Lawn-O-Gram LOG — Quarterly Newsletter for Members of THS LAWN INSTITUTE APRIL 1987 VOLUME 4 NUMBER 2 The death of Dr Robert W Schery, founding Executive Director of The Lawn Institute, on March 18 represented a significant loss in the field of Turfgrass Science and particularly in Lawnseed Technology. Dr Schery guided the Institute successfully through its early years and continued as principle writer, editor and spokesman for nearly 30 years. Advancements in turfgrass and seed science during this period are now a matter of record. We will continue to be indebted to Dr Schery for his part in these achievements. January, February and March have been productive months for The Institute. Summarized here are a few of the highlights of these past three months. We look forward to presenting to you an overview of our years activities at our Annual Membership Meeting at the Westin Hotel on Copley Place in Boston, Massachusetts on Tuesday, June 30 of this year. We will count on seeing many of you there. Eliot C Roberts Executive Director Beverly C Roberts Office Manager CONTENTS ITEM - Dr Robert W Schery 1917 - 1987 - New Members - 1987 Annual Meetings of The Lawn Institute - Lawn-O-Gram January 197 Issue - Press Kits 1987 - Harvests January 1987 Issue - Harvests Subscriptions - Trade Journal Articles - Special Articles for Lawn and Garden - Turf Conferences and Meetings - 1986 - 1987 Travel Report - Information on Poisons Supplements PAGE 2 3 4 4 5 7 8 8 8 10 11 11 Dr Robert W Schery 1917 - 1987 Noted Seed Scientist Dies in Marysville Ohio Dr Robert W Schery, founding Executive Director of The Lawn Institute died at home in Marysville, Ohio on March 18,1987. A nationally recognized lawngrass and turf authority, lecturer and consultant, Schery originated educational and technical materials on seeding, maintenance and renovation of lawns and sports turf. He served as liaison between The Institute and research and technical specialists at Land Grant colleges and associated Agricultural Experiment Stations for some 30 years. Dr Schery was a native of Missouri, having been reared in the St Louis area. He completed studies in Botany at Washington University and conducted graduate research leading to the PhD degree at the University and at the Missouri Botanical Garden. He traveled throughout the United States and the world and was co-editor of "The Flora of Panama" that appeared in the annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. He was author or co-author of several books, including Plants for Man, Plant Science, Plant Agriculture, The Lawn Book, A Perfect Lawn, The Householder's Guide to Outdoor Beauty, and Lawn Keeping. He has been a contributor to Encyclopedia Brittanica, Encyclopedia Americana and World Book, and author of sections in various gardening books, including Agricultural Yearbooks and gardening encyclopedias. Research projects involving economic botany and popular horticulture have resulted in the publication of several hundred magazine and journal articles. Dr Schery has been a member of the teaching and research staff of Washington University, senior technician for the Rubber Development Corporation, lecturer at the University of Wisconsin and botanist for the Monsanto Chemical Company and for the O M Scott Company. As a consultant, he has served the Garden Institute of Research and Development and several leading commercial houses. He is a recipient of an award in "Recognition of Professional Excellence" by the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation. Dr Schery was a member of The American Association for the Advancement of Science. American Society for Horticultural Science, American Society of Agronomy, American Horticultural Society, Ecological Society of America, Garden Writers Association of America, The Society for Economic Botany and Weed Science Society of America. He has been an officer and member of the board of governors of The Nature Conservancy and Treasurer and Life Trustee of the Ohio chapter. He has served as chairman of the Lawn and Turfgrass Division of the American Seed Trade Association, on its board of directors and on various committees, His many contributions to turfgrass seed science have enhanced our appreciation of the lawnscape. Three new members have been welcomed to The Lawn Institute since the last issue of Lawn-O-Gram. New Members CelPril Industries Inc 521 Oak Street Manteca, California 95336 209/823-1145 Doug Toews, Sales Manager Will Maddux 321 Mockingbird Road Bristol Tennessee 37620 Nutri-Turf Inc P O Box 26147 Jacksonville Florida 32218 Charles H Peacock, Senior Agronomist 1987 Annual Meetings of The Lawn Institute Lawn Institute Annual Meetings have been scheduled with The American Seed Trade Association as follows: Tuesday June 30,1987 - 10 AM to 2 PM: The Lawn Institute Executive Committee Meeting - 2 PM to 3 PM: The Lawn Institute Annual Meetings: General Membership Board of Directors These meetings will be held at The Westin Hotel on Copley Place, 10 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 [phone: 617/262-9600]. We look forward to your attendance at these meetings. Lawn-O-Gram January 1987 Issue The January issue of Lawn-O-Gram was mailed on January 28. It consisted of 19 sheets printed on 33 sides and was mailed to 74 members of The Lawn Institute. The following printing and mailing notations will provide detail on this project. Item Paper - 1406 sheets Envelopes Labels Postage USA 63.90 Canada 2.82 Overseas 4.10 = 70.82 Total Cost $11.95 9.62 .75 70.82 $ 93.14 Cost per copy delivered was $1.26, down from $1.75 for the October issue. 1987 Press Kits Press Kits will be mailed quarterly during 1987 - January, April, July, October - in an attempt to increase the use of Lawn Institute releases. Spring 1987 Press Kits were mailed: 1/5 on January 21, 2/5 on January 22 and 2/5 on January 27. We met our deadline of a January mailing and believe this helps get our releases in print early this spring. Two thousand five hundred and twenty one copies were mailed. Our objective now is to target our circulation at 2500. We are printing folders and envelopes 10,000 at a time. Thus, in order to come out even, we will revise our mailing list to something under 2500. Names that we feel are not productive for us will be replaced by others we believe will use our material. The following data on distribution of Press Kits illustrate areas in which our effort is concentrated. ZIP 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 326 - ME, NH, VT, CT, RI, MA, NJ, PR 412 - NY, PA, DE 177 - MD, DC, VA, WV, NC, SC 68 - TN, MS, AL, GA, FL 4 - 388 - MI, IN, OH, KY 5 - 270 - MT, ND, SD, MN, IA, WI 6 - 301 - NE, KS, MO, IL 20 - TX, OK, AR, LA 7 - 85 - ID, WY, CO, NM, AZ, UT, NV 8 - 9 - 381 - CA, OR, WA, AK, HI 2428 89 CANADA 4 OVERSEAS 2521 TOTAL Unit cost delivered was down to $1.48 from $2.11 for the Autumn 1986 Kit. This was the result of lower printing and mailing costs associated with fewer pages in the Kit. Releases in April, July and October will more than make up the difference. The following cost breakdown is presented. Folders Envelopes Printing Labels, string Postage $554.62 226.89 2366.73 folder labels 112.50 474.87 Total $ 3735.61 The second Press Release for 1987 was at the printers on March 6. The first mailing [798 copies] went out on March 13. The second mailing [1010 copies] was at the post office on March 20. The third and final batch [419 copies] was mailed on April 6. This release consists of a cover page, four pages on National Garden Week, six pages on Rules of Thumb, two pages on Blades of Grass, and two pages on coated seed for a total of fifteen pages printed on one side. We regret that the story on National Garden Week was not timely for the final 419 communicators on our mailing list. Harvests January 1987 Issue Seventy eight out of ninety four papers from the last International Turfgrass Conference were included in the January issue of Harvests The remaining sixteen papers will be presented in April Harvests. Volume 33 Number 4 of Harvests went to the printers on February 6 and was in the mail on February 14. We ran short of days in January to get Harvests out on schedule. One thousand seventy two copies were distributed as follows: ZIP 0 - 89 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8-69 9 - 102 94 155 81 76 92 47 207 - ME, NH, VT, CT, RI, MA, NJ, PR - NY, PA, DE - MD, DC, VA, WV, NC, SC - TN, MS, AL, GA, FL - MI, IN, OH, KY - MT, ND, SD, - NE, KS, MO, IL - TX, OK, AR, LA - ID, WY, CO, NM, AZ, - CA, OR/ WA, AK, HI MN, IA, WI UT, NV 1012 46 CANADA 14 OVERSEAS 1072 TOTAL We continue to do well with Harvests cost wise. This issue was $247.20 under budget. Unit cost delivered was $0.47 the same as the October 1986 issue. The following cost accounting is presented. Envelopes Printing Labels,string Postage Total $ $ 3.20 292.82 20.00 186.78 502.80 Harvests Subscriptions Members of The Lawn Institute receive Harvests quarterly. Now 89 non-members have subscribed to this newsletter. No real effort has been made to date to advertise the availability of Harvests to non-members. Trade Journal Articles 'Organic' Lawn Care The October-November-December issue of Florida Turf Digest contained an article entitled "Organic Lawn Care" released by The Lawn Institute. See copy attached. Good Seed Needed for 'Organic' Lawns. The December issue of Seed Trade News contained an article entitled "Good Seed Needed for 'Organic' Lawns". See copy attached. Fine Fescues Have a Place in Your Turf Program The February issue of Park and Grounds Management featured an article entitled: "Fine Fescues Have a Place in Your Turf Program". See copy attached. Special Articles for Lawn and Garden Supplements The following four special articles were mailed as requested on March 3: - The Detroit News - (Michigan) - Elkhart Truth - (Indiana) - Peoria Journal Star - (Illinois) "Lawn Care Trends" "Organic Lawn Care" " For Better Northern Indiana" Lawns" "Mowers and Tillers- Most Important Garden Equipment" Turf Conferences and Meetings Tennessee Turf Conference The Tennessee Turf Conference was held in Nashville, January 5-7. About 300 people attended. The Trade Show has always been small along with attendance. Present facilities limit the expansion of this program. A new location will be a must in 1988. As a fifth term member of The Board of Directors of The Tennessee Turfgrass Association, I am committed to making a change. The Lawn Institute contributed to the program with the following paper: - Clipping Heights: How Low Can We Go ? Nebraska Turf Conference The Nebraska turf Conference was held in Omaha, January 13 - 15. About 800 people attended and an excellent Trade Show was staged. The Lawn Institute was on the program twice: - 1987 Seed Availability - Selecting Turfgrasses for Sports Turf. GCSAA - Educational Sessions Educational sessions at the GCSAA Conference, January 29 - February 2, were well attended. In fact, crowds were so large and lecture halls so big, that it was difficult to follow the transactions. With some 12,000 people in attendance, this is to be expected. GCSAA - Trade Show The Trade Show in Phoenix was about the best yet. It was complete - everybody was there. And, there was plenty of space to move about and visit those booths on the list. It will be difficult to improve on this one. Even so, several contacts that should have been made were not made because of a lack of time on the floor. STMA Educational Sessions and Banquet The Sports Turf Managers Association sponsored on January 31 a successful one day educational program during the GCSAA Conference and Show in Phoenix, Arizona. This was very well attended. A talk entitled "The Steps Necessary Toward Achieving a Safer Sports Turf" was presented by The Institute Director. The Awards Banquet was the first sponsored by the Association. All signs point to a successful future for this new group of turf managers. History is being made. MITF Board Meetings Musser International Turfgrass Foundation Board of Directors met on February 1 in Phoenix, Arizona during GCSAA Convention and Show. The meeting was well attended with representation present from the United States, Canada, Scotland and Australia. Your Executive Director was elected to a third term as Foundation Secretary. The Foundation lists cash and investment assets of over $150,000 and is sponsor of The National Sports Turf Council. NSTC - Report At the Musser International Turfgrass Foundation Board Meeting On February 1, Jack Murray and Eliot Roberts presented a report on the formation of The National Sports Turf Council, A new leaflet - see copy enclosed - describing NSTC was distributed. NSTC Executive Committee: Fred Grau, Jack Murray, Kent Kurtz, Tom Turner and Eliot Roberts was approved by MITF. An agreement between USDA-ARS and NSTC has been approved and documents signed in recognition of the formation of NSTC. Guidelines on the improvement of sports turf are being put in final form for . distribution. Ottawa Valley Turfgrass Association Seminar Two papers were presented at the 14th Annual Ottawa Valley Turfgrass Association Seminar in Ottawa on February 9. These were: - The Musser Turfgrass Research Foundation; - The Herbicide-Pesticide Controversy. The seminar attracted just over 100 people. This audience was perhaps the most responsive this season. University of Guelph Meeting An organizational meeting for STAC [Sports Turf Association-Canada] was held at The University of Guelph on February 11. The Keynote Statement for the meeting was presented by The Lawn Institute Director. Turf and Grounds Maintenance Short Course at University of Tennessee A one hour lecture entitled "Seed for Establishment and Renovation of Lawn and Sports Turf” was presented at the Turf and Grounds Maintenance Short Course at The University of Tennessee on March 11. Seventy five men and women were registered for this course. Turf Mangement Workshops in Illinois A total of 90 park and recreation grounds specialists attended a one day [7 hour] workshop on Turf Management March 24 [Park Ridge, Illinois] and March 25 [Decatur, Illinois]. This was the first such workshop conducted by the Director and it was considered a success. Cost to the sponsoring Park and Recreation Districts was $500.00. There was no cost to The Lawn Institute. 1986-1987 Travel Report During 1986-1987, twenty-nine meetings were attended. This averaged better than one every teo weeks. Seven of these were concerned with the Tennessee Turfgrass Association and involved in-state travel that could be accomodated in one day. Nineteen trips were made to conferences, workshops, seminars and meetings in the following fourteen states: - Arizona - California - Illinois - Kentucky - Louisiana - Maryland - Mississippi - Missouri - Nebraska - New York - Ontario, Canada - Tennessee - Texas - Virginia A copy of the 1986-1987 Travel Report is attached. Information on Poisons Recent correspondence with the American Council on Science and Health has put us in touch with Dr Elizabeth M Whelan. She in turn suggested that we would be interested in a book "Only the Dose Makes the Poison" by Dr Alice Ottoboni. We have been looking for better ways to communicate ideas about the safe use of pesticides. This book published in 1984 demystifies, for the public at large, the science of toxicology. Readers with little or no science education are now able to make sense of news stories about toxic threats and, more important come to understand the significance of their own exposures to chemicals in home and work environments, The book is published by Vincente Books, P 0 Box 7388, Berkeley, California 93707-0388.