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miD- flTLflllTIC
RSSOCIflTIOn OF GREEHKEEPERS

SP O H S O R E D

BY

EnTOmOLOGY

DEPRRTmEnT

UDIVER5ITY

mARYlfinD

DR. ERflEST

O F

n. C O R Y ,

DIRECTOR

Table of Contents
Fundamental
Turf Growth

Aspects

of

the
,

Soil as a Medium for
0. J. Noer

5

Soil and Water Relationships and their Effect Upon
Water Usage..
F. V. Grau 10
Soil Factors Affecting the Absorption and Utilization of Soil Nutrients by Grass.....Marvin Ferguson 16
Management and Environment as They Effect the Control of Disease on Bentgrass Greens...Wm. H. Glover 22
Union Labor Conditions......,..,

Walter Cosby 25

W

Robert Scott 29
0. B. Fitts 31

Experiences in 19^9

Improving the Relations Between Club Members, Golfers, Professionals and Superintendents..David Halle 33
.Robert Williams 3*f
..Charles Schalestock 35
Warm and Cool-season Grasses.....
Control of Weeds in Turf
Control of Disease of Turf

F. V. Grau 37
R. H. Beatty *f5
H. W. Thurston,Jr.

^

Control of Insects and Other Animals..J. C. Schread 51
Soil Conservation

Fred L. Bull 58

Compiled bys
WEST POINT LAWN PRODUCTS
West Point, Pennsylvania

FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE SOIL AS
A MEDIUM FOR TURF GROWTH
Ot J. Noer, Agronomist
Milwaukee Sewerage Commission
Members of the Mid-Atlantic Greenkeepers Conference, I
am happy to be here. This morning*s program, as I
understand it, is designed to correlate various soil
factors with special regard to the troubles that so
many experienced last summer. This afternoon at 2§30,
practical discussions by Scott, Heckert and Watson
will provide you with the meat. They will unburden
and tell you how they do it.
Then you can compare
notes.
In this morning's newspaper I noticed a little squib
from Sydney, Australia. Three spinsters anxious to
improve their front lawn, helped themselves to some
material dumped beside the road for repairs and top
dressed the lawn with it. The results should be interesting. The top-dressing used was a 3 & 1 sandcement mixture. I don't think that any of you have
any qualms about the results. They will have a nicely
paved lawn instead of a green one.
Soil for greens is uppermost in everybody's mind.
Grau, myself and many others have stressed the soil,
particularly its physical aspects as a medium for
growth for many years. Unless the soil is right, anything we do is of little avail in a disastrous season
such as the last one. With bad soil it is impossible
to cope with adversity. In Milwaukee our overall
average above temperature for the summer was 1000°.
The hot weather started in June, as it did in most
other places, and stayed with us right through August.
We had really good bermuda weather rather than bluegrass and bent weather. That was true elsewhere.
Soil is not so much dirt, but a mixture of a solid, a
liquid, and a gas. Each component is extremely important. The soil mass should be about 50% by volume.
The other 50% should be voids5 half occupied by air,
and the other half by x^rater. I like to think of soil
as a world unto itself. It is teeming with a population very much like the world we live in. Sometimes
it is overpopulated and there may be more races than
there are of people on the earth. The occupants are
soil bacteria, fungi, protozoa, Actinomycete, worms,
and even animals. They and the living plant roots
must have air. Without soil of the proper physical

condition it is impossible to have the kind of root
systems that we all strive to attain.
During the summer of this year I think our laboratory
received more soil samples than ever before, In almost every letter the question was raised, "What fertilizer can we use to give us a deeper root system?11
Personally, I can't believe that everybody he.s been
wrong so far as fertilizer practices are concerned.
Shallow roots are due more to physical factors in the
soil rather than to plant food deficiencies. Oi course
the important one is soil air. Other incidental factors include turf matting,localized drying, tree roots
etc. Yet as I traveled the country last summer, my
feeling was that soil compaction was responsible for
shallow roots more than any other factor.
We have probably overlooked something very important
from the standpoint of the air relationship in the
soil. We have told you that the soil should have about 25% of air, but we never stressed the framework
or structure of the soil and what it should be like.
Many compacted soils contain enough air, but the pores
are so fine and so small that they fail to move water.
These are the capillary pores from which roots obtain
water and soil nutrients. Larger non-capillary pores
which are responsible for the rapid movement of surplus water down through the soil are needed also.
Surplus water moves rapidly through the soil only when
there are large pores present. If all the pores are
small, surface forces on the soil particles hold the
water and prevent the entrance of air into the soil.
I presume that the lowly earthworm did much to develop
non-capillary passageways. I am not advocating a return to the earthworm era because I know the golfer
will decide against you. The minute he sees earthworm
casts on the green, he is going to tell you about it
and you are going to do something or somebody else
will take your place. That being the case, we are apt
to see much more cultivation.
In hot weather when downpouring rains are frequent,
power mowers promote soil compaction. They do not improve soil structure. This statement is not intended
to advocate a return to hand mowers because I am sure
the workmen will settle that question in short order.
But power mowing is not the big time and money saver
some" think. It complicates the problem of maintaining
a desirable physical soil relationship from the standpoint of solid matter, air and water.

On greens and tees it is possible to do something
about soil texture. But on fairways, especially the
sandy ones, little can be done to improve physical
soil conditions by top dressing because of the huge
expense due to the acreage involved. Heavier fairway
soils can be improved by cultivation with the equipment now available•
With these few introductory remarks I shall use Kodachrome slides and then Fred Grau will discussoil and
water relationships. After that Marvin Ferguson will
tell you about soil factors affecting the absorption
and utilization of soil nutrients. I am sure he has
something very worthwhile to tell you. At times this
past summer I saw turf which was not able to utilize
nutrients from the soil due to poor physical factors
more than anything else. I presume and hope that he
is going to discuss them.
Bill Glover will follow Ferguson and tell something
about management and environment as they affect disease which to me is extremely important * I saw
courses this year that had disease a plenty, yet right
across the road the greens were not doing too badly.
The difference was not due to a marked difference in
soil but was due to better management more than anything else. Later in the day we will hear from Robert
Scott, Riley Heckert and Oscar Fitts in place of Dick
Watson who may have to leave. After Grau finishes I
hope we will have time for a few questions and then a
5 minute recess.
This picture is a soil profile from a green at the
Milwaukee Country Club. All the greens are more or
less alike. The picture is not intended primarily to
show you an ideal soil structure, although I have
never seen too much trouble on the greens there. It
shows the kind of top dressing used by three different
greenkeepers. This is the Charlie Gardner era, or the
sand era, when almost pure sand was used. After that
Fred Haslow took over. He was a great believer in
peat. You can see the black layer of peaty soil. The
greens became so soft and spongy that the surfaces became objectionable to players. When Ted Booterbaugh
took over, he used what to me is a more desirable mixture consisting of soil, enough sand, and not to exceed 20 percent of peat by volume.
This profile is from a green at Detroit. Notice the
distinct sand layer. I presume 5 to 6 yards pure sand
was applied on the green at one time. The sand layer
caused considerable trouble during the time. It was

close to the surface. Fred Grau may tell you something about the experiments which were conducted at
Purdue. Their findings explain why sand layers cause
trouble in hot weather particularly if they are within
an inch or two of the surface. The best sell for top
dressing is a medium sandy loam with not to exceed 25
percent of organic matter by volume. It should have
enough sand to insure rapid movement of water. There
should be a little clay present to provide an exchange
complex to hold and then release plant food. You cannot go far wrong with a mixture of that kind.
This low-lying green is in the Detroit area. The turf
appears to have been scalded. To me it looked like
one of those rare instances of iron deficiency aggravated by too much organic matter in the soil and too
much rain. I got the man in charge to put a little
iron sulfate (copperas) across half of the green. He
reported two weeks later that the ferrous sulfate restored green color and stopped further loss of grass
on that green. Of course, it didn't bring the dead
grass back to life.
The next picture of a green in Saginaw was taken during July when temperatures were up in the low 100's
every day. X don't have to tell you what happened
here5 localized dry spots developed around the edge
and the grass was wilting. The man doing the mowing,
instead of turning on the apron, was turning out on
the fringe and, of course, the bruising action of the
drum killed the wilting grass. I saw a number of similar examples in out-of-the-way places. In Washington
and Baltimore you are accustomed to hot weather and
would not think of twisting a power mower on wilting
grass. The picture illustrates what pressure does to
grass in hot weather when it is wilting badly.
Here is an example of excessive traffic and what it
does to turf. I was in Ann Arbor, Michigan,in the
fall of 19>+7 and noticed this regular pattern on the
practice field. The band, 100 strong, practiced maneuvers on the area for ten days. One hour of marching
back and forth each day for ten days was enough to
cause the excessive wear on the field. The grass was
not growing aggressively, nevertheless the picture
shows graphically what mechanical wear does to grass.
This picture tells quite a story. It is on a green in
Maine. I was there in early August when they were experiencing Washington, D. C. weather. The boys up
there are not accustomed to weather of that kind. The
greens were heavily matted and had many localized dry

spots on them. You can see the footprint damage
caused by the pressure of the player walking across
the wilting grass. That is why it might be better to
forget about mowing when the grass on a green is wilting badly. It would be better to use a little water
to restore grass leaves to a normal condition before
putting too much pressure on the turf.
Now just a bit about fairways. This is an example of
something given scant attention. It is injury caused
by seepage water along a hillside slope. The picture
shows seepage water coming out of the rocky side
slope. Notice how poor the turf is in the wet area.
This example is near Montreal. It is spring injury on
a fairway due to seepage. The next is a golf course
in Kansas City where I have felt for a long time that
the fertilizer being used on fairways was not doing
too much good. I believed failure was caused by seepage coming out of these hills in the spring. When I
spoke about the seepage to the officials, they told me
that their fairways were never wet; they were always
dry. I told them that fairways were dry when they
played because they didnft come out during cool weather in the spring. Incidentally, there is Tom Mascaro.
I decided to do something to convince club officials
that I was right. I went on down to one of the other
fairways. Holes were made with a post hole digger and
they were checked for standing water in the afternoon
and on the following morning. On the uppermost fairway we were able to put a hole down about ** or 5 feet.
At the intermediate slope,, the hole was about three
feet and on the lowest fairway,-rock was encountered
at li feet. Within two- hours the hole pa the lowest
fairway was full of- water. On the side hill within
W o hours, we had water almost up to the top. Notice
the crabgrass from the year before in the surrounding
area.
This is a picture of the top slope where you saw Tom
Mascaro. Within two hours there was approximately
eight inches of water in the bottom of the hole. The
next day the hole was completely filled. The next
picture gives you some idea of the amount of water in
the hole. Red Lambert, the man in charge, was never
able to sell the membership on drainage to intercept
the seepage. So I made a series of black and white
pictures and mounted them on a 16x20 mount for him to
put on the bulletin board in the club house. Within
two weeks the members came to him and asked when he
was going to put in the tile that was necessary to
correct seepage. I personally don't believe any a-

mount of fertilizer or another type of grass would
help. The first thing is to get physical soil conditions right, and then grass has a chance.
And now by way of introducing Fred, this picture taken
in Philadelphia in the fall of 19ky shows green spots
in the rough while everything else around them was
brown from drought. I asked why the bluegrass was so
good there, and so bad on each side of it. I was told
that a green was rebuilt and the old one was kept in
play until the new one was ready for play. Then the
old one was used to fill some rather deep holes in the
rough. Despite a drought of three to four weeks duration, the grass in these areas where the soil was much
better both physically and in plant food content, the
bluegrass was better and was able to resist the effects of drought. Where the soil was compact and low
in plant food content, the bluegrass was brown.
Now I will call upon Dr. Grau to continue. He will
discuss the relationship between soil and water.
-o-

SQIL AND WATER RELATIONSHIPS AND
THEIR EFFECT UPON WATER USAGE
Fred V. Grau, Director
USGA Green Section
You will recall that just a year ago in this same room
we started to discuss water shortages and the conservation of water. In our annual report of the Green
Section Committee I mentioned the fact that our next
big step would be to try to develop consciousness in
the direction of saving more water, using less water,
and thereby having better turf at lower costs with
less disease. That dream is coming true. We have had
a lot of observations and reports from all over the
country to the effect that, where they have used less
water than ever before and where they have improved
the physical nature of the soil, they have had better
turf and less disease. I think that is the cue that
we should take from now on.
In the "Science Newsletter" a very famous scientist
says, "The world is running out of water." That certainly is true. Our ground water supplies are drop-

ping, dropping, dropping. Nothing emphasizes it quite
as much as the critical situation that has existed all
summer in the New York area and still exists. The engineers up there say it is a permanent situation. The
scientists say that the water situation is permanent
and that it is world wide. So it behooves every one
of us to preserve every drop of \\rater that we can and
to catch and save every drop of rainfall that we can.
You have been reading about the terrific floods that
they are having out in Indiana and Illinois and much
of that is simply water runoff. It cannot get into
the soil fast enough in spite of the fact 'that we have
had an open winter.
Our objectives should be several. We want to modify
our soils so that we can achieve maximum absorption.
Get that water into the soil as quickly as possible so
that the roots can make use of it. Try to achieve
minimum runoff because water that runs off carries
with it valuable nutrients. It can't help it. The
nutrients are taken up in solution by the water and
when the water runs off xdLth it goes a part of your
nutrients. Try to achieve minimum water usage. Most
of us have used far too much water in an effort to
grow better turf. We want extensive root development.
I am going to point out to you something that highlights what we can do by improving the root systems.
Of course, we want maximum aeration. Noer has always
been a missionary from that standpoint.
I am going to take just two types of soils. There are
so many that we can't discuss all of them. I want to
point out to you some of the essential characteristics
bf these two types of soils. First the kind of soil
that most of us have (clay) and second the kind of
soil that we would like to have for growing grass
(sandy loam).
Clay loam soil is one which will contain 20% to 50% of
sandc It will contain 20% to 50% of silt. It will
contain 20% to 30% of clay. That kind of soil will
hold lots of moisture. It is the kind of soil that
Noer was talking about that has a high pore space capacity but the per a
are so fine that water runs
through it with groat difficulty because there is too
much friction. You know if you have a half inch hose,
you are going to have a lot of difficulty with that
hose to get enough water through it to take care of
the greens. But if you have an inch hose, you will
get many times the amount of water because there is
less friction. That is the best example I can think
of.

In a sandy loam you will have 50% to 80% of sand, 0%
to 50% of silt, and 0% to 20% of clay. 20% clay is
the highest you can have in a sandy loam. We have always spoken of a sandy loam as a more or less ideal
type of soil in which to grow specialized turf. A
sieve analysis of the soil is easy to make. Any soils
man can do this for you. The figure can be charted
and you can tell if you have a sandy loam or a clay
loam or any other type of soil. We are going to see
more of that type of thing so that we know the kind of
soil with which we are dealing.
A clay loam soil will contain about
of pore space.
A sandy loam will contain about 51%- Now that is not
too different. In one gram in a clay loam, there are
16,371 million grains of soil. In the sandy loam,
there are only 6,^85 million grains. There is a tremendous difference. By having so many small grains
packed into a certain space, even though the pore
space is greater, the pores have to be smaller. Therefore, the water can move through that soil only with
the greatest difficulty.
Now can you visualize a cubic foot? In that cubic
foot if you take all those soil grains and measure the
surface of each one and add them together, you will
get a certain area. If you spread that area out flat
in a thin sheet, in our clay loam we would have 136
thousand square feet of surface in those soil grains
in one cubic foot. In our sandy loam would be 66,600
square feet. Does that mean anything ,to you? Are you
beginning to visualize what the inside of the soil
looks like? I know it is going to be a little bit
difficult to grasp, but don't let it worry you if you
don't see it immediately.
If we could encourage the roots of grass to occupy the
top 12 inches of soil, in a clay loam we would have a
surface area of 15,610 acres for those roots to feed
on in a 5,000 square foot putting green. In the sandy
loam they can feed on only ?,6Mf acres. Now if the
roots are only i inch deep, then they can use only 637
acres of soil particle surface. Did you realize that
the grass had over 15,000 acres of soil particles to
work on under a 5S000 square foot putting ^reen. There
is something I really want you to think about„
The texture of tht, soil is relatively constant. You
can't do much tv. the texture unless yo^ modify it by
the addition rf sand, Organic matter, and other materials. On fairways the kind of texture ycu have is the
kind you will always have to work with, but the struc-

ture can be modified. I am going to use these little
plugs of bent to illustrate what I mean by structure.
Columnar structure is an arrangement where the soil
particles are sitting one on top of the other in orderly fashion. We find that in the wind-blown soils
of the middle west and China. You notice that big
pore space through here. That is what you get in
those types of soils. But when those soil particles
are rearranged by compaction or traffic, they fit very
tightly together. The soil particles are squeezed to
fit into the smallest space. This is what happens
when you keep the soil continually wet and it is subjected to traffic and to the use of machines. This is
a rearrangement of the soil particles that we have to
correct. The only way we can do that today is through
mechanical aeration.
Permeability is the ease with which water passes
through the soil. We are learning how to measure permeability. We are developing simple instruments by
which we can measure the porosity and permeability of
the soil and it won't be too long before we will be
doing that on the turf areas. You may be using it
yourself. We have been giving it a lot of thought and
I want to tell you now that we have just initiated a
5-year project at Stillwater, Oklahoma, to study the
soils under specialized turf. It is a 5-year project
that will cost over $5?000 and it is going to be the
best of its kind that we have.
The three kinds of water that we have in the soil. I
think you are all familiar with. But just for the
sake of emphasis, I want to repeat it. One is the
hygroscopic water. That is, the water that adheres to
the soil particles by virtue of surface tension and
the humidity in the air. If you air dry a soil, get
it as dry as you can, and it will still contain 3% "to
7% of water. It is hygroscopic. The plants can not
use it.
The second one is the capillary water which is that
which is held on the soil particles with a thin film
by gravity. Gravity can not pull it away from those
soil particlesc I have heard some of you say that "a
soil is overdrained11. You canft overdrain a aoil by
putting in tile or a gravel base. You just can?t because that soil will always contain a certain amount
of capillary water depending upon the texture and the
arrangement of the soil particles. The capillary
water is the only water that the plants use.

The third is the gravitational water and it is the injurious water. It takes the place of the air in the
pore spaces, drowns the roots, and gives us a shallowroot system. What we want to do is to get that gravitational water out of the soil and as we take it out
of the soil downwards, it pulls in air. If you take a
fine glass tube and fill it with water, the water will
slowly move down that tube pulling air in behind it so
that when that tube is empty, it will be filled with
air. The most desirable condition we can have is to
have those pore spaces filled with warm, moist air.
It not only gives us a warmer soil but also improves
the conditions for the growth of micro-organisms.
As you know, we have definitely destroyed practically
all of the insects that tend to give us those non-capillary pore spaces in the soil. Therefore, we have to
create them mechanically.
That brings us to the whole subject of drainage and I
am not going to spend very much time on that because
we have discussed it before. If you are not convinced
of the necessity of drainage, you had better restudy
the problem because there is nothing to take the place
of adequate drainage. Sub-drainage to take the water
out of the soil surface to prevent puddling and its
bad effects. In a sandy loam soil which weighs approximately 02 pounds per cubic foot, it has a gravitational water capacity of about 15%. That is equivalent to about 12i pounds of water to each cubic foot.
That is equivalent to removing a sheet of water from
the surface ten inches deep. So you see it is pretty
important to get that gravitational water out of the
soil. When it is in the soil occupying the pore space
the soil is smothered by the choking of the root systems. The roots can not grow without air.
We are looking for deeper roots. Drainage will do
that. Not only that but it will remove toxic substances that may be in the soil. That is especially
true in the arid regions of the country. You would
say that they don*t need drainage out there because
they don*t have enough water now to grow grass. Yet
they need the drainage because they often have an excess of toxic substances in the soil that can be removed only by downward drainage. If they do not remove those salts that way, those salts come to the
surface by evaporation and accumulate and kill the
grass.
The warmer soil definitely gives us playing conditions
quicker and, on the public course where the gate receipts determine whether or not the course remains in

existence, that is an important consideration. The
better physical condition of the soil through drainage
and by having the system filled with air is incontrovertible.
Now there are dozens of tile drainage systems and I am
not a drainage expert, but in preparing for this conference, I spent several nights reading a book on
drainage and water and it was really worthwhile. It
refreshed my mind on a lot of points. I didnft realize that there are that many systems of tile drainage
as there are pictured in this book. The book is "Land
Drainage and Reclamation" by Q. C. Aires of Iowa and
Daniel Skotes of Texas A & M. There is a new one
which we do not as yet have in our library because the
notice only came yesterday. It is "Plant and Soil
Water Relationships" by Paul J. Kramer of Duke University. It is my feeling that it would be money spent
well by anyone spending his life growing grass.
We. have been picking up some rather interesting comments lately especially from England on the use of the
mole drain. We think it is going to have a real place
in our plan of growing better turf. It is going to be
a struggle; it is going to be a slow process; we are
going to have to feel our way and know what we are doing. But they are using the mole drain in many of the
heavy clay soils in England. The drains stay open
anywhere from 5 to 10 years and give better drainage
without the necessity of tearing up the turf and putting in new tile. The big thing that we are going to
have to be concerned with in this area, as I said in
the beginning, is to get more of the rainfall into the
soil when it falls so that it will be there and available for plant grox^th. Replenishing our ground water
supplies in the soil, and in so doing, we will be cultivating our soils, making them warmer, more desirable
for micro-organisms. We xd.ll be developing deeper
root systems so that instead of drawing on a few acres
of soil surface, they will be drawing on many thousands of acres of soil surface.
I don!t think there is any question in the three years
now that we have been actively aerating large areas of
soil but that this phase of turf improvement is here
to stay. It is definitely improving our soil and the
water relationships. I don't like to call attention
to any particular club, but I am going to in this
case. Pine Valley Golf Club has been aerifying their
fairways probably longer than any one other club because they got the first machine. I was never so
struck by the change in the appearance of the turf as

I was by Pine Valley when I saw the greens and fairways last fall. The turf was healthier than I had
ever seen it before in my experience. Localized dry
spots failed to develop on those fairways. They used
less water than they had ever used before and they had
less trouble. It is one of the most striking things I
have seen. Scientifically, I can»t prove a thing because we have made no measurements, but the improved
turf is there to speak for itself. Many similar instances could be cited the country over.

-o-

SOIL FACTORS AFFECTING THE ABSORPTION AND
UTILIZATION OF SOIL NUTRIENTS BY GRASS
Marvin Ferguson
USGA Green Section
It is always a pleasure to speak on the same program
with people like Dr. Grau and Dr. Noer, but sometimes
it pays to be on the program ahead of them. If you
are not careful, they will say everything you were
planning to say. There may be a little overlapping on
what they have said and what I am going to say. I
think all of us are emphasizing good physical soil
conditions. We are going about presenting our cases
in a little different manner or from several different
view points.
I think the problem of nutrient absorption by plants
is a very important one. It is also a very complex
subject and awfully hard to study and understand.
Last September Dr. Thomas, Dr. Noer and I attended a
symposium at Madison, Wisconsin, on Mineral Nutrition
of Plants. Maybe Dr. Thomas and Dr. Noer were able to
digest what they heard out there, but when I left I
thought that I was a little bit more confused than
when I went there. For three days we heard people
discuss different phases of mineral nutrition of
plants and while they discussed many different phases
of the subject and many of the different factors concerned, it was awfully hard to tie it all in one concise idea. You might say that it is hard to make one
cover fit the whole thing.
The growth and development of any plaiA«, - . 1 •. *
biologist looks at it, is a continuous s e r i c . : chemical and physical reactions. Yet so many of these

chemical and physical reactions are going on simultaneously and. inseparably that it is very hard to pick up
any one phase of the subject and study it by itself.
I might say, too, that if I had not skipped the class
at Maryland University this morning, I might be a
little better prepared for this talk. I'm at the present time taking a course in Bio-physics down there
and this morning the professor was going to lecture on
Mineral Absorption by Plants. I skipped it and came
over here to try to talk about it. I did swipe a copy
of the outline for the lecture and brought it along.
I would just like to go back a little bit and review
some of the elements we are concerned with in the nutrition of plants. From the air the plants get oxygen
and carbon dioxide. Oxygen and carbon are two of the
essential elements. From water we get hydrogen and
oxygen and the mineral elements come from the soil. I
think we can divide those into two categories. Many
of you know that the ions of the various minerals that
are taken up by the plant carry a charge. Some of
those ions carry positive charges, some of them carry
negative charges. So I'm going to divide them into
two columns. The one on the left will carry positive
charges and the one on the right will carry negative
charges.
Those elements carrying positive ions are known as
cations and are calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron,
copper, manganese and zinc. Those that carry the negative charges are known as anions and are nitrogen,
phosphorus, sulfur, molybdenum and boron. I believe
those are all that are considered essential for plant
growth.
Now I would like for us to try to visualize how these
elements are held in the soil. The anions are mostly
present in the soil solution. Those that are available to the plant are in the soil solution. The cations, on the other hand, are partly present in the
soil colution and partly held on the soil colloids.
Dr. Grau told us a little while ago about the surfaces
that exist in soils of various kinds. You noticed
that the clay soils had a very high surface area.
Those particles themselves are much smaller, but the
total surface area is much larger. Those particles in
the soil that are colloid particles themselves are
negatively charged. Therefore, these cations are the
positively charged elements and are held by electrical
force on the soil colloid. Those elements can migrate
on the colloid from place to place and there is some

evidence now that the plants can take them up directly
from the soil particles without their having to go into solution.
This matter of adsorption of the elements on the soil
colloid is the basis for base exchange in soils. I
know all of you have heard people speak of base exchange and the exchange capacity of different soils.
That is why clay soils and soils high in humus have a
higher base exchange capacity than those that don't
have so much surface. You know that in sandy loam
soils \irhen you apply fertilizers, the fertilizer is
held and stays there a long time because it is actually adsorbed on the surfaces by an electrical charge.
It does not go into solution immediately to be washed
away. Well, that is just a little bit of a background
to try to give you a picture of the way in which the
nutrients actually exist in the soil.
Nov/ the thing we want to get to is the matter of how
the roots of the grass go about taking up these nutrients in the soil. I would like to ask you to visualize two solutions— one very high in salt concentration and the other very low. If those two solutions
are placed side by side and separated only by a membrane, which was permeable to the salts contained in
those solutions, you-would expect that the salt would
move to the solution that was of a low concentration.
That is exactly x^rhat would happen through passive diffusion. The salts would move from the solution of
high concentration to the solution of low concentration until the solution was equally charged with the
salts throughout. Now when plant roots take up minerals from the soil, they are taking nutrients into a
solution that is much more concentrated than the solution on the outside. In other words, the concentration of the plant sap is more concentrated than the
soil solution, with respect to these mineral elements.
So the plant actually has to push these nutrients uphill, so to speak. It is like trying to fill up a
tire with air that is already partially filled. You
must do some work to get the air in there. That energy must come from someplace.
Respiration in plants is the source of this energy
which takes the nutrients in. Now in order for respiration to occur, three things are necessary. You must
have carbohydrates which serve as a substrate. That
is the material that is burned up in respiration. You
must have oxygen for this process to be carried on and
you must have a proper temperature. When we have
plants growing, they have carbohydrates in them suffi-

cient for respiration. There is no problem there.
Ordinarily during the growing season we have the correct temperatures. Maybe not always the correct ones,
but at least temperatures at which this process will
go on.
Then the limiting factor is oxygen. Oxygen must be in
contact with those plant roots in order to allo\^ the
process of respiration to go on so that the energy can
be developed for taking these nutrients into the
plant. (Taking the nutrients uphill.) You can see
readily that in a soil that is saturated with water
you canft get enough oxygen in there for this process
to be carried on.
There is another type of respiration that can be carried on in the absence of oxygen. This is called anaerobic respiration. It produces very little energy
and it has been found that plants living only by anaerobic respiration lose some of the nutrients that are
in the plant sap back into the soil solution. It is
just what you would expect to happen if there were no
energy being expended.
Then there is the matter of gas exchange. In the absence of oxygen there is quite an accumulation of carbon dioxide around the roots. Carbon dioxide is one
of the products of the process of respiration. When
there is a great accumulation of carbon dioxide around
the roots, the roots lose their permeability. The
membranes surrounding the cells in the roots will no
longer allow water to pass. So the plant can not take
up water when that occurs. When you get that sort of
thing happening on the green, you call it scald. If
you said to someone that your grass was wilting because it couldn!t get water and your greens were saturated, you would be laughed at. Yet that is exactly
what is happening. Your plants are wilting.
I know some of you in here may have had experience
with cut flowers. You know when you break off a stem
of cut flowers and those cells die near the tip of the
stem, your flowers won!t keep very long because even
though you put that cut flower in water, it canft take
up much of the water. But if you put those cut flowers
under water and then break the stem, you have live
cells in contact with the water and they will continue
to take up water even though they have been cut off
from the plant and this increases their keeping quality. That is just about what happens with grass.,, too.
When you get carbon dioxide present in sufficient

quantities to have destroyed the permeability of the
roots, you won't get water or nutrients taken in. The
answer, of course, is good drainage and that is what
Dr. Grau and Dr. Noer were talking about this morning.
The second part of the title of my talk was to be the
utilization of minerals by plants. I'm afraid we do
not know too much about the utilization of these minerals once they are inside the plant. It has been
proven by experimentation that every one of these elements that we have listed is necessary. The plant can
not complete its life cycle without them. Some of the
things like nitrogen and sulfur enter into the protein
content of the grass. They are a part of the protein
molecule. There are other elements and they go into
making up the plant cell walls.
There are others that enter into some of the chemical
reactions that go on inside, the plant. The enzymes in
the plant can not operate properly without the presence of some of these elements. That is where a lot
of the trace elements come in, such things as molybdenum and zinc and copper that are required in such
small amounts that you can't see how they can possibly,
do the plant any good. Yet those materials catalyze
some of the enzyme reactions that go on in the plant.
Without them the plant can't carry on some of the processes that are essential to groxrth.
We hear a lot about nutrient balance in plants. And
again we talk rather glibly about it,but we don't
really know much about it. I think the theory is good.
That is, if we have the proper amount of each element
taken into the plant, then all the elements will be
used for the maximum potential. In other words if you
have a lot of potassium in the plant but have very
little nitrogen, the plant can not make use of that
excess potassium because it is being limited in its
growth by nitrogen. So I think the concept of nutrient balance is a very good one, but it is also a hard
one to study.
We are working on some experimental work at Beltsville
now to try to determine the critical amounts of each
of the elements that need to be present in grass tissues to allow that grass to attain its maximum growth
and make the best turf. I think that when we are finished we will have a somewhat better basis on which to
establish fertilizer recommendations. Now the success
of this work, of course, will depend in part upon tissue analysis. The grass is being grown in the greenhouse with sand culture and is watered with a nutrient

solution. We kno\\r exactly what it is getting. It
gets no plant food except what we supply. But we can
not compare those conditions to soil conditions. The
only thing we can do is to analyze the tissues of that
grass and find out how much of each element has to he
taken in and how far we can go towards increasing the
plant growth by increasing the content of those elements. When we get beyond a certain point where a
particular element isn't doing any good? then obviously we are not being benefited any by putting that element on.
Maybe I can draw you a graph here to show you how that
looks. On this side of the graph is the content of
any particular element, suppose we take potassium.
With a very little potassium, we would expect a very
little growth.
As we increase the potassium, we
should increase the growth. After we get out to a
larger concentration of potassium, maybe we have on
all the potassium that plant can use so we will get a
leveling off of growth. Obviously we are going to get
some yields down in here where the potassium content
is very high and where the yield is very low. Now
what does that mean? Well, it means that we don't
have a need for any potassium but that there are some
more limiting factors. Perhaps something like calcium
or phosphorus is lacking in the plant and it can't use
any more potassium.
I think we are going to come more to the use of tissue
tests in evaluating the nutrition of grasses. I know
that I am probably going to pick a fight with Dr. Noer
and Dr. Thomas about that and I don't mean to imply
that soil tests are not valuable. Soil tests and tissue tests, I think, can go very well together. Soil
tests have one big shortcoming— the fact that they do
not tell you if the plant is able to get the nutrients
that are available. Nutrients may be available to the
extracting solution that the soil scientist uses. Yet
if the plant can not get those elements for some reason or other, then they can't be used by the plant.
We have a pretty hard time trying to manufacture some
extracting solution that will do the same thing that
the plant will do. By tissue tests we can find out
whether or not the plant is taking those elements in
and then, by using the tissue tests in conjunction
with the soil analysis, we will know whether that element is in the soil but is not available to the plant
or whether there is a lack of that element in the
soil. Tissue tests merely tell us that it is not getting into the plant.
doesn't tell us whether it is
in the soil or not.

I think that a program of this kind has been applied
in California in the citrus industry. There they
found fairly good supplies of nutrient elements in the
soil,but because of the alkaline conditions, they were
not able to get the elements into the plant. It is
also true in certain areas of Texas where there is a
shortage of certain mineral elements in the plants
that are actually present in the soil*
I . think there is one other thing I ought to mention
and that is the absorption of mineral elements through
the leaves of grass. We have known for quite some
time that if you put a little spray of iron sulfate on
a chlorotic green, it would pick it right up. Apparently the iron in such cases is absorbed through the
leaves. It doesn!t have to go through the roots of
the plant. We donft know much about that mechanism of
absorbing nutrients through the leaves, but apparently
it can be done. Recently there has been some work
with nitrogen and potassium absorption through the
leaves. I think that such applications may have some
specialized uses. At the present time we don't know
enough about it to recommend or tell you not to try
those things.
Well, we have been talking around in circles, and I do
not know whether we have told you very much you didnft
know before. I think we could summarize the whole
thing and arrive at the conclusion that most greenkeepers do a pretty good job of fertilizing. We have
not* had too much trouble with the grass getting the
chemical elements. If you use a good balanced fertilizer, you supply almost everything the grass needs.
What we must worry about is whether the grass is able
to take it up. The one thing that you can do about
helping your grass take those minerals up is to supply
oxygen. The way to supply oxygen is to see that you
have good drainage and good aerification in your soil.
—oMANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENT AS THEY EFFECT THE
CONTROL OF DISEASE ON BENTGRASS GREENS
William H. Glover
Fairfax (Virginia) Country Club
If I were a scientist I could give you concrete facts
and answers that nobody could question. However, I am
a greenkeeper and a greenkeeper can only look at what

he has to work with and try to figure out what to do
with it.
Location has a very definite influence on how a"green
should be treated. Location influences the moisture
content of the soil, the moisture content of the air
immediately above the green and air circulation as affected by the surrounding trees and hills.
In regard to soil moisture, it is essential to know
what the moisture content is. The greenkeeper should
inspect the greens every day, or appoint a dependable
man to do the job. Determining the moisture content
is very simple. Either a homemade or a manufactured
soil sampler can be used. If you take a plug immediately at the surface and you are able to squeeze
enough moisture out of it so you can see it on your
fingers, you have too much water in my estimation.
The farther down you go the truer that is.
Someone asked me what is the relation between the soil
and disease incidence and control. I don!t know about
that, but what we do to the soil is something else.
There is a method of growing plants called hydroponics—• that is growing plants in water solution. You
flood the plants, draw off the solution, let air circulate around the roots and the plants grow. You can
produce almost anything you want under those conditions. But you can*t do it with soil. If you flood
the soil, unless you have optimum drainage conditions,
you cannot draw off the solution by any means. That
is where you get into a terrific amount of trouble.
During very hot periods, comparable to what we went
through this past summer, we lose sight of the fact
that when there is a very high humidity, transpiration
loss from the green is much less than during periods
of high temperature and low humidity. We fail to take
this into consideration in our watering program. We
think it is terrifically hot, we have to put on a lot
of water to keep the greens from burning.
I had a very unusual experience this year. I don*t
have definite facts and figures because I am not a
scientist. But during this very hot season we made a
definite attempt to see how little water we could get
along with. The greens had been aerated with the Aerifier in the latter part of June, and previously, in
the early part of April. They took water very rapidly,
and not only took it but would dispose of it. The humus content of the greens is very near the maximum
that Fred Grau mentioned this morning— approximately
30% by volume. We felt that if we watered once or

twice a week to maintain enough ground water to support plant life, that was adequate. During extremelyhot weather a little application of water during the
day, if some drying out on the surface is noticed, is
very desirable because it reduces the temperature some
\*hat at the surface and also reduces surface transpiration.
I don't know whether moisture content of the soil at
night has much to do with whether or not we have disease, but I rather think that it does. I am sure
that if a green goes into the evening period relative*
ly dry underneath and on top,there is much less chance
of developing fungus disease.
What does that mean? It means that during a difficult
season such as we have had this year, a greenkeeper
who has come along for years without too much trouble
has suddenly gotten into trouble. It isn't because he
has lost any of his ability to maintain turf; it means
there is an underlying condition in the greens which
he could get by with in easier years, but in a season
like this year, with water-logged conditions under the
greens, tremendous heat and humidity, no one could
control anything because the trouble is underground.
If each of us were to start over again with the knowledge we have now,we would do things very differently.
I am sure I would see that my greens were constructed
as near to perfection as they could be.
I feel very definitely that disease on a putting green
is tied up with the health of the turf. If we know
each green, know its weak points, then we can take
steps to cope with the problems. But some greenkeepers
know their problems, but can't change the underlying
factors which are causing them, and they are out of
luck. They can only try to get the green committee
and the golfers to recognize that during a bad season,
disease cannot be controlled because some fundamental
conditions are wrong. Perhaps this is a little away
from the subject, but I think
must get the golfers
to recognize that we are not little God Almighties,
that we only have certain and specific things to work
with. Unless and until we are able to create the conditions which will permit us to go through any season,
controlling disease and producing the turf they want,
we can only do our best with what we have.
-o-

UNION LABOR CONDITIONS
Walter W. Cosby
White Sulphur Springs (Wo Va.) Country Club
I am not going to try to take up the general union
conditions, but merely as it applies to us, or has applied for the last three years, to give you some idea
of • what working union labor does when you are on a
golf course,
I went down there and found that I had union labor.
Our unionization program started when the Hotel was
taken back over by the New Management. They started
an extensive program there to renovate the hotel and
brought in contractors. Their labor scale was a good
deal higher than our local scale was and, of course,
it caused dissatisfaction. The men got together and
went up to consult the powers, who refused to discuss
the situation. They told them that if they didnft
like it, they could go home. Well, to the surprise of
everybody, they went home. So that was the beginning
of the union labor. They didnft come back until they
got a union. That happened in April and grass was
growing so fast that it looked as though a scythe
would have to be used. So they got their union that
way.
Under our union set-up we divide our labor into three
categories. Of course, the lowest category is plain
labor which we use tp dig ditches or whatever it might
be. The second category is greensmen. They are paid
5j£ an hour more than you pay your labor. We only have
one or two laborers on our course and greensmen are
paid
an hour nore than they are. The last category
is the power operators who come 210 higher than the
greensmen. That raised the labor scale by 3 0 w h e n
they organized the union, so you can see what that has
done to the cost of our course operation.
Now under union labor we find that we get a lot of
lost motion. I am not condemning union labor; I am
just telling you what happens with it. It is set-up
so that if you have a greensman or two off either
sick, drunk, or just stayed home, you canft put a laborer on that green. If you do, you must pay him the
extra wages, if he works as much as a half day. You
can take a tractor man or a power operator and bring
him back on the green, but you must pay him the rate
he would normally receive, not the greensmans rate.
That is another thing that runs the cost up. If you

are out working and need a truck and you want to send
a man down to the tool house to get it and haul something, you can't do that. You must send a laborer to
get the truck driver who is working on the tractor to
leave the tractor to go down to the tool house to get
the truck, come up, haul the piece of lumber, take the
truck back to the tool house, and get back on the
tractor. This is a very unusual complication, but I
knox* from bitter experience that is what it is.
As I told you, it raised our operating labor cost about 30$. That is, driving the company into more motorized equipment and that cost them still more to operate. The scale is higher but the number of men is
fewer. In the long run I think we are going to have
probably three less men on each course than we are operating with at the present time. Of course, it is
going to be an entirely power operation.
The personnel that you get under union labor is probably a little bit above the average grade because you
do offer them a higher wage and you get a better class
of help. The absenteeism isn't quite as bad because,
fortunately, the agent and the other union officials
are very much opposed to absenteeism. They will back
you up to the hilt on a question like that. That is
one thing that you can d o — fire a man without any
comeback from anybody concerned. If absenteeism becomes a regular thing, he is just gone.
It does require a little greater supervision because
the authority has to come from the foreman. The men
cannot take any authority on themselves which in some
cases is very fortunate, but the foreman himself cannot operate any equipment, he cannot do any labor except in a strict emergency. If the water line shou'd
happen to break, of course, the foreman is there to
turn the water off, but that is the end of it. He
must go to see the plumber to get the thing fixed* • He
can't drive a truck or anything else like that, and,
of course, you know all your foremen sometimes do
those things.
Wow that has run the cost up on us so we placed it on
the golfer. The golfer is your bread and butter and
he stands the cost and he is going to pay it regardless of what happens because you can't operate at a
loss. You are going to drive some of the golf play
away, but that can't be helped.
We have one unfortunate situation that we don't like.
We can't \rork a man over 30 days without putting him

in a category. If you need a greensman, you must hire
a man, work him 30 days, and then you must pay him the
greensmans wages or else fire him. If any of you gentlemen can train a greensman in 30 days, you are all
right. I can't do it. We have green help to start
with. After the first yearfs work the turf looks all
right,but it does hurt that first year with a new man,
paying him the full greensman1s wages and he can't do
the work.
I referred awhile ago to the fact that the foreman
can't do anything. I shall have to modify that a little bit and say that he can work if he has less than
5 men. If he has over 5tfien,he can't do anything.
We had an instance come up not too lopg ago. We have
many of the same thing,but I remember this one because
two gentlemen who are in the audience happened to be
on my course at that time. There ivas a broken window
pane in the tool house. We couldn't fix it. Instead
of measuring the window, cutting a piece of glass and
putting it in there, I had to go to the engineers office, put in an order for somebody to come down to
measure the hole, to go back, cut the glass, come down
and put it in. That is an expensive proposition. Maybe you think that doesn't run into money when something like that happens. If we have a broken water
line, we cut the water off, notify the plumber, the
union plumber has to come down and look the place
over. We furnish the labor to dig it out, he does
what he chooses to do with it, and we refill it. We
can't do any of that, only the labor part. We can't
work a man from the golf course on the grounds. We
can't work a man from the grounds on the roads or
trails. You must work within your range.
That might sound like I am condemning union labor,
which is not true. I think that most of the time it
is caused by the management originally.
Management
has refused to cooperate with these fellows and they
are pretty well fed up on it. They see everybody else
making more money than they are and they are going to
go to town on it. I don't think it is going to be
very long until you are going to see more and more of
it. There is a hotel and golf course very similar to
our set-up forty miles away. They did try to unionize
that last fall and it fell through. They lost out but
the union renewed the charter for another twelve
months. They are going to hit it this time in the
late spring. You can't organize a golf course in September or October but you can in May.

The greenkeepers themselves have for a long time been
advocating better wages, better working conditions,
better education and better everything for the greenkeeper. I think it is about time that they enlarge
their sphere a little bit and try to help out the men
who are. working under them. I have had very little
trouble with the union for the simple reason that I
have tried to go along with them. They are not after
anything excessive. All they want is a fair break and
that is what you are going to have to give them. Under the union they have a greater security. You can't
fire a man because you don't like him or because you
have had a little drink the night before and you don't
like his looks. You must have a legitimate reason.
There must either be drunkeness on the job, excessive
absenteeism, or refusal to obey orders. Unsatisfactory work comes under that, too. With our union we
have fellows who have gotten a raise in salary, they
have job security, they have finally gotten hospitalization for themselves and their families, which is
paid half by them and half by the company. They have
gotten three paid holidays a year$ they have gotten
time and half for overtime. If you call the man after
he has gone home, you must pay him for four hours even
if he is only there 30 minutes. So that is another
thing that runs up the cost. Now the fact that these
men have security, have hospitalization, have a chance
to make overtime is all to be credited to the union
because the average company doesn't do that. They
don't care anything about them. That is what is drawing these men into union labor. If you don't want to
work with union labor, you had better get your club to
be thinking about these things. You can't blame the
men for it because they are looking out for themselves. Nobody has been looking after them.
I think that is about all I have on that subject. I
haven't tried to cover it fully. I have a copy of the
union contract here and if anybody would like to ask
about it, I will be glad to tell you all about it. It
is a problem that we are all faced with. Unless you
do something about looking out for your men, then,
within five years, you fellows who don't have union
labor now are going to have to face it.
-o-

MY EXPERIENCES IN 19^9
Robert Scott
Baltimore Country Club
All I can say from my experience here in the past with
this excessively bad weather that we have had is, that
the main thing to remember is rfAn ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure." I am Scotch and I feel
that it is only worthy of my nationality that I should
accept that point of view and take advantage of it.
We all know that there is a tremendous loss of water,
as has been pointed out, and we should use the Aerifier and the Turferator so that you get the water into
your greens during a watering period or when it rains.
The main things that I see are preparation and prevention. We are in a section where we know we are go-?
ing to have trouble some time or another. I think it
is foolish to know that we are heading for trouble and
not be prepared for it. You may get away with it one
year or even two, but it is going to come to you sooner or later. Then, your headaches are going to be
more severe than they would be If you had spent some
money instead of trying to economize.
It is said that you live to learn and then you die and
forget it all. It is too bad if we canft pass on some
of that information that we have learned through the
years of experience.
The points that have been
brought out this morning about the soil condition and
so forth remind me that the old-timers knew there was
something wrong with the soil conditions which had to
be improved before you could get the best results. In
the old greenhouses they used to screen all the material used for planting. They screened all the coarse
material out and made it as good looking and as fine
as it possibly could be before they put it in their
beds or pots. Accidentally one time they found that
they didnft have time to put this material through the
screen, so they pushed it into the bed and, lo and behold, the material in that bed was better than when
they screened it for the simple reason that the coarse
materials kept the soil from compacting, with the result that air and water reached the roots in more desirable quantity.
That applies to the conditions that we are up against
in turf today. The better the aeration and the better
the rooting medium you have, the better your turf is
going to be. The tops are only as good as your root-

ing medium. The ground underneath should be as near
perfect as possible for your tops to be as good as
they can be. This can be done thorugh the use of the
different equipment that we have now which will permit
the water to get into the dry spots around the edges
of greens, around banks of high fairways, and high
places where the water has a tendency to run off.
They will permit you to get air into some of the low
spots on your fairways and into your wet spots in the
greens. Turf will pass through the season a lot better than it would if soil had been left compacted.
This prevention goes a long way. You could map out a
program whereby you can prepare for vrhat you know is
going to come. Sooner or later you are going to get
dry spots at banks so they should be perforated so
that water will go in there. If you have a wet spell
and your green has been perforated, the excess water
will run down into the holes, and more of the water
will be stored underground than would be if soil was
solidly compacted by tramping, rolling and cutting. I
think that is one of the main things we must look out
for.
We now have means of doing this work. We have the
scientists working for us in summing up all these different materials for prevention of disease, prevention
of compaction through machinery. But if the information is not applied In some general well-set plan beforehand, their work is not going to have the advantage that it would have if we outline the program in
the spring and prepare for brownpatch, have so much
material on hand", prepare for insects and have enough
insecticides. This is very important in the prevention of these things.
The scientists are able to tell us what we should use
for certain diseases, certain types of soil and,
therefore, it is up to us to use it. We know our conditions, or should know them, in these different
areas. We should have some means to prepare for all
that is ahead. I think that is one of the things in
vihich the greenkeepers are a little slow to j.-ealize.
They economize a little bit too close to the bone. It
is better to spend the money to get that prevention in
time, than it is to wait until your trouble comes and
then try to cure it. If you don't do that— then you
have tmo problems. There is the problem of getting
the turf back, and the problem of the golfer giving
you all these headaches about the condition of the
turf. So I think the best thing that I can tell you
from my experience through the years is to try to lay

some advance program and get that to the committee
heads so you can get your material ready and have your
equipment on the ground and working to be ready to attack the enemy as soon as it comes.
It is the same with weed control. If you didnft have
some weed control program on your fairways, there is
no use putting on fertilizer and watering because you
are just feeding the weeds. Get rid of your enemy
first and then treat your friends well and I think you
will get somewhere. Get firmer friends, something
like bent or U-3 bermuda and feed that. What's the
use of going out and feeding clover and crabgrass and
all those weeds? There are enough preventives on the
market now to get rid of them. I think that if we get
rid of the things we do not want and spend time and
money for feeding the good turf, then we will get
somewhere.
—o—

MY EXPERIENCES IN 19^9
0. B. Fitts
Columbia Country Club, Maryland
We have had the privilege today of hearing some very
enlightening discussions by 0. J. Noer and Fred Graut
emphasizing the importance of proper drainage for putting greens, and I would like to offer my verification
to, and support of their contentions.
It has been my experience and is my conviction, that
without adequate drainage, it is impossible to maintain putting greens satisfactorily, particularly under
the abusive conditions such as trampling, scuffing,
mowing and rolling, to which most of our greens are
subjected in all kinds of weather. Adequate drainage
means both surface drainage and subterranean drainage.
A minimum of two and one half percent grade is required to provide proper surface drainage. Sub-drainage
may be provided by the proper use of tile or gravel
layers. The area between the surface and the subdrainage system must be provided by the use of soil
materials that are porous enough to permit the water
to filter through to the tile. This movement of the
water carries plant nutrients to the grass roots and
as it passes on, leaves the pores open for the circulation of air around the roots. The circulation of

both water and air in the root area is essential to
the life and health of grass, and this can be provided
for only by proper drainage and the use of the right
consistency of structural materials.
As for 19*+9, my experience was somewhat out of the ordinary inasmuch as we were confronted with the detest*
able problem of re-habilitating our greens after a
disastrous 19*f8, when they were ravaged by an uncontrollable scourge of small brown patches and an apparent toxic condition that rendered the grass irresponsive to the ordinary program of fertilization. We
used every known remedy for brownpatch in 19^8 without
any noticeable results. In fact, I am convinced now
that we used too many, and too much of some materials
and that the excessive use of chemicals in our desperate efforts to control the brownpatch was responsible
to a great extent for lack of results from our fertilizing program. As a result of all this our greens
were a sorry lot at the beginning of 19^9.
I was so disgusted with the results of our efforts in
19*f8 that I determined to try an entirely different
program for 19*+9. I gave up all the brownpatch fungicides except Calo-clor which I mixed with Milorganite
and applied dry, and then watered it in. This was repeated at weekly intervals and at the rate of two
ounces per one thousand square feet, until the fungus
was checked, and then cut to one ounce per one thousand square feet and after two months to one-half
ounce per one thousand square feet. This did the job
as far as brownpatch was concerned.
We had used Tersan. Semesan, F-537, Soilicide and
Pura-turf the previous year trying to find something
to check this disease, all with no good results.
In our fertilizer program we started the spring as usual with ammonium sulfate mixed with top dressing material, followed by an application of Agrico fertilizer
a week hence. At the suggestion of Marvin Ferguson we
began applying sulfate of ammonia in solution. This
was applied with a sprayer and then watered down at
weekly intervals and at the rate of about one pound
per one thousand square feet. This brought the color
back to the greens in a few weeks and kept them good
all summer. This, with two supplemental applications
of Agrico fertilizer at the rate of four pounds per
one thousand square feet in July and September, plus
the four pounds per thousand square feet weekly applications of Milorganite used with the Calo-clor, rounded out our fertilizing program for the season and the
results were very satisfactory.

GOLFERS, PROFESSIONALS AND SUPERINTENDENTS
David Halle
Baltimore, Maryland
There is no question but that club members, golfers,
professionals and golf course superintendents are all
in favor of more and better cooperation. In addition
to cooperation. Bob Williams and I were discussing a
short time ago ihe amazing lack of a group or body
whose function would be the inter-change of information between clubs regarding problems of golf course
management. In my opinion, the Middle Atlantic Greenkeepers Association, the Maryland State Golf Association and the Middle Atlantic Golf Association are
equally to blame in not having taken a step in this
direction.
I should like to see a real effort put forth by these
groups in establishing a small discussion group and
possibly putting into written form the information
which would be so valuable to all of us. In our own
case, we lost our greenkeeper a few years back and
were very much handicapped by not being able to go to
a source of reading material that would help us. Fortunately, we had a young man available to take over
the job and were further blessed by a golf professional xfho had an unusual knowledge of course maintenance
and was willing to give it the time. Were it not for
those facts and the generous help of both Carroll
Hitchcock and Bob Scott, we would have been up against
it.
I feel that the days of jealously guarded secrets
should be at an end and that the members of your association who have been in this game so long and gathered such valuable experience through the years might
well consider problems of equipment, general planning
of course maintenance and put it down in writing where
it would be available for all to study.
The Maryland State Golf Association, of which I am an
officer, would be delighted to appoint a committee to
meet with a committee of yours and try to make some
progress along these lines.
-o-

GOLFERS, PROFESSIONALS AND SUPERINTENDENTS
Robert Williams
U. S. Naval Academy Golf Course
I find that I am in the same situation as some of
these fellows who followed this morning's speakers and
were second and third in line. The people ahead of me
have more or less stolen my comments.
Improved relations between the golfer, the greens
chairman, the professional and the superintendent, I
think can be best accomplished by a definite educational program which covers quite a bit. When I say
definite educational program, I means keep the chairman of the Greens Committee completely informed on
what you are trying to accomplish,what your situation
is, and what troubles confront you. Pie can best pass
this information a3.ong to your members. I believe if
you take the time to tell each member why you are doing this or that, you will spend a lot of time in conversation and accomplish nothing, or very little.
I was talking to Mr. Halle, Chairman, Greens Committee
at the Suburban Country Club, Baltimore, Maryland,
about a program of trying to set up some definite plan
for the maintenance of a golf course. I think we
could do a lot toward standardization of methods by
getting together from time to time with ^ or 5 of the
best maintenance men in the community. They could determine the average number of men needed for maintenance, the fertilization program and things like that.
I am in an unfortunate situation because sometimes I
have a change of chairman as frequently as 2 or 3
times within a year. I get a new chairman ana he
wants to make a good name for himself. The first
thing he usually wants done is to operate at a lower
cost. I am continuously finding that situation. Possibly most of you men have that to contend with also.
I think if the Green Section or the golf course superintendents were to set up some standard that says, for
instance, that it requires so many men to maintain an
18-hole golf course during a year to keep it in first
class shape, that you should apply so much fertilizer
to expect normal growth of grass, that it requires so
much water, etc., then I think we would present something in black and white to each chairman and then

make the adjustments needed for particular situations.
Too often, I think, the greenkeeper is doing a good
job, but the people in charge, who are lacking in
practical experience, feel that their methods might be
better. I know one particular course where a lot of
the members are engineers. In their particular profession they may be experts, but when it comes to the
maintenance of a golf course? they do not have the
practical experience that xs required to keep a golf
course in the condition that the average golfer wants.
I feel that we can best accomplish improved relations
by keeping both the golfer and the chairman well informed of what they can expect, of what it will cost
them, and of how the program should be accomplished.
I think too often we get criticism from those who do
not know what they are talking about. I think anyone
of us is willing to accept constructive criticism. At
my club, we had a suggestion box at the golf shop.
Some of the suggestions that came into that box sounded like children1s. But in general we got a lot of
very good suggestions that were carried out and everyone concerned benefited by it.
In conclusion the main thing I would like to pass along is that I think we can get the best cooperation
by educating the people we have to deal with, including the club professional, the chairman of the greens
committee, and the golfer. The golfer himself can go
a long way in simplifying the maintenance problems by
repairing the ball marks on the greens, replacing divots, smoothing marks that may be made in the sand
traps and things like that.
-o-

IMPROVING THE RELATIONS BETWEEN CLUB MEMBERS,
GOLFERS, PROFESSIONALS AND SUPERINTENDENTS
Charles Schalestock
Farmington Country Club, Virginia
This subject has had excellent coverage by previous
speakers. It would be difficult to elaborate on it.
However, I would like to stress a point or two.
In my opinion, the key to a successful golf course
management, maintenance and social relationship pro-

gram hinges on the degree of cooperation existing be*
tween everyone concerned. There cannot be success
without realization of this cardinal point.
Where the club's business is administrated, by a general manager, he must be a man of high caliber and versatility. If the scope of his duties is too great for
him to direct all phases of operation personally, he
should engage only qualified assistants. In this category of assistants, his key man on the golf course is
the greenkeeping superintedent.
The greenkeeping superintendent is a turf specialist
who has devoted his entire life to all phases of golf
course maintenance, and is therefore qualified to
assume all responsibility for this position.
The manager and greenkeeping superintendent should
confer regularly on all matters of policy affecting
any phase of maintenance. There should be no unilateral action by either, as this would seem to indicate
that one or the .other is not wholly competent, and
therefore, unnecessarily emploj'-ed. Furthermore, unilateral action is not conducive to a harmonious and
effective relationship.
The above principle is equally true in the relationships between the chairman of the greens committee and
the greenkeeping superintendent. In either case the
greenkeeper is sufficiently qualified to supervise all
actual maintenance without interference. However, the
greenkeeper should at all times be pleasantly receptive to any and all suggestions from members, greens
committee, manager and professional.
The members should realize that their greenkeeper is a
conscientious artisan who takes great pride in his
work. It is not uncommon for him to devote twentyfour hours a day to his work during critical periods
which sometimes last for three months in the course of
a year. This devotion to his duties should certainly
merit complete cooperation from the members. They can
best serve the club's interest by observing all the
rules and etiquette of golf. Such conduct not only
results in a better groomed course, but creates a more
pleasant environment for all.
Many clubs practice false economy. This is an important point. In my opinion, hiring labor on a "seasonal" basis is an unwarranted extravagance. Much time
is required to train a man for golf course work.
Where the labor turnover is high, the club is con-

stantly manned by inadequately trained help. Such a
condition is preventable.
Certainly, some members
could furnish temporary employment for the golf course
workers between ^seasons. Such an arrangement, would
have to be made with tact, so that the club would not
lose their trained workers.
Several points were brought up by previous speakers.
They used the term, "plain labor". What constitutes
"plain labor" on a golf course? Frankly, I would hesitate to use the term. A well trained \forker covers
many of the following phases of maintenance at most
clubs. He drives a tractor, mows greens, treats turf
with chemicals, fertilizes, limes etc., makes minor
machinery repairs and adjustments, waters greens, does
tree work and many,many other jobs. Let us take just
one of these tasks, namely, watering greens. This
sounds simple, but how many men really know how to do
this properly? To sum it all u p — no job worth doing
on the golf course can be done by "plain labor". For
a well integrated
maintenance program,each workman
should be properly trained to do a variety of jobs.
Some organizations entail considerable expense in hiring a so-called "labor relations" or personnel manager. If the greenkeeping superintendent is sufficiently qualified to handle men,he should be in a better position to maintain proper labor-employer relations than any personnel manager because of his constant personal contact with the men. Here again, cooperation is the key-note. No one will do as well a
job by a cold and impersonal director. Everyone tries
to do it properly if an appeal is made to him in a
psychological manner. Even a simple task, if done
well, gives a man a keen sense of satisfaction. This
is all a part of training so-called "plain labor".
-oWARM AND COOL-SEASON GRASSES
Fred V. Grau, Director
USGA Green Section
(Notes Actual plugs of turf were shown to the audience and discussed each in turn by Dr. Grau.)
The zoysia project being developed cooperatively by
the U. S, Golf Association Green Section and the U. S.
Department of Agriculture is the only full scale
breeding and testing project of its kind in the world.

This grass has been with us in this country since
1900. ,We just now are coming to the point where we
are going to put this grass to some use. It has
greater possibilities, I think, than almost any other
turf grass we are using today; possibilities because
it is tremendously heat resistant. It grows its best
during the heat of the summer. No disease has been
known to attack it. The soil under our plots is filled with Japanese beetles, but we have yet to notice
any injury on zoysia from Japanese beetles. It is a
good seed producer and it can be planted either vegetatively or from seed.
The next step is to get zoysia into commercial seed
production, which is not very far off. Its chief objection is the brown winter color. We are overcoming
that by combining it with improved perennial cool-season grasses that hold their color during the cool seasons.
This seedling plant of zoysia set in a thumb pot looks
very similar to a bermuda plant. The stolon crawls along, hugs the ground, crawls under crabgrass and clover, smothers them and chokes them out. Crabgrass has
no chance with zoysia. Zoysia is a low fertility
grass. It can exist at a loiter fertility level than
almost any of our other grasses. Some of the seed
that the Green Section sent out 20 years ago has produced turf that has been highly successful during
those 20 years without any irrigation and without any
fertilization. That is rather remarkable. About the
only grass that has stood up with zoysia is bluegrass.
The bluegrass will have an increasing place in our
turf program as we begin to use zoysia. Incidentally,
one of the worst weeds in zoysia seed fields is bluegrass.
Ferguson is working on the nutrition of Z-52 for his
PhD. thesis to find the level of fertility that will
give us the best results both from the standpoint of
vegetative growth and from the standpoint of seed production. A great many of you have the opportunity to
plant some of these selected strains of zoysia on your
golf courses, in your nurseries, and increase them
vegetatively and also to harvest seed because this
grass does set seed in this area. Some of the strains
of zoysia have produced up to a thousand pounds of
seed ' to the acre. At the moment there is not enough
commercial supply of seed to set a price on it. According to Ferguson's data, the best time to plant
seed is in the middle of July. We get a solid turf m
one year from as little as ten pounds of seed to the

acre.
From this lf-inch plug of zoysia, the seeds will he
harvested during the winter. When they mature, they
vail be scarified to take the hull off, and planted in
flats to produce seedling plants. In the spring we
villi set these seedling plants out on 2 foot centers.
They will produce virtually a solid turf in one year.
This
inch plug, if handled in that manner, will
produce from 10 to 12 thousand square feet of turf by
this time next year. An ounce of that seed handled in
this manner will plant 6 acres. It is rather an expensive way of doing it, but from our experience you
do it once and the turf will be there for the rest of
time. We have not as yet seen anything happen to zoy~
sia to take it out of the picture.
The root systems of zoysia look and feel like wire especially when you try to cut a plug. It is very deep
rooted,very drought tolerant and is certainly going
to give us golf turf throughout the playing season
when most of the golf is played. I don't see very
many golfers out in our winter weather so that a little brown color during the xdnter probably isn't going
to be as bad as we think it is right now.
Questions Is there any chance of losing large areas
of Zoysia japonica in an exceptionally cold winter?
No, we think not. It has been tested at State College,
Pennsylvania, and it has come through 32 belox^r zero
with the frost down about 3 feet. It came out green
about the first of May.
Questions How is it for tees?
It is not as rapid healing as bermudagrass. We are
thinking of zoysia more for lawns, fairways, roughs,
parks and cemeteries.
Here is turf from seed of Z-52 zoysia with Merion
bluegrass starting in it. The Merion bluegrass was
seeded last spring. It had to struggle during the
simmer as seedling plants in competition with the zoysia and the heat and drought because none of this turf
has ever been irrigated. It is all produced under
natural rainfall. Still the Merion Bluegrass is corning through now after standing that competition all
summer. I think it is one of the really excellent
combinations.
Questions

How did you plant the Merion bluegrass seed

is the solid turf of zoysia?
The bluegrass seed was planted by thorough aerifying,
dragging, and seeding. The zoysia turf was opened
sufficiently to let the bluegrass seed into the turf
where the roots could strike into the soil.
Question; Do you
with the zoysia?

think that noa annua would survive

It definitely will. Poa annua is one of the better
cool-season grasses in combination with either zoysia
or bermuda. It is one of the naturals. At a meeting
of the New York-Connecticut Turf Association not too
long ago, I saw one golf course that had gone pretty
solidly over to U-3 bermudagrass for the tees. This
spring when the poa annua is out in seed and they mow
it, they are going to go back, use a sweeper and pick
up all that poa annua seed, cure and dry it and put it
in the barn. In the fall when the bermudagrass starts
to go dormant, they are going to take the poa annua
clippings and scatter them all over the tees so that
they will be sure to get poa annua back on their tees.
Remember that this is in Westchester County in New
York. That is rather a revelation.
Now let's see what some of these other cool-season
grasses are doing with the zoysia. Here is straight
Alta fescue that has been mowed between 3 A and 1/2
inch all summer. It makes a lot of growth in the cool
weather. It is coarser than most of our other grasses.
Alta fescue in combination with zoysia is not too
coarse. It has been kept under 1/2 to 3 A inch mowing
and the Alta is getting better every year. It is not
crowding the zoysia, neither is the zoysia crowding
out the Alta fescue. We would like to think of this
combination as a little bit better suited to parks,
cemeteries, golf course roughs, perhaps more than to
fairways, and yet I would not turn this combination
down as a fairway turf because it is so drought resistant, and so deep rooted. It has nearly all the qualities that we are looking for in a fairway turf.
One thing that we must keep looking for is economy.
The tremendous increases in cost of labor make it necessary to find every possibility for cutting down on
costs. Certainly we must keep working towards those
combinations of grasses that will persist and thrive
at the lowest possible level of fertility with a minimum of water.
Another good combination

is . zoysia

and

Penn

State

chewings fescue. At first we thought that was a failure, but it is getting better year by year. It is tiro
years old now. The chewings fescue is not as green as
Merion bluegrass, but we are going to have to forget a
little bit about this high color if we are going to
have economy turf. With our breeding program, there
are even better fescues coming out than the Penn State
chewings and yet this is one of the best available today.
Questions

Are those grasses fed heavily?

They have not been fed heavily. These plugs that I am
showing you got two pounds of nitrogen to the thousand
square feet last year* That is a very light application of fertilizer. Once they are established, they
can exist with very little fertilizer.
Questions

Would heavy feeding help the color?

It would definitely. If this had had one more pound
of nitrogen in November, this would be much higher in
color, if color is what you want. But for my money,
that has all the color you need. In addition it has
quality from the golf standpoint.
With our zoysia and cool-season grasses, we are getting a cushion of turf on the surface,, We have been
afraid of that cushion in the past because we had no
way to overcome it. It will provide an insulation
against the evaporation of moisture. It does one
thing, it keeps the soil cool. In the hot weather of
.July and August, keeping the soil cool is of tremendous help. It will help to keep our cool-season
grasses growing through that heat period. Now with
the aeration equipment that is available, we donft
fear the organic" layer on the surface because we know
we can puncture it and get water down through it0 Yet
it does provide resilience and a cushion on which to
walk and on which you play a shot that is just out of
this world.
With these grasses we have deep rooting in unfavorable
soils such as we have never had before. That means
permanence. In many of these plugs, we found Aerifier
holes and it was amazing to see the root growth down
in these holes. See these roots hanging down there?
That is an Aerifier hole and it is completely filled
with roots.
This is another strain of zoysia into which we seeded
B-27 this past spring. In spite of the summer temper-

atures and the competition with the zoysia, the B-27
is still making a turf in the zoysia. So we have
every confidence that by adjusting the rate and time
of application of fertilizer, we can be completely
successful with the combination of grasses.
Questions You mentioned adjusting the fertilizer program, Do you mean by that feeding in the summer for
your zoysia?
Yes, let me give you an illustration. That is one of
the things that we are more or less going to have to
guess at on the basis of our past experience and knowledge. But I would say this, if you have a good turf
and can keep it going through the summer, you will do
better with your cool-season grasses if you will feed
the cool-season grasses in the fall when they start to
grow. Because where we had our bermudagrass heavily
fed through the summer, we practically were devoid of
cool-season grasses. The competition was too heavy.
So we are going to have to adjust that according to
the way the turf is acting.
Here is U-3 bermudagrass cut for two years at putting
green height. It has been a very satisfactory putting
green, cut at ^ inch. It has had no irrigation whatever. We have been talking about the water shortage.
They are telling me the thing they are going to need
in the New York area as early as next summer is the
information on how to produce putting greens without
water. Well, I think we have at least a step on the
road because we know that it will stand putting green
height, it will grow up there and we know that with
its deep rooting qualities, U-3 will require but very
little additional irrigation beyond natural rainfall.
By aeration and feeding to get every bit of rainfall
into the soil, we are pretty sure we can produce
greens in this area without artificial irrigation. It
will not be as good a putting green as bent, but it
will be an acceptable putting green.
Nov; we have the combination of bermudagrass with some
of these other cool-season grasses. For instance here
Is U-3 bermudagrass with Alta fescue. They have been
cut at i inch fairway height and has been a perfect
piece of turf. That Alta fescue is not coarse and ungainly as it is when it grows with very little mowing.
That is not too bad a combination for a fairway or a
tee. So don!t throw Alta out of the window because it
is coarse. It does have a p3_ace.
Questions

Will

the other grasses crowd out Alta fes.-

cue?
it is not doing it. This is a piece of AXta fescue
and bermudagrass which has been cut at •§• inch with no
irrigation. The Alta fescue is gaining? even though
it was a late fall seeding, there is a thin stand of
Alta fescue and it is gaining on the bermuda. It is
making quite a nice combination.
Here is an example where we fed the bermudagrass too
heavily during the summer. The Merion is having an
awful struggle coming back. This summer we will feed
it only enough to keep it growing. We will feed it
heavily in the fall when the bermuda goes dormant and
the bluegrass starts to grow.
Here is a combination of U-3 bermudagrass and Arlington (C-l) bent. It was established in July by sprigging. We mixed the U-3 and the C-l stolons together,
put them down vegetatively and this is what we have
now. We think by proper feeding we- can maintain that
balance fairly well. This combination should not require any irrigation.
At a course at Westchester County, New York, they
built several tees of U-3 bermuda in the middle of
June. In the middle of July they opened those tees to
play and when I saw them in October, they were in perfect turfo With all that heavy play, they were not
able to knock out the bermudagrass. In many cases by
plugging U-3 bermuda into tees, you don't have to stop
playing at all. In many cases the golfer will tee the
ball right up on that little plug of bermuda because
it is the best grass and he will knock the top right
off, but it will still go right on growing. About an
inch down are the heavy rhizomes of bermuda. You can
strip sod one inch deep and within a month it will be
heavy turf again. You can*t destroy it by taking the
sod off.
I know the minute we started talking about bermudagrass, every single one of you said that you didnft
want any of that around because it would start to
crawl into your greens. The better bents will pretty
well keep bermuda from crawling into the green. Here
is one of our newer bents, C - l l I could just as
well have brought along a plug of C-l bent because in
Oklahoma where bermuda is giving the most trouble in
the greens, the bermuda has come into the greens hardly at all where they have C-l and C-19 or C-l alone.
But with common ordinary bents the bermuda will go into the greens at least three feet in two years. The

better bents will provide better competition. The
average golfer will never know that he isn't putting
on pure bent if you have a combination of bermuda and
C-l bent. What I am trying to say to you is not to be
too afraid of bermuda up close to the greens because
there are several controlling factors that we can employ. If it gets too bad9 we know \a can kill it completely and replant the area with something else.
Here is U-3 bermudagrass and Canada bluegrass. We
have said very little about Canada bluegrass and yet
in some of our areas there are very fine stands of
it. This piece is ten years old and the Canada bluegrass is thriving and spreading in the bermudagrass
and giving it a good winter color. So it is another
possible combination. We have a lot more work to do
on that.
Here I think the time has come, with our limited budget, our limited personnel, for you fellows to do a
great deal more in the way of practical research now.
We have gone just about as far as we can with what we
have to work with. Now if you will plant test areas
on the golf courses and in nurseries and try out these
different combinations, you will learn more than by
trying to learn it from us. In addition, it will give
us a lot more to talk about at these conferences in
other years. Next year I would like to see a discussion of some of these newer grasses that have come on
the market. Quite a few of you have test plots of
Merion bluegrass. How are they doing? Quite a few of
you have plantings of Alta fescue. I think a report
like that in another year would be very excellent.
Questions Do your bentgrass plots ever mix with the
bermuda by mowing both with the same machine?
Yes, in fact what we are doing is planting bermuda between the two bent ranges so that the bermuda will
spread into the bents if it is going to. This plug is
bermuda and C-115 bent mixed, where the bent has grown
further into the bermuda than the bermuda has grown
into the bent.
-o-

CONTROL OF WEEDS IN TURF
R. H. Beatty
American Paint and Chemical Co.
I am going to tell you something about the new growth
regulators for turf work so that you may have some
idea of what they can do, and what they won't do. I
will run over 2,If-D rather quickly because I think
most of you men have worked with that compound and are
well acquainted with its properties. 2,^-0 acid itself is regarded as insoluble. The chemists make 3
forms which have appeared on the market— the salt,
amine, and the ester. The only reason they make these
is to get the 2,Li—D into solution. When we first
started to work with it, I remember that we used carbowax. That has been dropped and the salts have been
dropped in our 2,1*-D work in crops, mainly because
they are not as soluble as the amine and ester forms,
and also because the esters of 2,*f-D are more effective weed killers under unfavorable conditions.
The amines are excellent weed killers for turf work,
since they are entirely non-volatile and are easier on
grasses. The esters work better in the southwest and
in the dry regions where soil conditions are more
stable, and seem to penetrate certain weeds better.
Last year's 2,J+-D ester formulations all had the disadvantage of volatility. This year we are happy to
say that we can offer you a low volatility ester.
There is one very important difference between amines
and esters. An amine is not volatile. You probably
have heard a lot about this "volatility of esters".
Today we all agree that the esters of 2,^-D are volatile. Noxf, what does that mean? They give off a gas,
or a sort of fume. You can spray them in half of this
room and put a tomato plant in the other half of the
room. That tomato plant will soon start to twist out
of shape as it grows. The "gas" coming from this ester is enough to have this effect. This year we ran a
field test on volatility just to see how far it might
affect plants. We treated an acre with an amine and
then we went a mile away and sprayed an acre with an
ester. Just before spraying we had tomato plants
planted on all four sides of this field. We planted
tomatoes immediately after spraying and every day after that. Well, the results of the test showed that
spray drift of the amine went ^0 feet and injured tomato plants put out before spraying. We found no injury from the amines after the spraying was over,

planting
up to the
feet from
plants. I

our tomatoes every day. But with the ester,
sixth day we injured new tomato plants 195
where we sprayed. Then we ran out of tomato
don't know how long it would have continued.

I had an opportunity to do some work on woody plants
in Georgia". We sprayed a right-of-way and injured
cotton a mile away. Cotton is more sensitive to 2,^-D
fumes than any other plant that we know of. I mention
that to emphasize the fact that, if the amines_ will
kill your weeds, it is best to use amines. If the
amine formulation does not kill your weeds as well as
ester, ,I would certainly suggest that you use the newlow volatile ester type.
1 or li pounds of actual acid per acre is ample to
take care of most of the annual weeds you encounter.
We have found through the years that annuals are killed more easily when they are young. The perennial
weeds, which you don't encounter very much in your
turf work, are killed more easily when they are in the
bud to flower stage. There are some resistant broadleaf weeds on which 2,1+-D is not doing as good a job
as we would like and we are all working on materials
to do the job.
You are going to hear a lot about 2,*f,5-T. I remember
that in our early work with 2,^-D, we thought that
2,1+,5-T was the most active of the group. At that
time we were testing on poison ivy. We have gone back
to the 2,^,5-T in order to do a good job on woody
plants. We started a very enterprising campaign to
eradicate woody plants. We were doing pretty well
with most plants, but when we came to brambles, we
couldn't do anything. A year after spraying, the
whole right-of-way would be covered with brambles. We
soon found that 2,^,5-1 took the brambles out. For
your work, as low as i pound of " 2 , ? - T "would .do a
very good job in the fall in eliminating clover. I
would say li pounds would be a fair amount to use in
order to get the annuals and clover. 2,h-,5-T is a
little harder on grasses than 2,^-D. We have noticed
that time and time again. Now many men are working on
this compound to kill crabgrass.
Another one of the relatively new chemicals which has
been publicized in the last year is TCA. X don't know
that this compound has any great selective property.
I only mention it as an eradicator of weedy grasses in
traps and in driveways or wherever you men want to
clean up grasses. Up to 100 pounds per acre is required. It is relatively non-poisonous and easy to

use. However, I do want to caution you to wash your
sprayer out thoroughly with water because it tends to
be rather caustic.
Host of you men are interested in the eradication of
crabgrass. You have seen some new compounds come on
the market in recent years, for instance PMAS. PMAS
looked very good to us in our tests. However, it is
poisonous and it does cost a few dollars. There has
been a tremendous amount of research work going on
during the last few years to find a compound that is
non-poisonous and which would be less expensive. Dr.
Sowa, a former teacher of chemistry at Notre Dame, has
been very much interested in this problem and has
worked with several compounds which were tested at
Rutgers during the past two years and which look very
promising.
They are non-poisonous and relatively
cheap. However, we do need another year or so for
testing these compounds.
Potassium cyanate has been v/orked with for the past
two years. We think it is excellent and introduced a
potassium cyanate formulation this spring.
Silver
crab has been reported to have been killed with it,
but I have not yet seen it. I think that you might
try it on silver crab. We like it for the simple reason that it is non-poisonous. It is relsitive3.y inexpensive. It will take about 8 to 16 pounds to the
acre and sells in the neighborhood of $1 a pound.
It has some unique properties and I think there are
certain things that you should keep in mind when you
use it. It is very soluble in water. We found that
under dry conditions like we had last summer here in
the east, it would not work at all. If you have dry
weather during the time you want to kill the crabgrass
the area to be treated should be watered thoroughly
two or three times a week or so before applying it.
It does burn up the tips of the bluegrass a little bit
but on the first cut you remove the brown tip. We
fouod that 8 pounds to the acre, put on with a large
amount of water will do the job on seedlings. Mature
•plants require 16 pounds per acre. With low amounts
of water, we did not get as good results as at the
high rates. It is a contact killer. We don*t think
it has any root absorbing properties. It is completely broken down only two or three hours after it has
been sprayed. It has no toxic effects afterwards in
the soil or on the people who are using it. You could
use 2,^-D with potassium cyanate. However, 1 would
like to warn you to use low amounts of 2,li-~D. I would
not go over one pound to the acre because we did get
some burning where we used more 2,^-D. One thing you

to need with potassium cyanate is a good wetting agent
which we have incorporated in our formulation. The
amount of wetting agent and the type of wetting agent
are very, very important. We tested over 20 of them
last year5Rutgers tested 15 or 20 and noticed big differences between them.
-o-

CONTROL OF DISEASES OF TURF
H. W. Thurston, Jr.
Pennsylvania State College
A good many of the remarks indicate that turf management is going a long way toward solving some of the
disease problems. Those remarks are very welcome to
me. I hope the time will come when some of these new
grass combinations are the way in which you will be
able to handle disease, thereby doing away with chemical treatment for disease. At that time my services
will be devoted to some of the other crops where the
problems are still numerous.
One new thing I do have to bring you today concerns
national cooperative tests of fungicides on turf
grasses. This test was set up through the American
Phytopathological Society, the professional society of
plant pathologists who have been for several years interested in cooperative tests of new materials. We
finally persuaded them to set up a sub-committee and
to set up such a test on turf grasses. Such a test
was set up this past summer for the first time and 8
different locations were involved. One was in California, one in Iowa, one in Massachusetts, one in Indiana, two in Pennsylvania, one in Ottowa, Canada, one
in New Jersey and one in Wisconsin. Wisconsin was one
of two where they said they didn't have any disease
this year so the figures from those states will be
blank.
Ten different chemicals were used in this test and in
each test the small plots x^ere repeated four times.
The treatments were put on at regular intervals starting with the first appearance of dollarspot. The number of treatments made during the season did vary
somewhat in the different states. I notice that California put on four treatments beginning on August
lOths Iowa put on nine treatments beginning the 26th
of June$ Massachusetts, five treatments beginning the

19th of May; Pennsylvania, three treatments beginning
the 19th of May; Indiana, four5 Rhode Island, nine on
one plot and two on another and so it goes. The taking of the records on control of dollarspot varied
somewhat. Some areas counted the number of dollarspots on the plots, others counted the number of dollar spots per 100 square feet; still others attempted to
rank the treatments from best to worst in six different categories. Noi\r when you try to assemble that
data, the best we could do was to determine the average rank of the areas. Those figures I will show you.
I think we are ready for the slides now. This represents two plots in Pennsylvania, one where we did not
get any control of dollarspot and one where the control was pretty good. This represents the corner
where four plots come together. This represents a
couple of plots at Pennsylvania State College where
Musser has different strains of grass. This area represents a strain resistant to dollarspot.
Now here are the figures from all the 8 areas where
there was any dollarspot. The last column represents
the ranking of those experiments. You will notice,
ranking them from one to ten, that Tersan is at the
bottom. Notice the three that came out best— Cadminate, 531, and Pura-turf 177. Those are all about the
same classe You may want to know why these blanks are
here for Pennsylvania, This test was set up and summarized by Dr. Rowell, "When he set this up he suggested a list of chemicals. In Pennsylvania we told
him that we had had a few years work with some of the
chemicals and we knew what they did. We told him exactly which were good and which ones were not good.
But it does give me a little satisfaction to come here
and show you that results from other areas in the
country back up what I told you a few years ago about
the dollarspot control,
When it comes to large brownpatch that is a different
story. On these same plots that were laid out for
dollarspot control a few were able to get data on
large brownpatch control. We got some in Pennsylvania,
This series of plots are on Joe Valentinefs nursery.
Here is one of our new materials that we were trying
and that goes under the code number of 1025. It is an
attempt to add something to 531 which will make it do
a better job on large patch. It did . fairly well.
This is a slide loaned to me by 0, J. Noer, This is
large patch on a susceptible variety of astoria bent.
So far as large patch is concerned, we do have some

resistance in the various strains of grass that have
come through the past season without any trouble.
None of the materials were particularly good for large
patch control. Of course, the plots here were not set
up for large patch, but for dollarspot. These are also large brownpatch figures. This is the actual percentage of area covered by large patch at its worst.
Here are a few figures from Pennsylvania in the four
plots on doilarspot control. We had a check. We had
three materials under the code nimbers 1025, 897? and
531* These are counts made at the height of brownpatch during the 21st of June and the 6th of July.
% % of the plots were covered with large spots on the
21st of June. Four days later the grass had begun to
recover, but the scars were still present on July 6th.
A treatment was made on the day those records were
taken, and four days later the disease had dropped
down to pretty nearly nothing. If this indicates anything at all, it does indicate that, where you are
practicing routine prevention treatment for doilarspot
you are getting some benefit for large patch. It also
occurs to me that perhaps we could take a material
like Crag 531 and modify it and perhaps come up with a
fungicide that will control both diseases.
This is pythium. Pythium, as you saw it last summer,
usually starts out as small spots about the size of
dollarspots and it usually is a little browner and, if
there is any depression on the green, it starts to run
into streaks from the high points to the low points.
But this is pythium and that is what ruined a good
many greens in Pennsylvania last summer. Notice how
much the spots look like dollarspots.
This is what happened to Joe Valentine!s greens just
before he was going to put on a tournament. This is
what he had to do to get a good surface on his greens.
There are two strains of grass here, the colonial bent
and the creeping bent. These were all innoculated
with pythium. This one was put in a moist chamber at
95°• They were kept in there for bQ hours and, for
that time and at that temperature, the grass was killed, These were put into the same kind of chamber at
85°; there was just a little bit of burning. At 75°
there was no disease. The pythium which was responsible for this grass, is a very high temperature fungus, It takes 90° to 95°
saturated with humidity
to take hold, but when it does take hold, it goes very
fast.
This one was in the moist chamber just

2b hours.

At

the end of 12 hours, we opened up the chamber and put
a fungicide on, but it didnft do any goodc I don't
know how to use the fungicide that controls pythium
outdoors. Pythium is a disease that doesn!t strike
every year. The only thing we have been able to do
with it so far is to check up on temperature relationships. This whole area is large patch. Inside it is
this peculiar thing. I donft know what it is and
neither does anybody else. It is something new.
-o-

CONTROL OF INSECTS AND OTHER ANIMALS
J. C. Schread
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Looking back over the last 7 or 8 years, we realize
that a large number of effective insecticides have
been developed for the control of insects. Perhaps we
are not going too far if we say that
may have proceeded just a little bit too fast with certain chemicals, overlooking some of the more fundamental details
concerned with their use. However, the fact remains
that in America we are out and beyond other nations in
the control of pests. Today we are concerned with a
special group of insect pests— to wit, those that destroy turf.
%

In the early part of this century, there were very few
insecticides. In fact, there was very little known
about the control of insects. At first there was fish
oil soap. A little later lead arsenate and nicotine
sulfate were introduced. In 19^1 DDT became a reality.
In 19^3 the United States Department of Agriculture
used it for the first time for the control of white
grubs.
First slide. There are a number of species of white
grubs, including the Japanese beetle and the Asiatic
beetle. This picture was taken at a golf course in
Connecticut in 19^1 prior to the introduction of DDT.
Grub populations (exceeding 150 to the square foot)
were not uncommon at that time.
Next slide. The injury to turf in golf courses was
extensive. Lead arsenate was for years applied to infestations at the rate of ^50 to 500 pounds to the
acre. It was slow in action, requiring anywhere from
a few months to virtually a year to achieve good con-

trol of a grub population. Notice here, Gentlemen,
that the green was \rell protected by insecticides,
while in the foreground the turf was not and in consequence was destroyed.
In 19^6 we in Connecticut used DDT for the first time
at the State Experiment Station in New Haven. It was
applied to turf at the rate of 250 pounds of 10% dust
to the acre. Incidentally, this level had been established by the United States Department of Agriculture
as satisfactory for the purpose.
Next slide. This fairway was treated with DDT May 15,
19I+6. The grub population at the time of treatment
was of the order of 65 grubs per square foot. Within
five weeks a reduction in grub population of 75% was
attained.
Next slide. On the other hand, this fairway was not
treated, consequently in the fall of 19*+6 with a grub
population of 2.9 to the square foot in treated turf
there were 125 to 1^0 grubs per square foot in this
untreated turf. In 19^7 the grub population in the
fairway that had been treated was down to approximately 1.3 per square foot, whereas in adjoining areas
there were 65 to 75 grubs per square foot. In 19*+8
the grub population in the treated fairway was nil. at
the same time the population in the untreated turf
averaged 11 to 15 per square foot. In the autumn of
19^9, over three years after treatment, there \v*as an
occasional grub in the treated plot and 5 to 6 per
square foot in untreated areas.
Let us go back to 19^3 for a moment and review what
has happened in the last 7 years so far as the Japanese beetle is concerned. That year was rather dry.
The rainfall during the critical period of the Japanese beetle life cycle, which is July to the middle of
September, xras about 10 inches. In the following year,
19¥f, it was down to 6 inches. As a result there was
a general drop in grub population.
In 19^5 the rainfall was up to about 13 inches during
the critical period and in 19^6 and 19^7 it rose to an
average of 17 inches. During the latter years we began to see a lot of damage by grubs to turf, not only
in Connecticut, but also in other beetle infected
areas along the Atlantic seaboard.
By 19*+8 the rainfall had dropped down again to about
Ik inches and in 19*+9 it was down to 10 inches. What
to expect this coming year (1950) is a matter of spec-

illation and I am not one to give a guess. In any
event, however, during the spring and early summer the
grub population will in general be very low. Rainfall
throughout the summer months will largely determine
the status of the beetle during the remainder of the
year.
In 19^7 we began using a few of the more recently developed chemicals— Chlordane, Toxaphene, Benzene hexachloride and Parathion for control of grubs. Toxaphene was applied to turf experimentally at five different levels5 that is, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 pounds
of actual toxicant to the acre for the control of Japanese beetle larvae with excellent results. Benzene
hexachloride was used at from one to five pounds and
Chlordane at 8, 10, 16, and 2k pounds with rapid reduction in population where the materials were applied.
In May, 19*+7, in plots where Chlordane was used experimentally, grub populations varied from 25 to 117
grubs per square fppt. In four weeks reductions in
populations of the order of 88$, 93% and 9&% respectively were obtained. In the summer of 19^7 Chlordane
was applied to a heavy grub population at the rate of
ten pounds of actual toxicant per acre using a 5% dust
for the purpose. The dust was mixed with Milorganite
to assure better distribution and more even coverage.
Reduction in population of 95% was achieved in two
weeks.
Next Slide. In the fall of 19^7 the New Haven Park
Department was confronted with a problem of grub control in one of its football fields. The population
averaged 85 per square foot. Of course, the question
arose relative to what might be used to destroy the
infestation. It was suggested that Chlordane be applied (and it was) at the rate of 200 pounds of 5%
dust to the acre.
Next slide. At about the same time there existed in a
nearby town a privately owned athletic field heavily
infested with grubs averaging 75
square foot.
This field was not treated when it should have been.
Consequently, as a result of excessive grub injury,
complete re-seeding became necessary the following
spring.
Next slide. Ant control by Chlordane. The cornfield
ant is sometimes quite a nuisance on golf course
greens. It may be controlled by using Chlordane either as a spot treatment or complete turf treatment.

By the spot treatment is meant that the toxicant may
be applied as a h0% or 50% wettable powder at the rate
of about 1/8 of a teaspoon per anthill and water in
thoroughly. Or the treatment may be applied as a complete turf treatment, treating the entire green area
with four ounces of the k0% or $0% wettable powder in
50 gallons of water per 1000 square foot. Follow up
the treatment with clear water flushing to achieve
good penetration.
In 19br9 a turf insect problem arose at the State University at Storrs, Connecticut. A major portion of
the campus was heavily infested with the cornfield
ant. Treatment became necessary. It was a very cLcy
summer and we had no access to water. Consequently,
it was argued that insofar as Chlordane treatments had
worked so well when applied as wettable powders, there
was every reason to believe it would suffice as a low
concentrate dust. Four times as much Chlordane was
necessary to destroy the cornfield ant when dust was
used than when wettable powders were applied to turf
in large quantities of water.
We now come to the control of chinch bugs. Because of
dry weather in late season 19^3, a serious chinch bug
problem arose. Chlordane was applied to infestations
as a % dust at the rate of 5 pounds per thousand
square feet. DDT also was used at the rate of 2b
pounds of technical toxicant per acre. DDT 12i$, plus
2-1-% Sabadilla was applied as a third treatment at the
rate of 15 pounds of technical toxicant per
acre.
Compound 118, which is now known as Aldrin, was used
at the rate of 5 pounds of technical toxicant per acre
and Chlordane at the rate of 10 pounds per acre. All
treatments were made on the same day. It rained hard
subsequently. In consequence, we thought perhaps the
toxic value of the insecticides for the control of
chinch bug was lost. The fact remained, however, that
after it had cleared on the following day, an examination of the turf showed that the chinch bug population
had been destroyed 100$ by Aldrin and Chlordane.
Where DDT was used, two weeks seemed necessary before
all the adult chinch bugs had been killed.
Last summer (19*+9) at Pelham Country Club, Hew York,
the question arose relative to what might be done to
control chinch bugs infesting all of the fairways.
The population was excessive. A large part of the
turf was being destroyed. The quantities of % Chlordane dust necessary to treat the course could not be
delivered in much less than 10 to 12 days. In view of
the success with Chlordane dust for chinch bug control
it was thought that perhaps the emulsion would also

work well. This type of formulation was applied at
the rate of two gallons of *+8E
contains four
pounds of technical Chlordane per gallon) in 50 gallons of water per acre. 120 gallons of '+8E were used
to treat 60 acres of fairway.
Next slide. This picture shows the turf in excellent
condition with almost no chinch bug injury in evidence
one month after treatment. We examined the turf periodically until fall, however, and no re-infestation of
chinch bugs could be detected.
Experimentally, Aldrin and Dieldrin 0+97) were used
also at Pel-ham for chinch bug control. Both of these
materials are very toxic to all insects to which they
have been applied and consequently were used at much
lower dosage levels than other insecticides mentioned.
"Where they were employed at the lowest levels, re-infestation was a little faster than where Chlordane and
DDT were applied. However, if the toxic levels are
raised, Aldrin and Dieldrin may be expected to provide
not only rapid kill of chinch bugs, but also residual
action sufficient to keep them out of the fairways for
a long period of time.
It was discovered within recent years that the golf,
courses in the northeastern part of the United States
were infested with an exotic earthworm. It occurs
naturally in the Orient, including China and Japan.
How it got into this country is a matter of speculation. It is believed, however, that it might have
gained entrance in plants from which the soil was not
removed prior to shipping. , In any case, however, it
is now known to occur at one or more points from Stamford, Connecticut, down along the Atlantic seaboard as
far as Florida. It is more abundant in the New York
Metropolitan area. Within 25 miles of New York City
there are 32 courses, 25 of which are to a greater or
less extent infested with the Oriental earthworm.
Pelham Country Club (where most of the research work
was done in 19^9) had 18 greens heavily infested as
well as several large nursery plots. Among other
things, an examination of the soil in all parts of the
golf course has shown that the worms were present not
only in the greens, but also in the tees, roughs, and
fairways. Where the soil was of a sandy and gravelly
nature with less fertility and lower moisture-holding
capacity, the worms occurred infrequently. In the
fairways where it is more fertile and moist, the worm
population is greater, ffcwever, in the greens where
the organic matter is high and. the moisture adequate >

thev occurred in greatest numbers. Anywhere from 15
to ho worms per square foot is not uncommon.
The worms vary in length from 150 to 220 mm. and about
5 mm. in diameter. The color in general is a light
grass green. The lower aspect of the worm is rather
gray whereas the upper surface varies in intensity
from a light green to a dark green.
Earth castings
occur not only once in 2b hours, but sometimes 6 or
more times depending on the amount of precipitation or
other moisture present. Air temperature and humidity
play an important part in the frequency of earth castings. When castings occur three times in 2b hours, it
has been estimated (based on the determination of the
dry weight of the average casting to be 0,^85 gr*)
that 24-0 pounds of earth castings may accumulate on an
infested green in a day or 2,065 pounds per acre. It
was then estimated that if the castings "occur three
times a day only once a week during the spring and
autumn (a period of virtually 18 weeks) the total
weight of castings per year on a 5*000 square foot
green would be 2.16 tons5 per acre, 18.58 tons.
Earthworm castings are highly nutritious and immediately available to plants from which they may get all
of the nutrients that they require. It was shown by
Jacobson in 19bb that earthworm castings contain 5%
more nitrogen, 7% more phosphate, and 11% more potash
than the upper six inches of"soil.
The Oriental earthworm is more active at temperatures
above 70° F; However, it does cast at 60° F. On February 20, 19^9, o n t h e 18th green at Pelham Country
Club tremendous casting took place.
Incidentally,
this green had been treated with Aldrin on December 3?
19^8. Despite the treatment the worms cast a number
of times in mid-February. In other words, under favorable conditions the worms may be active during all
four seasons of the year.
As a result of castings occurring more than once a
day, it became necessary for Mr. Twombly to have a man
for every three greens or six men poling the greens
constantly throughout the daylight hours in order to
keep them in a playing condition. Certain greens were
poled every 15 or 20 minutes because no sooner were
they cleaned than they became covered with castings
again.
In 19^8 Oriental earthworm infestation occurred on
several greens at Woodway Country Club at Stamford,
Connecticut. The problem resolved itself into what

might be used for the control of the earthworm there.
We decided on Parathion, an organic phosphate which is
very injurious to humans and consequently must be
handled with a great deal of care. Rubber gloves of a
synthetic nature and a respirator Mere worn by the men
applying the treatment.
On the 13th of May, 19^8, Parathion was applied to one
green at the rate of 21.? pounds of actual toxicant
per acre. Within a few days it was noticeable that
the population had been reduced 50;% to 60%. On the
2^th of May, a second treatment of Parathion was made
at the rate of 10.75 pounds of technical material per
acre. The reduction after this treatment was of the
order of about 75% or &0%. Castings at this time were
estimated to be about 20 per square foot in 5,00°
square feet. On the 8th of June a third treatment was
applied using Parathion at the rate of 3° pounds per
acre. Subsequent to this treatment, turf injury developed on the green.
Next slide. This is a picture revealing injury to
grass' 'by Parathion. However, within a period of 8 to
10 days the green showed signs of recovery. Despite
three treatments the population was still of a formidable nature. In consequence it seemed necessary to
apply a fourth treatment. Parathion was used at the
rate of 32 pounds of technical toxicant to the acre.
In the fall of 19^8 it was seen under favorable conditions that there were about 1000 worms remaining in
the green. The observation was based on number of
castings. In May of the following spring there were
only 15 castings and 5 worms. Since then, nothing
further has been seen of the population on the Parathion treated green at Woodway Country Club.
In 19^8 research was undertaken relative to the control of the earthworms at Pelham Country Club, New
York. Some of the greens were treated with various
toxicants— to wit, Parathion, Chlordane, Toxaphene,
Benzene hexachloride and a number of others. Most of
them worked well. In certain instances, however,
there was a small residue of the population present at
the close of the season; in consequence we were not
entirely satisfied with results obtained in these
cases.
It was decided in 19^9 that the chemicals should be
used as emulsions rather than as the dusts and powders
applied in 194-8. Chlordane and Aldrin were applied at
the rate of 1 pound and i pound of technical toxicant
respectively per thousand square feet. The results
were phenomenal.

These slides show No. 18 green at Pelham Country Club.
They illustrate the difference between the population
before a treatment of Chlordane was applied and again
at a later date. The reduction in population in 6 to
8 weeks was almost complete. All of the surrounding
area is heavily infested, but the green is virtually
free from infestation.
-o-

SOIL CONSERVATION
Fred L. Bull, District Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
I expect all of you have soil conservation districts
in your home states and that they operate very similarly to the way our districts are operating here in
Maryland. We, in the Soil Conservation Service, lend
our assistance to the district supervisors of the soil
conservation districts and help them in combatting
their soil erosion problems. Now, we find that a lot
of the farmers with whom we work think that once a
field is established in grass, they donft have to
worry very much about erosion from then on. But you
people all know that it is just as important to manage
that grassland properly as it is to get it in grass.
The sheet erosion that occurs on slightly sloping land
sometimes, unless brought under control, soon develops
into a gullied condition. Here is a condition that we
found in Howard County last summer on a little trip
out there with the State Soil Conservation Committee.
Here is a field in Howard County which had been seeded
to alfalfa just a week or so before we got there. The
farmer hadntt reached the point where he could see a
need for erosion control practices on his land, other
than seeding. He had plowed, prepared and seeded the
whole field without any regard for the contour or the
need for strip cropping. Down through the waterway
which should have remained in sod, all the topsoil was
washed out and across the highway and into a neighbors
pasture field* This not only meant a loss to this
farmer, but also damaged the pasture land belonging to
his neighbor.
We have the problem of not only soil erosion, but
sometimes we find that it is necessary to drain land
which is too wet for profitable use. Here is one such

field where drainage practices are being worked out.
Stream bank erosion control may concern some of you
people. We have hundreds of acres of land in the Districts which I work that are ruined by the meandering
of streams. This stream starts to go over this way
and gradually eats out the pasture field and then
bends over to the other side, doing the same damage.
We are working on that problem. Basket \d.llow is being used to stabilize stream'banks.
What is the plan of approach for these farmers who request assistance from soil conservation districts?
Well, we feel that the first and most important thing
to do is to have the farmer get to know his land and
have us get to kno\v his land with him. In other xrords
take an inventory of what he has to work with. If you
go out to build a house, you look around to see if you
have the necessary materials with which to work. If
you are using land, you need to get to kno\v that land.
You must determine whether you have the right type of
land to produce the kind of crop you have in mind. So
that is the first step in giving assistance to land
owners in these Soil Conservation Districts,
We make a soil survey of the farm and prepare what we
call a land use capability map, classifying the land
into various classes. The green land is class one
land, which means that it is more or less level land
that is not subject to severe erosion and can be
planted in tow crops several years in succession.
Class 2 land requires a little more control, such as
contour farming and perhaps some other practice.
This is the kind of land we like to see on farms that
are trying to produce good pasture and control erosion
on the crop land. Contour pasture furrows often help
to improve the turf by holding the rainfall and allowing it to soak in for the benefit of the grass.
This farmer is mowing his pasture. This practice eliminates the mature grass and weed growth thus improving the desirable grasses and legumes. You will
note that contour pasture furrows have been plowed in
this field and that the mowing is done parallel to the
furrows rather than across them.
The matter of erosion control is pretty important from
a great many standpoints. One very important reason
is to keep the silt out of our harbors and reservoirs.
Another erosion problem that I want to point out is
the problem of highway banks. Some of our highways

are being constructed, leaving the banks almost perpendicular and allowing them to crumble down into the
highway ditch. When we tie our land down with vegetation, as you see here, it doesnft get away from us so
fast. This particular farmer applies contour strip
cropping to all his land and uses an alfalfa mixture
on some of his steeper land, and it really keeps it
under control. Farmers applying this practice are
saving the plant nutrients and are getting very good
results.
This picture demonstrates what contour strip cropping
does. The rows, all being on the level, are holding
the rainfall— each row serving as a little dam. This
is one of the early farms to start with soil conservation practices here in Maryland. Contour strip cropping was applied here. Diversion terraces, as you see
here, quite often can be used to divide long slopes
into short slopes in order to establish permanent vegetation on badly eroded land. Here is a diversion
terrace under construction. The district supervisors
are assisting farmers by making arrangements for a
contractor to build diversion terraces.
Farm ponds are an important part of a conservation
farm plan. They are being used for a good many purposes? for water storage, for fire control, for recreation, and for food production. I might say that it
is just as important to know your land when you are
thinking about building a farm pond as it is for any
other purpose. We had the misfortune of assisting
some farmers with the farm ponds and they wound up
with only a hole in the ground because we and they had
not determined definitely that they had soil which
would hold water. This is one, however, that doesn't
fall into that category. This farmer told me the
other day that he had caught about 300 fish from his
pond.
This is multiflora rose. It is a very thorny type of
rose and is being used extensively as living fences.
It is planted about 12 or 15 inches apart in a row.
It spreads about 10 feet wide and is about 7 or 8 feet
high. Most of you probably heard of the Thrasher farm
demonstration which was conducted here in Maryland in
August, 19^8. At that time we undertook to rebuild a
farm in one day. These are a few of the buildings.
The owner had not seen fit to apply modern farm practices, so the land was pretty badly depleted. We
built a pond, built a new barn, made contour strips,
put in fertiliser, and did all those things in one
day.

In closing, I would just like to say that any of the
soil conservation districts will be glad to give you
any assistance that comes within their category.