PESTICIDES THE COURTS Lawn King out of Chapter 11; appealing anti-trust action Boston lawn company institutes IPM program Lawns are a non-essential crop that the majority of the population comes into contact with every day. With the federal Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) 
keeping a closer eye on the use of pesticides, it won't be long-be-fore the lawn care industry feels the hand of regulation on its shoulder. That is the feeling of Jim Foth-ergill, fulfillment manager for Techniturf, Inc., South Berlin, Mass., outside of Boston. And with this in mind, the 22-yearold company has instituted a basic integrated pest manage-ment (IPM) program within the last year. Fothergill, 26, explains IPM basically as total manage-ment of lawns as individual eco-systems, not just "blasting them 
with a pesticide four or five times a year. IPM is keeping a close eye on the lawn, and only using a spray if it needs it. "We are only following the lead Š or push Š of others," Fothergill told LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY recently. "The EPA is already encouraging and coer-cing farmers in certain areas of 
the country into the use of 
IPM." Techniturf, Inc. at present has 6,000 customers in the Bos-ton area, and is the largest and oldest lawn care firm in the area. Dean Squier, 55, is president. Fothergill's duties are manage-ment and training of the lawn care field men. Alan Bebka is logistics man-ager, in charge of design and con-struction of lawn care applica-tion equipment. "The basis of IPM is that a lawn is an individual eco-system that should be treated as such," Fothergill said. "Along with this, the 'shot gun' method of treating lawns with the same battery of chemicals is poor horticultural 
management." He said an area of concern in the 'shot gun' approach is that there is too much dependence on the anticipated actions of the chemicals, and thus human con-to page 11 Lawn King, Inc. Š the New Jersey-based lawn care com-pany with more than 120 fran-chises across the country Š 
emerged from Chapter 11 bank-
ruptcy status earlier this year af-ter paying off all of its creditors. In other court action, the com-pany is presently appealing an anti-trust action against it in the New Jersey State Superior Court. The company entered Chap-ter 11 in October of 1975, com-pany president Joseph Sandler told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, due in part to the stiff legal fees 
his company has faced because 
of the anti-trust action. He said MILESTONES Lawn manufacturers hold first meeting More than 70 persons gathered in Chicago recently for the first meeting of the Lawn and Garden Manufacturers Associa-tion (LAGMA). The group's first president called the meeting a "milestone in the industry." Objectives of the Association discussed included conducting surveys of the industry, develop-to page 2 he has paid over $500,000 in legal fees thus far in the case. The company emerged from Chapter 11 status March 28, Sandler said. In the anti-trust suit, Lawn King was fined $120,000, and Sandler was personally fined 
$43,120 Š his average salary for the past five years Š and two concurrent six month jail terms. Sandler's conviction is based upon four points. The New Jer-sey attorney general said that 
Lawn King forced its fran-chisees to: (1) buy chemicals and 
equipment from Lawn King or approved companies; (2) use advertising designed by Lawn LCI SURVEY In a recent consumer survey conducted by LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, 44 percent of the re-spondents said that a direct mail campaign was the best way for a lawn care company to advertise services. Twenty-seven percent of the respondents said that a personal solicitation would be the best 
way to reach them; 15 percent cited a door hanger as the best method; 12 percent said a news-
paper advertisement was the 
best method; eight percent cited a Yellow Pages ad as best. Also, eight percent cited a home and garden show display as best; six percent cited a tele-vision ad; one percent cited a radio ad; and even though it was listed as one of the choices on the survey, none of the respondents cited a phone solicitation as a good method of advertising to reach them. Other questions asked in the survey included: lawn care ser-vices homeowners feel would be useful to them, and what they would consider a fair price for various lawn care services. Of the total number of respondents, 87 percent said that disease control would be useful to them; 83 percent said that in-sect control would be useful to them; 83 percent said that fertilization would be useful to King; (3) charge the same price in every location; and (4) work within exclusive territories. Sandler said that they sup-plied franchisees with chemi-cals, equipment and advertising, but that franchisees were not for-ced to buy the materials or use the advertising. He says that Lawn King recommended that its 
franchisees charge three cents a 
square foot for lawn work, but that it was only a guideline. And he defends the company's right to exclusive territories to protect 
the franchisees. Lawn King filed an 194-page appeal with a 100-page appen-
dix with the New Jersey State Appellate Court in late spring. The state's brief in answer to the appeal was due July 26, but it was estimated at press time that an extension would be granted. Sandler says that he is willing to take the case to the New Jersey State Supreme Court, and to the U.S. Supreme Court if neces-sary. Lawn-A-Mat Chemical & Equipment Corp., Mineola, N.Y., 
another lawn care company un-related to Lawn King, still remains in Chapter 11 status, 
although the company has well over a 100 franchises operating successfully across the country. them; 70 percent said that weed control would be useful to them. Also, 63 percent said that de-thatching would be useful to 
them; 45 percent said that aera-to page 2 As a homeowner, which lawn care advertising medium would be most likely to reach you? Phon* Solicitation OS Radio Ad 1% Homaand Gardan Show Display 8% Yallow Pagaa 8% Nawapapar Ad 12% Door Hangar 15% Paraonal Solicitation.27% Dlract Mail 44% QUICK STARTS Using your customer to sell page 5 New perennial ryes available page 5 Texas A & M, Toro finance water use study page 5 Lower Proxol rates approved page 6 Zoysia, bermudagrass need high P,K levels page 10 Going commercial? Check your liability page 19 MEMOS 2 MARKETING IDEA FILE 5 TOOLS, TIPS & TECHNIQUES 6 NEWSMAKERS 7 MEETING DATES 10 MONEYWISE COST CUTTINGS PRODUCTS 22 UN IV28 8910 0-MS- RE ED IT Š5 78Š PAULA PIET7 TRFGRSS STATE UNIVERSITY SOIL SCIENCE BLOG EAST LANSING ASSC -DH MI 48824 s-industry in Minneap-is is part of a continu-luntry where the lawn )file of the city, poten->that operate there and Serving lawn maintenance and chemical lawn care professionals. INDUSTRY AUGUST 1978 Ł VOL. 2, NO. 8 Ł A Harvest Publication Consumers say direct mail is best way to reach them CONSUMERfrom page 1 tion would be useful to them; 43 percent said that seeding would be useful to them; 37 percent listed lawn mowing; and 30 per-cent listed liming. The respondents were asked to quote a fair monthly price for 
three basic lawn care services. The average price listed for lawn mowing was $27.20 a month. The 
average price listed for fertiliza-tion was $14.00 a month. The 
average price for weed control listed was $11.60 a month. Questionnaires were mailed in early June to 1,000 home-owners in the Midwest with me-
dian family incomes of $15,000 or more. The survey was based on 86 responses, or more than an eight percent return. As a homeowner, which lawn care services would you find most useful. DiMMt Control 87% Insoct Control 83% Fertilization 83% Wood Control 70% Dothatchlng 83% Aoration 45% Soodlng 43% Mowing 37% Liming 30% LAG MA from page 1 ing standardization projects in the industry and cooperating with government officials. In his first official speech president C. Edward Scofield said that the purpose of LAGMA Š which is open to all companies who manufacture, grow or pro-duce lawn, garden, home horti-culture or similar products Š is to serve the growing lawn and garden industry. Scofield is ex-ecutive vice president of RA-PID-GRO Corp., Dansville, N.Y. The Association was formed on April 11. At the June 20 meeting, most of the 24 charter members, representatives from the trade press Š including LAWN CARE INDUSTRY Š and prospective members were in at-tendance. Applauding the formation of LAGMA were representatives of the trade press who spoke on the need of the association. Richard Morey, editor of Nursery Business and Landscape Industry called the formation of LAGMA a "good one" and added that it was long overdue. Emmet J. Hoffman, editor of Home and Garden Supply Mer-chandiser, supported Morey's remarks and added, "It's an im-portant step in maturity taken by the lawn and garden industry. Wendall Burns, editor of Lawn and Garden Marketing, said: "I know that the founders of this as-sociation are well aware of the need for a better and more un-ified voice to communicate with the public and to communicate with other segments of society Š government, academia, volun-tary consumerist and civic groups, bankers, financiers and others.'* Association vice president, Eugene Olshansky, president of Science Products Co., Inc., Chicago, gave a historical perspective of the industry. "We are a multi-billion dollar in-dustry in our own right," he said. "We have joined together in LAGMA because we have many common interests and needs which can be served by this asso-ciation." The Association's immediate goals are to increase member-ship and design the strongest possible program for its mem-
bers. A three-year plan for an 
Association activities and pro-grams was outlined by Sanford J. Hill, LAGMA's executive direc-tor. Recent activities begun in-clude a credit interchange pro-gram, membership drive and a newsletter. Industry and associa-tion promotion is being accom-plished by developing channels of communication with trade press and other trade groups. Other objectives, for which appropriate programs are still to be developed, were reviewed by bylaw committee chairman Donald Newhart, Science Pro-ducts Co., Inc. These objectives include: Ł To collect and conduct studies, surveys and related pro-ducts projects designed to in-crease the use of markets for pro-ducts of the industry. Ł To develop voluntary standardization projects in co-
operation with members of the industry and with the govern-
ment. Ł To cooperate with govern-ment officials in furtherance of the national welfare. Also in attendance were LAGMA's treasurer, Willis R. Barrett, general manager of Phillips Products Co., Inc., Streamwood, 111.; and secretary 
Jane McAlpine, national sales manager, Carefree Garden Pro-ducts, West Chicago, 111. Headquarters are One Il-linois Center, 111 E. Wacker Dr., Chicago, 111. 60601. Phone is (312) 644-6610. L4WN GIRE INDUSTRY Publisher: HUGH CHRONISTER General Manager: RICHARD J. W. FOSTER Executive and editorial offices: 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102 Editor: ROBERT EARLEY Executive Editor: DAVID SLAYBAUGH Associate Editor: BRUCE SHANK Technical Editor: RON MORRIS Assistant Editors: SCOTT SCREDON, MIKE CASEY 
Graphic Director: RAYMOND GIBSON 
Circulation Manager: JACK SCHABEL Research Services: CLARENCE ARNOLD Advertising Production Manager: PATRICIA KELLEY MARKETING/SALES Advertising Director: STEVE STONE (212) 421-1350 757 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017 Circulation & List Rental: TERRI HUTSENPILLER (216) 651-5500 Marketing & Merchandising Services: FRAN FRANZAK (216) 651-5500 Midwest Office: JOE GUARISE (312) 236-9425 333 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60601 Southern Office: DICK GORE (404) 252-4311 3186 Frontenac Court, N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30319 Southwest Office: JOHN SANDFORD (213) 933-8408 5455 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1107, Los Angeles, Ca. 90036 Northwest Office: BOB MIEROW (415) 982-0110 582 Market St., Suite 1904, San Francisco, Ca. 94104 Classified: DOROTHY LOWE (216) 651-5500 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102 HARVEST LAWN CARE INDUSTRY is published every month by The Har-vest Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. at 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102 (216] 651-5500. Copyright © 1978 by The Harvest Publishing Company, all rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be repro-duced either in whole or in part without consent of copyright 
owner. Controlled circulation postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio. SUBSCRIPTIONS: to Lawn Care Industry are solicited only from owners, managers, operators, buyers, merchandisers, agronomists, technicians, dealers, distributors and manufacturers of products associated with the lawn care and 
maintenance business. Position ana company connection must be indicated on subscription orders. Publisher reserves tne right to approve all subscription re-
quests. Single copy cost $1.00 for current issue. All back issues $1.25 each. 
Foreign $1.25. Subscription rates: $10.00 one year, $18.00 two years, $23.00 three 
years. Group and foreign air mail rates available on request. SUBSCRIBERS: Send change-of-address notices, correspondence regarding subscription service to Fulfillment Manager, Lawn Care Industry, 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102. Change of Address notices shoula be sent pro-mptly, provide old as well as new address, attach address label from recent issue. Please allow one month for change of address to become effective. POSTMASTER: Please send form 3579 to Fulfillment Manager, Lawn Care In-dustry, 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102. The Harvest Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., publishers of WEEDS TREES & TURF, PEST CONTROL, NPCA Extra, GOLF BUSINESS and the Scientific Guide to Pest Control Operations. MEMOS New crabgrass control? Elanco Products Co., Indianapolis, has been issued on experimental permit by the federal Environmental Protection Agency allowing use of the herbi-cide Sward on turfgrasses to evaluate control of crabgrass in 34 states. First-class lawn care promotion: Whether it is a major trend or not,there is no doubt that lawn care companies are coming out of the dark ages in terms of promoting themselves. Most major companies are turning to professional adver-tising/public relations/promotions agencies to handle brochures, advertising and basic marketing. ChemLawn Corp. in Columbus has been going this route for years, the same for Leisure Lawn and Perf-A-Lawn in Dayton, Ohio, Tru-Green in Lansing, Mich., Thornton's Spray-A-Lawn in Cincinnatie, and many, many others. The latest addition to the ranks is Rollins Lawn Care in Atlanta, who recently signed on Cargill, Wison & Acree Advertising Inc. Sprinkler media blitz: The ads have appeared in Business Week and other mass media, and unless you watch educa-tional television exclusively, you've seen the ads on tele-vision. Toro Co., with main offices in Minneapolis and Irrigation Division offices in Irvine, Calif., is hitting the consumer market hard with advertising explaining all of the benefits of automatic sprinkler systems. It should make the job of selling 
residential irrigation contracting customers a lot easier in the 
future. Move over crabgrass, here comes poa annua: Don't be sur-prised if your lawn care customers start acting like experts on the subjecto of Poa annua. A story last month in the esteemed and highly read Wall Street Journal under the headline "Gardeners Beware: Lawn 
Menace Puts Crabgrass To Shame", reporter Gregg Fields ex-Plained how Poa annua hits "overly babied turf" the hardest and that "there is no cure in sight." Among turf experts quoted were Dr. Ralph Engel of Rutgers University, Dr. William H. Daniel of Purdue University, and officials at O.M. Scott & Sons, Marysville, Ohio. OSHA inspections: Readers across the country have reported to LAWN CARE INDUSTRY that they have been visited by inspectors for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration searching for violations in the workplace. But due to a recent Supreme Court ruling, any employer may refuse OSHA inspection without a search warrant. How-ever, inspectors may obtain warrants by simply showing that a specific site was selected for inspection on the basis of a general enforcement plan. Also, OSHA can obtain warrants prior to inspection without notifying an employer, thus pro-tecting the "surprise element" of inspection. / Short story of great beauty. This little bluegrass came to market from Sweden and became a best seller. Fylking Kentucky bluegrass forms a luxurious, low-growing, fine-textured thick turf. It establishes fast, develops a greater density of rhizomes and roots. Fylking is tough, with improved resistance to many diseases, and better tolerates drought, heat, cold, smog and foot traffic. Greens up early, stays green through summer and late into fall. Great as the backbone bargain for lawn turf seed mixes. Fylking performs well when cut low (even low as one-half inch). Fylking Kentucky bluegrass costs less than most other elite blues. In short, insist that this best seller be included in every lawn seed mix. Fylking Kentucky bluegrass. FYLKING KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS Ž Another fine, quality-controlled product of Jacklin Seed Company. IB Circle 128 on free information card Debris never had it so bad. Beer cans, cigarette butts, twigs, bottles, matted grass clippings and rocks look pretty ugly on a beautiful turf. But picking them up hasn't been all that easy. (Ever try to get hold of wet leaves in wet grass?) Then along came Jacobsen's unique rubber finger pick-up system. You'll find it used on all six of our Sweeper models. They 
pick up just about everything that you'd call debris, including 
branches up to 3" in diameter. Even wet leaves in wet turf. Besides having incredible rubber fingers, our big 700 Series models sweep a 5-foot swath, and 
have hoppers with a hefty 5-cubic-yard capacity. Our models 720 and 730HL are PTO driven. The 730HL has a hydraulic dumping system that saves labor and time by dumping directly into a truck instead of 
on the ground. Our models 720E and 720E-HL come with 12 HP or optional 14 HP engines, and can be pulled by any vehicle. The 720E-HL also has a hydraulic dumping system. Then, our smaller 154 Riding Sweeper and 154T Towed 
Sweeper both sweep a 48" swath, and dump manually. Five sweepers have the optional Curb Broom that cleans up parking lots fast. And all 
models offer the Thatcher Thinner attachment that lets you thatch 
and thin turf while sweeping. Plus 
other options you might want. To find out about the most complete line of Turf Sweepers Hydraulic dumping feature of HL models can dump at any; height up to 8^/2 . being made by anyone, ask your Jacobsen distributor for details. What he has to say is bad for debris. And that's good for you. Patented rubber pick-up fingers are the worst thing that can happen to turf debris. Jacobsen Manufacturing Company, Racine, Wisconsin 53403 IB Circle 128 on free information card The importance of winter overseeding was the featured topic of discussion at a recent meeting held in Boca Raton, Fla. The meeting was sponsored by Penn-sylvania State University and Seed Production and Introduction Corp., who markets Pennfine perennial ryegrass nationwide. Pictured from left are: Dr. Guy McKee, professor of agronomy; Dr. Henry Fortman, professor and assis-tant director of agriculture administration; Dr. fames Starling, professor and head of agronomy; Dr. Joseph Duich, professor of turfgrass science, all of 
Penn State University; Sweae Townsend, Whitney-Dickinson Seeds, Buffalo, 
N.Y.; and Dr. Walter Thomas, associate dean and associate director of agricul-ture administration, Penn State University. VARIETIES New perennial ryes available this year Two new turf-type perennial ryegrasses Š Fiesta and BlazerŠwill be available for dis-tributor sales this year, accord-ing to Mike Robinson, marketing 
manager for Pickseed West, Tangent, Ore. Robinson said Fiesta is earlier in maturity and a medium dark green color, while Blazer is the later variety with a truly dark green appearance. Both varie-ties are characterized by fine 
texture, low growth, rapid germi-nation, excellent seedling vigor, disease resistance and winter hardiness, he said. Fiesta and Blazer will perform well in the overseeding of bermudagrass, in turf mix-tures, or in monoculture seed-ing. They are also available in 
Pickseed's new turfgrass mix-tureŠFutura. The varieties will be mar-keted by Pickseed West and by Otto Pick and Sons Seeds, Ltd., Richmond Hill, Ontario. EDUCATION Florida Turf Show set for October in Orlando More than 1,000 lawn care businessmen and other turf pro-fessionals will attend the annual Florida Turf-Grass Association Conference and Show Oct. 15-18 
in Orlando. For the fourth year in a row the Sheraton Towers Hotel and 
Convention Center will host the show. The theme of the educational program is "A One Stop Educa-tion Shop for the Turf Profes-sional.M Feature topics include "Turfgrass Selection and Adap-tation", "RPAR's and Turf Pesti-cides Š The Present Situation and Anticipated Future Develop-ments", "Irrigation Heads Š A Cross-Section Product Rundown on What's Available for Large and Small Areas", a panel on 
"Water Regulations and the Turf Industry", "Personnel Manage-ment and Worker Motivation", and a pre-conference seminar on ornamentals for turf profes-sionals who have responsi-bilities in that area. Over 70 exhibitors will be in attendance. For further information, contact the Florida Turf-Grass Association at 1520 Edgewater Dr., Suite E, Orlando, Fla. 32804, or call (305) 425-1581. IRRIGATION Toro, Texas A & M study water use rates Toro Co., Minneapolis, and Texas A & M University have en-tered into a contract to finance a four-year study of a water use rates for turfgrasses. David T. McLaughlin, Toro's chairman and chief executive of-ficer, said his company will con-tribute $17,000 to the study, which will develop a method for predicting water requirements for turfgrasses under a wide 
range of growth conditions. Texas A & M will contribute $29,-000 to the project. The study will be directed by Dr. James B. Beard at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, MARKETING IDEA FILE Using your customer to sell Ask just about any lawn care businessman who has been in business awhile how he gets most of his customers, and he'll probably say, "By word of mouth Š referrals." Don Ridg-way, president of Spra-Gro, Inc. in Bedford, Ohio just outside of Cleveland has a sure-fire way of making sure his happy customers tell their neighbors. Rebates. The two-year-old company offers a $5 re-ferral fee to customers who refer them to other potential cus-tomers. "They pay the full fee for their spray," Ridgway told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, "and then we reimburse them 
later. He said his company paid out almost $900 last year in this way, but feels that it is worth it. When Spra-Gro started out, the company officials decid-ed on a simple pricing scheme Š they decided to make it the cheapest in the city. The company charges $16 for its mini-
mum of 4,000 square feet of lawn. The charge is $2 per 1,000 square feet after that. Their average lawns are between 8,000 and 9,000 square feet. With their business off to a successful start, they are not now so sure if they should be charging the lowest prices in town. As with many new lawn care businesses, Ridgway says: 
"We are not sure if we are making money or not. The money we made last year went into equipment and paying off our start-up loans. But working for nothing wears thin pretty fast. We are going to have to start figuring in our time too." They have about more than 1,000 customers at present and hope to have 3,500 in the next few years. ? z n > ?o m Z O c cn H pa N-> c o College Station, Texas. The uni-versity is building Š especially for the study Š a water stress simulation chamber and a high light intensity preconditioning growth chamber. The study was designed by Don Johns, a graduate student, Dr. Beard and Dr. James R. Wat-son, Toro vice president and chief agronomist. Watson said knowledge of water use rates for turfgrasses, along with reliable models for predicting specific water use rates, could be of immense value in determining overall water requirements of a particular 
region. Such information also would be important, he said, to a lawn care businessman seeking grass species/cultivars with lower water requirements. Additionally, Watson said, data on water use rates of turf-grasses will aid in improving irrigation efficiency. "It will help 
to make it possible to design irrigation systems capable of 
delivering the precise precipita-tion requirements anticipated under varying environmental 
conditions." McLaughlin said a major cor-porate objective of Toro is to ac-celerate development of irriga-tion systems for lawn grasses which will utilize water with maximum efficiency. Free from Hypro Sprayer Pump Handbook New Edition! 8 pages of helpful information to help you select and use your pumps better. Hookup diagrams for piston, roller and centrifugal pumps. Graphs of pump outputs, flow through spray nozzles. Data on pump and sprayer component selection plus much more. Send for your free copy now. When you need pumps for sprayers 
or pressure wash systems, make your choice Hypro. A DIVISION OF LEAR SIEGLER. INC 319 Fifth Ave NW. St. Paul. MN 55112 Ł (612) 633-9300 Circle 109 on free information card The LAWN PRIDE 500 . .. developed by lawn care pros just for lawn care pros Ł spravs low and wide to eliminate drift problems Ł finger tip flow control gives versatility Ł cover wide turf areas AND go low under shrubs, etc. Ł Viton O-rings Š lasting performance Ł corrosion resistant Š easy maintenance PRICE: $47.95 includes gun, extension & exclusive nozzle For further information contact: Norm Hays, Turf Consultant Lawn Pride 223 Big Run Road Lexington, Kentucky 40503 EDUCATION Slide program offered on sulfur-coated fertilizers An educational program deal-ing with the development and use of sulfur-coated fertilizers is being offered at no cost to pro-fessional associations of turf managers, landscapers, nursery-men and other fertilizer users across the nation by Lakeshore Equipment & Supply Co., Elyria, Ohio. The non-commercial slide program deals with the entire history to date of the develop-ment of sulfur-coated fertilizers 
by the Tennessee Valley Aurhor-ity (TVA) and ranges from the 
earliest research to the present stage of full-scale production at 
TVA's National Fertilizer Development Center. Organizations interested in this educational program should contact: John H. Horvath, 300 S. Abbe Rd., Elyria, Ohio 44035. Pelletized Profit? Now, big limestone & gypsum profits in a virtually dust-free pellet form. Ł Opens up a whole new market segment for your lawn care business . without the mess of dusty, uncontrolled spreader applications. Ł Economical, yet highly profitable. Ł Works with any type spreader, including broad-cast. Ł Lets you increase customer service plus decrease your fertilizer costs. Ł Ideal for slack periods because REVEILLE can be applied practically year 'round. Available in bag or bulk, both REVEILLE Limestone and Gypsum fit perfectly into liquid or dry lawn care operations. LIMESTONE & GYPSUM PELLETS American Pelletizmg Corp Ł P O Box 3628 Ł Des Moines. Iowa 50322 Circle 102 on free information card IRRIGATION Florida firm named Rain Bird distributor Florida Irrigation Supply Co. Fort Myers, Fla. has been named a full-line franchised turf dis-tributor for Rain Bird Sprinkler Manufacturing Corp., Flendora, Calif. The distributor is owned by Fred Tannler and managed by Chuck Garrett. It sells irrigation equipment for residential, industrial and golf course use and carries the full Rain Bird line, including sprinklers, valves, controllers 
and accessories. INSECTICIDES Lower rate for Proxol receives label approval TUCO, Division of The Up-john Co., Kalamazoo, Mich., has received label approval for 
reduced rates of Proxol 80 SP in the control of cutworms, sod webworms and armyworms. The new low application rate is IV2 ounces of the insecticide 
per 1,000 square feet. The company told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY that the reduced rate offers the flexi-bility of adjusting the dosage to insect population pressures. For lawn areas, the insecti-cide should be mixed in five to 10 gallons of water for uniform application to 1,000 square feet. The insecticide can be used at higher rates in the control of white grubs, as well as cut-
worms, sod webworm and army-worms. DERBY POWERED AERATOR Weighs 51 lbs. ... aerates tt to 1 V* inches deep ... can be operated very effectively by young inexperienced help. Aerates 18 inches wide Weighs 51 lbs. Very easy to use Remarkable new machine will add thousands to your profits each year. Not found in stores, sold factory direct to save you money. Good engineering + sim-ple design = low price. Powered by 2 hp Briggs Stratton engine . . . aerates % to 1 Vi inches deep .. . Very easy to control .. . Works in hard to get at places . . . Safe and easy to operate. Engine warranted for 90 
days . .. Gear train & tines carry 1 full year 
warranty ... try one for 15 days .. . your money back if not fully satisfied. Can be used as a tiller to weed beds and shrubs from 6 to 18 inches in width. One of the most versatile lawn-garden machines money can buy . . . Built by Company with 30 yrs. experience in the manufacture of tough dependable tools. For full information write to: r DERBY TILLER COMPANY P.O. Box 21 Rumson, New Jersey 07760 I want more information Name Street - Zip-City _ State Visa-Bank Americard & Master Charge orders accepted by phone Mon-Sat 9-5. Call (201) 741-0601 IB Circle 128 on free information card TOOLS,TIPS & TECHNIQUES How to control sod webworm The sod webworm is one of the most destructive insect pests of bluegrass, according to Dr. Richard L. Miller, exten-sion entomologist at Ohio State University. Damage to the grass plant is caused by the feeding of the larval or worm stage. He said the damage caused by the webworms first ap-pears in the early spring as small dead patches among the normal growing grass. By mid-summer a large share of the lawn may be dead patches. Sunny acres are preferred by the webworms and steep slopes and banks where it is hot and dry are favorite places for the larvae. Heavily shaded places are seldom attacked by the larvae. "The most severe damage usually shows up in July and August when the temperature is hot and the grass is not grow-ing vigorously/' Dr. Miller told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. "Sod webworm-damaged lawns do not recover rapidly, 
weeds generally move into the dead patches and the lawn be-
comes unsightly/1 Dr. Miller said that sod webworm larvae live on the sur-face of the soil in small silken tunnels in the thatch layer of the grass. The larvae chew grass blades off just above the Ohio State University's Dr. Richard Miller recommends treating in late July or August with one of a number of insecticides. thatch line, pull the blades into their silken tunnels, and eat them. Injury, therefore, appears as small brown patches about the size of a softball of closely clipped grass. When many larvae are present, the small brown patches run to-gether and form large, irregular dead patches. "The surest way to tell if you have sod webworms is to find a suspected area of infestation/1 Dr. Miller said. "Get down on your hands and knees, take your two index fingers 
and part the grass blades in the area between dead and live grass and look for an area with small green pellets. The pel-lets are the excrement of the larvae and are a dead give-away that a larva is close by." He said the larvae are generally about one inch long when full-grown by Ve-inch of an inch in diameter. They are a dirty, yellowish-white color with a light brown head and have at least four parallel rows of small dark spots running from 
head to tail. The larvae are often found in a curled position. Sod webworm adults are about 3/4-inch long, cigar-shaped 
and buff-colored. There may be a small, darker line on the top of each wing-cover. Adult moths can usually be kicked up 
when walking through or mowing the grass. He said the sod webworm spends the winter as a partially grown larva several inches deep in the soil. At the approach of warm weather in the spring the larvae move upward and begin feeding on the lush spring growth of grass. During June some of the larvae complete their development and change to the pupal or resting stage. By late June and early July adult moths emerge from the pupae, pair up, mate and soon begin 
laying eggs at random in the bluegrass for another genera-tion. At least two generations and possibly three are pro-
duced in one year. The second generation which appears in 
late July and August may cause the most damage. "Since we are directing our control efforts at the larvae, the best time to treat is when the majority of the eggs have hatched and small larvae are present, but before excessive 
damage occurs/' Dr. Miller said. "Most people want to do 
something when they see the moths flying at night or kick them up in the daytime. But when many moths are seen, the larvae have already completed their development and have left the lawn." He recommends treating about two weeks after a sharp decline in the number of moths seen. At this time, the eggs that were laid by the flying moths should have hatched and a new batch of larvae is present. Generations will overlap, so some adults and larvae will be present nearly all summer 
long. In Ohio, he recommends treating the first week in June and again in a late July or August with one of a number of in-secticides: Sevin, marketed by Union Carbide Corp., Jacksonville, Fla.; Diazinon, marketed by Ciba-Geigy Corp., Greensboro, N.C.; Spectracide, marketed by Ciba-Geigy Corp.; Dylox, marketed by Chemagro, Kansas City, Mo.; Baygon, marketed by Chemagro; Dursban, marketed by Dow Chemical Co., 
Midland, Mich.; Ethion, marketed FMC Corp., Philadelphia; and Aspon, marketed by Stauffer Chemical Co., Westport, Conn. Ł NEWSMAKERS Bill Smith is lead foreman for Keller's Turf & Shrub Care, Inde-pendence, Mo., according to company owner Don Keller. Also, Steve Kusky is a foreman trainee, as is Bill Smith. Gary Peterson is a lawn appli-cator/salesman for Green Valley Co., Shawnee Mission, Kan. Also, Gary Bailey and Conrad Kraft are lawn applicator/sales-men. Sharon Clay, former lawn technician for Lawns, Inc., Mil-waukee, has been named county 
weed control supervisor for Idaho County, based in Grange-ville, Idaho, according to Robert Pendzick, president of Lawns, Inc. The company recently com-pleted a median strip weed con-trol contract with the city of Cu-dahy, Wis. Reeve Cooper John W. Reeve has been named Canadian sales manager for the Outdoor Power Equip-ment Division of FMC Corp., Port % Washington, Wis., manufactur-ers of Bolens lawn and garden equipment. Howard Cooper has been appointed manager of product planning and research for the Turf Products Division of Jacob-sen Manufacturing Co., Racine, 
Wis., according to Howard McPherson, vice president and general manager. Richard L. Colman has joined Ag Industries Mfg. Corp. of Columbia, Ala. To serve as plant manager in charge of production 
and process engineering at the 
company's sulfur-coated fertil-izer facility. The company is affiliated with Lakeshore Equip-ment & Supply Co., Elyria, Ohio. Joseph M. Porter, president of Porter Brothers, Inc., Shelby, N.C., has announced a number of executive changes: Robert B. Hamrick is general manager of the company's Turf Division; Haskell Bell is manager of opera-tions; and Mary Anne Harrill is executive assistant to the presi-dent and assistant secretary of the company. Little Wheels Turf & Equip-ment, Inc., Iowa City, Iowa, has extablished a branch facility in Peoria, 111. to serve the central part of the state. William F. Short, company president, says that Thomas Skinner is opera-tions manager for the new branch, while Gregory Vogel is service manager, Kerry Passick is parts manager and William Short, Jr. is sales manager. The 
new branch is responsible for distribution, service and re-placement parts of Jacobsen Manufacturing Co.'s turf main-tenance equipment in 29 Illinois counties. Little Wheels has been in business 10 years, has ex-
panded to more than 30 employ-es, with 20,000 square feet of space under one roof, 16 ve-hicles and close to 18,000 parts in inventory. The name of Brady-Holmes Co., Sacramento, Calif., a full-
line distributor for Toro Co. in central California and western Nevada, has been changed to Duke Equipment & Irrigation, Inc. The distributorship was pur-chased late last year by E. S. "Duke" Newton, Toro's former director of marketing for turf products. Anthony J. Saiia has been named chief product engineer of the Turf Products Div. of Jacob-sen Manufacturing Co., Racine, Wis. Also, William Douglass has been named manager of the per-
sonnel department of the com-pany's Consumer Products Div. Gary G. Giltner has joined Toro Co., Minneapolis, as na-tional sales manager for its commercial products division. He was formerly product man-ager for AstroTurf, a division of Monsanto Co., St. Louis, Mo. Giltner Scuglik Richard J. Scuglik has joined the Turf Products Div. of Jacob-sen Manufacturing Co., Racine, Wis., as manager of systems and programming, a newly created position. Kohler Co., Kohler, Wis., has announced a number of ap-
pointments: Alfred E. Strege is supervisor of technical publica-tions; Douglas G. S. Cook is man-ager of market planning is the customer service department; Richard Vernon-Dier is area manager for northwestern U.S. and western Canada; Dale Ten-Pas is area manager for Wiscon-sin, Minnesota, upper Michigan 
and the Dakotas; and John O. 
Kohl is director of marketing for national accounts. John Van Dam, University of California Cooperative Exten-sion Farm Advisor for Los Angeles and San Bernardino 
counties has received the Dis-tinguished Service Award from the Southern California Turf-grass Council. Tim Martin has been named sales manager for Ramsey Seed, Inc., Manteca, Calif. George Schreck has been named sales manager for Locke Power Mowers. He was 
previously district sales manager 
for Wheel Horse Products, Inc., in Connecticut and New York. For the first time in pesticide history, "The Silver Skunk" gives you the convenience and precision required for urban 
and industrial spray operations. It is a revolutionary new portable high-pressure pesticide sprayer. Utilizing the exclu-sive Micro-Injection System, "The Silver Skunk" accurately meters small amounts of pesticide concentrate directly into the high-pressure water flow. You may eliminate bulky mix-ing tanks, for "The Silver Skunk" allows you to couple See me at your nearest dealer! directly to a garden hose for a water source. "The Silver Skunk" features portability, simple calibration, allows the 
operator to easily switch from one concentrate to another, records total gallons used on each job and is designed for extended service life. The unit comes complete with 100 feet of high-pressure spray hose, a wand, three nozzles and adapters. You're ready to go to work the moment 'The Silver Skunk" walks through the door. Power Spray Technology, inc. Suite 8, Township Square Building Hook and Calcon Hook Roads Sharon Hill, PA 19079 Phone:(215)461-6331 IB Circle 128 on free information card When they bag When there's no compromise in performance, they're worlh even more Introducing Toro Front Runner rotaries. They're self-contained vacuum grass collecting systems designed specifically to bag and carry heavy loads without penalizing performance. Result? They stop, start, steer and maneuver as well loaded as many mowers with add-on bag systems do empty Since they're designed for big grass loads, strain on engines, transmissions and other components is cut way down. 
Which cuts way down on repairs and down time. What's more, Front Runners offer the largest grass collection capacities available. The GMT (left) handles up to 20 bushels and mows 48" or 60" wide. The Turf Truck, with hydraulic dump system, handles up to 50 bushels and mows 60" wide. Benefit: More mowing between grass dumpings. Or, for wide mowing without bagging, choose the giant 80" batwing deck on either unit. Outer wings follow contour of ground to eliminate scalping. To make your GMT worth even more, choose a snow plow, snow blower or sprayer. Increase the worth of your Turf Truck with all season cab. Toro Red Wagon Service is one more reason your Toro is worth more. Every Red Wagon mobile van comes with a 
trained pro and the equipment and parts he needs to perform most maintenance on the spot. Call 800-328-2858 toll-free for the name of your nearest Toro distributor and a demonstration. MEETING DATES Ohio Turf and Landscape Day, Ohio Agricultural Research and Develop-ment Center, Wooster, Ohio, Sept. 12. Contact: Edward H. Roche, OARDC, Wooster, Ohio 44691, 216-264-1021. Virginia Turfgrass Field Days and Trade Show, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va., Sept. 12-14. Contact: Dr. John F. Shoulders, Department of Agronomy, 419 Smyth Hall, VPI Blacksburg, Va. 24061,703-951-5797. Ornamental Horticulture Research Center, Sept. 12. Contact: Dr. John R. Street, 106D Horticulture Field Illinois Turfgrass Field Day Champaign, 111., Sept. 12. Conl Lab, University of Illinois, Champaign^ 111. 61801, 217-333-2123 Michigan State University/North Michigan Turfgrass Field Day, Traverse City, Mich., Sept. 13. Contact: Dr. John E. Kaufmann, 101 Soil Science Build-ing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. 48824. International Pesticide Applicators Association Annual Convention, Sea-Tac Motor Inn, 18740 Pacific Highway South, Seattle, Wash., Sept. 13-15. Contact: Ed Walters, 20057 Ballinger Rd., N.E., Seattle, Wash. 98155, 206-362-9100. Pacific Horticultural Trade Show, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, Calif., Sept. 20-22. Contact: Richard Staples, 1005 8th St., Suite 303, Sacra-mento, Calif. 95814, 916-443-7373. Midwest Turf Field Day, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., Sept. 25. Contact: Dr. William H. Daniel, Department of Agronomy, Purdue Univer-sity, 2-443 Lilly Hall, West Lafayette, Ind. 47907, 317-749-2891. Northwest Turfgrass Conference, Holiday Inn, Richland, Wash., Sept. 25-28. Contact: Dr. Roy L. Goss, Western Washington Research and Extension Cen-ter, Puyallup, Wash. 98371, 206-845-6613. Turf Irrigation Short Course, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Sept. 26-28. Contact: Irrigation Association, 13975 Connecticut Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20906, 301-871-8188. Fourth Annual Garden Industry of America Conference and Trade Show, Cincinnati Convention and Exposition Center, Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Contact: Paul Anderson GIA, Box 1092, Minneapolis, Minn. 55440, 612-374-5200. Northern California Turfarass Council Irrigation Seminar, Goodman Hall, Jack London Square, Oakland, Calif., Oct. 4. Contact: Richard Harrison, Room 201, City Hall, Alameda, Calif. 94501. Central Plains Turfgrass Conference, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., Oct. 4-6. Contact: Dr. Robert N. Carrow, Horticulture Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan. 66506, 913-532-6170. Professional Grounds Management Society Conference and Trade Show, Atkinson Hotel, Indianapolis, Ind., Oct. 8-11. Contact: Allan Shulder, 19 Hawthorne Ave., Pikesville, Md. 21208, 301-653-2742. Florida Turf-Grass Association Annual Conference, Orlando, Fla., Oct. 15-18. Contact: Nona Murphy, 1520 Edgewater Dr., Suite E, Orlando, Fla. 32804. 305-425-1581. 18th Annual Southern California Turf/Landscape Equipment and Materials Educational Exposition, Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa, Calif., Oct. 18-19. Contact: Ed McNeill, SCTC, 1000 Concha St., Altadena, Calif. 91001, 213-798-1715. 1977 WORLD SERIES. YANKEE STADIUM. When the best met to decide the winner, there was no deciding about what kind of turf they were to play on. THE WINNER WAS ALREADY CHOSEN »was Vlefrphi JL JL KENTUCKY IBLUEGRASS (U.S. Plant Patent No. 3150) FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT: J & L ADIKES, Inc. Jamaica, N.Y. 11423 JONATHAN GREEN & SONS Farmingdale, N.J. 07727 NORTHRUP KING CO. Minneapolis, Minn. 55413 VAUGHAN-JACKLIN CORP. Bound Brook, N.J. 08805 Ł Downers Grove, III. 80515 Post Falls. Idaho 83854 Canadian Inquiries: Rothwell Seeds Ltd., Box 511, Lindsay, Ont. Other International Inquiries: Northrup King Co., Minneapolis, Minn. 55413 FERTILITY Zoysia, bermudagrass need high P,K levels Providing adequate levels of phosphorus and potassium are important to maintaining warm season grasses in the transition zone and other areas, according to University of Maryland exten-sion turf specialist Dr. Charles H. Darrah. These major plant food ele-mentsŠ especially potas-siumŠare very important in win-ter hardiness, he said. "Research data and observa-tions over the last two winters have shown that winter damage to bermudagrass was greatest where low levels of phosphorus or potassium were present," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. Phosphorus and potassium needs are best determined with a soil test taken in spring. If soil test levels for these nutrients are low, corrective fertility prac-tices should be followed over the summer months. If test levels are medium or high, use a nitrogen source during the summer and then use a complete fertilizer in mid-August to correct any defi-ciencies, he said. He said both bermudagrass and zoysiagrass need adequate fertility for optimum growth and survival. However, bermuda-grass is a heavy feeder of nitro-gen relative to zoysiagrass. Opti-mum growth rates of bermuda-grass are attained when four to six pounds per 1,000 square feet of nitrogen are used during the growing season, usually May to August in the transition zone. Zoysiagrass, on the other hand, grows well with one to two pounds per 1,000 square feet of nitrogen applied during the growing season. He said bermudagrass and zoysiagrass can persist at even lower nitro-gen fertility levels, but color and vigor will be lacking and the abil-ity to heal traffic or insect dam-age scars will be much slower. "High nitrogen fertilizers should not be used on bermuda-grass after mid-August and on zoysiagrass after the last of August in the transition zone, since decreased winter hardi-ness may result," he said. IPM from page 1 trol over management of the individual lawn is reduced. Pesticide resistance is now a major concern in the de-velopment of spray programs, Fothergill feels. Insects are able to adapt Š at times rapidly Š to 
changes in their environment. Any time pesticides are applied 
following a schedule, especially when the same pesticide is used constantly, resistance usually de-velops, he said. Another basis of IPM is that a lawn care businessman tries to 
consider all of the effects Š both good and bad Š of any treat-ment, taking full advantage of 
and using natural controls when-ever possible. He said IPM requires a great-er understanding of the particu-lar eco-system and its constitu-
ents, encouraging a more effi-cient use of the tools available, greater flexibility in dealing with change, and greater human con-trol over management of the par-ticular situation. "It should be stressed that the MONEYWISE What to look for when buying seed Being aware of the key things to look for on a grass seed label can mean the difference between putting in a fine, thick lawn for your customer that lasts year after year or a poor 
quality one that may include some problems you cannot get rid of. So says Dale Kern, president of Seed Technology, Inc., one of the country's major independent seed testing organiza-tions, located in Marysville, Ohio. He recommends keeping two things in mind when looking at the label. First, the regulations governing seed labels were set down largely with the farmer's needs in mind, not the lawn care businessman's. Second, the quantities listed on the label are specified in terms of weight rather than volume. Some seeds are many times larger than others, so the size of the box or bag itself does not indicate the quantity of seed in it. For instance, it takes at least five seeds of Kentucky blue-
grass to weigh as much as a single seed of ryegrass. But Kern says the label does give a basis for comparison, since every package of seed must include the same basic information. At the top, every label must tell you the per-centage of the pure seed Š the type of grass or mixture of grasses that you are buying. But it is important to not stop reading there, he says. If you do, you may end up with an 
assortment of undesirable plants in your customer's lawn Š 
much more troublesome than just getting a poor value for your money. The next heading of the label is "other ingredients," and first under that is "crop." Legally, crop is anything that is grown commercially, usually by a farmer. But often the seed classed as crop is not anything you would want growing in your lawn. This type of seed offers an even greater potential for trouble in the lawn than weed seeds. Crop might be some-
thing like timothy or brome Š plants that you will not be able to get rid of with chemicals without killing your grass, too. Crop could also be other turf grasses, and they, too, may cause trouble. If bentgrass is added into a bluegrass lawn, for 
instance, it will grow into distinctive patches that have an en-tirely different color and texture, and standard weed con-trols will not eradicate them. The ideal is to have no crop seed at all in your grass seed, since there is no way to be sure you are not adding undesir-able plant seeds. The next heading is "inert matter." That simply means filler Š chaff, ground corn cobs, leaves, or even sand. Remember that it is listed by weight. If the label says 10 per-cent inert matter, that could be about 20 percent of the volume you are buying. So any amount greater than a few percent is worth taking into account. Another fact that must be given on every seed label is the percent by weight of weeds. Obviously the lower, the better. Look for a fraction of one percent. Every grower's grass seed inevitably contains at least a small percentage of weed seeds, but the quality growers make sure that problem weeds are not among them. In the production fields of Washington and Oregon, where much of U.S. grass seed is grown, there are weeds that grow tall along with the grasses that are to be harvested. But many of these weeds, if they grew in a lawn, wouldn't last long be-cause they could not tolerate mowing Š just as most garden flowers would not survive if cut short. These weeds might be called the non-problem type. A reputable manufacturer will 
make sure that any weed seeds that are included in his grass seed are this non-problem type. A poor quality grass seed is likely to include both weed and crop seeds that, once started in a lawn, will be very diffi-
cult to eliminate. Crop seeds especially may include plants that are coarse, clumpy or otherwise unsuitable in a lawn. For this reason, the* percentage of crop seed listed should be zero or very close to it. IB human control factor is a major 
risk as well as a benefit," Foth-
ergill said. "If a problem goes un-noticed the results could be un-
satisfactory. On the other hand, the close scrutiny necessary with Techniturf's Fothereill: "With this much control over the manage-ment of the lawn, we have found that we can afford to take full responsibility for any damage which occurs Š even vandalism." IPM leads to the early detection of new and unusual problems not 
being coped with by a routine spray program." Techniturf's service opera-tion is set up so that the techni-cian will visit each lawn a mini-mum of seven times during a sea-son. The equipment is designed so that fertilizer, insecticides, herbicides and other pesticides can be applied separately. On each visit the technician will fer-tilize lightly, using a fertilizer which is mostly readily soluble, applying as much as needed. "He now has good control over how much and when the fertilizer is being released to the lawn," Fothergill said. "If he feels that a particular lawn is a 'heavy feeder' he has the capac-ity to apply a heavier dosage. In this way he is able to minimize the amount of stress due to over or under-fertilization." Techni-turf uses mostly dry fertilizer and insecticides, and liquid her-bicides. Diseases such as Fusarium, stripe smut and red thread are 'fertilizer-sensitive,' Fothergill said. If good records are kept, lawns prone to any of these dis-eases can be treated quickly with the proper amount of nitrogen. As an example: If the Techniturf 
technician comes across a lawn infected with red thread which is 
associated with a nitrogen defi-ciency, he can increase the amount of nitrogen applied. If a 
fungicide is the only viable alter-
native, he will apply one. Concerning the IPM approach to insect control, Fothergill says: "On one occasion this spring, a lawn being serviced by our com-pany had a severe infestation of greenbug. The weather forecast was for high temperatures and high humidity. We decided to test the prediction that these 
conditions would encourage the development of a disease that 
would reduce« the green bug population. No insecticides were applied. Almost complete eradi-cation occurred within 48 hours." He said that chinch bugs have at least two very common natur-
al controls. One is a close rela-tive Š what he calls the big-eyed bug. The other is a disease which 
occurs during extended periods 
of humid weather. "Chinch bugs have been very active in central New England for the past few years, and dam-age can occur from mid-April to 
the end of November when nat-ural controls are not working," he said. "A trained observer can recognize these controls. The presence of either of these condi-tions is a signal not to spray." Fothergill and Squier feel that IPM allows the technician to be more selective in his spraying. 
The technician may now choose the appropriate insecticide, ap-ply it at the most opportune time, and hopefully avoid killing bene-ficial insects. Moreover, the risk 
of exposure to the pesticides by the technician has been reduced because he is handling them less. "With this much control over the management of the lawn, we have found that we can afford to take full responsibility for any damage which occurs, even van-
dalism," Fothergill said. "We will reseed any damage at no additional cost." SPRAYERS Whether your needs are for weed control, lawn insect or fungicide spraying, ornamental and shade tree spraying, or any general out-door work, we have the exact sprayer you require. Our reinforced fiberglass low profile tanks are available in the following sizes: 50, 100, split 100 (2 x 50), 200 and split 200 (2 x 100) gallon sizes. The reinforced fiberglass tanks are a low profile square design to minimize space, look attractive, and reduce chemical sloshing that you get in higher round style tanks. These tank sizes can be incorporated into many varieties of sprayers using Hypro, Bean, Cat or Sherwood pumps, either electric or gasoline powered. All our spray units come complete with tank, pump unit, welded steel chassis and hose reel, either skid or trailer mount. P.O. BOX 124 AMITYVILLE, NEW YORK 11701 516-799-7805 Circle 128 on free information card lawn care industry Marketplace Top: Lake of the Isles, one of the 22 Lakes and lagoons in Minneapolis, offers scenic beauty and recreational enjoyment within minutes of Downtown. Right: View of Downtown Minneapolis looking south over the Mississippi River. The Minneapolis/St. Paul lawn care market has a short season. At certain times of the year, one day can be equal to three in other parts of the coun-try. Overall, there is a good six to eight weeks less than other 
northern lawn care markets. The successful lawn care companies have mastered the short season. They get the same amount of money out of their ac-counts as they would in a longer season, and know how to juggle their time and manpower when 
the going gets hectic at the peak of the season. And this gives them plenty of time to relax or do a little snow pushing or removal when the white stuff starts to fall. The unsuccessful lawn care companies Š and there are quite a few, to hear the owners of the better companies talk Š never get their act together and are gone in about one or two years. "But they make for cutthroat 
competition along the way," one lawn care businessman told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, although, as he continues, "the situation is getting better, and 
good work is beginning to be rewarded." And there is no doubt there is a lot of work to be done around the Twin Cities. Plenty of residential and even more com-mercial/industrial. There have always been firms that specialize in total maintenance on a con-tract basis, and the chemical ap-plication business was handled by companies like Sprayrite until Lawn Doctor in the early 70's, and ChemLawn Corp., who en-tered the market in 1975. Leisure Lawn, Dayton, Ohio entered the market the next year 
and spent two years until it sold out to Tru-Green Corp., Lansing, Mich, over the winter. Many in the market feel that Leisure Lawn left just about the time the chemical application potential was really beginning to pick up. 
Evergreen Lawns, already 
operating in St. Louis, Kansas City and Denver, came in this year, put a big advertising push on, and is beginning to pick up on that potential. Although these are only estimates, ChemLawn is 
reported to have about 30 lawn 
care trucks on the road, and ob-servers say that if Evergreen 
keeps up its growth, it will be pushing them before too long. But as we said, total mainte-nance is still king in the Twin 
Cities. Lawn care businessmen like to talk about mowers, and this is a subject close to the heart of Steve Williams. He is the mower product manager for Minneapolis' Toro Co., and says: "There has been a lot of con-struction in our area in recent years, and the lawn care business potential is growing. More homeowners are reaching the income level where they can afford a lawn care service, and there is an increased awareness in landscaping and design. We of course pay more attention to mowing, and expect a 15 percent growth rate in the amount of business these people are do-ing." Larry Vetter, manager of Pro-fessional Turf Products for 
Northrup King Co., another 
Minneapolis-based firm that specializes in seed says: "The market is obviously viable. There are a lot of small firms, and then there are com-panies like ChemLawn who have increased market awareness. And we know that the business has not peaked out yet." Indeed. A survey of most of the successful lawn care businessmen in the city indi-
cates that they expect three to 
four more years of substantial growth in the lawn care market. 
Almost every lawn care businessman interviewed says that his business has increased anywhere from 25 to 200 percent. And while Minneapolis/St. Paul 
was the third fastest growing area metropolitan area in the nation during the 1960-1970 
decade, present population of 1.9 million is expected to be almost 
2.1 million by 1980 and 2.5 million by the year 2000, accord-ing to figures released by the Minneapolis Metropolitan Coun-
cil. Add to this the fact that in 1976, 37.5 of the homes in the seven-county area had a house-hold income of between $15,000 and $25,000, and that 12.3 percent more than $25,000, and that spells potential. Not to say that there aren't problems. There have been com-
plaints to the Better Business Bureau Š as is the case in other U.S. cities Š and one lawn care businessman said: "Many of the spray com-panies working in our area have 
no respect for weather wind, neighbor's shrubs and most drastic of all, the attitude they 
have about it. The complaint calls to the Department of Agri-culture are unbelieveable. This is facts, not a cry story." But lawn care businessmen in the Twin Cities say that the in-dustry is getting more profes-sionalized, and say that this is due in part to the more strict pes-ticide spraying laws, which "make it hard for a fly-by-nighter to get into the business." As another lawn care busi-nessman said, "the potential is damn near unlimited," and you 
can look for substantial growth in the Minneapolis/St. Paul lawn care market for well into the 
1980's. 8Minneapolis-St Paul-Pittsburgh 93 by Bob Earley, editor Paul Comstock, 45, owner of Comstock Spray Service, St. Paul has been in the lawn care business for 19 years, and there are at least three tips he would pass on to other lawn care busi-nessmen: (1) "Your poorest job is your best advertising." (2) "I have always made money on complaint calls/1 (3) "Make sure that you charge enough to deliver quality work. All a customer cares about when he is looking at his bill is that the work was done right." Comstock handles about 350 residential customers, and also sprays about 2,000 acres of parks in the course of a year. He 
handles fertilization, weed con-trol, insect control and disease control, in addition to doing some 
sod repair. He retained 85 percent of his accounts from last year, and grosses about $100,000 yearly. "You just can't emphasize to your employes enough that they have to do good work," he says. "We don't have time for sloppy work. If we get a call to go back on a job, I am the one that goes back and does it. And my time is expensive. I charge $25 an hour for resprays, and it comes out of their next check." One thing that Comstock feels is different about his business is that he is available 24 hours a day by phone. "When the complaint calls come in, they are talking to the 
boss," he told LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY. "Most of the time, they 
are just looking for information, 
and as I said, I have always made 
money on complaint calls. 
Usually they are complaining about something that they did not order in the first place, and I sell it to them on the spot. A flunkie or secretary or answering service cannot do this." Comstock emphasizes quality work, and also emphasizes charging enough so that you can provide quality work. "Just make sure that the quality is there when the guy is looking at his MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL Twin Cities Lawn care, Twin Cities-style: A lawn care season six to eight weeks shorter than other northern markets ... characterized by strong, independent operators who rely heavily on commercial/industrial maintenance dollars to meet the payroll, along with a lot of one- and two-year wonders. bill. After quality comes speed, trying to do a good job quickly." Comstock uses Ortho 20-10-10 fertilizer manufactured by Chevron Chemical Co., San Francisco. "I like the slower release and I like the other 
nutrients it provides," he says. "Using straight urea is like handing a kid a candy bar to grow on. You are going to have lawn problems in three years if you don't use enough potassium and phosphate." He charges $3.75 per 1,000 square feet each for three applications a year. He says most of his lawns are be-tween 10,000 and 16,000 square feet, with about an average of II,500 square feet. He has seven trailers with 500-gallon tanks, and has 
fabricated booms on wheels for spraying. He uses Hypro pumps, manufactured in St. Paul, and 300-foot hoses Hannay reels manufactured by Clifford B. Hannay & Son, Inc., Westerlo, N.Y. Other equipment includes 14-horsepower tractors manu-factured by Deere & Co., Moline, III.; and 25-horsepower tractors with a loader and landscape rake for repair work, manufactured by Allis-Chalmers Corp., 
Milwaukee. He said the growth in the area will be in the north and south suburbs of St. Paul, where many $70,000 to $100,000 homes are presently being built, and where both the man and wife work. "As long as a company keeps up with government licensing, it is going to grow," he said. "Licensing is good. It makes it harder for the fly-by-night operator to get into business." Pat Betz, 30, holds the distinc-tion of being branch manager for two of the major lawn care chains in the course of two years. 
In 1976, he came to town and helped open a branch office for Leisure Lawn, based in Dayton, 
Ohio. He ran that for two years, and when Tru-Green Corp., Lan-sing, Mich., bought the company out, he was asked to stay on and manage the branch. The Tru-Green program is a mixture of the dry program utilized by Leisure Lawn and standard liquid programs. Betz uses dry applications in spring and fall, and liquid in the two summer applications. Basic charge is $10 per 1,000 square feet for a total of four applications. The average lawn Tru-Green services is 9,650 square feet, he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. The company at 
present has 1,250 customers, up 40 percent from last year Š with no advertising. Betz said there is virtually no insect or disease problems that normal applications cannot han-dle. For liquid weed control, the 
company utilizes Dacthal, manu-
factured by Diamond Shamrock 
Corp., Cleveland. For dry ap-plications of weed control, the company uses Balan, manu-factured by Elanco Products Co., Indianapolis. Betz said that Leisure Lawn may have made a mistake in not 
concentrating in certain affluent areas of the Twin Cities, rather than accepting customers from all over the area. He said the company spent $33,000 for adver-tising the first year and $14,000 the next. Many lawn care businessmen in the area feel that Leisure Lawn should have 
waited a year or two more to carry through and pick up its 
rightful amount of the lawn care 
business based on their prelimi-nary groundwork. Betz characterizes the market as still young and with a need to be educated. He also says that "there is a lot of turnover, they take you until their lawn looks good and then they drop you." But he also says that Tru-Green 
is now getting a lot of "rein-states," people who have drop-ped the service but are now pick-ing it up again. He feels this shows a more mature market, rather than one of strictly "first-users." He sees the market growing 30 to 40 percent for the next three to four years, and sees his com-pany's gross growing about the same percentage from its present $100,000 volume. Dwayne Albrecht, 36, is owner of Albrecht Landscape in Roseville, one the largest irriga-tion contractors in the five-state 
area including Minnesota, North 
and South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. He installs about 100 
residential irrigation systems in the course of a year and has about 200 residences he provides lawn care for and about 60 to 70 commercial/industrial accounts. 
He employs about 30 persons. He minces no words when he characterizes the Min-neapolis/St. Paul lawn care market. "It is absolutely primitive here," he told LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY. "The quality of the workmanship is lousy,the quality of the companies doing business to page 14 Twin Cities from page 13 for the most part is worse. And the homeowner's taste is the same. This is one of the few parts of the country where nobody in-cludes the landscaping in their mortgage." He said that 80 percent of the work is done by post office em-ployes, firemen, tool and die makers and others working part-time. "It is difficult to exist com-peting with these kinds of opera-tions," he sayd. So he doesn't compete. He chooses only clients who want "professional service and know-how." For irrigation work his equip-ment includes trenchers manu-
factured by Davis Manu-facturing Co., Wichita, Kan. He uses tractors ("nothing less than 
20 horsepower") manufactured 
by Hesston Div. of Toro Co., In-dianapolis. He utilizes Lawn-Boy walk-behind mowers, manu-"We don't have time for sloppy work . . . my time is expensive, I charge $25 an hour for resprays, and it comes out of the employe's next check." Paul Comstock Comstock Spray Service factured by OMC-Lincoln, Lin-coln, Neb. He uses skid loaders manufactured by Melroe Div. of Clarke Equipment Co., Fargo, N.D. For irrigation installation, he depends almost exclusively on equipment manufactured by the Irrigation Division of Toro Co., Irvine, Calif. He says that the 
company's plastic equipment, "costs less, and stays right along with brass, and gives the customer more than any other 
brand for the money." Paul McGuire, 50, owner of the 12-year-old McGuire Lawn Care, St. Paul, says he may be the only union operation in the Twin Cities' lawn care market. Judging from LAWN CARE INDUSTRY conversations with lawn care 
businessmen across the country, it may be one of the few, or at least in the minority in the coun-try, excluding California. "Being union has solved a lot of problems for us," he said. "First, they send us people, and it works a lot better than 'help wanted' ads in the paper. It is quick and the potential em-ployes are screened to a certain extent." The second point is that since 80 percent of his $400,000 annual gross volume is commercial and industrial, he receives less prob-
lems when he handles mainte-nance at a plant where the em-ployes are organized. He works through the Laborer's District Council. Present wage scale is 
$5.80 an hour with 21 cents an 
hour of benefits. He has about 200 accounts on the books at present, and em-ploys about 16 men at peak season. Some of his work is an-nual Š including snow plowing Š but most of it is on seasonal contracts, usually from March through November. Although he has about 40 residential accounts, he prefers commercial/industrial work 
because "supervision is a lot easier when your men are spending IV2 to two days at a par-ticular site. Also, there is less wear and tear on the trucks, and the dollar volume is simply larger." He also says that the home-owner inevitably wants extra work done that he or she is usually not willing to pay for, such as hauling away garbage. 
He prefers dealing with purchas-ing agents to housewives. His typical job includes cleanup in spring, fertilization two to three times a year, pesti-cide spraying when it is needed, mowing every six to 10 days, shrub trimming as it is needed. Tree trimming is extra. He bills monthly for most of his customers, and feels that they appreciate his service because 
"we keep their grounds looking nice with no hassles, they don't have to chase their inside maintenance help out of the back room to do the outside work, they don't have to pay benefits and in-surance for maintenance em-ployes for outdoors, and they always know exactly what it is costing them. These are the points I bring up when I am sell-
ing an account." His equipment includes 60-inch mowers manufactured by Hesston Lawn Equipment Div. of 
Toro Co.; 21-inch Lawn-Boy hand mowers; blowers manufactured by Echo Chain Saw, Northbrook, 
111. Also, 58-inch reel mowers manufactured by National 
Mower Co., St. Paul. He says: "Reel mowers are good but they of course have limitations. But what they do, they do well, and I like the ease of maintenance." He uses 52-inch mowers manufactured by Bunton Co., 
Louisville, Ky. He says he likes the equipment because if has a low center of gravity, a very wide deck and it has excellent balance for slope work. He also utilizes 18-horsepower tractors manu-factured by Simplicity Manu-facturing Co., Port Washington, Wis. and 12-horsepower tractors manufactured by Toro Co., Min-neapolis. He uses 60-inch mower 
decks on each, and says that he may be going to larger-horsepower units in the future. "The lawn care potential in this area is damn near un-limited," he says. He says he has doubled his business in the last three years, and looks to increase 20 to 25 percent for the next few years, and says that figure can be common for hard-working com-panies. He says there are 12 to 14 
new companies in the Yellow Pages every spring, and that about one or two of them are 
around the next year. Ed Boden, 31, is branch manager of the ChemLawn Corp. branch based in Brooklyn Cen-ter. He has been with the com-pany eight years, working in both the Toledo, Ohio and In-dianapolis lawn care markets. His assistant is Jon Custer. "The difference up here is just that the season is a lot shor-ter, " he says, "and it puts pressure on a lawn care com-pany and its management to be well-organized and aware of 
scheduling." He said it takes a special kind of person to handle the pressures of being a lawn specialist in the Minneapolis/St. Paul climate, and he spent time interviewing 50 applicants for 
five jobs they added this spring. They have between 12 and 15 lawn specialists. "You have to have people who are willing to work hard because during the season we average a lot of hours to get all of 
our work done," he said. "The rounds are shorter, and we just don't have that much slack in case we have weather problems 
or other kinds of problems." He said the season is between six and eight weeks shorter than other northern lawn care markets, and runs from about 
late March or early April through late September or early October. Boden calls the Min-neapolis/St. Paul lawn care 
market a "typical northern blue-grass" market, with lawns about 9,500 square-feet average. ChemLawn's basic charge is $20 per 5,000 square feet. The average charge is about $31.25 per application for each of four applications a year. "Most of the homeowners are very conscious of their lawns, perhaps because of the short growing season," Boden said. "They are more particular, but they are also more aware of cultural problems a lawn care company might have because of the short season." Michael Mallory, 30, is branch manager of the Burns-
ville branch operation of ChemLawn Corp. He has been with the company for six years, also working in Indianapolis and Anderson, Ind., just outside of Muncie. Marty Bennett is his assistant branch manager. He echoes Boden's senti-ments on the shortness of the Minneapolis/St. Paul lawn care 
season, and stresses the fact "that you have to have good men because of the shortness of the 
season. You might be able to experiment with new employes a little more in other markets, but here you don't have time to wait around to see if things are going to work out." All in all, he says management decision mak-ing has to be quicker, because "one day is equivalent to three days in some markets. If you "Now we are starting to get a lot of reinstates, people who dropped the service, but are picking it up again. This shows a more mature market, 
rather than just first-users." Pat Betz Tru-Green Corp. have a truck down, you get behind very quickly on pro-duction." They hired a number of new employes this March to bring their totals to 15-plus lawn field men. After the employes are hired, they go through 10 days of formal classroom training Š three days with regional St. Louis-based regional agronomist Rich Anda, and seven days with branch personnel. The new em-ployes deal with simple sales techniques, lawn measuring, us-
ing the telephone, filling tanks on trucks, reading charts, etc. Then the new employes spend a cer-
tain amount of time riding with experienced employes before they begin servicing lawn themselves. Mallory says that because of low summer humidity as a rule, there is not too much of a prob-lem with turf diseases. He also said there is not much problem with insect and weeds, but did mention chickweed, plantain, dandelions, knotweed, oxialis 
and quackgrass as weeds which are in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, but are not difficult to con-trol. A big problem in the five-county area, however, is the inci-
dence of Dutch elm disease, which is taking its toll on the "It is absolutely primitive here. The workmanship is lousy, the quality of the companies doing business is worse. And the homeowner's taste is 
the same." Dwayne Albrecht Albrecht Landscape beautiful tree-lined streets in the area. Besides the obvious prob-lems this is causing home-owners, Mallory said that the trees are creating sun areas in lawns that previously had been shaded. These areas that were previously bentgrass or fine fescue, are now receiving more sunlight, and ChemLawn has 
made available two programs for these lawns and other bentgrass and fine fescue lawns. Mallory 
says that about 70 percent of the lawns ChemLawn services are bluegrass. He said the company has not used television or radio adver-tising recently in the Twin Cities are (1975 was the last time), and 
he feels that the more traditional print advertising is less costly and more productive. Keith Anderson, 23, owner of Keith's Professional Lawn Service, Minneapolis, says that most lawn care businessmen are happy with a 10 percent profit, but he does not feel that is good business, because "you have to 
wait an eternity to realize any-thing out of what you are putting into it." He thinks that any lawn care business can shoot for profits in the area of 15 to 25 percent, depending on the time of the year, and says that 18 to 22 per-cent is good. His business grossed about $120,000 last year handling liquid lawn care and other mainte-
nance services for residential customers and commercial/in-dustrial customers. The bulk of 
his work is residential. For three applications of fer-tilizer and pesticides a year, he charges a base price of $74 for 5,-000 square feet. His prices jump 
$10 for every 1,000 square feet af-ter that for the total three applications. He charges $17 to mow a typical residential lawn. He employs about 15 persons during peak times of the year. "ChemLawn pioneered the lawn care market up here, made homeowners aware," he said. "All other companies that are in liquid lawn care now feed off of that." He says that ChemLawn "put a touch of professionalism into the industry, made the home-
owners set their sights a little bit higher," and that now "good work is beginning to be rewar-ded." He said that he expects about three to four years of sub-stantial growth in chemical lawn care. He expects the business to double in that time. For mowing, he uses reel mowers manufactured by Toro Co., National Mower Co. and Jacobsen Manufacturing Co., Racine, Wis. He uses walk-behind mowers manufactured by Lawn Boy. He also uses 10 to 12 
horsepower Gravely tractors, manufactured in Clemmons, 
N.C. He says that he uses reel mowers because he "likes the 
quality of cut over rotaries." The 
smallest job he uses reel mower on is 6,000 to 9,000 square feet, depending on the layout of the 
area to be cut. For his spray work he utlizes a 1,200-gallon tank with a PTO system which he feels is "the only way to go for residential work." He says it gives a more consistent pump flow, lasts longer, is quieter and requires 
less maintenance. James Davis, 32, bought Pro-perty Maintenance Co. in St. Paul three years ago, and has got-ten to the point where he can be "picky" about the kinds of ac-counts he takes on. * He is a full-service mainte-nance company, and handles everything from mowing to small tree work, including fertiliza-
tion weed control, shrub trim-ming and light landscaping. He does not do watering Š as many of his commercial accounts would like Š and is even think-ing about only taking on accounts that have automatic or manual irrigation systems. "Although there is not a large percentage of homes with irriga-tion systems now, the sprinkler installation people are very busy in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area at present" Davis said. "It is so important in having a good lawn, "Being union has solved a lot of problems for us. They send us people, and it works a lot better than ads in the paper." Paul McGuire McGuire Lawn Care izer spreaders, and 21-inch, rear-
bagging Lawn Boy mowers. Bruce Dellwo, 28, is in his fourth year with Dell's Mainte-
nance Service, based in Apple Valley. At present, he is primarily handling full-service maintenance of townhouse developments, and feels that the residential market would not be profitable for him the way his 
business is structured now. "You have to.gear your business all different to make a profit in residential mainte-
nance," he said. "You spend a lot 
of time traveling, less time on each job, and have more head-
aches." Also, he said he works primarily on the south side of Minneapolis, where medium-priced homes prevail and feels that "people will not pay a mini-mum of even $60 a month, no 
matter what you offer them." But he admits that he would not mind more residential business than he has at present, and is attempting to add a few ac-counts at a time to determine a basic price structure for fertiliza-tion, weed, insect and disease control. "ChemLawn has carved out a market for themselves here in residential work, which proves "Management decision making has to be quicker, because one day here can be equivalent to three days in 
another market." Mike Mallory ChemLawn Corp. that the business is there," he said. "They got here at just the right time, did the right amount 
of advertising, and their trucks continue to advertise for them as they drive around the city from job to job." He believes there is a lot of potential in the city for more lawn care business, whether it be residential, commercial or industrial. "I really believe if I had the time, with the correct advertis-
ing, and another man to sell along with me, I feel we could go from $50,000 to $200,000 in one year," he said. "Our hourly rate of profit might not be as great, 
and we would really have to hus-tle, but I think we could do it." He also says that to make an additional $25,000 gross he would have to invest in $12,000 worth of good equipment. He feels that "it is tough to expand fast and be financially stable at the same time," and cites the example that one of the biggest townhouse management firms in the city 
recently went under due to these types of problems. When he speaks about this subject, he echoes the words of many lawn care businessmen LAWN CARE INDUSTRY has interviewed across the country: "When you get too big too to page 19 and it makes my job easier and 
keeps my accounts happy too. For people that do have irriga-tion systems, the most important 
thing is to stress to them that they don't have to water every day, that this will just invite disease 
and other problems." For residential accounts, Davis just this year instituted a $100 minimum charge, regard-less of size of lawn. "It turns a lot 
of people away, but it lets me pick and choose the kinds of 
customers I want," he said. His basic charges for most of his accounts are based on time and material. He charges $20 an hour for his own time and $12 an hour for the time of his laborers. His charge for monthly mainte-nance for a small bank is $230, up 
from $200 last lawn care season. He also handles fertilization of a 
400,000-square-foot apartment complex. His main equipment inven-tory includes a number of 14- and 16-horsepower John Deere trac-tors with mower decks, land-scape rakes, front buckets, sprayers with booms and fertil-Mtroform® works 'round the clock to keep lawns greener longer« While others sleep, you can be providing lawn care ser-vice to satisfied customers. The secret is Nitroform® slow-release nitrogen. It works around the clock to give green, healthy lawns. Keeping grass greener between visits is the best way to hold customers, while attracting new ones. Home owners will readily see that your lawn care service does the job with dependable 
results... at less cost than they can do it themselves. Nitroform is the best way to apply long-lasting nitrogen... 
whether you have equipment for liquid or dry application. You can use Nitroform as granular BLUE CHIP® or as POWDER BLUEŽ sprayable slow-release nitrogen. 
Nitroform gives uniform coverage, and is compatible 
with most lawn care mate-rials, including pesticides. Nitroform is the quality slow-release nitrogen. It's nonleaching. It keeps feeding long after your crew has moved on to other jobs. Because it's nonburning, even inexperienced labor can apply it With Nitroform, benefits are always predictable per-formance, easy application, dependable results. What 
else could you want, except 
possibly more information? For that, write Agricultural Chemicals, Hercules Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware 19899. Phone: 302/575-5000. mJßL-HERCULES INCORPORATED^ ^Registered Trademark of Hercules Incorporated/ŽTrademark of Hercules Incorporated IB Circle 128 on free information card 16 17 fill in the extra profit you've been missing. Your ability to recognize and treat the diseases that attack your customers' lawns means extra income for you. Every lawn on your list is susceptible to a variety of diseases. And every time you spot one, it's a chance to move in 
with a new service to keep your present customers happy, sign 
up some new ones, and generate new profits. But there's a catch. You've got to diagnose the disease quickly. And treat it fast with the right fungicide. That's where 
the TERSAN fungicide team comes in. This lineup of four 
fungicides gives you a proven, effective control for just about every lawn disease you'll ever run into. No hit-or-miss guesswork. No costly, wasteful shotgun treatments. Start with some Du Pont literature on how to identify and control lawn diseases. It's yours for the asking when you 
mail in the coupon. Then you'll be well on your way to filling in 
that hole in your profit picture. ¿ttzsi&ss qjPMfr Lawn Products E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (Inc.) TERSAN Turf Products Room 36569 Wilmington, Delaware 19898 PLEASE SEND ME YOUR LITERATURE ON LAWN DISEASE CONTROL. Name Title Company Address City State Zip WE OFFER THE FOLLOWING SERVICES: Ł Lawn mowing and maintenance Ł Weed control Ł Insect control Ł Disease (fungus) control Ł Tree and shrub care Ł Other OUR PRESENT ACCOUNTS NUMBER: Ł Less than 500 Ł 500 to 1,000 Ł 1,000 to 5,000 Ł Over 5,000 OUR EMPLOYEES NUMBER: Ł 1to5 Ł 6 to 10 Ł 11 to 15 Ł over 15 OUR BUSINESS IS: Ł Independent Ł Chain Ł Franchise Ł Other Circle 103 on free information card 18 o D < oc H C/3 D D 2 U OC < U z < 1-3 SPLIT PERSONALITY. Another fine, quality-con-trolled product of Jacklin Seed Company. KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS U.S. Plant Patent 3151 Bright sunshine or moderate shade makes little difference to Glade Kentucky bluegrass. With its split per-sonality, Glade grows well under both conditions. A Rutgers University selection, low-growing, deep green Glade has im-proved resistance to most races of leaf rust, stripe smut and to powdery mildew in up to 60% shade. Because of its better than average resistance to most races of Fusarium blight, Glade Kentucky bluegrass is being used as a fortifying ingredient in many professional turf grass mixes. It blends beautifully with the new, fine-leafed rye grasses, fescues and other elite bluegrasses. Specify Glade for your next turf grass mix. You'll appreciate the split personality that thrives in both sun and shade. t' ' ' Kfc! ycr'v r ¿K Ł Circle 103 on free information card COST CUTTINGS Going commercial? Check your liability Any lawn care businessman interested in taking on commercial accounts should beef up his company liability insurance coverage it is not already where it should be, according to Frank Soos, owner of Petite Fleur Land-scaping, Inc., Brecksville, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. He carries $500,000 of liability coverage for personal injury and property damage. His premiums are $3,000 annually. He says his commercial customers (including two Cleveland mainte-nance plums Š Ohio Bell and U.S. Steel) protect themselves by hiring lawn care companies with high insurance cover-age. Under the law, if a lawn care worker or a commercial 
employe is injured at the work site, the commercial company is liable. To offset their liability, commercial customers re-quire heavy insurance. Soos also says that property insurance is needed to cover damages that could be caused by a lawn care company. "I have seen competitors get to bid on a commercial busi-ness job," Soos told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, and they might not have enough insurance. The commercial account 
will just tell you to forget it." He prefers commercial accounts to residential ones because he says he has fewer headaches caused by customer complaints. Twin Cities from page 15 fast, you pump up your over-
head, and it can be awful tough 
to carry it," he says. "When you do invest $12,000 in equipment to do $25,000 worth of business, you 
can't plan on getting it all out in one year." He said that in the Min-neapolis/St. Paul lawn care market, there is an abundance of firms that come into and go out of business in the space of one or two years. "They see a lot of money to be made, think it is all peaches-and-cream, but then end up losing their shirts," Dellwo said. "But they never realize that it is 
because of people like them that the business can be unstable at 
times." He believes in doing his "A PTO system is the only way to go. It gives a more consistent pump flow, lasts longer, is quieter and requires less maintenance." Keith Anderson Keith's Professional Lawn Service cutting with reel mowers on the big jobs, and utlizes National reels and 70-inch Toro reels. "I have gotten most of my work from word-of-mouth adver-tising," he said, "And it is because people see my jobs, they see the kind of cut I get with reels, and they want the same 
job. You don't see the cut lines, the turf gets rolled over nicely, and you have very little scalp-ing." He also believes in hand spraying and fertilizing. He uses mostly a 24-4-12 blend manu-factured by Par Ex Professional Products, Winter Haven, Fla., about 6,000 pounds a year. He utilizes a Cyclone spreader, owned by Jackson Mfg. Co., 
Harrisburg, Pa. He utilizes a small tank or backpack type sprayer for pesticide spraying, and has quite a bit of success with Trimec, manufactured by PBI/Gordon Corp., Kansas City, Kan. For estimating costs of a job when most yearly bids are let out in the fall, he figures time and material with a 20 to 25 percent 
mark-up. John Buszmann, 38, owner of Buszmann Lawn & Garden, operates in Belle Plaine, a com-munity of about 2,500 persons 40 miles west of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Because it is a fairly small town, he says that people are not 
willing to pay that much for lawn care services. He charges $12 an hour for mowing with his 48-inch decks on 
one of his four 16-horsepower tractors Š two manufactured by 
Simplicity Manufacturing Co., and two manufactured by Allis-Chalmers. He gets involved in quite a bit of lawn building, handling dethatching, reseeding and vacuuming in spring and fall. He charges about $13 an hour for vacuuming. For a typical residential lot of 100 x 150 feet, he might charge $20 for dethatching and vacuuming. Most of his work is contract mowing, and he includes two local villages, a number of cemeteries and a number of com-mercial accounts on his books. He also handles some larger residential lawns. As with many lawn care businessmen across the country, 
Kenneth Torborg, 38, owner of Chapman-Torborg Grounds Maintenance Co., Prior Lake feels that he could really in-crease his business if he could find the right people to work with him full-time. "The potential for the lawn care business is great here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, there is always room for more work for good lawn service companies," 
he said. He runs one crew now and grosses about $85,000 a year in lawn maintenance. He feels 
he could easily double his business just by finding a real 
good full-time man, and putting another crew on the road. "But a good foreman would cost about $12,000 or $15,000 a year for beginners, and add that to the equipment I would have to buy, and it would take an awful lot of accounts to make up the 
difference," he said. "But it would be worth it if I could just 
find the right man who would be willing to work it with me a year, and then go out with his own 
crew." Most of Torborg's work is commercial/industrial lawn maintenance, including mowing, shrub and bed work, fertiliza-tion, power sweeping and snow removal on a contract basis. "We stress giving good ser-vice," he said. "I am the head of the crew, and the people who are in charge of the businesses we work for always see me at least once a week. If they have any 
problems, I am right there to discuss them." His charges are based on a six-month lawn care season, and he bills monthly. Although he does not charge on an hourly basis for any work, when he es-timates a job, he determines how long it will take a crew to handle the job and then charges in the range of $22 to $25 an hour, plus the cost of materials. For one of his typical accounts Š a Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge Š he charges $3,000 a year for lawn care work and snow removal. He acknowledges that snow pushing and removal "beats up his equipment" but he lessens the work load by using 52-horsepower Ford diesel tractor with a front-end loader for snow 
removal in addition to snow pushing. "Some times I wonder if it is worth it," he says, "but with-out it the cash flow situation 
would be really bad." A typical contract job would include coming in with a power sweeper, manufactured by Jacobsen Manufacturing Co., in spring to clean up the lawn of debris. He trims shrubs about three times a year, and mows weekly. He fertilizes twice a 
year. The Howard Johnson's job mentioned earlier has about 70,-000 square feet with about 40 trees and a pond, and he figures he spends about six hours a week there during the season for the 
$3,000 charge. He uses reel mowers, large and hand rotaries manufactured by Toro Co. and Woods rotary mowers also. He also uses a Green Machine string trimmer, manu-factured by HMC Corp. Torrance, Calif. The trimmers and walk-behind mowers are not depreciated by his accountant when it comes tax time. He says he has minimal prob-lems with insects and disease, and controllable problems with 
dandelions. He has used Trimec, manufactured by PBI-Gordon 
Corp. for the last seven years with very good results as his main pesticide. He thinks the lawn care market in the Twin Cities will continue to grow, and says that almost all of the com-mercial/industrial accounts are going to contracting out their "The potential is here. If I had the time and another man to sell with me, I believe we could go from $50,000 to $200,000 in one year." Bruce Dellwo Dell's Maintenance Service lawn maintenance work. "There are very few company mainte-nance men anymore," he said. One thing that Kent Price and Paul Barton, both 25, feel have made them successful with their Landshapes, Inc. in Minneapolis, is the evaluation forms they pass out twice a month to their customers. "It gives them a chance to tell us anything they feel we left out, and it also helps in clearing 
up contract difficulties," Barton told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY recently." It also helps communication between Land-
shapes and its clients, and gives the client "a feeling that he has some kind of control over what is going on," Barton said. The forms have check-offs for excellent to poor for 10 to 12 dif-
ferent points of work the com-pany handles including mowing, trimming, bed work, etc. Perkins Cake & Steak Š one of the com-pany's accounts Š even asked permission to send the form out to its branches nationwide. Landshapes handles land-scape design, construction and maintenance, doing mostly com-mercial maintenance. They have about 35 accounts on the books with 22 employes at peak times 
of the year. Charges are based on a per man per hour charge of be-tween $9 and $12, depending on the difficulty of the job and size of site. The smaller sites are at 
the high end of the charge scale. Equipment includes four-horsepower Bobcat four-cycle handmowers; commercial Lawn-Boy walk-behind mowers, 12-
horsepower Gravely tractors with mower decks, 12-horsepower tractors manu-factured by Deere & Co., and eight to 10 horsepower tractors manufactured by Simplicity Manufacturing Co. Matthew Little, 55, began C & L Landscape, Inc. 25 years ago 
doing almost strictly residential work, but has since branched 
into commercial/industrial. "We are moving away from residential maintenance for two 
reasons," he said. "First, there 
are less headaches. Second, maintenance of com-mercial/industrial properties is more lucrative." He employs about 40 persons in the peak times of the lawn care season, and includes among his accounts the prestigious 
Honeywell, Inc. grounds and Control Data Corp. national headquarters. "Because of the relatively short season, I think many peo-ple take a real pride in their 
landscapes and maintenance of 
them," he said. "It has always surprised me that one big didn't come in and monopolize the whole maintenance end of the 
business." His business provides all basic yard needs, including 
fertilization of lawns and shrubs, mowing, weed control, fungicide and miticide spraying, lawn edg-ing, cultivating shrub beds, etc. His charges are based on a six-month growing season, broken 
down into monthly billings. His 
average for monthly fees is $150. TURF TOPICS Lawn building: Tips for add-on maintenance business Full-service lawn mainte-nance. It can be a selling point to get that residential, commercial or industrial customer on your ac-count list and into your monthly billings. While there is certainly a place for chemical applica-tion-only segments of the lawn care business, there is also a de-mand and a need for the type of 
lawn building techniques util-ized by many in the lawn care in-dustry. And while chemical applica-tion of fertilizer and pesticides is highly competitive and subject to price standardization in the in-
dustry, lawn building techniques 
such as seeding, aerating, thatch-ing, sweeping, adding soil 
amendments and lawn renova-tion often come with a higher profit margin to the lawn care businessman. Ask John Pendleton of A AA Aerifying Service in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburban of Cleveland. His business consists almost solely of aerating home-owner lawns in the Cleveland area. And other lawn care busi-nessmen such as Wayne McKin-non of Land Maintenance in St. Louis offer chemical application and mowing, along with lawn building services in spring and fall. And of course such national franchise operations as Lawn 
Doctor, Wickatunck, N.J.; Lawn-A-Mat Chemical & Equipment Corp., Mineola, N.Y.; and Lawn 
King, Fairfield, N.J. were found-ed on the assumption that a lawn needs more than just fertilizer 
and pesticides. There are be-tween 350 and 500 such fran-chisees around the country that 
are realizing anywhere from $200 to $500 a year from their cus-tomers, rather than the typical $100 to $120 fees chemical appli-cation-only firms can charge. In an effort to aid its readers, LAWN CARE INDUSTRY this month went to a number of manufacturers and asked them for some tips and guidelines on lawn building, and for explana-tions of the practices to make them easier to market to the po-tential lawn care customer. Seeding Dr. C. R. Skogley, professor of plant and soil science at the Uni-versity of Rhode Island, and his then research assistant Richard H. Hurley recently published minimum standards for im-proved lawn seed mixtures in their region for four areas: sunny lawn areas; shady lawn areas, areas with dry, infertile soil; and bentgrass areas. Hurley is pres-ently director of research for Lofts Pedigreed Seed, Inc., Bound Brook, N.J. Sunny lawn seed mixture. They recommend 80 percent Kentucky bluegrass and red fes-cue and 20 percent perennial ryegrass. Shady lawn seed mixture. They recommended 65 percent red fescue and Poa trivialis, 15 percent Kentucky bluegrass and 20 percent perennial ryegrass and velvet bentgrass. Dry, infertile soils. They recommend 80 percent red fes-cue and Kentucky bluegrass, and 20 percent perennial ryegrass, Italian ryegrass and white clover. Bentgrass lawn seed mixture. They recommended that 10 per-cent be colonial bentgrass, 70 percent be Kentucky bluegrass and red fescue, and that 20 per-cent be perennial ryegrass. Dr. Skogley and Hurley agree with Mike Robinson, marketing manager for Pickseed West, Tan-gent, Ore., when he says: "Basic-ally, we believe the lawn care 
businessman should be working for improved varieties of what-ever grasses they are working with. This will produce lawns 
that survive longer, fighting off weed invasions and the ravages 
of disease." He says that if the lawn care businessman is working on a lawn that is more than 10 years old, chances are it was estab-
lished with common strains of 
Kentucky bluegrass and creep-ing red fescue. These old-fash-ioned grasses had no selection or research, most being byproducts of livestock agriculture. A farm-er didn't need a field for pasture so seed was harvested. Filling in bare spots Along with overseeding, there may be a need for filling in patches of bare ground. The process is similar to reseeding a 
new lawn, according to Doyle Jacklin, agronomist and market-ing manager for Jacklin Seed Co., 
recently moved to Post Falls, Idaho. First he suggests that any dead leaves or plant be raked out 
and then that the soil be loos-ened two to four inches deep. Af-ter loosening soil, rake to re-move clods and level to desired slope. Prior to seeding, water deeply to settle soil particles and 
insure an adequate moisture re-serve. After sowing seed, rake lightly and firm with a roller. Water immediately after seed-ing, and instruct your customer to water three to four times a day until grass is established. Applicators Jacklin recommends that for even distribution, a spreader should be used to apply lime, seed and fertilizer in a seeding operation. David E. Herd, presi-dent of Herd Seeder Co., Logans-
port, Ind., agrees that the most important thing to look for in application equipment is an even distribution. Otherwise, the lawn will come up uneven and correc-tive action may be needed at a later date. He suggests that the lawn care businessman have a small seed-er that can be pulled by a gar-
den tractor, and he also recom-mends that a larger unit can be 
useful for use on commer-cial/industrial grounds. "We feel that the lawn care businessman should base his de-cision on purchasing granular applicators based on three crite-ria," says Jerry Ganfield of Gandy Co., Owatonna, Minn., "durability, accuracy and con-venience. "No applicator is any better than the 'guts' of the machine," he says. "Make sure the meter-ing system is accurate and de-signed to stay accurate lawn care 
season after lawn care season 
with minimal care." He suggests units with bottoms made of stain-
less steel to resist corrosion by the chemicals being applied. Aeration Aeration is a vital part of proper turf management. It is nearly as important as fertiliza-tion and irrigation, though it is a far less exact science. Martin Ford, president of Howard Rotavator Co., Harvard, 111., says that the principal aims of aeration are: Ł relief of soil compaction 
Ł break up of impervious soil layers and surface crust Ł make easier the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the soil Ł improve the soil environ-ment to assist the infiltration of water and other additives Ł removal of thatch accumu-lation Kenneth Bradfield, agrono-mist for Hahn, Inc., Evansville, Ind., adds to this: "First, by increasing the air pockets in the soil, we promote grass growth and reduce compac-tion," he said. "With water and fertilizer at a deeper level, we promote deeper rooting, giving a more vigorous and beautiful turf. The main point is that we are placing the fertilizer in the area most desirable for plant growth Š the root area Š and not on the soil surface." Another important benefit from aeration is obtained when turf needs to be reseeded for lawn building. The cavities allow the seed to be covered with soil, increasing germination and giv-ing a deeper root for the new seed. When do you aerate? In the South, you can do it just about any time, according to Russell Rose, Cushman-Ryan represen-tative based in St. Paul, Minn. And because bermudagrass is so prolific, it is needed fairly often in the warmer climates. On northern lawns, the sum-mertime, when grass is under drought and heat stress, is the wrong time. "The best time is fall or spring, and you are really split-ting hairs if you try to argue to benefits of one over the other," Rose said. He says he would pre-fer taking a look at the laWn after September 1 for the best timing, but has a little gimmick that 
might be useful in explaining timing to your customers. "A good time to aerate is when you can take a screwdriv-er and push it into the lawn, and 
without turning it get it down to a depth of four inches," he said. He stresses that aeration and power raking are not the same. 
Aeration relieves compaction and power raking removes thatch and stimulates the turf. For power raking, he feels that rakes spaced an inch apart carry out too much grass, and recommends a wider spacing. He says that even a light power rak-ing always stimulates the turf and is good for it. He recommends that when aerating, the tines should go to a two-inch depth, or that the proc-ess should be done twice. He says that the use of a unit with too many tines does not work well because it spreads the 
weight pressing down too much, and getting the right depth is difficult. He says that the argument be-tween spiking and coring is a "feeble one. "In the hot months, coring is by far better, though, because the removal of cores allows bet-ter air and water movement," he said. He recommends that an area just aerated be kept "on the wet side" for at least five days. Dethatching Thatch is the accumulation of dead but undecomposed blades of grass and other organic debris 
in the lawn. What's good about thatch? "For one thing," says Robert Martin of F. D. Kees Manufac-turing Co., Beatrice, Neb., 
"thatch materials release nutri-
ents into a lawn. They also help prevent soil compaction, re-strain crabgrass and other weeds and aggregate the soil." Martin goes on to say that it hinders further lawn growth by smothering new shoots. It also 
sheds water, rather than letting it sink into the ground. It keeps out vital sunshine and air, encour-aging the spread of disease. It also contributes to sod binding, harbors insects, disrupts fertil-izer effectiveness and holds re-seeded seedlings away from the soil. Turf experts at O. M. Scott & Sons, Marysville, Ohio, also say 
that when mowing turf with a heavy thatch content, scalping often occurs because the mower wheels sink into the spongy turf. Turf that is troubled by heavy thatch is much less tolerant to stresses because it is poorly root-ed. Both winterkill and summer stress are move severe. "The only complete answer to a thatch problem on a lawn is a vigorous raking at least once a year," Martin said. Power rakes and other dethatching units on the market are one way to accomplish this, he said. They pull out thatch and thin any growth, and are as easy to oper-ate as a power mower. Debris removal There are many units on the turf market that make spring and fall clean-up easy, and also re-move dead grass after it has been dethatched. There are air brooms, vacuum loaders, vacuum sweepers and manual lawn sweepers. Many of the units are either walk-behind, or can be attached to lawn tractors or attached to front end loaders. The main thing, according to C. G. Rinker, general manager of Atwater Strong Div. of Gougler Industries, Atwater, Ohio is to make sure the equipment facil-itates the least amount of trips across the lawn for efficiency. It 
is also important to buy equip-ment that can be used under all weather conditions, particularly 
when grass and leaves are wet, or when the grass is lush and has 
a tendency to ball. Soil amendments Regular use of gypsum can help the lawn care businessman get the most value for his cus-tomer out of fertilizer, water and seed, according to Dr. Guy P. Te-
wari, United States Gypsum Co., Chicago. "Applied in spring," he said, "gypsum improves soils that are dense and water-impervious by helping fertilizers to work more effectively. It loosens heavy clay soil and gives root systems room to grow to keep lawns thriving all summer." Fall application protects against the harmful effects of 
winter de-icing salt on the grass (in the North), shrubs and trees growing along streets and side-
walks. He recommends that 50 pounds of gypsum be applied per 1,000 square feet twice a year. 
The quantity should be doubled 
for heavy clay soil. Alkali/heavy clay soils in arid regions of west-ern and southwestern United States can require up to 20 to 40 pounds per 100 square feet. On low-lime soils, according to Dr. James Watson, agronomist and vice president of Toro Co., 
Minneapolis, the lawns should 
be limed at the rate of 50 to 100 pounds of ground limestone per 1,000 square feet every two or three years. Jacklin says that about 50 pounds of ground lime-stone per 1,000 square feet should raise the pH of acid soils 
nearly one unit. About 13 pounds 
of sulfur per 1,000 square feet should lower alkalinity by nearly one unit where pH is much 
above 7.0. About 6.5 is usually considered optimum. One com-pany Š Evergreen Lawns, oper-ating in St. Louis, Denver, Kan-sas City and Minneapolis Š of-fers lime as a fifth application in its standard four-application pro-gram. Cost is the same. For lawn building in the southern California area, John B. Dobbins, president of Dobbins, Inc. stresses a good soil prepara-tion job. "Because there are so many variations in soils, a soil analysis is often recommended before applying any amendments," he said. "Also, good grading, level-ing and rolling are important too." He recommends that lawn are businessmen buy equipment that is constructed to stand up 
under the worst possible usage. Down-time is costly. Situation hopeless Every lawn care business-man gets the type of lawn once in awhile that is pretty close to hopeless. Larry Vetter, manager of Professional Turf Products for Northrup King Co., Minneapo-lis, a former golf superintend-
ent, has some tips on building 
and renovating a lawn. First, use a mechanical or hand rake to remove the dead thatchy layer from the soil sur-face. Then mow the grass as short as the mower will allow and remove the clippings. Then, loosen the soil surface by hand raking or by setting the me-chanical rake to cut grooves Vi-inch deep in the soil surface. Dis-tribute seed uniformly over pre-pared seedbed. Use a quality seed mixture. Cover seed lightly by raking, topdressing or by running a me-
chanical rake at right angles to the direction of the original grooves. Consider applying a thin layer of organic mulching material to aid surface moisture retention. If the prepared soil is loose, it may be necessary to firm the surface with a light roller. Tell your customer to begin light waterings to keep the surface moist. Continue until seedlings are well-established. Keep lawn cut short until new grass plants are well-established. When the grass plants are old enough to have been mowed two or three times, an application of lawn fer-tilizer can be made to stimulate development. Coming issues Here is a lineup of what the next two issues of LAWN CARE INDUS-TRY will feature: September Š a report on the lawn care industry in the New York metropoli-tan area; report on tanks, pumps, sprayers, noz-zles, reels, hoses and ac-cessories. October Š a report on the lawn care industry in Baltimore; report on new mowers and tractors on the market; snow remov-al feature; a statistical profile on the lawn care industry on a national basis, based on a survey mailed to 1,000 lawn care businessmen. 21 t-> ? 2: n > 73 m 5 a c C/3 H 73 
m-> C o Center-Mounted Rotary Mower 50 Utility Box Scraper 31 Integral Disk Johnson-Arps Model 30 Loader 350 Mower 71 Flexi-Planter 11 Light-Duty Field Cultivator 45 Integral Plow 31 Posthole Digger 100 Integral Disk 205 Rotary Chopper 2-Row Cultivator 30 Integral Plow 40 Rotary Tiller 45 Rear Blade 25A Flail Mower Big enough for the jobs you need to do. Small enough so you can afford it. The new Little-Big tractors from John Deere. Now there are two rugged and reliable tractors built to handle jobs too big for a lawn and garden tractor and too small for a farm or industrial tractor The 22 PTO hp 850 and 27 PTO hp 950 are built to do the jobs you 
need to do. The 850 and 950 have big-tractor features for big-tractor versatility. Their 3-cylinder diesel engines are liquid-cooled and fuel-efficient. 
Transmissions have 8 well-spaced forward speeds, 2 reverse, for creeping below 1 mph to a top speed for transport close to 12 mph. The "Little-Big" tractors turn within a 10-foot radius. Both have a fully-shielded 540-rpm rear PTO. A differential lock that engages on the go is standard along with a 3-point hitch [category I] and an adjustable drawbar. Tread width adjusts front and rear Ground clearance is nearly 14 inches under the 850-more than 15 inches under the 950. A lift-up hood makes an 850 or 950 easy to service. Adjustable, fully-cushioned seats make them comfortable. And behind these new tractors is your John Deere Dealer with an 
expert service staff, complete parts inventory, and a long-term commitment to keep them running like new. If you have mowing, loading, plowing, digging, planting, or cultivating to do, an 850 or 950 Tractor will do it. See your John Deere Dealer soon for complete details or write for free literature to: John Deere, Box 63, Moline, Illinois 61265. Choose from a family of tractor-matched implements for all the jobs you need to do: Nothing Runs Like A Deere' IB Circle 128 on free information card BEHIND THIS ISSUE It has been a year since we hit the mails with LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY in the tabloid form you are holding in your hands now. We're successful and making money Š and this reflects the indus-try we serve, because just about every lawn care businessman I or one of our other editors talks to is in the same position. And when you come right down to it, our business is not that much different than yours. We are a service business providing in-formation on products and techniques and news to our readers. And we put you in touch with the manufacturers that are support-ing this industry by providing products for it. And, just like you, we know what it feels like to work overtime, to exert extra effort and the great satisfaction you feel after put-ting everything you have into your business and seeing your ef-forts pay off. It is a good feeling. We are a new magazine serving a new industry. American Busi-ness Press industry-wide statistics show that it takes an average magazine between three and five years to break even. We've been in the black Š ever so slightly Š since our second issue. We' ve talked to a lot of people in the industry in our first year to get a feel for what is going on. I have had to order a new Rolo-dex file because I've already filled the first one that I bought when 
we started. As I've said before, I've worked for a daily news-paper, an advertising/public relations agency and five other busi-ness magazines, but I've never filled up an 800-name Rolodex file with industry contacts in the course of a year (if anybody cares, the first name on my Rolodex is John Pendleton of A AA Aerifying Ser-vice in Cleveland, the last is Roger Yount, advertising account 
executive for the Par Ex Professional Products Division of Swift). And with the contacts we have made in the past year we have seen a lot of drive and enthusiasm for the industry. We recently sent out a four-page questionnaire to 1,000 of our readers for our second annual survey of the lawn care market. In the first five days of returns, we have already received more than 200 re-sponses, and our market research manager Clarence Arnold is still 
counting. It has been a great year. In fact, I can hardly wait to finish this and start in on year number two. PRODUCTS Lawn care spray gun Lawn Pride, Inc. has introduced a new spray gun developed espe-cially for the lawn care industry. X * The Lawn Pride 500 offers com-plete mobility and fingertip flow control so the operator can get under shrubs and ornamentals as well as cover large areas of turf quickly. The 500 nozzle is cap-
able of handling larger size particulate material and liquids, 
too. The unit is resistant to cor-
rosive effects of fertilizers. Sug-gested selling price is $47.95. Circle No. 201 on free information card 14 hp lawn tractor offers many attachments Simplicity Manufacturing Co. has announced a 14 horsepower lawn tractor for a broad range of lawn care applications. The ADVERTISERS INDEX Adelphi Kentucky Bluegrass 10 American Pelletizing 6 Deere & Co 21 Derby Tiller 6 Diamond Shamrock Corp 23 Du Pont Co 16-17 Essco Manufacturing 11 Hercules, Ine 15 Hypro Div., Lear Siegler Corp 5 Jacklin Seed Co 3, 18 Jacobsen Manufacturing Co 4 Lawn Pride 5 
Lofts Pedigreed Seed, Ine 24 Power Spray Technology 7 The Toro Co 8-9 Baron model 7014 serves the mid-dle power range of lawn equip-ment. A semi-automatic, four-speed shuttle transmission de-
signed for this equipment pro-
vides instant forward and re-
verse without braking or clutch-ing. Speeds are 1 to 5 mph in either model. The engine is a synchrobalanced Briggs & Strat-ton unit. Attachments include: 42- and 48-inch rotary mowers; 1,000-pound dump cart; 36- and 42-inch snow throwers; 42- and 48-inch dozer blades; 42-inch 
grader blade; and a 26-bushel clipping collector Circle No. 202 on free information card Toro heavy duty rotary mowers Toro Co. has published a de-tailed, six-page, four-color data 
sheet explaining the specifica-tions of its four mowers spe-cially engineered for commer-cial use. Units outlined include the Hevi-Duty 21-5, the Hevi-Duty 25-inch Whirlwind, the 
Hevi-Duty 21-4 with rear bag-ging, and the Hevi-Duty 21-4 with optional side bagging. The sheet 
explains engines specs, fuel 
capacity, traction clutch, trac-tion drive, ground speed, tires/wheels, frame, mower han-dle, controls, housing, certifica-tion, blade, height of cut, weight, dimensions and accessories. Circle No. 203 on free information card Data on 48- to 82-inch front cutting rotaries Howard Commercial Turf Equip-ment, Inc. has published a four-
color data sheet on its line of front cutting rotary mowers with cutting widths of 48, 60, 72 and 82 inches. The units offer maximum visibility, non-tracking perfor-mance and excellent trimming capabilities around and under 
bushes, chains, guard rails, pic-
nic tables, etc. By having the cutting head out in front, inde-pendently attached, the operator can actually see the mower 
following the contour of the ground, not the tractor. The mowers with hydrostatic transmissions offer capabilities to set the cutting speeds to an in-finite range, between zero and 6 miles an hour, depending on 
mowing conditions. Circle No. 204 on free information card Ittrogen (N) ospha+eCPA) fttash (PöhissiumXKiO) Oops. We inadvertently used a seed tag rather than a fertilizer bag for Figu re 1 of Dr. foe Vargas' arti-cle on fertilization in the July issue. This diagram illustrates how the per-centage of each of the three major 
nutrients can be found on a fertil-
izer bag. CLASSIFIED When answering ads where box number only is given, please address as follows: Box number, c/o LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY, Dorothy Lowe, Box 6951 Cleveland, Ohio 44101. Rates: 35c a word for line ads, 65c a word for display ads. Box numbers add $1 for mailing. All classified ads must be received by the publisher before the 10th of the month precedine publication and be accompanied by casn or money order 
covering full payment. Mail ad copy to Dorothy Lowe LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, Box 6951, Cleveland, 
Ohio 44101 HELP WANTED BRANCH MANAGER Š National automated lawn service in franchise market seeks experienced in-dividual to start and head up com-pany areas. Tremendous growth potential for one presently with li-quid spray management experience. 
Send confidential resume to Lawn Doctor, Inc., P.O. Box 525, 142 Highway 34, Matawan, New Jersey 07747. FOR SALE FOR SALE: Stainless steel lawn-
combine. Excellent condition. Seeds, fertilizers, aerates, rolls and sprays from 50 gallon tank, at 600 square feet per minute. $2,500 or best offer. Serious inquiries only. Send in-
quiries to Box 5, Lawn Care Industry, 
Box 6951, Cleveland, Ohio 44101. Dacthal applied now stops Poa annua this Call. The resourceful company Now is the time to prevent Poa annua and other late-germinating 
grasses from getting a foothold in your turf. A late summer or early fall 
application of DACTHAL® herbicide does it. It's a good follow-up to 
complete your spring and summer Dacthal program. And, if you have seeded new turf-grass this summer, Poa annua won't 
get a start. Dacthal can be used 
without injury to new seedings when grass is one to two inches high. In fact, it can be used with confidence on all turf except putting greens and bentgrasses mowed to putting green height. See your turf chemicals supplier for Dacthal. Or contact the Diamond Shamrock Agricultural Chemicals Division sales office nearest you: Three Commerce Park Square, 23200 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood OH 
44122; 1401 W. Paces Ferry Rd. NW, Atlanta GA 30327; 5333 Westheimer Rd., Suite 850, Houston TX 77056; Commerce Plaza Bldg., 2015 Spring Rd., Oak Brook IL 60521; 617 Veterans 
Blvd., Redwood City CA 94063. Diamond Shamrock Û0* : * * * * ÌU * 3fe ' * f Circle 110 on free information card For ad on back cover circle 106 on free information card t I Cuu— ß*u-JL Alan Maged, {/ Lawn-A-Mat dealer. Garden City Park, Long Island, New York. .. one of the largest independent lawn care dealers, servicing over 2000 lawns. 'I make sure Baron is in every pound of grass seed we use. Last year it amounted to 80,000 pounds of Lofts special lawn seed mixtures. If all goes well, I'll order even more this year. 'Why do I insist on Baron? Because my customers expect me to compensate for everything, from the weather to their own mistakes. Some homeowners may let their lawn grow to six or eight inches, then cut it to three-quarters of an inch! Or they'll forget to water their grass during a drought, or use their lawn for a baseball field. With all that abuse, they still expect a good lawn. "I need a 'customer-proof' grass seed mixture. So I specify Baron, Yorktown and other top quality Lofts grasses in my special mixture. I get a lush, green color, an excellent root system and the best resistance to leaf spot I've ever seen. Guess that's why I get better than 85% renewals every year. "One last thing, I really depend on my suppliers for delivery and service. I've dealt with the Lofts people for 15 years and they haven't failed me yet. That's very important to me." Bound Brook, N.J. 08805/(201) 356-8700