tribe of Central Africa can count only up to four. - At last we have discovered the originators of golf! The Trench now occupy the entire area where South German mixed bent seed is produced. International complications with the United States Gplf Association are feared. Beware of the man who claims to be an expert on all phases of golf. “There ain’t no such animal.”