1
1

KEWSIL
1
THE LATE JOHN SHANAHAN
NOVEMBER

1934

This NEWSLETTER is published
monthly by the Greenkeepers Club of
New England, and sent free to its members and their Greens' Chairmen. Subscription price ten cents a copy, or a
dollar a year.
GUY C. WEST
Editor
312 Mt. P l e a s a n t St., Pall River, Mass.

HOWARD D. FARRANT Business Mgr.
132 R u s s e t t Rd., W e s t Roxbury, Mass.

November, 1934

Vol. 6, No. 11

It is w i t h d e e p r e g r e t t h a t w e announce the death on October 31st of
John Shanahan, greenkeeper for the
p a s t t h i r t y - o n e y e a r s at t h e B r a e B u r n
Country Club, W e s t N e w t o n , Mass., and
H o n o r a r y P r e s i d e n t of t h e G r e e n k e e p e r s C l u b of N e w E n g l a n d .
J o h n w a s b o r n in T e m p l e d e r r y ,
C o u n t y T i p p e r a r y , I r e l a n d in 1 8 6 4 ,
c o i n i n g t o this c o u n t r y at t h e a g e o f
twenty-four.
Known and loved by the many
thousands who have enjoyed Brae Burn
f o r his d e v o t i o n t o his j o b a n d his
f i d e l i t y to his club, J o h n w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y g i f t e d w i t h p o w e r s of o b s e r v a t i o n
and a vision to comprehend the various
p h a s e s of his w o r k .
In his p a s s i n g e a c h a n d e v e r y g r e e n k e e p e r h a s l o s t a f r i e n d a n d h e l p in
time of stress, and the Greenkeepers
Club of N e w E n g l a n d has lost not only
its H o n o r a r y P r e s i d e n t , b u t a l s o its
ablest advisor.
JOHN SHANAHAN MEMORIAL

A committee of Messrs. Treat, Wilson
and Swanson has been appointed to
make various suggestions toward a John
Shanahan Memorial. These suggestions
and any others offered by our members
will be discussed at the December meeting. All members are requested to take
special note of the following report of
this committee:
"The committee on memorial to John
Shanahan offer the four following suggestions.

"(1) It is the concensus of opinion
of the committee that there shall be a
John Shanahan Golf Shield to be played
for each year at the annual Greenkeeper-Pro Championship. It was suggested
by the committee and chairman of the
Pro Golf committee that this be an
annual event, and further it was suggested that the committee take the
matter up with Mr. Sawyer and the
Brae Burn officials to see if Brae Burn
will cooperate to the extent of having
this championship as a permanent event
at Brae Burn and allow us to place the
shield in their trophy room as a permanent memorial to John Shanahan; the
names of the winners each year to be
inscribed on the shield.
"(2) It was also suggested that the
Greenkeepers Club of New England establish a fund to be known as the John
Shanahan Fund and that the club hold
itself responsible to set aside each year
the sum of not less than fifty dollars,
this money to be available as a long time
loan to any deserving greenkeeper or
greenkeeper's son, the same to be used
for educational purposes. Further that
a sum of one hundred dollars be appropriated this year to establish this
fund.
"(3) Furthermore that the editor of
the Newsletter investigate the cost of a
Memorial Number of the Newsletter,
which shall contain a loose leaf portrait
picture of John Shanahan, 4" x 6", and
suitable articles to go therewith. It is
suggested that this be the January
issue.
"(4) Furthermore that the Greenkeepers Club of New England have
struck off each year a medal, to be
known as the John Shanahan medal or
reward of merit, to be awarded to the
person or persons who during the year
contribute the most distinguished service to the profession of greenkeeping.
(This is intended as a award not particularly to greenkeepers, but to any
machine, remedy, control, or outstanding contribution of any kind to the profession of greenkeeping by any company
or person."
We have recently heard from Alex G.
Bryce, whom most of our members will
remember as one of the founders of
our club. Alex has been with the Aronmink C. C. of the Philadelphia District,
but has changed his affiliation recently
to the Wilmington Country Club of
Wilmington, Del.

PURCHASING GRASS SEED FOR
YOUR GOLF COURSE

Golf is a game played on grass. The
kind of grass varies in tees, fairways,
greens, rough, in sandy soils, in clay
soils and in the individual tastes of
clubs. Have you a definite program for
the improvement of tees, greens and
fairways of your course, or do you as
some clubs do, order tee mixture, fairway mixture and greens mixture without regard to the suitability of the seed
mixture to your conditions? Find out
what type of a green you wish, what
seed mixture is best for your soil and
what is the mixture which is best for
tees. Lay out a long time program and
stick to it.
The purchase of grass seed should be
considered early in the year. The time
to buy is not a day or two, or a week
or two before it is used. Prices should
be obtained several months ahead, the
purity and germination noted, and the
actual value of the seed worked out.
After a selection has been made it
should be tested. If the seed is as
represented, well and good—if not, it
should be returned. It is well to begin in January to figure your seed requirements for spring use. If it is necessary to purchase seed on short notice
buy your seed from a reliable seed
dealer in whom you have confidence.
In the purchase of grass seed the
highest priced seed in most cases is the
cheapest. In figuring the value of seed
from the current price list, the purity,
germination and selling price are the
three items of prime importance. Divide the selling price of the seed by
the purity multiplied by the germination. For example: An 80 x 78 lot of
South German Mixed Bent selling at a
quoted price of $1.15 a pound. Multiplying 80 times 78 gives a percentage
of 62.4 of viable seed contained in this
lot. Dividing the price per pound of
$1.15 by the 62.4% equals $1.84 as
the actual cost of one pound of viable
seed. A 70 x 70 lot containing only
49 % of viable seed offered at $1.00 a
pound, actually costs $2.04. Take Red
Top from the same list—98.5 x 96 at
twenty-eight cents a pound actually
costs twenty-nine cents. Take a 92-94
x 92 at twenty-six cents costs thirty-one
to thirty-two cents per pound. Or a
90 x 90 at twenty-four cents, cos*bs
twenty-nine cents per pound. The first

Red Top and the last are of equal cost
but not of equal value, the first containing 94.5% of viable seed while the last
has only 81%.
In the purchase of cheap seed of low
purity there is also the danger of
noxious weeds which cost a great deal
to get rid of. Also seed of low germination, even if the price is low is not
an economy. To go back to the bents
mentioned above, it is obvious that it
is necessary to sow more seed when
using a 70 x 70 seed of 49% viable
seed, than an 80 x 78, 62.4% of viable
seed. Actually it is necessary to sow
2.04 pounds of 70 x 70 and 1.6 pounds
of 80 x 78 to get a pound of viable
seed into the ground. The labor of preparing a piece of land may be completely wasted by sowing an inferior
grade of seed, and the opportune time
for seeding may be lost by the failure
of the seed to grow satisfactorily.
Take care of the seed when it arrives. Much good seed can be wasted
by improper storage in a warm damp
place. It soon loses its vitality, and real
good seed when bought may be very
poor seed when sown for this reason.
The purchase of a few waste paper
(galvanized) barrels with a tight cover
to keep out mice is a good investment.
Store the seed in a cool dry place, stir
it well before using from the barrel, the
light seed gradually works to the top.
Finally—label each barrel conspicuously
so that a workman will not make a disastrous mistake by taking or using the
wrong seed.
— f r o m a Bulletin of the Service
Section of the M. G. A.
MEETING AT FRANKLIN

At a meeting held at the Franklin
Country Club, Franklin, Mass., on October 29th, prizes were won as follows
in the regular 18 hole medal handicap
tournament:
G. West, 94-22-72.
M. McDonough, 88-16-72.
P. Hayden, 94-21-73.
S. Braio, 101-28-73.
E. Ohlson, 92-17-75.
P. Cassidy, 93-18-75.
H. Farrant, 99-24-75.
Guest prize won by C. Howe.

patch. These diseases, with few exceptions, have distinct symptons by which
they may be distinguished from injury
due to other causes.
Greenkeepers' Short Course
The successful correction of turf inR. I. S t a t e C o l l e g e
jury depends primarily upon the corIt is with sincere regrets that the col- rect diagnosis of the trouble, and
lege administration has to announce secondly, upon the application of the
that, due to the conditions brought proper remedy.
about by the new building program at
the college, it will be impossible to
Snow-Mold
schedule the Greenkeepers' Short Course
Snow-mold
is
prevalent in the
this year. The classrooms are in con- northern tier ofmoststates,
stant use even now. When the remodel- Michigan, Minnesota, and particularly
Wisconsin,
ing and buildings programs gets under and in Canada. It may occur
as far
way it will be necessary to do a con- south
Virginia under favorable considerable amount of shifting of classes ditionsasand
appear in the early
from room to room. It will be a difficult spring on bothmaygreens
and fairways.
situation at best to care for the regular
Snow-mold is caused by the fungus
classes.
m n i v a l i which lives in most
The college plans to offer this course F u s a r i uTo
thrive on turf, it must have
again as soon as conditions permit. soils.
a temperature near the freezing point
There should be ample facilities when and
supersaturated atmosphere such
the new buildings have been completed. as is afound
on greens when snow drifts
T. E. Odland
slowly melt in the spring. High organic
matter content of the soil, tender grass,
and snow on unfrozen ground encourage
The following are reprinted from its
development.
some of the advertising literature in
Snow-mold occurs in irregular circuour files. We believe they are of inlar patches, usually less than twelve
terest.
The development of better turf on inches in diameter, which may run toputting greens has brought into use pure gether to cover large areas. The spots
strains of the finer leaf types of grass are a dirty white or gray color, and may
in place of mixtures of the coarser leaf have a pinkish cast. Individual plants
grasses. To keep the turf in the acme have a characteristic bleached appearof playing condition, it has been neces- ance and when the leaves are wet have
sary to make frequent applications of a slimy feeling. The fungus attacks
fertilizer and water. This forcing of mainly the leaves and at times the patch
the grass also provided conditions con- is covered with a cotton-like growth or
ducive to the development of a number aerial mycelium. Sometimes this myceliof diseases which undoubtedly occurred um is so abundant that the leaves are
commonly on grasses for many years matted together and form a thick layer
prior to their intensive culture. These over the affected area, which usually
diseases were formerly overlooked or kills the grass making resodding necesdisregarded as it was generally assumed sary. The dried spots somewhait re'
that grasses naturally died out to a cer- semble brown patch.
tain extent during the summer months;
Snow Mold
also other grasses covered up the spots
Snow mold is a fungus disease that
left bare by disease.
makes
its appearance in the spring after
Now that only one or several varie- the snow
It attacks bent grass
ties of grass are used for the greens, greens in melts.
the same way that
diseases have become of the greatest brown patchmuch
doSs. The disease can be
importance, as often they may almost controlled with
Calogreen, Corrosive
ruin the playing surface of the green Sublimate, or . Calo-Clor,
which should';
overnight.
applied at the' rate of 3 ounces per
The true diseases of grass turf are be
square feet of green. It is best ^
caused chiefly by parasitic fungi which 1,000
treat in the fall after the first frost,
attack the leaves or blades, and stolons to
heavy snow sets in.
or stems of the grass and, through but before
Care of Velvet Bent Turf
killing the leaves or plants, usually produce brown-colored areas on the turf
V e l v e t B e n t demand less attention
that are popularly known j^s brown than most of the turf grasses. A moderANNOUNCEMENT

Townsend
HEAVY DUTY FAIRWAY UNITS
F . O. B. F a c t o r y
3 Gang w i t h F r a m e
5 Gang w i t h Frame
7 Gang w i t h F r a m e
30" Unit only

Blackhawk
GOLF TRACTORS

Prices
$300.00
$500.00
$700.00
$ 90.00

Simplicity, s t r e n g t h a n d long w e a r
a r e combined in t h e n e w light d r a f t ,
smooth c u t t i n g T o w n s e n d s .
Oil t i g h t G e a r H o u s i n g s .
U n b r e a k a b l e Gears.
8" Dia. Reel w i t h 1 w i d e Blades.
T h e T o w n s e n d is a W o r k e r , it h a s
e v e r y t h i n g a good f a i r w a y m p w e r
needs. It costs less to b u y and to use
as it h a s no frills or g a d g e t s in its
m a k e up.

F. O. B. B o s t o n
Blackhawk
Fairway

Prices

Master

w i t h D u m p Body

Chief

with

900-15

$755.00
$768.00

A i r w h e e l s a n d D u m p Body

-

Park C h i e f — 7 5 "

Wreel

Base

$800.00

900-15 Air W h e e l s
95% of t h e B l a c k h a w k T r a c t o r consists of t h e n e w F o r d V8 c h a s s i s a n d
engine. W e g u a r a n t e e t h e engine a n d
chassis t h r o u g h Y o u r L o c a l F o r d
Dealer.

T h e reduction u n i t is t h e s t r o n g e s t
used in a n y golf t r a c t o r a n d is
g u a r a n t e e d for t h r e e y e a r s .
T h e Speedy, P o w e r f u l ,
spring
m o u n t e d B l a c k h a w k will s a v e you
money. W r i t e for details.

Distributors:

Power Lawn Mower Service Co.
IS T e n n e y Court, Somerville, Mass.

Somerset 0504-W

MODERN SERVICE

The day of the itinerant scissors grinder as an all around repairman
has passed. Modern times have demonstrated the need for specialization
along all lines.
Conforming to the spirit of the times we have developed the best
equipped and most efficient LAWN MOWER REPAIR SERVICE in New
England, working exclusively on factory principles, where trained men
sharpen and recondition mowers, prolonging their life.
This service makes it unnecessary to discard a used mower, hand or
power, because of some defect that may be remedied.

What Our . Service Includes:

Every mower, including the engine unit in power mowers, is taken
apart and completely REBUILT (not merely repaired)".'
Every part is thoroughly cleaned and any worn parts replaced.
Cylinder and bottom knife are reground. When assembled, the mower is
greased and the blade is again ground in a specially constructed machine,
assuring a perfect cutting edge. ATI mowers are painted without additional charge.
We will examine your mower and furnish estimate without cost.
Truck service is maintained for -ollection and delivery within one
hundred mile radius of Boston.

IDEAL MOWER SALES and SERVICE
111 Cypress Street, Brooklsne, Mass.—Telephone Beacon 2 8 9 8

ate application of a complete lawn fertilizer is desirable in early spring and
again in early fall on established turf.
Likewise, lime should be added approximately once every three years to prevent development of excessive acidity.
Otherwise, the only care required is
periodic mowing and adequate watering.
Top Dressing

A light top dressing with compost 3
to 4 months after seeding will aid in
producing a smooth surface. Further
top dressings are unnecessary, unless
putting turf is desired. For putting
turf, regular mowing at a height of %
inch, combined with light top dressings
in the spring and fall, is all the additional attention required.

early morning or daytime watering being preferable. Where "Brown Patch"
occurs, merely apply Semesan or NuGreen or another reliable product, in
accordance with the directions for control of the disorder. Brown Patch is
rarely, if ever, serious on turf cut at
lawn length, provided the simple instructions pertaining to fertilization and
watering outlined above are followed.
The Right W a y to W a t e r Greens

"Slow, long sprinkling over rolling
parts is an absolute necessity if desired
results are to be obtained."
Water should be put upon greens
only as fast as it will go straight down
into the soil. Faster than that means
much of the water will flow down to the
low parts, carrying top soil and fertiAvoiding Disease
lizer with it, resulting in too wet low
parts
or too dry high parts as well as
In common with all other bents, Vel- a considerable
waste of water.
v e t B e n t may occasionally suffer from
attacks of brown patch disease in hot
humid weather, particularly if closely
cut. Outbreaks are most apt to occur
ADVERTISERS!—ATTENTION!
on grass which has been over-stimulated
All
advertising copy for the Decemby heavy watering and feeding. Watering in the evening should be avoided, ber issue must be in by December 10.

The Buel Perforator
For Better Greens
Aerates — Perforates —

Cultivates

Saves
Labor

Water — Fertilizer

Power Attachments

Furnished,

If D e s i r e d

J. F. BUEL
Woburn

—

Massachusetts

MA - CHES - OK

Leaf Mold

and

Leaf Mold Peat

For use on

Putting Greens, Lawns, Flower
Gardens and Potted Plants

N. J. Exp. Sta. found 91.73% organic matter and water holding capacity of 242.1%.
R. I. D e p t . o f A g r i . found 94.6%
organic matter.
M a s s . D e p t . o f A g r i . found 1.03%
Nitrogen.
D r . H o w a r d S p r a g u e says: "Material is carefully sieved and is free from
objectionable roots and dead branches
and no toxicity."
Per ton—$25
% ton—$8
May

be

M.

Prices:

Vz ton—$15
100 lb.—$1.75

p u r c h a s e d on B u d g e t
if desired.

F .

Concord, Mass.

Plan

S M I T H

P . O. B o x 1 7 4

Can You Read This?

"ThE rEiSn OhAl Fwa yToTh EiRgR oWi NgQuA lit leS"
To every Greenskeeper or Club Buyer of seeds who writes
us the correct interpretation, we will send one of
our new, automatic, complimentary
mechanical pencils.

THOMAS W. EMERSON CO.
BOSTON, MASS.

"New

England's

Largest

Wholesale

Seed

House"

— Worthington Mowers

Sickle Bar Mower for Worthington Tractors

GAIN W o r t h i n g t o n cuts Sown outting costs for you. No n e e d to
buy t h e whole t r a c t o r outfit to
get it." If your W o r t h i n g t o n is a n y
model f r o m the 1933 one on, it c a n
be equipped w i t h a power take-off
a n d sickle bar. T h e b a r folds up out

A

of w a y w h e n not in use. Is easily
removable. W i t h W o r t h i n g t o n t r a c t o r
g a n g m o w e r s a n d sickle bar, t h e one
outfit m e e t s all y o u r c u t t i n g needs.
Send for circular. Get the facts. See
for yourself.

pnpanu-

Sill

WORTHINGTON MOWER COMPANY

fir
STROUDSBURG,

PA.

1

Boston
STATE

Office
STREET

GREENS SWEEPERS
BEAUTIFY YOUR GREENS
a n d e c o n o m i z e in u p k e e p w i t h S p r i n g f i e l d L a w n S w e e p e r s .
Used and recommended by Golf Greens Specialists everywhere.

M a d e largely of weather resisting aluminum, making them very light
and easy to run.
I n d i s p e n s a b l e f o r q u i c k l y r e m o v i n g all u n d e s i r a b l e
m a t t e r f r o m t h e g r e e n s , s u c h as l e a v e s , s t i c k s , s t o n e s , w o r m - c a s t s , a n t hills, e t c . A l s o i n v a l u a b l e f o r c o n t r o l of b r o w n p a t c h , a n d in w o r k i n g
in a n d r e m o v i n g e x c e s s f e r t i l i z e r . A l s o v e r y e f f i c i e n t in c l e a n i n g u p
a r o u n d t h e C l u b H o u s e and; G r o u n d s . S p r i n g f i e l d S w e e p e r s c o m e in H a n d
Operated and Tractor and Horse-Drawn Models for the Fairways.
H a n d operated sizes are 28" brush, 36" brush and 42" brush.
Tractor and Horse D r a w n sizes are 36" brush and 44" brush.
Distributed by

NEW ENGLAND TORO CO.

1121 W A S H I N G T O N S T R E E T

—

—

WEST NEWTON,

MASS.