CHERRY HILL COLUMBUS N.J. Turf Assn. elects first lawn board member Joseph P. DeSantis, a former Lawn King franchisee and now owner of Royal Lawns, Pine Brook, N.J., became the first lawn care businessmen ever elected to the board of directors of the New Jersey Turfgrass Association at its annual meeting last month. John Wittpenn, president of Rockland Chemical Co., West Caldwell, N.J., a supplier to the lawn care industry, was elected president of the organization at the New Jersey Turf Expo in Cherry Hill. There were almost 900 turf managers in attendance at the conference, and 59 exhibitors. Almost 200 lawn care business-men attended a special lawn to page 16 CHAMPAIGN Illinois' first turf show a huge success The more than 600 turf managers and exhibitors who at-tended last month's Illinois Turf-grass Conference in Champaign agreed that the event's first-ever 
turf exhibit program was a huge success. The Conference has been held since the late 1950's. There 
were 79 exhibit booths. More than 200 lawn care busi-nessmen jammed a special lawn care educational session to hear Dr. Robert Miller and Dr. James Wilkinson of ChemLawn Corp., Columbus, Ohio; Marty Erbaugh of Erbaugh Corp., Hudson, Ohio; Bob Earley, editor of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY' and Dr. A1 
Turgeon of the University of Illinois. Rick White, Village Green Lawn Spraying, Glen Ellyn, 111., joined Charles McGinty, McGinty Brothers, Long Grove, 111., giving the Illinois Turfgrass Foundation two lawn care in-dustry members on its board. Ohio draws 1,500; lawn care sessions packed Between 400 and 500 lawn care businessmen packed educa-tional session rooms for three days to hear talks directly related to their business at last 
month's Ohio Turfgrass Con-ference in Columbus. The show drew 1,510 turf managers from around the coun-try. The exhibits were sold out, with 124 booths filled. Show officials and exhibitors estimated that much of the ac-tivity on the exhibit floor was generated by lawn care business-men. Also, it was estimated that 30 percent of the lawn care businessmen at the show were from states other than Ohio. William Hill, of George W. Hill & Co., Inc., Florence, Ken-tucky, was elected president of 
the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation for 1979. Paul Duke, of Chem-
Lawn Corp., Columbus, was chosen the Foundation's "Man of the Year." One of the highlights of the lawn care educational sessions was a talk by Tom Brune, owner of Atwood Lawn Spray Service, Sterling Heights, Mich. He spoke on "Computer Assistance Bene-ficial for 1,000 Accounts." "As our business became bigger, I dreaded the thought of our drivers having to do any more paperwork than they were 
already doing on the job," he told the standing-room-only IAWN Serving lawn maintenance Ł M^km^^mam and chemical lawn ^^ M^um I care professionals. INDUSTRY JANUARY 1979 Ł VOL. 3, NO. 1 Ł A Harvest Publication COLLEGE STATION No place in industry for soluble fertilizers, Texas businessmen told Although they give a quick green-up and are cheapest, solu-ble fertilizers have no place in the lawn care industry, Texas turf researcher Dr. Richard Du-ble told lawn care businessmen at the Texas Turfgrass Con-ference last month. The conference, held Dec. 11-13 at Texas A & M University in QUICK STARTS March spray tank rush page 2 Getty Oil into lawn care page 2 Producers, government meet on seed stats page 2 Jacobsen unveils products to distributors page 2 Tex Gifford: Pacific Northwest lawn businessman page 5 You buy the fertilizer, the tank comes free page 16 MEMOS 2 TOOLS, TIPS & TECHNIQUES 5 MEETING DATES 6 NEWSMAKERS 10 COST CUTTINGS 16 MONEYWISE 20 PRODUCTS 20 MARKETING IDEA FILE 21 IW DSS9 0NISNV1 1SV3 9018 33N3IJS UtlS AiisaaAiwn UV1S IW ssdojdi ziiiu ?in*<y 3a -SN-00 lo98ZAINn jw^ ( 9 industry in Miami, see tinuing series of indepth 'n care business thrives, ial lawn care customers, tow they go about getting College Station, drew more than 600 turf managers and almost 40 exhibitors. A special lawn care educational session drew a standing-room-only crowd of about 200 lawn care busi-nessmen. "Slow-release fertilizers fit with a lawn care program," Dr. Duble told those at the lawn care session. "As lawn care business-men, you are after a uniform 
response that will last until you can get on the lawn again. You should only use soluble fertilizer in early spring, if at all." SAN JOSE 200 at ALC A Maintenance Symposium hear Franklin The 200 landscape mainte-nance businessmen who atten-ded the Associated Landscape Contractors of America Mainte-nance Symposium early last month in San Jose, Calif, pep-pered the keynote speaker with questions about getting into the chemical lawn care business Š and many of the businessmen in attendance might do just that. Floyd Franklin, division oper-ations manager for Rollins Lawn Care, Atlanta, was the speaker. 
Other management speakers in-to page 16 audience. "Our money is made when lawns are being sprayed. The more time our driver spends spraying, and the less time doing paperwork, the more money we 
make." He said that it took about two or three years to get his computer 
system operational. He had 800 accounts when he started with it. He has more than tripled his business since then. "We were looking for some-thing that could help our business to grow efficiently," Brune said. "I am by no means a computer expert, but the system 
we fed into the computer was an outgrowth of the manual system 
we were already using." He said that the justification for the money spent on the com-puter system was the money his company would save by not hav-ing to hire a second clerk. His in-
itial cost was $10,000, which he 
financed, and he also pays $1,300 a year for a service contract. He said any company with 1,000 accounts or about $100,000 worth of business should consider us-ing a computer. Another highlight of the lawn to page 16 LCI SURVEY Most lawn companies train employes in-house More than three-fourths of lawn care companies utilize in-house training programs for their employes, a recent survey con-ducted by LAWN CARE INDUS-TRY shows. Half of the respondents said they send their employes to state 
turf conferences, many of which were held last month and early this year. Other training sources and percentages of respondents in-clude: seminars, 37 percent; 
extension classes, 30 percent; consultants, 13 percent; univer-sity classes, 13 percent; and com-munity colleges, 11 percent. Only five percent of the lawn care companies that responded said they had no training pro-gram at all for their employes. How do you train your employees? 77°/ In-house training 50% Turf conferences 37% Seminars 30% Extension classes 13% Consultants 13% University classes Il1% immunity colleges 5% >Jone SEED Producers, government meet on seed stats A major effort is being made by the grass seed industry in co-operation with the federal government to get statistics that are meaningful instead of numbers which more often than 
not are inaccurate. Duane Jacklin, chairman of the Statistics Committee of the American Seed Trade Associ-ation (ASTA), headed a work-
shop in Portland, Oregon, recent-ly that included trade associ-ation members as well as repre-sentatives of the Economics Statistics and Cooperative Ser-vice (ESCS), a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "The purpose of the work-shop was not to blame anyone, 
but to access where the short-comings are in the program and to take positive action in all areas to correct them," Jacklin said. "One segment, and very key to the whole program, is the com-pletion of forms sent to seed pro-ducers. If the statistics are not there, the industry has no way of gauging where it's at and where to go from there," he said. John Kirkbride, director of the Estimates Division of the ESCS, and several members of his Washington, D.C. staff and 
staff members from Washing-ton, Oregon and Idaho attended and presented the morning pro-gram. They outlined the prob-lems they were facing in attempt-
ing to provide a comprehensive and accurate annual report for 41 kinds of seed including acreages and yields per acre. Accurate information on seed production can also be valuable to lawn care businessmen and other turf managers who pur-chase seed, particularly in the areas of pricing and availability information. Impetus for the workshop was generated at the ASTA annual meeting earlier this year in Kan-sas City, Mo. Copies of the work-shop discussions can be obtained by writing Duane Jacklin, Jack-lin Seed Co., Route 2, Box 402, Post Falls, Idaho 83854. MAINTENANCE Jake unveils products, programs to distributors Almost 300 representatives of major turf distributors across the country attended the recent Jacobsen Turf Products national sales meeting and were intro-duced to top management of Tex-tron, Inc. as well as to new products and plans for the com-ing year. Distributors heard Jacobsen executives explain that the com-pany will increase its position in non-golf markets such as lawn care, landscape contracting, cemeteries, resorts, industrial 
parks and roadways. An example of this expansion was the introduction of the new Jacobsen Turfcat riding rotary mower, designed around a L4WN OIRE 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 J. SLAYBAUGH Associate Editor: BRUCE SHANK Technical Editor: RON MORRIS Assistant Editor: SCOTT SCREDON Graphic Director: RAYMOND GIBSON Research Services: CLARENCE ARNOLD Advertising Production Manager: PATRICIA KELLEY MARKETING/SALES Circulation & List Rental: TERRI HUTSENPILLER (216) 651-5500 Marketing & Merchandising Services: FRAN FRANZAK (216) 651-5500 New York Office: BRIAN HARRIS (212) 421-1350 757 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017 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 Northwest Office: BOB MIEROW (206) 363-2864 1333 N.W. Norcross, Seattle, WA 98177 Classified: DOROTHY LOWE (216) 651-5500 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102 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 © 1979 by The Harvest Publishing Company. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not De 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 and 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 should 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. typical lawn care maintenance operator with more than 8,000 hours of testing around the na-tion. The meeting was held at The Abbey resort in Fontana, Wis. Jacobsen is based in Racine, Wis. Robert P. Straetz, president of Textron, Inc., which recently acquired Jacobsen from Alle-gheny Ludlum Industries, told how his firm discussed a merger with Jacobsen in the mid-1960's. He said the established Jacob-sen name, product quality and leadership in turf maintenance equipment more than met Tex-tron's criteria for association. He added that the Jacobsen strength in research and development, new product development and 
manufacturing facilities blended well with Textron's lean and decentralized corporate philosophy. According to Straetz, the Jacobsen Division is expected to play an important role in sur-
passing Textron's goal of $3.5 billion sales volume by 1982. Reviewing the progress of the Jacobsen five-year business plan, company president Frank Depew said sales have nearly doubled during the past four 
years and have been running about 30 percent ahead for the current fiscal year. He said the 
company's central parts supply operation has been completely reorganized and computerized, reducing many repair parts deliveries to within 48 hours. Jack Krug is vice president and general manager of the central parts operation. In the new product area, Howard Cooper, manager of 
product planning and research, reported that new guidelines and procedures have been developed 
to assure equipment is tailored to user needs. He said the company's new Turfcat is an example of tight 
design control. Human-engineered around a typical operator, this riding rotary mower has an articulated front cutter deck for mowing 50- or 60-
inch swaths over uneven ground, 
full-size tires for easy curb climb-ing and less wear on turf, a hydrostatic transmission for simplified operation, maneuver-able rear-wheel steering and many other features. Other new products in the Jacobsen line were also introduced. Ned Brinkman, manager of distributor sales, detailed new 
programs of support for dis-tributors in the field, including manuals and caravan and field day assistance in demonstrating equipment, a point many lawn care businessmen have said is important to them. MEMOS Housing starts. Housing construction should remain rela-tively strong this year, declining only 16 to 18 percent from last year's high levels, a panel of housing experts predicted recently. They expect about 1,711,000 housing starts this year, com-pared to 1.98 million last year. However, some have pre-dicted a drop this year to as low as 1.5 million starts. A franchising hub with spokes: L & M Lawncare, based in Cleveland, has sold a number of its liquid-application based franchises already for next lawn care season with a fairly unique concept. The company has already built up a strong customer list in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland and many of its closer suburbs. They are selling franchises for outlying coun-ties, and offering the strong name and suburban customer lists they have built up to its franchisees. March spray tank rush: You know the situation. You ordered a spray tank truck a few months ago, but it still hasn't been delivered, and you are supposed to start spraying next week. 
Or you have signed up more customers with your first mailing than you thought you would. That is why lawn care spray tank manufacturers tell LAWN CARE INDUSTRY they are planning to have units in stock when the big rush hits in late February or early March. So if you think it's too late to order, go ahead and give your supplier a call anyway Š he might just have planned on it. Getty Oil into lawn care: Getty Oil is anticipating supplying lawn care businessmen and other turf managers with fertil-izer through its oil distributorship outlets across the country. It is a perfect complement to their existing supply pattern Š they can sell oil in the winter, and fertilizer in the summer. They are working out plans through their subsidiary Hawk-eye Chemical Co., Clinton, Iowa. What's more, businessmen like Bill Wampler, owner of Wampler Service Co., Š a heating oil distributor for many years in La Porte, Ind. Š is studying the possibility of doing lawn care spraying in his off season as an accessory line to his heating oil distributorship for Phillips Petroleum Co. Can your business be franchised? If your business has a pro-ven track record, one of the country's top franchise experts may be interested in promoting and financing it toward the instant national exposure. For an evaluation, contact: Rick Neiswonger at 5584, Kilbourne Dr., Lyndhurst, Ohio 44124, 216-473-1301. 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. DERBY Turf Type Perennial Ryegrass Setting a New Standard of Excellence Derby is the dark green beauty which joined Manhattan and Pennfine on the "highly preferred list of ryegrasses." That was last year. Now Derby is setting a new standard of excellence. In the eyes of many Golf Superintendents it reigns supreme among the turf-type ryegrasses today. Why? Because it performs! And a Superintendent knows that claims are great but performance counts. Ł Consistently performs better than other leading varieties from California to Florida Ł Durable, dark green and has excellent mowing qualities Ł Tolerates a variety of soils & responds rapidly to fertilization Ł Germinates in a week (or even less) under ideal conditions 'la fl^^^H Better-than-average heat and drought tolerance An adaptable and disease resistant cool-season turf grass An excellent record as a Southern winter grass Thrives when close-cut Ł INTERNATIONAL SEEDS, INC P.O. Box 168 Ł Halsey, Oregon 97348 (503) 369-2251 Ł TWX 510/590-0765 PACIFIC NORTHWEST LAWN CARE Maximizing efficiency ups maintenance profits Lawn care methods can al-ways be improved. Each time they are the results are added profits. This is the philosophy of Tex Gifford, owner of Gifford Gar-deners, Inc., Olympia, Wash. He 
builds his lawn care business by maximizing his company's effi-ciency in five main areas Š fer-tilizing, watering, crew manage-ment, modern equipment and 
cost accounting. Fertilizer. Unlike many com-panies, Gifford fertilizes monthly from March through October. He explains: "We found, many years back, when Tex Gifford with the automatic sprinkler system he tries to convince his customers to install. The result is "increased efficiency for them, and better profits for me," he says. (Photo ana story by Mike Major) we used to fertilize four times a year, that there were big spurts of growth which were hard to cut. And in-between there was 
nothing to cut at all because the lawns were going yellow." Another factor was that "like a lot of other people, we tried to 
save by getting the cheapest fer-tilizer possible. There was a fast release, but there were no trace minerals and the result was not 
long-lasting." It was the combination of monthly fertilizing with a good fertilizer which has resulted in his present consistent, smooth, dark green colorations on his lawns, without embarrassing ups and downs. The question of the good fer-tilizer became a search for the very best fertilizer for his area of 
northwest Washington. Gifford eventually created his own per-sonal, registered mix. He did this 
by going to one of the foremost experts in the Northwest, Dr. Roy Goss, of the Western Wash-ington Research and Extension Centre, Puyallup. Dr. Goss helped, and Gifford then went on, working with uni-
versity extension services, as well as his local supplier, Lily-
Miller, until he achieved just the right mix for his geographical 
area. One third of his nitrogen is slow release. The total nitrogen 
is 15 percent of the total, and of 
this 12 percent comes from hy-nate leafmeal, 20 percent from ureaformaldehyde, 13 percent from ammonium phosphate, 26 percent from urea, and 29 per-cent from ammonium sulphate. Other key variables include 5 
percent of available phosphoric acid, 10 percent soluble potash, sulphur at 10 percent, iron from 4 percent to 6 percent depending upon the time of year Š this being to control moss Š and .1 percent zinc and .1 percent man-ganese. Gifford says that the cost of this special mix, designed to 
yield the very best results, does not involve a significant cost dif-
ference from conventional brands. In addition, having this quality fertilizer has allowed him to build up a secondary re-
tail trade. Since he buys by the ton, and sells in commercial 80 pound bags, as opposed to 40 
pound retail bags, he's able to of-
fer a top product at a price more competitive even than the mass merchandisers. He says the only time he is undersold is when one of the latter takes their cheapest fertilizer, and then puts it on sale. In the first two quarters of this year, Gifford has sold 30 tons. Watering. Another somewhat unorthodox but extremely effec-tive technique is the fact that Gif-ford waters not several times a week, not even daily, but only once a week. On the other hand, when he does water, using an impact sprinkler manufactured by Rain-bird Sprinkler Manufacturing 
Co., Glendora, Calif., he waters six to 10 hours at a time, a deep watering that "goes down to the 
roots." Gifford explains: "Many com-panies water too short a time and 
too often. I've found if I watered long and less, that the lawns stay to page 10 TOOLS,TIPS & TECHNIQUES Eight employe mowing reminders Here is a checklist of reminders Vern Brown gives to his lawn employes who handle lawn mowing duties. He is the owner of Vern Brown Landscape, Overland Park, Kansas. Ł Pick up all paper and cans or any trash that should not be on the lawn before mowing. Ł Be sure that all wheels on the mowers are set at the same height. Ł Never fill the gas tank of the mower on a lawn; put the mower on the driveway, sidewalk, street or on the truck while putting gas into its tank. Finding dependable labor is the problem many lawn care businessmen face across the country. If Vern Brown decides new recruits have potential, he exercises care and patience in training them. Ł Trim by hand around all objects, trees and shrubs that cannot be trimmed with lawn mowers; do not leave any tall grass. Ł When finished cutting your section of the lawn, go to the next section to be cut or go help your partner or begin hand trimming. Ł Clean grass clippings off sidewalks and driveways by sweeping or with mower. Ł Clean grass from under mower after cutting each lawn and at the end of the day before putting your mower away. Do this on or close to the truck so that the cut grass can be thrown 
on the truck with the rest of the clippings. Ł If the customer should ask a question you cannot answer, tell him you will refer it to me. If you know that I will be there later in the day, tell the customer this so he can talk to me about any problems. To improve your lawn care business, just add water. You've got a grow-ing business, we've got a growing business. Why not combine them? Installing under-ground automatic sprinkler systems is easy and profitable. And with quality controllers, heads and valves from Rain Bird, rainmakers to the world since 1933, your customer is assured the best system available. His lawn stays healthier and so do you. For more information on this money-making opportunity, contact your nearest Rain Bird distributor. Or write to us at the address below. We'll show you how easy it is to make more green while you make more green. Rain^BIRD Bringing new ideas to life. 7045 N. Grand Avenue, Glendora, CA 91740 Ł Ram Bird is a registered trademark of Ram Bird Sprinkler Mfg Corp. Glendora California c 1978 Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg Corp z < DC H CO D Q Z w QC < u INCREASE YOUR PROFITS AND BUSINESS While Building a Strong Professional Image Be Able to Create Better Lawn Results than your Competition AGRO-CHEM, INC. HERE'S HOW CAH HELP GREGORY GREENGRASS. 'Gregory is my name, grass is my fame." Ł Ł Such soil reports with complete recommendations are truly the soundest and most practical way of managing outdoor areas scientifically and exactly. They are well worth their initial costs as they will repay with savings in material, time, and expenses that are usually created by faulty guessing. Sample Soil Tost Form Provides the Following Essential Information Necessary for Professional Management TESTS Total Exc. Cap. pH of Soil Organic Matter % Nitrogen No./Acre Sulfates No./Acre Phosphates No./Acre (P»Oi) Calcium No./Acre Magnesium No./Acre Potassium No./Acre Sodium No./Acre Base Saturation % Calcium (60-70%) Magnesium (10-20%) Potassium (2-5%) Sodium (.5-3%) Other Bases (Variable) Exc. Hydr. (10-15%) Salt Cone. Chlorides Boron Iron Manganese Copper 
Zinc Value Found L P E R Too High V O Too Low Total Desired Amts E B 
Amts. in Corrective Value In Soil L L 
Soil Quant. (Toxic) E (Deficient) For O. M Restoration K. S Primary Appli. No. Appli. Req. = Safe Mat. Quant. Cost To Apply Per Appli Per Acre Per Acre Per Appli. Mat. Cost Per Unit Secondary Appli. No. AppH. Req. = Safe Quant. To Apply Per Acre Per Appli. Mat. Cost Per Appli. Per Acre PRESCRIPTION FORMULATINGŠPutting your soil test recommendations to work for you in the exact manner required by your soil and lawn. In the past, Soil Testing was almost useless because very few people could obtain the exact materials required. Now, due to our com-puterized prescription blending plant, we formulate exactly to soil test recommendations or to your specifications. These formulations can contain the Primary Nutrients (NPK), the Secondary and Micro Nutrients (Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Bo) along with Soil Looseners, and/or Rebuilders, Mat and Thatch Decomposers and other required products Š all can usually be for-mulated into one easy to use product. Most formulating can be had as: A. Natural organic forms B. Synthetic Form C. Both Organic and Synthetic Forms By applying materials exactly as required by your soil and grass, you will be able to obtain superior results over standard products or other formulating procedures. Superior Professional Results = More Business, Higher Recognition, + Greater Profits. MANAGEMENT PROGRAMSŠTailored to your Soil-Plant Requirements and to the dollar cost you desire to pay for materials. TECHNICAL HELP AND ASSISTANCE from Experienced Degreed Professionals that will bring added profits and business. MATERIALS INCLUDING:ŠFertilizers, Herbicides, Fungicides, Seed Insecticides and Special Problem-Solving and Preventing Products. We can formulate any product to your specifications Š Tell us what you want and what you want to pay and we'll formulate to your 
specifications. APPLICATION EQUIPMENTŠSpecially designed application equipment that is inexpensive to purchase, and most important, easy to use. We can build units to your specifications or will supply the components so you can build units yourself. TOTAL COST FOR MATERIAL PER ACRE THE AGE OF PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL ADVICE AND RESULTS IS UPON US N0WI BE PREPARED TO ACCEPT THIS RESPONSIBLE POSITION - PLAN TO ATTEND LEARN THE NEWLY DISCOVERED SECRETS OF MOTHER NATURE, NEW TECHNIQUES, NEW PROBLEM AND LABOR SAVING PRODUCTS AND EQUIPMENT ACQUIRE A TOTALLY NEW CONCEPT OF THE SPRAY BUSINESS. SPRAY DEALER TRAINING CLINICS-Designed especially for the man desiring to become a high quality professional capable of producing positive results with the abili-ty to spot problems, diagnose their cause, cure and prevent their recurrence. The subject matter is presented in an "Eyeball to Eyeball" basis in a digestable and immediately useable form so everyone understands all concepts and will be able to profit from this knowledge immediately by being able to put the ac-quired information to use in his daily business operation. Special purpose products for solving and preventing problems are introduced as are new types of application equipment and techniques. Individual questions and problems are answered and solved. Clinic Courses cover the following: The secrets of Plant Growth Characteristics that will bring you success. FertilizersŠPrimary, Secondary, and Micro Nutrients. Their function in soils and plants. Raw Material Sources Š Natural and Synthetic. Costs and choosing the best for your purpose. How Fertilizers are manufactured and the results achieved. SoilsŠThe Key to Your Success Š Problem Solutions 
Mechanical vs Natural Chemical rectifiers Soil Aids and Rebuilders that can be sprayed. Natures RhythmŠunderstanding it so that you can make Mother Nature work for you instead of working against your 
efforts. Soil TestingŠTesting Methods available - Understanding the value and interpretation of results - value of research -
evaluating the soils in your area Ł what should be used on the lawns in your area. Lawn CareŠListing problems, objectives, budgets and pro-gramming to meet the requirements of your area. Offering a spray service in your area Ł requirements, etc. Surveying, Scheduling, selecting proper materials. Weed ControlŠContact, Selective, Total, Soil Sterilization Lawn Weeds. Industrial Weed Control. Fence Line Spraying. Chemical Weed Picking. Aquatic Weed Control. TREE, ORNAMENTAL AND SHRUB CAREŠRoot Feeding, Spraying. EquipmentŠSelection, calibrating, special purpose and multi-purpose units. How to equip a truck rig. Large arec spraying units. Application TechniquesŠMixing and applying materials Educating, communication, informing your customers. Planning and programming. Plus much, much more. A total concept you can't afford to miss. A very affordable 
program, packaged with all of the materials you are taught on so you can use the methods and the products immediately after 
training to prove to yourself and your customers that you can provide better results with your service. This 
unique Dealer package is designed to train you in the most effective way of providing a professional service, provide you 
with the necessary materials plus you will receive your total in-vestment back with a profit. A deal that can't be matched. A 
variety of Dealer Packages for you to choose from to match your needs, expansion, market and available funds. Advance 
training available. This is not a Franchise. No fees or royalties. 
You are your own boss. The above Dealer Package represents the 4 day training package. Other packages available. Training available in Jan., Feb., and March, 1979. Seating is limited. Reservations made on a first come first served basis. For complete information call 
Mr. C. Gregory. 312-455-6900. YOUR TOTAL SOURCE FOR PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT YOU CAN EXPAND INTO THE SPRAY BUSINESS Š INEXPENSIVELY and PROFESSIONALLY AGRO CHEM'S Professional spray unit for the small, new applicator, and Š it is expandable For the larger established applicator. The basic unit includes (as pictured) 1ŠRectangular 300 gallon holding tank Š 110 lbs. w/4" fill cap & man way 1Š250' light weight pressure hose 1ŠElectric hose reel 1ŠGas engine & special Pump 1ŠLawn gun with assorted nozzels 1ŠPressure regulator and bi-pass unit 1 eachŠSuction & Bi-pass hose 1ŠRoot feeder This basic 300 gallon unit can be expanded to whatever size spray rig desired by simply adding more tanks Š eliminates purchasing new equipment as business expands. This basic spray rig is designed 
to fit in a pick-up truck, the 
tank situated between the rear wheel well and cab of truck. The motor, pump and hose reel on the right side leaving the remainder of the truck bed for other equipment and 
supplies. <$r I Van pictured shows the basic _x spray unit in the van, leaving Ł the entire rear area for storage of products. As you will see, these sprayer units have been designed with a great deal of thought, res^nrch, and years of experience. They are designed and built by professionals, for professionals. For more details, either call or write Mr. Pierce. Pictured: 16' Flat bed truck carrying 5 Š 300 gal. tanks + 1500 gals. 2 Š 500' hose reels & ability to apply as many as 5 different products or any combination required. With advertisment signs Without signs AGROtCHEM. INC. Phone: 312-455-6900 11150 Addison Franklin Park, III. 60131 Please send me more information on: Ł 2 day Ł 3 day Ł 4 day dealer training dinincs Ł Spray Units Ł Root Feeding Ł Problem I would like to solve in Name Company_ Address . City Phone State. .Zip. . Area Code_ Circle 116 on free information card For ad on following page circle 145 on free information card I For the turf you care for: season-long protection against crabgrass, Poa annua and other annual grasses and weeds with America's leading preemergence turf herbicide. Dacthal is number one in its field. Not only because it is so effective, but because it con-trols more than 20 unwanted weeds and grasses. Applied properly, it laysdown a barrier that stops early and late germinating annual weeds without affecting healthy, growing 
turf grasses. Tough weeds like crabgrass and Poa annua can't stand up to Dacthal. The help you need for total turf care. Dacamine® provides postemergence control of over 70 broadleaf weeds including dandelion, annual chickweed, knotweed and Canada thistle. It works right down to the roots. So tough perennials don't return. Daconate® is the postemergence herbicide that knocks out nutsedge, chickweed, wood sorrel, sandbur and other grassy weeds. It'sa ready-to-use liquid herbicide with a built-in surfactant for uniform wetting. Daconil 2787® is the broad-spectrum fungicide that stops nine fungus diseases on turf. Use it from spring to fall to prevent dollar spot, leaf spot, red thread, stem rust of blue grass, large brown patch. It's effective even in hot weather. Provides disease con-trol on a number of ornamentals. Count on the big four from Diamond Shamrock to make your job easier. Diamond Shamrock The resourceful company. See your turf chemicals supplier, or contact the Diamond Shamrock Agricultural Chemicals Division sales office nearest you: Three Commerce Park Square. 23200 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood, OH 44112 Ł 1760 The Exchange, Suite 100, Atlanta. GA 30339 Ł 5333 Westheimer, Suite 850. Houston. TX 77002 Ł Commerce Plaza Bldg. 2015 Spring Rd , Oakbrook, IL 60521 Ł 617 Veterans Blvd., Redwood City, CA 94063 Diazinon is labeled for How many will you Diazinon" not only controls, label in the business, but is labeled for more turf insects You'll count 24 turf insects in than any other turf insecticide. all. Including white grubs, sod Just take a look, it's the biggest webworms, cutworms, chinch bugs, every insect on this page face this season? army worms and ants. business to work for you. This season, be sure to ask your Ciba-Geigy, Ag. Div., Box local supplier for Diazinon. 11422, Greensboro, NC 27409 And put the biggest label in the Diazinon by CIBA-GEIGY The biggest label in the business. CIBA-GEIGY NEWSMAKERS Mike Horgan, national sales manager for Greenview Lawn and Garden Products, marmeted by The Bishop Co., Division of Lebanon Chemical Corp., Leba-non, Pa., announces the follow-ing appointments of account managers: Allison Fahnestock for mar-kets in Connecticut, reporting to district manager Craig Crouse. Robert Shroeder in southern Ohio and Sam Wagner in north-western Ohio, both reporting to 
district manager Ed Leva. Peter Wisniewski in southern Wisconsin reporting to district manager Bert Sampson. Don Napolitano, a principal in the firm of Associate Indus-tries, Inc., Montebello, has been named "Man of the Year" by the California Landscape Con-tractors Association CLCA). Wer-
ner Gramckow, president of Southland Sod Farms, Cama-rillo, was named associate "Man of the Year." New CLCA officers elected were: 1978 president Joe Tanouye of Redwood City became chairman of the board, succeeding Bill Kessloff of Programmed Land-scape Maintenance, Inc., 
Stanton. Newbury Park con-tractor James Keener of Land-scape Associates, was elected president. Re-elected vice presi-dents were Napolitano and Clif-ton Christmas of C. Christmas Nursery, Compton. Mickey Strauss of American Landscape, Inc., Van Nuys, was named vice president, moving up from trea-surer. Newcomers to CLCA leader-ship are Martin Rippens, Hydro Dig, Inc., Anaheim, vice presi-dent; Tim Nord, T.F. Nord & 
Associates, Bakersfield, trea-surer; and Efraim Donitz, L.C. Landscape Consultants, North Hollywood, secretary. Jack Knob lock, owner of Lawn-A-Mat of Garden City, N.Y., is one of three Lawn-A-Mat 
franchisees on Long Island, N.Y. who recently observed their 15th anniversaries as Lawn-A-Mat licensees. Others are Alan Maged, owner of Lawn-A-Mat of New Hyde Park/Manhasset, and the partnership of Leo Gelfond and Sheldon Ofshe, owners of Lawn-
A-Mat of North Bellmore/Levit-town. These three dealers serviced an estimated 4,500 customers with an annual gross of more than $750,000. There are 40 other licensed Lawn-A-Mat dealer-ships on Long Island. Bird Sprinkler Mfg. Corp., Glendora, Calif. The new dis-tributor services the east coasts of Florida, including the West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami market areas. Owners are Hal Kirkpatrick and Bob Jarvis. The National Lawn & Garden Distributors Association has elected J. Warren Landwer-meyer, president of Magnolia 
Hardware and Implement Co., Dallas, as its new president. Elected vice president was James 
L. Beckmann, Turf Products Co., St. Louis; secretary-treasurer, Knoblock Diamond Shamrock Crop. Cleveland, has announced that Dennis L. Carlson has been named assistant product man-ager for agricultural chemicals 
and other products in its Inter-national Division. He formerly was a sales specialist in the com-pany's South Carolina and East-ern Georgia territory. Toro Co., Minneapolis, has sold its three distributorships in Los Angeles, San Francisco and White Plains, N.Y., completing divestiture of company-owned 
distributorships. Four former Toro employes are associated with the three companies. Boynton Pump & Supply Co., Boynton Beach, Fla., recently 
was named a full-line fran-chised turf distributor for Rain GIFFORDfrompa8e5 green, even in hot weather. This was true even in the drought last 
year that parched much of the Northwest. If you water once a week, and water long, the roots will go down deep into the ground. But, if you water every day, the roots stay on the top for the water. Comes a very hot day, the roots will be scorched and 
that will hurt the lawn. Besides, it wastes water." Crew management. "I have often read that it is recommend-ed that residential jobs should have two or three men working together, but I disagree," Gif-ford told LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY. "I use only one man for the smaller jobs." He points out a recent exam-ple in which he talked with a 
competitor who said it took only 15 minutes for his crew to do the same job it took Gifford's man an hour. But Gifford points out, 
"this is true as far as it goes. But that crew consisted of a man and three teenagers. The dollar amount may have been the same 
on the job, but where he's get-ting killed is between jobs. For he's using the travel time for four men, the additional taxes, as well 
as the added machinery and fuel. Besides, the set-up time is the 
same for one man or four men. Usually you see one man setting up and the other two or three standing around waiting to get AQUA-GRO THE KEY TO MORE SUCCESSFUL GROUNDS MAINTENANCE REDUCED WATERING Ł FASTER RESPONSE TO FERTILIZATION AND PESTICIDE CONTROL Ł REDUCED LABOR COSTS Ł ELIMINATE PUDDLES AND DRY SPOTS Ł REDUCED PROBLEMS WITH THATCH Ł HEALTHIER AND HEARTIER TURF. <8> Shallow rooted turf, poor moisture distribution from area not treated with Aqua-Gro amended water Deep rooted turf, good moisture 
distribution from area treated with Aqua-Gro amended water. Aqua-Gro is available in liquid concentrate or spreadable granular. For additional information write to: AQUATROLS CORPORATION OF AMERICA 1432 Union Ave. Pennsauken, New Jersey 08110 (609) 665-1130 Franklin C. Diekman, M.G.R. Feed Co., Inc., Hammond, Inc. New board members are: Steve Byrum, Byrum Seed Co., Char-lotte, N.C., George Jaramillo, Las Vegas Fertilizer Co., Inc., Nevada; and William E. Page of 
Page Seed Co., Greene, N.Y. Edwin L. Stenzel, has been named president of BASF Wyan-dotte Corp., New York. H.J. Baker Co., New York, will handle national sales for sul-fur-coated urea fertilizers manu-
factured by Lakeshore Equip-
ment & Supply Corp., Elyria, Ohio. started." Gifford does add that some men work better alone than others and that it's important to know your employes in this re-gard. On his larger commercial jobs, like the U.S. Navy base at nearby Bremerton, he'll use a crew up to seven. He gives his foreman the authority to hire and fire. "He's the one closest to the actual situation, so he should 
have the power to run the job as effectively as he can." Gifford keeps five, well-trained men em-ployed year around, with part-time help going up to eleven dur-ing the summer. Modern equipment. Gifford says: I believe you always have to be weighing the cost between 
manpower and equipment, and as much as possible, get equip-ment large enough to do the job." Purchasing up-to-date equip-ment is important, Gifford main-tains, not only for increasing ef-ficiency, but for inspiring em-ploye morale and impressing the 
public. "You've got to be con-tinually ready to try new ideas," he says. "For instance, a few years ago when Weedeaters first came out, I thought it was just a toy, and forced myself to try just one. But now I have eleven, and I wouldn't be without them." In addition Gifford has a Hustler mower for rough work and two John Deere 400 tractor mowers for regular big cuttings. He utilizes five Sensation mowers, favoring rotary, as op-
posed to reel mowers, since they 
can be run effectively even in the rain in the inclement North-west. He has five power edgers and three backpack blowers 
effective for leaf pick-up and debris. Nine trucks and five trailers of different sizes are in 
operation. And his father has created and patented a blower 
that Tex has improvised on. Basically, the blower picks up grass at the chute and puts it in a trailer behind the mower in a way more efficient than most. Cost accounting. "To make it in this business it is absolutely essential to have an efficient cost accounting system," Gifford 
says. He has a full-time sec-retary/bookkeeper that keeps a close watch on many different 
areas of income and cost. Cost control begins with a complete bid list on which is noted the square footage of lawns and shrub beds. Also, fer-tilizer, amount of time for mow-
ing and hedging, whether the company is responsible for 
watering and leaf control Š with the costs estimated Š as well as lo page 20 LAWN CARE INDUSTRY Marketplace by Bob Earl&y Editor Miami R.P. Tomasello is 70 years old, and has been in the pest control business in south Florida for 50 years. When you ask him about the status of the lawn care in-dustry in the region along the Atlantic coast from Miami north to West Palm Beach, where he is located, he says: "There are more companies than insects down here. There are so many companies, about the biggest danger an insect faces down here is being run over by a 
pest control truck." To begin to understand the lawn care industry in the Miami 
and south Florida area, it is im-
portant to note that he talks about "insects" and not "fertil-izer." Because that is what the 
whole lawn care industry is based upon Š insects and their control. Not fertilizer, as is the case with the growth of the in-
dustry in the Northeast and the 
Midwest. Lawn mowing and maintenance is also a big part of the industry. The lawn care season is of course 12 months long, and many companies offer a spray program that guarantees insect control with at least a spray every two months, or six times a year usually at a cost of between $20 and $30 a spray. Many com-panies also dry fertilize twice a 
year, usually in March or April and October. The typical cost for each fertilization is about $25 for the typical 75-foot by 100-foot 
residential lot. Many companies 
also offer liquid fertilizer. Weed control and disease control on the St. Augustinegrass, bahia-grass and centipedegrass lawns are usually included too, some-
times on an add-on basis, and of-ten in the cost of the year-round 
contract. Because much of the basis for lawn work is insect control, many of the companies that have gotten into lawn care also are in-volved in structural pest control. Once a company is providing pest control inside, it is a logical step to offer pest control services outside. Orkin Exterminating is the best example of a pest control company that is now offering lawn care in a big way from about 10 of its branches sprinkled throughout the area. Other big companies operating in the Miami/south 
Florida area would include Petri's Pest Control, with offices in Miami, Pompano Beach and West Palm Beach; Foulton Pest Control, in Miami and Fort 
Lauderdale; Mighty National National Exterminating. Also, Bob's Spray Service; Spray Rite; "Dead Bug" Edwards, based in Fort Lauder-dale; B.D. Collins, Inc., Boca Raton; and Stewart Pest Control. Although there are many other companies, these companies alone probably are operating be-tween 75 and 100 lawn spray trucks, in addition to any struc-tural pest control trucks. "The lawn care market is big here because it is a sub-tropical area with so many insects," says 
Skip Strong, of Strong Enter-prises, Inc., Miami, who supplies many companies in the area with lawn spray trucks. Most of his units Š and those of other com-
panies Š offer a large tank for holding water, and a smaller "drop" tank for mixing and ap-
plication. He also says that there is a major trend by many companies going to a metering system that allows a lawn care company to 
spray five or more chemicals on one job with the same equip-ment. Orkin is the largest 
company that has gone to this closed-mixing system. There is a lot of business, and a lot of companies, but all is not roses. "I don't think people down here are as professional down here as they are up north, for the most part," says one lawn care businessman who has done 
business in both areas. "They ex-pect to hire good people at low wages, and they don't give them enough training. And they don't take care of their equipment either. If they wash their trucks 
once a year, it's a miracle." But for the most part, the in-dustry is solid, due to a large ex-tent because of the very strict regulations the state of Florida has on chemicals and their use. Why haven't some of the bigger companies in the North-east and Midwest tried to move into the Miami/south Florida area? "It is just a different market down here," one lawn care businessman told LAWN CARE 
INDUSTRY. "It is pest control-based rather than fertilizer-based. And there are already too many companies operating down 
here for an outside company to 
come in and really make a dent 
in the market." R.P. Tomasello, of Tomasello, Inc. has 55 employes, about 20 in-volved with his 10,000-plus lawn spray accounts. He uses two men on a truck Š a hose puller and a sprayer. "Without our 500-foot hoses, you need two men to do the job," he said. "We are tailors, 
not big chain operators, we carry 25 to 30 chemicals on our trucks, and do what has to be done." His lawn trucks utilize 300-gallon tanks. His charge for a typical spray job is about $18 for a 5,000-square-foot yard. If there is a problem with chinch bug resis-tance to Dursban, the cost goes up to $30 to cover the cost of the 
more expensive Baygon. He 
sprays on a monthly basis, and his typical customer spends $180 with him a year, although some of his residential lawns are so big "the cost is $180 a month." His 
minimum is $12 a spray. He uses John Bean pumps, and prefers driving them by a separate engine to PTO power. "With the PTO's, you get a back-and-forth surge, and the engines only use about two to four gallons of gas a day," he says. The two problems that Tomasello says the lawn care in-dustry faces are undercharging and lack of good chemicals to work with. "Too many people want to give their work away," he says. "They don't charge what they are worth." Also, there is now no registered nematicide for Florida, and Tomasello says "we are losing lawns to nematodes, the customers are very upset." Hank Wolf man, 40, has owned the 19-year-old American Power Spraying, Fort Lauder-dale, for the last seven years. His 
$175,000 gross a year on lawn spraying is about half of his business, the other half is struc-tural pest control. About 75 per-cent of his business is residen-tial, the remainder com-mercial/industrial and con-dominiums. His minimum charge for lawn spraying is about $16 for the typical 5,000-square-foot lawn, and the cost goes up about $1.50 per 1,000 square feet after that. But charges can go up if the yard has elaborate fencing, or shrubs and gardens to work around. He sprays lawns six times a year on his residential accounts, and usually four times a year for his 
commercial/industrial and con-
dominium work as an economy measure for the client. He fertilizes twice a year, usually in March or April and September or October. His charge is $9 per bag of dry fertil-
izer applied, and it usually takes about two bags per lawn. He has about 2,000 year-round customers on contract, and about 500 single-spray accounts. He runs four spray trucks. "The lawn care industry is here to stay in Florida," Wolf-man said. "With all of the pesti-cide scares, the homeowner is more apt to let companies like us 
take care of his lawn. And our business is getting more and 
more sophisticated too, and more 
professional. There are still fly-by-nighters, but state testing pro-grams are beginning to cut down on that." "There are so many companies, about the biggest danger an insect faces down here is being run over by a pest control truck "R.P. Tomasello, Tomasello, lnc.f W. Palm Beach In the 30 years Ed Wing has been in business Š the last 20 of them strictly spray Š two things have contributed gTeatly to building to his present $110,000 gross a year. In short, those two things are: Keep it close to home, and bill in 
advance. The 55-year-old owner of Ed Wing Power Spraying, Hollywood, takes no accounts that are outide about a five-mile radius from his offices. If he gets calls from other areas, he recom-mends one of the other busi-nesses in the area. And he in turn gets referrals from other companies. "The overhead gets too high once you start having to drive too far away," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY recently. "I would rather spray two lawns close than have to drive 15 miles to spray one." Also, he says he has only been stuck for about $50 in bad debts in the last 10 years. One of the reasons Š he bills his contract customers on a quarterly basis three months in advance for each 
billing. "We have had no problem collecting, and no problems with people deciding they do not want the service after we have already done an application at their home," he said. For his first 10 years in the lawn care business, Wing was in-volved in strictly lawn mainte-nance work. Now, in addition to spraying lawns, he also sprays trees, fruit trees, shrubs and 
quite a few nurseries. He has five full-time employes in the summer months, with four tank trucks outfitted with fiberglass 
tanks manufactured by Tuflex Mfg. Co., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The sizes of his tanks are 200 gallons, 600 gallons and two 
1,200-gallon tanks. He uses pumps manufactured by F.E. Myers Co., Ashland, Ohio. Wing has about 500 contract customers on the books and also services about 800 "one-shot" customers who want just one application. His contract 
customers are checked by a technician once every month to see if any insect, disease or weed problems are developing. They are sprayed immediately if there 
are problems, and at least once every four months if there are no specific problems. His contract customers are charged between $8 and $15 monthly, depending on size of lawn. His charge is about $8 for a 5,000-square-foot lawn, and about $15 for a 10,000-square-foot lawn. His contract program in-cludes control for chinch bugs, 
armyworms, sod webworms, grubs and nematodes. His main insecticide is Diazinon, manu-factured and marketed by Ciba-Geigy Corp., Greensboro, N.C. One of the most troublesome diseases Wing faces on his customer lawns is brown patch. When this problem develops, the lawns are sprayed between one and three times, depending on the severity of the problem, every seven to 10 days. For insect control on trees and for his nursery work, he uses Cygon and Malathion, manu-factured and marketed by American Cyanamid Co., Prince-ton, N.J., and Sevin, manu-factured and marketed by Union Carbide Corp., Jacksonville, Fla. Wing said he uses about 20 tons of fertilizer on customer 
lawns in the course of a year, mostly a 10-4-8 dry formulation 
including iron, magnesium and 
other micronutrients, manu-
factured by the Ortho Division of Chevron Chemical Co., San 
Francisco. The product also in-
cludes a herbicide in the 
combination, and it controls most 
of the weeds he is faced with on customer lawns. He purchases other fertilizer from Woodbury Chemical Co., Miami, and W. R. 
Grace Co., Fort Pierce Fla., usually the same 10-4-8 formulation. He fertilizes in October and March at a cost of about $25 per 5,000 square feet. He applies the fertilizers with a spreader manu-factured by Cyclone Seeder Co., Inc., Urbana, Ind. His average customer has a lawn of about 5,000 square feet, in most cases St. Augustinegrass. His average annual billing per 
customer is about $120. Wing's employes start at about $160 a week, and work their way up to over $200 a week, depending on experience and longevity with the company. The average salary is about $200 a week. He admits there are some problems with employe turn-
over, but is happy with the peo-ple he has working with him now. The men work five days a week. "This is a tremendous market area, and one of the reasons is there are not to many fly-by-nighters working in the region," he said. He said Florida is strict in its licensing requirements for certified pesticide applicators, noting that only about 40 percent 
of persons taking the state test passed last year. Also, before a 
person can become qualified, he must have at between two and three years of actual experience with a trained applicator, in most cases, Wing said. Applicators that are not certified are re-quired to carry identification cards, in addition to other re-
quirements. As in other areas of the coun-try, Wing claims that "service is 
main thing that customers want. 
If they call in today, we are out on their lawns tomorrow, while larger companies might not be 
able to make it until next week." Ken Hermann, 38, owner of Johnny's Lawn and Spray Service, Miami is still looking for a walk-behind mower that he and his 12 employes can rely on. "We have always had prob-lems with push mowers," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. "We 
can't keep one that doesn't start to break down in three months. And parts are a problem too. He is thinking about purchasing a supply of high-wheel Snappers 
soon in hopes of overcoming his problems. Hermann bought the 18-year-old company three years ago and has 150 contract lawn mainte-nance clients that he services on a twice-a-month basis, about 400 spray customers, and also does 
some landscape installation work. But lawn maintenance is the bulk of his almost $250,000 gross a year. His work breaks down to about 70 percent commercial and 
30 percent residential. Southern Bell, 12 Security Federal banks and the Coral Reef Yacht Club are among his top commercial accounts. He characterizes the Miami market potential as excellent for those companies doing quality work. "There is more work than companies with stable crews can 
handle," he said. "We are now at a point where we can get selective about the kinds of jobs 
we are taking. "There are still a lot of fly-by-nighters," he said, "people who don't know what their worth is 
and are ultimately working for below minimum wage. Bidding against these kind of people is ridiculous. But the state is begin-
ning to carck down on unlicensed operators." His basic maintenance pro-gram includes mowing, edging, trimming, hedge work and what-
ever else the customer wants 
twice a month. Most of his lawns are St. Augustinegrass, 
centipedegrass or zoysiagrass, and even some bahiagrass. He shoots for about between $12-15 an hour per man plus equip-ment for maintenance work done. He bills his contract accounts monthly, and his billings per ac-count run anywhere from residential accounts with a 
charge of $50 a month to com-mercial or condominium ac-counts with billings monthly of 
$1,500 or $1,600. Some of his larger residential accounts bill out at almost $400 a month. He gets his best mowing results with Hesston units with a 48-inch width-of-cut and a vacuum grass-catcher. "A four-foot cut gives us versatility with our equipment," he said. "If you go to 60 or 80 inches, you start to get into un-even cut problems unless you are working on very flat ground. But the 48-inch unit gives us the capability of doing work around bushes, plantings, and other areas close-to-home." He said the Hesston unit with the vacuum cut has cut his work requirements about IV2 to two 
men a day in the summer 
months. This is because raking is no longer necessary as in the past. He also uses Simplicity and Ariens tractors, Kawasaki string trimmers and vacuums manu-factured by Billy Goat Industries, Lee's Summit, Mo. For fertilization, he has gone to use of some sulfur-coated urea this past year. He says it gives his lawns more even growth and makes them less susceptible to disease problems such as brown patch. He stresses to his foremen that a neat appearance is the 
most important thing when 
finishing a lawn maintenance job. "We might put in 10 hours of good work but it can all be lost if we leave leaves, or give a bad edging job, or leave grass up in fence lines," he said. "My foremen walk the area after the job is completed, and check for things like this. If we skip routine work once or twice, it is twice as hard to do the job the next time we are out on that lawn. What might take two people four hours the first time can take up to four people all day if you leave it go." As he says, "The future is good for companies that do quality work with consistent 
crews. In the last two to three years, the family operations have been phased out, they are finding they can't do the work anymore for $2 an hour because of higher equipment costs." For his spray operation, his average cost is $18 an application for the minimum 75-foot by 100-foot lot. "The key to any success we have had is due to the fact that we are set up to answer any com-plaints we get usually the same day with fast and efficient ser-vice," says George Moore, manager of Nozzle Nolen, Inc., West Palm Beach, Fla. "It usually happens that when we get one call, we get 50 more just like it," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. "The people have 
paid their money, and they want service, it is as simple as that." The company has four lawn spray trucks and six lawn tech-nicians handling more than 2,000 
lawn customers. But it also has 68 trained pest control operators who handle mostly structural 
pest control work. "These men all call in three times a day, and if we can't get a regular lawn truck over to check 
out a problem, then we send one 
of our pest control men," Moore said. "They are usually able to diagnose the problem, and cer-tainly appease the customer and take the heat off the situation. Then the work is scheduled for the next day." Lawn spraying makes up about $120,000 of Nozzle Nolen's annual $1.8 million gross. The company has 10,000 pest control accounts, and the majority of its 
spray accounts comes from these ranks. The typical lawn the company services is between 8,000 and 9,-
000 square feet of St. Augustine-
grass. The customer is billed $13 a month for six applications a year. But the work is guaranteed. 
For example, when chinch bug resistance was found with use of Dursban, many of the lawns had 
to be resprayed at about double the usual cost for the company. "I would rather spray two lawns close to home rather than have to drive 15 miles to spray one..." Ed Wing, Ed Wing Power Spraying, Hollywood "If we can't get a regular lawn truck over, we send one of our pest control men George Moore, Nozzle Nolen, Inc., West Palm Beach Two of these six sprays are 45-0-0 ureformaldehyde fertil-izer, and the other four sprays in-clude controls for chinch bug, armyworms and sod webworms. The company also offers dry fertilization twice a year in the winter months. They use a 16-4-8 formulation, including necessary micronutrients, manufactured by USS Agri-Chemicals, with some 
offices in Atlanta. Just about half of Moore's regular customers take the fertilizer applications, and also many of the pest control accounts. Basic cost is about $38 for the typical 8,000 to 9,000 square foot yard. The company uses spreaders manufactured by Cyclone Seeder Co., Urbana, Ind. There are not too many to troublesome weed problems, but 
the company has experienced some problems with grey leaf spot, brown patch and dollar spot in some of its customer lawns. The company has found success with either Daconil, manfac-tured by Diamond Shamrock Corp., Cleveland, Ohio or TTC (a mixture of Thiram, Terraclor and Captan) marketed by South-ern Mill Creek Products. They usually spray twice, 10 days apart, when disease problems 
occur. Moore characterizes the south Florida lawn care market as "very lucrative, because we 
have a year-round growing season. Companies with enough capital and foresight can make money. Companies like this can enter the market and almost be an immediate success." How-ever, he mentions that some 
fertilizer franchise operations recently went out of business in his area, mostly because they 
were utilizing the wrong types of fertilizer and the wrong types of 
programs for the Florida market. Much of the company's ad-vertising budget is spent on tele-
vision spots for the structural pest control services, with lawn care mentioned at appropriate times of the year. The company's lawn spray trucks utilize 1,000 gallon roun-ded fiberglass tanks, manu-factured by Tuflex Mfg. Co., Fort 
Lauderdale. They also use 250-gallon "drop" tanks for mixing and application. "We used to run our pumps off of PTO's, but we stopped that Moore said. They now use 10-horsepower engines manu-factured by Teledyne-Wisconsin Motors, Milwaukee. As many other lawn care businessmen, Moore stresses that customer education is a big part of his job After each 
application, the customer is given a sheet that rates each lawn "diplomatically" Moore said. "Most common problems in-clude cutting with a dull rotary 
mower, or. improper watering," he said. "Probably 70 percent of 
our customers are from up north, and they are used to letting the rainfall do all of the watering. And when they do water they do it in late afternoon or early evening, rather than in the mor-ning, and the water just sits there. Then disease problems are more apt to develop. "We feel that the market will grow tremendously within the 
next few years," Moore said. "There is still a building boom going on here, the so-called recession has not hit yet." Vic Nocera doesn't sound boastful Š just confident Š 
when he tells you that he and his father and his uncle have the best landscape maintenance 
company in his area. And he also will tell you one of the main reasons why. "We pay our foremen well," he told LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY, "our top men can make up to $350 a week," although he adds that that is thre 
high end of the pay scale for his most experienced foremen. Vic, 22, his father, who is president of the company, Vin-cent, 44, and his uncle, David DeOreo, 38, run Leisure Landscape of South Forida, Delray Beach. One of the reasons that they pay well probably is 
because they can't be every-where, they now have nine 
crews on the road after recently taking on the prime con-dominium account nearby Š 
Boca Largo. Most of their $1.1 million an-nual gross comes from con-dominium work, one of their ac-
counts is more than 600 acres. They employ between 70 to 75 persons during most of the year, and have been in business since 1971, after moving the business down from the competitive Cleveland landscape mainte-nance market. Other con-dominium/housing develop-ments they handle maintenance for include Boca West, Boca Lakes and Delray Lakes. Another thing Nocera said his company stresses is buying good equipment Š and maintaining it properly. They own three Front Runner rotaries, manufactured by Toro Co., Minneapolis, with two more on order. They also run 22 48-inch and 60-inch units manufactured by Yazoo Mfg. Co., Inc., Jackson, Miss. For close-in work they use 14 string trimmers, manufactured by Weed Eaters, Inc., Houston, Texas. They also have 20 push ment the fact that no mower on the market can give them more than three months service. "I think the mowers would last longer if they used cast iron motors with oil pumps in them to save the motor," he said. "If the motors go down, it is cheaper to replace the whole mower rather than just try to repair the engine." For fertilization of large areas they use tractors manufactured 
by Ford Tractor Operations, Troy, Mich., and Satoh Agricul-tural Machine Mfg. Co., impor-ted into New York. The tractors are outfitted with buckets that can hold up to 600 pounds of fer-tilizer. For small work they utilize spreaders manufactured by Cyclone Seeder Co., Urbana, 
Ind. ' To keep things running smoothly they have two full-time mechanics on the payroll Š one 
in the shop and one on the road. The mechanic on the road also has a hook-up to their radio com-munications center, as do all of the crew foremen and the company principals. They have a $6,000 base unit manufactured by RCA, and truck units manufactured by RCA and Motorola. The base unit cost them $6,000 and each truck unit runs about $1,000. But Nocera says the cost is well worth it. "If we get a complaint or another call, we can be there in five to 10 minutes, and that is im-pressive to our accounts," he said. In addition to mowing (some-times once a week during the summer months) their service usually calls for shrub trimming once a month, seeding three times a year, pesticide spraying on an as-needed basis, and some-times on a preventative basis if it is called for. To compute 
charges, they try to get $1,200 a month for a man and equipment. "We are in a boom period down here right now in land-scaping work," he said. "We feel that it is going to keep going for a while, particularly in the Palm Beach County area." He also said there is a shortage of landscape 
materials at present, and they have recently opened their own 10-acre nursery in Lantana, Fla. One of the biggest problems facing south Florida lawn care 
companies, according to David Turner, 50, president of Taylor & Turner, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, is this: "Probably 90 percent of our customers are transplanted northerners, who are used to bluegrass lawns," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. "To them, our St. Augustinegrass lawns are crabgrass, and it takes a lot talk-ing and explaining of the prob-lems we face and what they have 
to do to keep their lawns in shape." Turner started his company in 1952 handling only lawns and shrubs with custom fertilization and pesticide spraying. In 1961, he expanded his business to in-clude structural pest control. His business is now about 50 percent lawns and 50 percent pest con-
trol. His lawn gross is more than $160,000 yearly. He has about 1,-200 contract customers and about 1,000 special customers who ask for services "on demand," and some just through the summer. His basic contract program in-cludes four insecticide sprays and two dry fertilizer applica-tions with a slow-release fertil-izer in the winter months. His charge for a typical minimum 100-foot-by-100-foot lot is be-tween $20 and $25. He uses some insecticide/fertilizer combina-tions with usually a 10-3-6 formulation, and also does weed control and disease spraying on a 
demand basis. "One of the biggest problems we are facing here is chinch bugs resistance to Dursban," he said. The insecticide is manufactured by Dow Chemical. Co., Midland, 
Mich. The problem has been building for the past two years, and Turner mails out informa-tion sheets to his customers ex-plaining the problem. He tries to time his mailings with announce-
ments in local newspapers made by the local county extension agent. He has switched to either Baygon, manufactured by Chemagro Agricultural Div., Mobay Chemical Corp., Kansas City, Mo., or Diazinon, manu-factured by Ciba-Geigy Corp., Greensboro, N.C. for chinch bug control. "But this has caused us to just about double our prices for our insect sprays, but we tell our 
customers it is still cheaper than replacing a damaged lawn with sod," he said. His average charge for an insecticide spray is about $20; with Baygon, it jumps to about $44 because of the higher cost of the insecticide. He has about 12 employes during peak months of the year, 
and about nine year-round. He 
will only take on St. Augustine-grass lawns, but will advise customers on how to care for zoysiagrass and centipedegrass lawns. Because he has been in business so long, most of his new business comes via word-of-mouth referrals. He also does some advertising in local church bulletins, local television listings that are distributed in super-markets, and promotion in a 
"Welcome Wagon" type of booklet that goes to new home-owners in his target areas, most of them no more than five miles from his office. His spray equipment is manu-factured by F. E. Myers Co., Ashland, Ohio, consisting of 600-
gallon tanks with 25-30. gallon-per-minute pumps. He is now taking bids for larger tanks, pro-bably 800 to 1,000 gallons with a 200-gallon "drop" tank for mix-ing and application. "The future of the industry down here is going to evolve to a 
situation where all companies will be paying higher wages to get technicians who can explain to the customers what they are doing and why they are doing in 
addition to handling the actual work itself," Turner said. He also 
said that he sees more of an "inspection" type of service in the future, where a company might make monthly visits for a fee, and note lawn care work that needs to be done. Then the work would be carried out on a 
separate basis. One of the most troublesome problems many lawn care businessmen in the Miami area have is that of dealing with an 
unstable, often transient work force. Denis P. Sobiewski, president of Omni Service of Miami, Inc., says: "We ran an ad in the Miami Herald for 2Vi weeks for lawn workers starting at $3.50 an "If the engine goes down, it's cheaper to replace the whole mower rather than try to repair the engine. . Vic Nocera, Leisure Landscape, Delray Beach "One of our biggest problems is chinch bug resistance to Dursban . . Qavid Turner, Taylor & Turner, Fort Lauderdale hour," he said. "All total, we got three phone calls and not one of them showed up for work. You can get warm bodies if you want to go down to the local unemployment office, but that is all you are going to get Š warm bodies. We definitely have a rough time getting help, even 
though we are offering $3.50 to start and $5 at the top of the 
scale. Most companies start at $3 and top out at $4. And it can't be any easier for them." Sobiewski runs what he calls a full-service maintenance and repair company, including ser-vices such as carpet cleaning, janitorial work, window wash-ing, plumbing, painting and elec-trical work. He estimates that lawn maintenance is about 65 percent of his $150,000 annual gross. He has about 80 resi-dential customers and works closely with seven property management companies that handle condominiums and apart-
ment complexes. He characterizes the market as consisting of "a lot of little guys with a beat-up pickup truck and a broom and an edger hang-ing out the back, and these are the kind of guys that keep prices depressed." He budgets jobs on getting $12 an hour per man with equipment, and says that the smaller companies work closer to an $8 to $10 range. Some of the 
larger companies that also have nurseries charge up to $15 an hour. He charges between $90-
100/acre for mowing, "but this is 
close-mowing, not tractor cutting." His average account nets about $50 a visit, which is about twice a month for lawn mainte-nance, mowing, edging, trim-ming and cleanup. He fertilizes and applies pesticides on a periodic, as-needed basis. His supervisor, a trained horticul-turalist, makes follow-up visits to his accounts and notes whether these applications are needed, and a note is sent to the account informing them of it. He is converting all of his customers over to year-round service contracts rather than ver-bal contracts as he has in the past. The reason: "We have been burned too many times on bad debts." He has signed on an ad agency for limited work for his advertising and promotion, and it apparently has paid off. He worked with them to produce a circular that is distributed door-to-door by high school students. The circular is six-inch-by-nine-inch page that is folded over. It depicts a little "elf" Š Sobiewski's company logo Š do-ing yard jobs on home lawns, 
condominium and commer-cial/industrial grounds (the elf is 
also on his trucks). He mailed about 2,000 of these out, and is 
getting a return rate of five per-cent calls, and is converting 60 percent of these to a contract. Very good rates indeed. He utilizes 16-horsepower Simplicity and Wheelhorse trac-tors, and also sings the praises of his string trimmers manufac-tured by Echo. "We have used 
the trimmers a whole year with only minor repairs," he said. He says that in the future, for his company and other others like him, labor will continue to be a problem, and other deci-sions will have to be made as costs continue to rise. "We have already made a decision to limit our accounts to a minimum of $30 a trip," he said, 
"and that eliminates the small residential job right from the start. I think you are going to see more professional lawn service companies too. And they will be getting the more expensive residential accounts where peo-
ple have a $100,000-plus home, with $5,000-10,000 worth of landscaping investment to pro-
tect." He says that he also hopes to begin franchising, or at least hire business managers to expand his company in other Florida growth areas. A large part of the Miami-area lawn care market is ser-viced by pest control operators, as is the case in many cities 
across the country. Irving Eichembaum, 57, president of 18-year-old Rid-All Pest Control, North Miami, says that about $35,000 of his annual $175,000 gross comes from his lawn work, which he started 12 years ago. The bulk of his work is structural pest control. "The pest control operator who services the inside of a home has a much greater entree' into lawn care because he is in contact with the house wife or 
homeowner more often," he said. "It gives him a chance to 
sell the lawn care service in per-
son." Eichembaum has about 400 customers on a six-spray pro-gram for insects and other pests at a minimum cost of $18 for the standard 75-foot by 100-foot lot. For some larger areas, he also employs a four-spray program. Some of his four-spray jobs net 
him up to $350 per application, usually for condominiums. He applies dry fertilizer to his customer lawns on demand. "We stamp our spray customer bills with something like 'now is the time to fertilize' and take requests," he said. He 
charges eight dollars per bag of fertilizer, and it takes about three bags for the average lawn, or about $25. He uses dry fertilizer for his applications in October and 
March. He says that a dry fertil-
izer does not make his customer lawns grow too lushly, making 
them susceptible to chinch bug damage. For spraying he utilizes a truck outfitted with an 800-gallon top tank and 200-gallon "drop" 
tank. All material is mixed and 
agitated in the drop tank Š the larger tank is simply a water carrier. He uses Dursban, manu-factured by Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich, for control of 
chinch bugs, one of the worst problems in his area. He also says that some incidences of resistance to Dursban has been 
detected in areas north of Miami, 
and in these cases, lawn care 
businessmen have gone to either Diazinon, manufactured by Ciba-Geigy Corp., Greens-boro, N.C., or Baygon, manu-factured by Chemagro Agricul-tural Div. of Mobay Chemical Corp., Kansas City, Mo. "We have found more grubs this year than in the past," he said. "And in checking lawns, we have also found more disease in-
cidence, mostly because people water their lawns at night, and the sun does not evaporate the excess water. They need to be taught by lawn care business-men when to water properly." "One of the things we feel has helped us in customer relations Tongue and axle standard on 150 gal. 2000 series unit. Four flotation turf tires minimize compaction. Choice of 3 pumping systems, spray booms to 21 ft. with spray gun and hose units available. These are the compact, self-contained appl tors for all types of spraying. Simple to operate and service. The 2000 Series sprayer trailers easily behind turf vehicles. Dakota City, Nebr. 68731 Ł 402-987-3412 Circle 120 on free information card US IS -1 TM-1M " Ł ,h—ch mounts quick transport 1625 N. Garvin St., Evansville, In. 47711 DEALERS WANTED (812)424-0931 "We ran an ad for 2Vi weeks . . . all total, we got three phone calls . . ." Denis Sobiewski, Omni Service of Miami, Inc. is that we stress that if anything is wrong in any way, when they call up, they are speaking to me Š the boss," he said. "They don't have to wade through five other people with excuses. People seem to like this, and we feel it has helped our business/' As for the future, Eichem-baum sees more companies going into structural pest control and then into lawn service. The reason for this, he says, is that it takes a smaller initial invest-
ment to do extermination work, but then the contacts are built up to expand into lawn work. He also laments the fact that costs of such items as workmen's compensation are going to con-tinue to rise, making it tough on 
the small businessman. He says his workmen's compensation premiums went up $450 this year Š even though he has never had a claim. "They call our business an assigned risk because we deal with chemicals, and we have to pay," he said. "But it is impos-sible for us to raise our prices to the home owner and still remain competitive. It hurts." Although it is not a major part of his billings, Richard J. 
Trudeau, 46, of Trudo Extermin-ating Co., Pompano Beach, still manages to keep one 600-gallon lawn tank truck busy with lawn spray. He is not pushing lawn spray work at this time, but is looking at expanding further into it in the near future. His present business represents about $1,500 billed a month, or about 10 percent of his total gross. He is like many pest 
control operators who have ex-
panded into lawn care in the past 
few years, praticularly in Florida. Most of the lawns he application is completed, or put it in the door. "We will be doing more lawn work in the future, we feel there 
is great potential in this area," he said. John Zannis, 38, owner of Windy Pines Lawn Service, Miami, grosses about $40,000 a 
year on his 20 commercial maintenance accounts. His ser-vices include mowing, trimming, fertilization, tree and shrub trim-ming, and just about anything else his customers want. To price jobs out, he esti-mates his costs at about $15 per man with equipment. His 
charges are all the way from $50 a month for two trips to local 
McDonald's hamburger outlets, to almost $800 a month for a condominium. He advertises only in the Yel-low Pages, a two-inch square list-ing that costs him about $70 a month. For his large jobs, includ-ing land clearing, he utilizes a 65 horsepower Massey-Ferguson diesel tractor, and also a five-foot Bush Hog. For smaller jobs, he utilizes three Ariens 10 horse-power tractors with a 30-inch cut. He is not in favor of tractors with hydrostatic drives, because he does not feel it is worth the addi-tional cost. For close work, he uses ten 22-inch Lawn Boy mowers, and also three Snappers. He also uses Green Machine string trimmers. Edward Weidlich, 53, has owned Domestic Power Spray, 
Hollywood, for the last 17 years. His business is almost exclu-sively residential, spraying and fertilizing lawns, and also tree spraying. He guarantees his accounts at least four sprays a year, with monthly visits. Many of his ac-
counts receive more than four "Our workmen's comp premiums went up $450 this year Š even though we have never had a claim Irving Eichembaum, Rid-All Pest Control maintains are St. Augustine-grass, with a few centipedegrass lawns. He says there are not too many weed problems, most of them can be handled by proper mowing. There are problems with chinch bugs, sod web-
worms, and armyworms, for which he uses Dursban, manufactured by Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., for control. 
Some of his customer lawns also 
have disease problems with grey leaf spot and other diseases, for which Daconil, manufactured by Diamond Shamrock Corp., 
Cleveland, has proven useful. There are also many prob-lems with nematodes in his area, for which he says there are no labeled products for control since Nemagon, manufactured by Shell Chemical Co., Houston, was taken off the market (There might be good news here for lawn care businessmen, because Shell is working on labeling for a new nematicide to be on the market soon Š Editor). Most of his contract lawn customers are charged about $17 a month for six sprays a year on the typical 5,000-square-foot lawn. His applicators hand the bill to the homeowner after each sprays a year, depending on the 
severity of problems their lawns have. His charges are $20 for a single spray, or $8 a month for his accounts that are on a yearly con-tract. Some of his condominium jobs bring in close to $300 a year. He characterizes the south Florida lawn care market as a "gold mine, because this is the land of bugs." He utilizes a 1,000-gallon tank unit with a smaller drop tank for mixing and application, and driven by the truck PTO. He ap-
plies Ortho dry fertilizers twice a year Š in March and October. His average charge for dry 
fertilization is about $25 per job. "The thing that I stress with my customers is the once-a-month checks, so I can see if any problems are developing," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. "Since I am on the lawn so often, 
I also pick up extra business if I see problems with shrubs or trees." He sees the future of the lawn care industry as "continuing to grow. The only problems we have is the government continu-ally taking chemicals away from us. I would pay double to get some of the chemicals we for-merly used back." COMING ISSUES Next month: A report on the lawn care market in Houston; weed identification and control; herbicides available to the lawn care business-men. March: A report on the lawn care market in Atlanta; insect identification and control; insecticides available to the lawn care businessman. April: A report on the lawn care industry in San Francisco; disease identification and control; fungicides available to the lawn care business-man. Control diinch bugs ROCKLAND and 9"*s PROFESSIONAL GRANULAR DIAZINON ROCKLAND DIAZINON is available in 3 different strengths; 14% granular Ł 5% granular Ł 2% granular. All formations are on a corn cob base. ROCKLAND has a complete line of granular insecticides, herbicides and fungicides for Professional Turf Maintenance. ROCKLAND Fertilizers contain combinations of IBDU, NITROFORM and new SULFUR COATED UREA. Some available formulations Š 25-5-15, 30-2-5 and 20-4-10. All products are formulated with the highest quality ingredients and carriers. ROCKLAND PROFESSIONAL lawn and garden PRODUCTS CATALOG Ask your supplier or write cBclROCKLAND CHEMICAL CO.. INC. ft | PASSAIC AVE., WEST CAIDWELI, N.J. 07006 Circle 125 on free information card Clogged sprayers? Spotty results? UNITEŽ in your tank mix can help! Unite improves the compatibility of many pesticides mixed into fertilizer solutions, including: Lasso, Sutan, atrazine, Bladex, Treflan, Sencor, Dyfonate, Lexone, Furadan, Banvel, 
Diazinon, Eradicane, 2, 4-D Amine, 
Prowl. DEALERS REPORT: "Once our cus-tomers saw what Unite did in our pesticide Š fertilizer solutions, the word 
spread and we had 
to keep reordering. 
Our own crews won't go to the field without it" reports Aloha Barlow, Barlow's Chemicals & Fertilizers, Melrose, WI "We got into trouble adding liquid Lasso and Bladex powder to several fertilizer solutions Š even to water. Unite cured all that Š gave us stable solutions that sprayed on uniformly." Weis Spray Ser-vice, Appleton, MN "Our tank mixes with Lasso-atra-zine in 28-0-0 were gumming up. Unite solved the problem. From now on Unite goes in every com-r bination mix." says Allan Entwistle, Farm Supply Services, Springfield, IL ORDER EARLY ... to be assured of your supply for spring. mi 1 -Hopkins in agricultural chemical co HJH Box 7532. Madison. WI 53707 Call 608/222-0624 f the new compatibility agent that really works UNITE H-U-27 OHIO TURFGRASSfrom page 1 White: "To make room for yourself in this expanding market, 
you need to understand the concept of positioning. This means establishing a place for yourself that no 
other service has." Weaver: "For the longest time, our industry has had to depend on buying eauipment and 
adapting it to our own business. This situation is changing." care educational sessions was a four-person panel consisting of lawn care businessmen. Richard White, president of Village Green Lawn Spraying, Glen Ellyn, 111., spoke on "Selection of the Program and Scheduling." Gary Weaver, president of Turf Gard, Troy, Ohio, spoke on "Choosing Proper Equipment for Services Offered." George DiS-anto, president of American Green Corp., Cleveland, spoke on 11 Advertising and Pro-motion.M Ron Zwiebel, president of Chem Care Lawn Service, Birmingham, Ala. spoke on "Hir-ing, Training, and Motivating Ap-plicators.M Brune: "Our money is made when our men are out spraying. The more time the driver 
spends spraying, and the less time he spends doing paperwork, the more money we make. That is why we went to a computer Zwiebel: "You don't have to put on one big training session in the beginning of the season for your technicians. Whenever we get a rainy day, we jump into the classroom. And usually we have some beer around, too." Erbaugh: "We automatically subtract the 10 percent that will never take a lawn care service, 10 percent that will always be do-it-your-selfers, and five percent that are affluent enough to 
afford a gardener DiSanto: "We use the K.I.S.S. system of advertising on our trucks, mailers and in newspapers Š Keep It Simple, Stupid." Ohio Turfgrass Foundation "Man of the Year" Paul Duke of ChemLawn Corp. (left), and 1979 president Bill Hill. "Lawn care companies differentiate themselves by em-ploye image, materials used, uni-que insight into turf care, cost, extent of services offered, and more/' White told the audience. The following is the data needed to determine a lawn care 
program for an area, White said: Ł Identify the prominent turfgrasses being used Ł Examine soil test results for nutrient levels and pH Ł Identify the most common disease and insect pests and time of occurrence Ł Determine high-incidence broadleaf weeds Ł Identify perennial and an-nual grassy weeds. J. Martin Erbaugh, president of Erbaugh Corp., Hudson, Ohio, 
spoke on "Cash Management and Planning in the Context of Growth." ACT NOW! EXCELLENT INCOME PROTECTED TERRITORY PROVEN TRACK RECORD YOUR OWN BUSINESS Secure your future with one of the nation's fastest growing industries. Perf-A-Lawn Corporation is now offering Franchises in your area. WE OFFER: Computerized routing Š Volume buying (no mark-up) Š Continual technology back-up Š Paid training For complete information, call: RON WILSON Perf-A-Lawn Corporation 127 Quick Road.New Carlisle. Ohio 45344 Phone: 513-845-3558 COST CUTTINGS You buy the fertilizer, the tank comes free As liquid fertilizers Š not granulars in sus-pension, but liquid Š gain more acceptance in the lawn care industry, the day might not be that far off when your fertilizer supplier installs a tank on your office grounds and fills it up with liquid fertilizer on a regular basis. Two liquid fertilizer companies negoti-ating with lawn care companies are Ashland 
Chemical Co. and Allied Chemical Co. One of the built-in problems with liquid fertilizers is the problem of shipping volumes of liquid long distances. Peter D. Shoemaker, Jr., of The Valley Fertilizer and Chemical Co., Inc., Mount Jackson, Va. says that he sees the 
very real possibility of companies such as his providing a 5,-000 or 6,000 gallon tank, or tanks, for their customers, and keeping them filled. All the lawn care businessman will have to worry about is explaining the formulation he wants, filling his spray tank trucks and spraying lawns. AL C A from page 1 eluded Roger Harris and Grey Payne. Harris: "65 percent of your dollars will come from 15 percent of your customers; 15 percent of your dollars from 20 percent of your customers; and 20 percent of your dollars from 65 percent of your customers." Franklin: "There is a tendency in the lawn care industry to undercharge. Do not be reluctant to charge what your service is worth." New Jersey Turfgrass Association president Jack Wittpenn (left) and first-ever lawn care board member Joe DeSantis. n rvt.1 Payne: "In your accounting systems, keep track of the amount of work you have done but have not been paid for, and also the amount of work you have been paid for, but have not yet done." Circle 109 on free information card NEW JERSEYfrom page 1 care educational session on the second day of the show. Speakers at the session in-cluded: Dr. Ralph Engel, of Rutgers, speaking on winter fertilization of lawns; Dr. Spen-cer Davis of Rutgers, speaking on lawn disease problems; A1 Lom-bardi of A. Lombardi Land-scaping, Montclair, N.J., speak-ing on problems on the lawn care industry; and Bob Brewster, a consultant for Lawn-A-Mat, Mineola, N.Y. 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 Momes. Iowa 50322 Circle 140 on free information card Jea/ffl PROFESSIONAL ^ LANDSCAPING Easily & Quickly AT HOME INCREASE YOUR EARNINGS by rounding out your operations! More and more nurserymen are discovering that a thorough knowledge of professional landscapingŠnow taught you at home by my new Simplified MethodsŠpays big dividends in increased sales. Complete training, in resi-dential & commercial landscaping, in horticulture Š in the growing, propagation, use and mainte-nance of ornamentals. Latest information on everything new Š new propagation methods, latest 
insecticides, gibberellic acid, and modern landscape designing. Our training program used by hun-dreds of nurserymen coast to coast in training and upgrading employees. Plant lists and specialized information for all sections. Attractive certificate and 2 years' consultation service for all graduates. Ac-credited Member National Home Study Council. Send for FREE Booklet. Home study training since 1944. LIFETIME CAREER SCHOOLS Dept. A-512, 2251 Barry Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif. 90064 Circle 105 on free information card SPLIT PERSONALITY. Another fine, quality-con-trolled product of Jacklin Seed Company. KENTUCKYBLUEGRASS 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. You don't become the world leader in turf care equipment without paying attention to what people want. So we listen to our customers. To our distributors. To people who buy our equipment. To people who service it. And to the people who go out under the hot sun and use it. Then we design our products with new features. Make sensible improvements. And bring out new models. All to be sure that every product we offer to you is made to match your needs. And then we back our products with the kind of service and parts inventory to keep the equipment running like it should. Next time you re ready to order turf care equipment, ask your Jacobsen distributor for his recommendation. And why. The more you listen to what he has to say, the more you'll know we've been listening. We hear you TEXTRON Jacobsen Division of Textron Inc. GIFFORD from page 10 those for chemical weed killer, insect spray, pruning, weeding and cleaning of beds, debris con-trol on walks, drives, and parking lots. Also, whether gravel drives need sterilization, bark mulch and thatching of lawns, travel time, irrigation systems, main-tenance and repair, as well as that for his equipment, and specialty items such as annual flowers and bulbs, swimming pools and fish ponds. Strict estimates are evolved for the time it should take for each man to complete a particu-lar job, and each man's schedule 
is written out. These are analyzed monthly. "Sometimes 
we find the man has not been do-ing the job he should,M Gifford says, "or, sometimes, we've made a mistake and under-estimated the difficulty of the work. Either way we make an adjustment, and try to zero in that much more accurately the WHEN THERE'S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE BEST! THE Tuf lex Manufacturing process allows a five year warranty on all tanks. is the only manufacturer to specialize in seamless fiberglass spray tanks specifically for the pest control and lawn care industry. Remember when crafts-manship was an art...at Tuflex it still is! The exclusive Tuflex process carries a full five year warranty on all handcrafted seam-less fiberglass tanks. For economy prices and more information on our complete line of tanks, write or call now: Tuflex Manufacturing Company Post Office Box 13143 Port Everglades, Florida 33316 (305)525-8815 next month." A clear recording of all of the various factors involved in a job allows Gifford to bid effectively. 
He says he prefers to bid, for this allows him the biggest chance for profit. The one exception to this is sprinkler systems. "Here we charge by the hour, for these can 
be so complex that you never 
know what you're getting into." Gifford has approximately 80 regular accounts, and the same 
number of irregulars. He prefers 
the former. He figures out the cost for an entire year, and then receives payment on a monthly 
basis. This allows for a steady in-come during the slower winter months and also is more likely to encourage habitual, rather than strictly seasonal Š and some-times erratic Š customer pay-ments. Other money-saving pro-cedures include turning off motors when they're not being 
used, the careful routing of jobs to cut down on travel time and expense, and keeping an inven-tory of basic parts such as igni-tions, spark plugs, and various nuts and bolts, again to minimize extra trips to town. One of Gif-ford's most effective ideas along these lines, though it first in-
volved an additional expense, is the use of radios in each of his nine vehicles, as well as the base 
microphone in his office. These 
cost about $1000 apiece, on a five year lease-and-buy program, at the end of which time he owns them. "I've figured out that they pay for themselves if they save me just fifteen minutes a day," Gifford says. This communication network saves a great amount of time if a customer wants something extra done and the worker has to check first, or if there's a minor break-
down, or a piece of equipment forgotten. The 10-way communi-cation system minimizes the time 
lost in solving the problem. A final money saver is he's trained 
his full time men to service their own equipment. This cuts costs and allows them to be more familiar with the needs of the various machinery than if they 
were shipped out to a com-mercial shop. The Gifford Gardeners was founded in 1954 by Oscar Gif-
ford. Tex and his brothers took over the business in 1971, and Tex bought out his brothers in 
1977. Tex's son, Danny, age 12, is starting to mow lawns in the business, as Tex did, when he was 12, for his dad. The firm grossed $243,000 last year. So, with Gifford's efficiency-increasing techniques, and the third generation now on the scene, it looks like the Gifford Gardeners, or, as their pro-motions read, "The Gardening Angels," will be around for a long time to come. MONEYWISE A ready-made lawn care computer program i » If your lawn care business is large enough to begin thinking about bringing a computer into your operation, Larry Shipow may be just the man you need to talk to. He is the president of Sears Lawn & Leaf, Chicago, and his company has spent time and money developing a computer system that he says would cost somebody else between $200,-
000 and $300,000 to develop today. Sears uses its computer to work up Monday morning management reports for its supervisors, for routing, billing and many other facets of their operation. The company hopes to begin marketing the computer system and program to a number of service industries Š bakeries, laundries, any company with a route system Š including lawn care companies. Z'i m A terminal of the Sears computer. The price is still not solid, but Shipow says that a com-pany would have to have at least 5,000 customers to consider it. He also says it would take about $20,000 a year to operate the equipment Š or the cost of about three clerks. For further information, contact Shipow at: Sears Lawn & Leaf, 701 N. Wolf Rd., Wheeling, 111. 60090, 312-459-1400. PRODUCTS Lawn care tank farm Storage tanks from 25 to 5,600 gallons Š perfect for the lawn care tank farm Š are available from Poly Processing Co. The company rotationally molds tanks in cylindrical, horizontal, spherical and conical shapes for 
storage and application. The company said that molded, seam-less, polyolefin containers are the answer to many tough chemi-
cal storage problems. Circle 207 on free information card Big wheel mowers Kee Mfg. Co., Inc. has pub-lished a four-page brochure available for free on its line of mowers. Pictured is its model GC-25 commercial mower, which features a cast iron, eight-horse-power Kohler engine, a 24V2-inch width-of-cut, height adjustable from 2 to 3V4 inches. The large 
rear wheels take the work out of pushing the mower and the swivel front wheels make turn-ing easy. Circle 204 on free information card Soil fungicide When Pythium fungi infect turf, diseases such as cottony blight, grease spot and damping-off spread rapidly. Terrazole soil fungicide, manufactured by Olin Corp., controls Pythium-related diseases, then it con-tinues to protect turf for from five to seven days. In a newly seeded area, Terrazole controls damping-off, seedling diseases, and root and stem rot caused by Pythium. Circle 202 on free information card Ryan power rake Ryan has published a free data sheet on its five-horsepower power rake. The unit features 28 flails, spaced at 3/4-inch inter-vals to dethatch a 20-inch swath. Front wheel height adjustment has 10 positions for cutting up to one-inch above the ground. It weighs 123 pounds. Circle 115 on free information card Ł Ł *Lz* » * m&dS&z MEZfflk %b,mJmfsM:^-* . Ł Ł 5 \ V ' z o > ?o m z a c C/2 H PC > Z co vl CO WE RECOMMEND LESCOSAN In two seasons, we reduced the crabgrass population from 90%-plus to less than 10%. And this is on big lawns of almost an acre. Lescosan is the mainstay of our crabgrass control program. -^JOHN R. LINKHART Perf-A-Lawn Vice-President (Sales) As John R. Linkhart knows, Lescosan is the answer to pre-emergence crabgrass control. The undeniable proof exists in every application. "Nashville is the premier area for crabgrass. And Lescosan is the main-stay of our crabgrass control pro-gram. It works better on crabgrass and foxtail than any other product." The Perf-A-Lawn profes-sional chemical lawn main-tenance company specializes in liquid spray applications and they're building more than turf. They're building a reputation. "Since we are constantly expanding our franchise market, we must be sure a product works. So we recom-mend Lescosan to our franchisees." Lescosan (Betasan*), available in 4E emulsion or 12.5 granules, provides full-season effectiveness on all grasses, as well as on a number of ornamentals and ground covers. When Perf-
A-Lawn buys Lescosan from Lakeshore, they buy from the formulator. And for Perf-A-Lawn, that means quality and savings! If quality, savings and performance are selling Lescosan to you, take advan-tage of our toll-free informa-tion service and call Barb "(BetasanŠRegistered TM of Stauffer Chemical Company.) today. Those east of the Mississippi can reach her by dialing 1-800-321-5951. (In Ohio, dial 1-800-362-7413.) If you're west of the Missis-sippi, call Barb collect at 216-323-7544. She'll have our represen-tative contact you so you'll know why Perf-A-Lawn rec-ommends Lescosan and how our other fine LESCO Prod-ucts (including LESCO 36 Sulfur Coated Urea) are selling themselves every 
day! Our LESCO Quality Prod-ucts and Friendly Service are always as close as your phone. LESC PRODUCTS Division of Lakeshore Equipment & Supply Co. 300 S. ABBE ROAD, ELYRIA, OHIO 44035 A FAMILY OF FINE PRODUCTSŠLescosan 12.5GŠLescoreneŠLesco 4ŠLescoborŠLescoparŠLescopexŠLesco Non-Selective Herbicide Lesco MSMAŠLesco Thiram 75WŠLescozymeŠLakeshore Chinch Bug & Sod Webworm Control 22 BEHIND THIS ISSUE ADVERTISERS New Year, new picture. And if you look closely at the picture, you'll notice bloodshot eyes with bags under them. We just got back from a series of turf conferences around the country, and are still sky-high with enthusiasm. First, the New Jersey Turf Expo in Cherry Hill. Then the Asso-ciated Landscape Contractors of America Maintenance Sym-posium in San Jose. Then the Ohio Turfgrass Conference in Columbus. Then the Texas Turfgrass Conference in College Sta-tion. And finally, the Illinois Turfgrass Conference in Champaign. Totally, these conferences drew more than 4,000 participants Š and probably 35 to 40 percent of them were lawn care business-men. These shows were proof that the universities, the manufac-
turers and the turf industry as a whole is giving more than lip ser-vice to the growing lawn care industry Š your industry. The educational sessions were great, and we solved most of the problems of the lawn care industry at night after the exhibits 
closed. That's were the bags came from. But as I said, it was worth it. 1zX 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 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 information card Agro-Chem 6 American Pelletizing Corp 16 Aquatrols Corp. of America 10 Broyhill Co 14 Ciba-Geigy Corp 8-9 Diamond Shamrock Corp 7 Hahn, Inc 14 Hopkins Agricultural Chemical Co 15 International Seed 4 Jacklin Seed Co 3,17 Jacobsen Mfg. Co 18-19 Lakeshore Equipment & Supply Co 21 Lifetime Career Schools 16 Lofts Pedigreed Seed, Inc Cover IV Perf-A-Lawn Corp 16 Power Spray Technology, Inc 22 Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg. Corp 5 
Rockland Chemical Co 15 O. M. Scott & Sons 23 Tuflex Mfg. Co 20 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 preceding publication and be accompanied by casn or money order covering full payment. Mail aa copy to Dorothy Lowe LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, Box 6951, Cleveland, Ohio 44101. HELP WANTED AGRICULTURALIST, HORTICUL-TURALIST/AGRONOMIST. Excel-lent opportunity to assume broad scope responsibilities for a major chemical lawn care company. Pri-mary responsibility will involve research, training, and providing technical support to Branch Manage-ment Personnel. Successful candi-date should have a PhD. in agricul-ture with specialization in agronomy 
and horticulture. Some experience in turf management or related fields. Salary commensurate with experi-ence and job responsibilities. For confidential consideration, send resume and salary history to: Box 215} Lawn Care Industry, Box 6951, 
Cleveland, Ohio 44101. CHEMICAL LAWN CARE and tree company needs service manager for 3,000 customers. Start January. Salary open. Send resume to Lawn Doctor, Box 30121, Dallas, Texas 75230. 214 690-1900. FOR SALE PRACTICE RANGE GOLF BALLS from $1.50 per dozen. Solid yellow balls $2.50. Free brochure. Raven Golf, 6148 Thornycroft, Utica, Mi 48087. 313 731-3469. WANTED TO BUY LANDSCAPE EQUIPMENT: Jacobsen power seeder, aerator, York rakes, pulverizers, trailers, loaders, sprayers, etc. Must be 
reasonable. Send description to: Kurt, 968 Mentor Av.enue, Paines-
ville, OH 44077. USED EQUIPMENT FOR SALE: 1978 Bean 10-10 stainless 300 gallon sprayer. Hose on 500' Han-nay reel with gun. Skid mounted, 
canvas cover. Excellent condition, $2,700.00. Perma-Green, Inc., 216 729-
8873. LAWN SPRAY TANKER. 1Š1977 ex-cellent condition 1500 gallon Load-star International, completely equip-ped with hose reels and 300 tt. of delivery hose. Phone 313 549-1912. Tightfisted turf managers know ProTurf products are cheap. The leaner your budget, the less you can afford errors, ac-cidents, or wasted timeŠand the more you need turf prod-ucts that keep performing over a wide range of circumstances, with minimal demands on your crew and equipment. We developed ProTurf products specifically for turf professionals with tight budgets and tough ob-jectives. People who know that an inexpensive fertilizer that burns a fairway isn't very economical, that a fungicide only an expert can apply is no bargain, that "cheap" seed full of weeds and chaff can cost a heck of a lot in the long run. What we're talking about is value. Not the price you pay up front, but the cost when all the bills are in. Value doesn't just happen ... it has to be designed in. That's why at Scotts, we really do believe in research. We don't sell products i unless they've been researched and tested all over the country. Frankly, we can't afford not toŠbecause you can't afford to buy a product that becomes part of the problem, instead of part of the solution. There's a lot to tell about the 
value in ProI\irf products. And right now is an excellent time to find out. During Scotts' Lawn Service/Landscaper SaleŠnow through March 31Šyou can get special discounts on our entire product line . . . and take until midsummer to pay. For details, 
call your Tech Rep toll-free at 800/543-0006. an Ohio: 513/644-2900, collect.) K * Professional Turf Division Marysville, Ohio 43040 Circle 110 on free information card ©1979, The O.M. Scott & Sons Company. All rights reserved. Don Burton, President, LAWN MEDIC, Rochester, New York "bardh KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS Lofts Pedigreed Seed, Inc. is one helluva good bluegrass." 'I put Baron in practically every pound of seed I use. With good reason. Baron gives our customers the quick germination, dark green color and dense professional turf they're looking for. 'But Baron is good for us in other ways too. It has a broader spectrum of disease resistance. That means less chemical application. It requires less fertilizer. It's a strong, vigorous grass that can take the abuse of Mother Nature and our customers too. 'I can sum it up by saying Baron works well for us in over 30 states. Our 40,000 customers are happy. I intend to bardh KENTUCKY BLUEGRASb keep them that way. Bound Brook, N.J. 08805 / (201) 366-8700 Lofts/New England Lofts/New York Great Western Seed Co. Lofts/Maryland Lofts Kellogg Seed Co. Oseco Ltd. Arlington, Mass. 02174 Cambridge, N.Y. 128.16 Albany, Ore. 97321 Landover, Md. 20785 Milwaukee, Wis. 53201 Ontario, Canada 617-648-7550 518-677-8808 503-926-2636 301-322-8111 414-276-0373 416-457-5080 Circle 135 on free information card