PUBLISHED FIVE TIMES YEARLY AND DISTRIBUTED FREE TO LOVERS OF BEAUTIFUL TURF Vol. X No. 1 February 1937 YOU have read a great deal about honeycombed ground and the ad- vantages of sowing grass seed when your soil is in this open, porous condi- tion. The illustration which we repro- duce through the courtesy of the De- partment of Agronomy at the Ohio Experiment Station is a close up view of soil after it has been through a hard freeze. This particular soil contains a considerable amount of organic matter and that fact accounts for the very pro- nounced honeycombed effect. Heavy clay soil does not "check" so deeply. Freezing very often gives it more of a glazed effect. There are many stages in honeycombing between these two ex- tremes. Such a condition would likely prevail where the soil is covered with turf. It is obvious that honeycombed soil affords an ideal situation for seeding. The individual seeds have a place to lodge and through the period of subse- quent thawing and freezing they work into the ground where they germinate when the earth becomes sufficiently warm. Early seeding in the spring has always been advocated largely for this reason and yet if freezing and thawing are taking place, satisfactory germina- tion may be obtained even though a honeycombed effect is lacking. The im- portant thing is that when sowing this early the ground does not dry out even at the surface until the seeds have a to germinate and establish chance themselves. Freezing and thawing and rains will also usually cover the seeds to a certain depth at such a time. H O N E Y C O M B ED S O IL Manure, straw or similar materials incorporated in the surface soil tend to encourage the open, porous formation. COPYRIGHT, 1937. BY O. M. SCOTT a SONS CO. W ho W i ll Solve This Squirrel Problem From Mr. R. V. McCown, 30 Wood- land Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, we have this call for help: lawns, other than " I wonder if you have received from any readers of 'Lawn Care' a real rem- edy to keep gray squirrels from digging in the shot-gun method? The part of town in which I live is heavily wooded with oaks pre- dominating. Each fall gray squirrels dig thousands of holes in the lawn to bury acorns and thousands more in the spring to recover them. Although we pick up and destroy the acorns two or three times weekly, the squirrels bring them in from adjacent lawns. Without exaggeration, there is not a square foot of the 6000 in my lawn which does not contain one to ten holes dug there by the squirrels this fall. "The local situation is such that we are not allowed to kill the squirrels ex- cept for sanitary reasons. Digging up lawns does not come under this classi- fication. One of the town officials rec- ommended arsenate of lead which, he claimed, will make the squirrels sick so they will avoid a lawn thus treated. "Last spring we used eight pounds of arsenate of lead per thousand square feet for grub control, but it has had no efiect this fall in keeping the squirrels from digging. Any suggestions or ad- vice you may have to offer will be greatly appreciated." a Border Lawn Mystery Solved AN ICY winter can damage a lawn by more ways than one. In William Philbin, the Libbey- Owens-Ford Glass Company at Ross- ford, Ohio, has a very observing grounds superintendent. For several years, early spring found the grass bordering certain of his walks laid low by the grim reaper. The mystery puzzled him and he opened his own investigation. What he found was that his henchmen had melted ice on the walks with applica- tions of salt. Then unthinkingly the slush had been scooped onto the edge of the lawn. The concentration was strong enough to damage the vegeta- tion even in cold weather. • New York Flower Show All the accessories needed to make the home grounds beautiful vie with each other for preferment at the New York Flower Show. This marvelous spectacle again comes to Grand Central Palace from March 15th to 20th inclu- sive. "Lawn Care" readers who find it possible to attend are cordially invited to visit the Scott exhibit. Park Superintendent Writes New Book on Roadsides BEING Superintendent of Parks and Forestry for the Board of Wayne County (Detroit) Road Commissioners for a period of some fourteen years has given J. M. Bennett a wealth of infor- mation on the subject of highway beau- tifies tion. Mr. Bennett is the type of person who keeps accurate records and can translate them into an interesting story. This he has done in a brand new book called, "Roadsides, the Front Yard of the Nation." This book gives the intimate details of how roadside planting problems have been success- fully solved. It is a fund of information which will be especially appreciated by members of the landscape gardening profession, by libraries, as a reference book, and by garden clubs which wish to make a study of roadsides and their treatment. We have secured a quantity of these books and will gladly supply them at actual cost of $2.40 postage paid. The retail price is $3.00. Pulling Dandelions Proves Better than Digging FROM St. Francis Home, Garden- ville, New York comes this sugges- tion for the spring "reception" to dan- delions: "In early spring we get rid of dan- delions by pulling them. The ideal time is right after the frost has lifted and rains have softened the ground. You will be amazed how easily the dandelions, even with very long roots, can be brought up. We pick more out this way in ten minutes than we can dig in half an hour." In speaking of hand weeding, Dr. John Monteith, Jr. of the United States Golf Association says this in a recent is- sue of Golfdom: "Certain weeds are easily picked out by hand whereas others are difficult to remove by this method. Dandelions, for instance, must have the roots cut off at a considerable depth otherwise new shoots will be produced from the top of the root that is left in the ground. Cer tain weeds as, for instance, clover and chickweed, can not easily be picked out since they have underground stems or produce roots from many points along the surface runners. They can, how- ever, be effectively removed by the hand method in limited areas by re- moving the sod with some sodding or plugging tool and replacing it with new weed-free sod. "It should be pointed out that there is still much hand-weeding that is not effective simply because it is not done soon enough. Probably the most com- mon example to illustrate this mistake is that of removing crab grass. One fre- quently finds crab grass being removed from turf after it has already produced some seed. This grass is an annual and does not survive the winter. The next season's crop of crab grass comes from seed produced by plants this year or during previous years. "If crab grass plants are picked out of turf early in the summer before they have a chance to produce any seed, the number of plants next year naturally will be very greatly reduced. Early picking also has the advantage of avoid- ing the big scars that are so commonly found in putting greens when crab grass weeding is delayed until late in summer or early fall." Diagram Your Lawn Suggests Customer You are indebted to Mr. Fred W. Scott, Jr., 909 Franklin Street, Rich- mond, Virginia, for the following: " I have put in the front of my 4 Lawn Care' binder a rough map of my lawn which I find very helpful. By making notations on the map, I have a record of just how much seed and Turf Builder have been used and the dates of their application. "My thought in writing you this is perhaps you would like to suggest it to all of your customers. To make it very easy, you might offer to send them a piece of graph paper punched to fit the 'Lawn Care' binder. I enclose a rough map of my own lawn." Aside from the data Mr. Scott has placed on his map, we suggest also that the dimensions of the various plots con- stituting the lawn be indicated. We find most folks rather in the dark as to the exact areas which the lawn comprises. It is also helpful to have a record of your maintenance program. We think Mr. Scott has a splendid idea and it is especially appropriate someone with such a perfecdy good name should make the suggestion. that Graph paper for the charting of your lawn is now ready. From now on 4 Lawn Care* binders will contain this extra folder. There will not be a gen- eral mailing so you who wish to try (Continued on next page.) this stunt of Mr. Scott's must ask for the necessary paper. Ten thousand sheets are ready and more will be printed as fast as it is requested. There is no charge, of course, and you may have extra sheets if you want them. e Improved Lawn Care Binders O ne Dollar Each IN T HE fall of 1930 an imitation leather binder to house "Lawn Care" bulletins was announced. It was of- fered at actual cost which was then 50 cents postage paid. Fully twenty thou- sand of these are now in use. With the accumulation of more is- sues of this publication our costs, both for contents and postage, showed a steady increase. For the past three years we have taken a substantial loss on each binder. This year because of an increase in the cost of the binders them- selves, the number of bulletins fur- nished and mounting postage expense, we are compelled to advance the price to one dollar each. That dollar, we believe, offers an ex- ceptional value when you consider these past and new features:—(1) A sturdily built, stiff-backed ring binder with extra heavy re-inforcing of the backbone, with capacity for bulletins covering at least the next six years. (2) All the "Lawn Care" bulletins pub- lished to date which with this one number 43. (3) An index covering all bulletins up to 1937 and with a new one forthcoming at the beginning of each year. (4) A double page of graph paper on which you may chart your own lawn and maintain an accu rate record of what you do for it. (5) An attractive automatic pencil slipped into a loop attached to the inside cover of the binder so you'll always have writ- ing equipment at hand. (6) A copy of "Lawns," reprinted in "Lawn Care" size. This is the booklet which we call "The Amateur Gardener's Guide to a Better Lawn." A full set of bulletins with index, in heavy paper binding will be sent for 25 cents postage paid. M o re A b o ut Grubs Next month "LawnCare" will bring you further data on the grubs of the Japanese, Asiatic and May Beedes. The complete life cycle of these turf enemies will be explained and you'll learn where to locate the grubs at different seasons of the year and the damage they do in each. Still more important, we'll tell you just when the "knock- out" treatment should be administered. • Seed Selling Imposter is A g a in Confined WE HAVE referred so many times in "Lawn Care" to the noto- rious Mr. Miller that we dislike to give him further publicity. In fact, we thought he was still at Leavenworth, Kansas but now comes word from Mr. Charles F. Wheeler of Green Bay, Wis- consin that this super-salesman has again been plying his trade. sounds he sold a Mr. Miller claimed, you will recall, to have a Tasmanian grass which would grow to a certain height and then stop, thus making mowing un- necessary. Ridiculous as the whole thing surprising amount, even taking in a greenkeeper here and there who should have known Meadow Fescue when they saw it. That thought of being able to put the mowers away was just too intriguing! But Mr. Miller (F. A., if you like initials for an alias) has been appre- hended once more. This time the hon- ors go to Sheriff James Hanson of Clin- tonville, Wisconsin. The charge was that Miller was selling seed in bags without proper tags. identification