The world is blessed most by men who do things,
and not by those who merely talk about them,.
—James Oliver.

MARCH
I UBS

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., Fall River, Mass.

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

March, 1935
MARCH

Vol 7, No. 3
MEETING

The March meeting was held at the
Hotel Statler, Boston, on March 4th.
The speaker for this meeting was Prof.
J. W. White of Penn. State. Prof.
White gave an interesting talk on various "Turf Problems" which confront the
greenkeeper. He mentioned the fact
that the 7th Greenkeepers' Conference
at Penn State had been just completed.
He has noticed a remarkable change in
greenkeepers in this last seven years,
with the fear of competition and
timidity of a few years ago now broken
down.
It would be ideal to get green chairmen together and tell them of the problems which the greenkeeper has to solve,
some of them almost impossible, and to
tell them what conditions are necessary
to grow grass best, that grown as it is
for greens, it is artificially stimulated
so that it is merely a protein body.
The soil is the most complex thing
on earth. A gram of fertile soil will
contain a hundred million microorganisms. These are divided into
groups; one breaks down the organic
matter, giving off carbon dioxide; another deals with the transformation of
Nitrogen, converting it from the protein form to nitrate form; another
group is the Nitrogen fixation group,
of especial importance to farmers.
Any treatment which will stimulate
the micro-organisms, to make them
multiply and more active, will stimulate
the crop above. The plant is dependent
upon the micro-organisms, and they in
turn are dependent upon the plant.
When the micro-organisms cease to
function, all life ceases. The plant
above ground is dependent on the carbon dioxide given off by the microorganisms below.

Micro-organisms are very small,
about a hundred million equal a small
grain of sugar in size. They may be
classed as either bacteria or fungi. A
neutral soil has about 80 million bacteria and 20 million fungi; when soil
gets acid bacteria go out and fungi
come in. Nitrification ceases to some
extent with acidity. This shows that
the theory by which the soil is made
acid in order to control weeds is the
wrong way to approach the problem.
The most vigorous grass is on soil with
a pH of between 6 and 7. Weed control
should be by vigorous growth of grass
to crowd out the weeds; there has been
found to date no plan to grow grass
and not grow weeds.
The limiting factor under the sod is
nitrogen, because the bacteria are
utilizing roots as their source of energy,
for every so many parts of carbon they
need some nitrogen. Anything that
further decreases the nitrogen supply
will affect the grass.
Prof. White also described some experiments he has been conducting t :>
determine the effect of mercury on
these soil micro-organisms and also die
effects of arsenate of lead. Lead is not
injurious to nitrification as far as experiments show. Lead, mercury and
silver are the three metals most injurious to life, will probably destroy
plant cells; hence, the lead causes
trouble more than the arsenate probably. The effect of bichloride of mercury on soil nitrification was marked,
especially where the soil was acid.
A mixture of cottonseed meal or
milorganite and sulphate of ammonia is
being used on some Philadelphia
courses. Grass too much stimulated "is
nearly all protein, should have time to
assimulate other elements. Each grass
has its own ability to assimulate various amounts of the various elements, j
Subsoil drainage will overcome some
difficulties in greens; too much water
will retard nitrification.
The most important problem is to
keep physical conditions right. Know
the exact area of all greens; then apply
as directed, do not overdo; keep careful records of everything done on greens
and the results.
Get the general recommendations
from research men. The men of science
need the men of art, (the greenkeepers)
and the greenkeepers need the scientists.
A discussion period followed Prof.
White's talk.

SPRING FERTILIZATION OF

TURF

by Frank H. Wilson, Charles River C. C.
Perennial grasses make a new set of
roots each year, or in other words, the
roots are annual. This growth of new
roots starts soon after the frost is out
of the ground and the soil drained of
standing water, and is accompanied by
the greening of the grass. If at this
time a piece of turf is dug up, it will
be found that new white roots are being made in the top inch of soil. Prom
old grass plants come new plants formed
by buds on the root stalks. These also
will be found to be making new roots.
The time of this process of making
new roots varies from year to year with
the earliness or lateness of the spring.
The period of greatest root growth in
our locality is probably from April to
July. The depth of root systems depends somewhat on the kind of grass
but more on the kind of soil; looseness,
richness and dryness in a soil induces
large root systems; while poor, compact, moist soils tend to restrict root
development.
The time of applying fertilizer in the
spring depends upon the growth of roots
of the turf. It should be timed accurately to avoid waste of soluble plant
food.
The most common cause of poor turf,
especially in fairways is lack of plant
food. Generally the element least
abundant is nitrogen. A plentiful supply of nitrogen promotes the growth of
leaf and stem. Grass being a foliage
plant, requires an abundance of nitrogen. Phosphorus is a necessary element
for plant growth, is found in large
amounts in seeds and seedlings and it
has been noted that as the plant matures, phosphorus migrates from the
mature stems to growing tips and to
seeds, thus affecting the maturing of
the grass. Potash is found in larger
amounts in stems and leaves than in
any other parts of the plant. A lack of it
produces a weak brittle growth, an excess amount prolongs the period of
growth and delays the maturing of the
grass. It is essential to cell growth,
seems to enable plants to withstand
more effectually attacks of fungus diseases. An excess amount favors the
growth of clover. In like manner the
action in plants of Calcium, Magnesium,
Sulphur, Iron, Chlorine, Sodium, Silicon, Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen

might be described. Times were when
these thirteen elements were all that
were considered essential for plant
growth. Research in medicine, foods
and more efficient methods of chemical
analyses has led scientists to list twenty
or more plant food elements. Leading
fertilizer concerns stress extra plant
food by which they mean the addition
to fertilizers of these "rare" elements
which plants use in small quantities and
which seem vital to their health. Some
of these rare elements found in the ash
of plants are Boron, Barium, Iodine,
Copper, Bromine, Fluorine, Selenium,
Tellurium, Antimony, Tin, Titanium,
Lithuim, Rubidium, Strontium, Zinc,
Silver, Mercury, Lead, Aluminum,
Shalhum, Chromium, Manganese, Cobalt and Nickel. Grasses may not use
but few of these, it however, has opened
up an interesting field of research.
In the spring the ground is cold.
Bacteria necessary for decay are most
active between the temperature of 45°
and 99° Fahrenheit. In fact the bacteria are ten times as active at 99°
as at 45°. Also bacterial growth is retarded by an acid condition of the soil
This brings up the problem—Shall an
organic or an inorganic fertilizer be
used at this time of year? Taking into
consideration the above facts it can
readily be seen that an organic fertilizer which has to decay before its plant
food is available, is more apt to feed
weeds in July than grass in April and
May On the other hand inorganic
fertilizers which are readily available
are immediately taken up by the roots
and if in sufficient quantity, produce
by the end of June a thick turf in
which weeds find a hard time to get a
foothold. The clover problem may also
be_ partially solved. A cold wet spring
brings with it ideal conditions for the
growth of clover. A soluble fertilizer
ted to the grass at that time enables
the grass to compete with the clover
and drive it out.
Soils abundantly supplied with organic matter hold water and plant food
soluble in water in a form easily available to plants. Soils poorly supplied
with organic matter retain soil moisture
but a short time and plant foods in
solution are soon lost. Feeding turf on
the former type with an inorganic
fertilizer in the spring is ideal. On the
latter type of soil a heavy fertilization
in the fall with an organic is better
practice.

A fertilizer containing part of its
nitrogen in organic and part in inorganic form works very well, as the
organic breaks down as the soil warms
thus feeding the turf for a longer time
than when an inorganic is used alone.
Such a fertilizer for spring use should
be carefully planned using a proportion
of about one third the nitrogen from an
organic source and two thirds from inorganic. Two or more organics of different availability should be used, which
will follow after the soluble inorganic
nitrogen without any lapses. The
soluble nitrogen in the inorganic also
hastens the bacterial action in the organic making it more quickly available
than when used alone.
The fertilizer formula for growing
grass is important. An abundance of
nitrogen, a good amount of phosphorus
to maintain the roots, rootstalk and
stems in a healthy condition, and a
small amount of potash is necessary for
healthy growth. From the demonstration turf gardens we obtain the information that generally a 6-12-4 inorganic
fertilizer gave the best results. This
formula may be modified to satisfy soil
conditions to a 7-5-2, 8-10-4, 8-6-2, etc.,
or whatever fits your needs. Personally
I use a 8-6-2 partly organic and partly
inorganic using extra phosphorus in the
fall in the form of acid phosphate. We
have South German Mixed Bent and
use velvet for turf work on the greens.
From data obtained from the demonstration garden, plots rich in phosphorus seem to contain the most velvet
bent. It is necessary for each greenkeeper to work out his own needs. The
amount of fertilizer to apply is also a
personal knowledge of the needs of the
soil and the particular grass or grasses
being grown. In the United States Golf
Association Green Section Bulletin for
May_ 1931, in an article "The Use of
Fertilizers on Putting Greens" appears
the following facts: In 1931 from June
1 to November 1 grass clipping, from
some of the better-treated putting green
plots at the Arlington turf garden, were
weighed and analyzed. The results obtained from these observations at
Arlington would indicate that the
amount of field dry material removed
from 18 greens totaling 90,000 square
feet would be about 4 tons containing
approximately the following equivalent
amounts of plant foods, nitrogen as obtained in 2,000 pounds of sulphate of
ammonia; phosphoric acid as obtained
in 200 pounds of 20 percent acid phosphate; and potash as obtained in 400

pounds of 50 per cent muriate of
potash. These figures should not be
used as a basis for building up a complete fertilizer for putting greens, as
various conditions, such as soil, climate,
and season would influence the result.
They do, however, indicate the goodly
amount of plant food that is removed
in clipping from greens during a single
season. With a knowledge, of soil condition, the amount of plant food in the
compost used, the kind of grass to be
fertilized these figures should be helpful in planning a fertilizer program.
Each golf course is a problem of its
own, and often each green. What is
one man's food may be another man's
poison. Recommendations at the best
can only be general and the few remarks which I have made above may,
I hope, help some one.
R e p o r t on S e v e n t h A n n u a l S h o r t C o u r s e
in T u r f M a n a g e m e n t C o n d u c t e d
at
Rutgers University, New Brunswick,
N. J .

For the seventh consecutive year, a
one-week intensive course in the principles of turf management for golf
courses and lawns, was conducted by
the College of Agriculture, Rutgers
University, February 18 to 22 inclusive,
1935. There was an attendance of 22,
of which 14 were from Xew Jersey, and
8 from other states. Various groups
were represented, including greenkeepers who were present in greatest number, golf professionals, seedsmen, and
landscape architects. Instruction was
provided by the regular staff members
of the College of Agriculture and State
Agricultural Experiment Station, under
the leadership of Howard B. Sprague,
Agronomist. At a dinner held the
evening of February 22, which brought
the course to a close, certificates of attendance were presented by Prof. F. G.
Helyar, Director of Short Courses, and
Acting Dean of the College of Agriculture. Speakers for the group in attendance expressed their appreciation for
the information obtained, and its practical value.
The Fourth Annual Greenkeepers
Short Course was held at Iowa State
College on March 4th and 5th. Among
the speakers were O. J. Noer, Kenneth
Welton, Leo Feser, and others prominent in the greenkeeping world.

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RECREATION

CONFERENCE

The second annual Recreation Conference was held at the Mass. State College on March 15-16-17, with programs
in several sections, including Golf,
Forestry, Hunting and Fishing, Community Recreation, Winter Sports,
Archery, Camping, and Hiking, with
also considerable attention being paid
to Hobbies.
The program in the Golf Section included addresses by the following:—
"Fingerprinting Grasses for Identification" by Miss Elfriede Klaucke, "Golf
Clubs and Winter Sports" by Charles
L. Parker, "Necessary Soil Organisms
and their Functions" by Prof. Jay L.
Haddock, "Public Fee Courses Benefit
Golf" by Homer C. Darling, "Pink Spot
and other Turf Diseases" by L. E.
Erwin, "Golf Course Maintainence as
Affected by Major Tournaments" by
Howard D. Farrant, "Municipal Golf
Courses and their Relation to Community Recreation" by Alfred T. Comstock, "Turf Maintainence" by E. E.
Evaul, "The Prevention and Cure of
Brain Patch in Greenkeepers" by Herb
GrafHs, "The Club, Greenkeeping, and
the Research Worker" by Guy C. West,
"The Unavailable Water in Peats" by
Richard Mansfield, "Speed in Golf
Course Maintainence" by Roland Sturtevant, "Winter Injury to Turf" by Prof.
L. S. Dickinson, "The Full Use of Golfing Areas and Golf Clubs" by Charles
E. Mason, "Golf" by Jack Mackie, "Prevention and Cure of Brain Patch in
Greens Committees by Herb Graffis.
Space in the NEWSLETTER does
not permit us to reproduce in full all
of the above addresses. Resumes of
several will be included as space permits.
The Exhibition of golf course machinery and supplies including seed, as
well as other recreation exhibits was
even better than last year's exhibit, and
attracted large crowds on each day of
the Conference. The crowds, even more
the intense interest, and the spirit of
those present, were ample proof that
there is a need for such a Conference
yearly, and we take this opportunity of
adding our plea to the Mass. State College to indeed make this Conference a
yearly affair, and to voice the hone that
the Massachusetts Legislature will soon
wake to the need of funds for turf
research, and appropriate the funds
needed.

Included among the exhibits were
fine exhibits by the Connecticut and
Northeastern New York Greenkeepers
Associations, and large delegations of
members of these associations were
present. The usual large numbers of
our members were also present, and our
exhibit efforts were largely confined to
a Greenkeepers' Headquarters.
GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE
AFFECTED BY MAJOR
TOURNAMENTS
by H o w a r d D. Farrant

AS

(Read at Recreation Conference)
There are many varied opinions as
to the type of course best suited for
a Golf Championship and I therefore
shall not try to argue this point, but
shall confine my remarks to steps which
we took at my course, The Country
Club, Brookline, to prepare for the 1934
National Amateur Golf Championship.
When we first received notification
from the U. S. G. A. awarding us the
Amateur Championship for 1934, my
Greens Chairman immediately called me
into conference and explained at length
his ideas of the steps we would have
to take to put our course in as good a
condition as possible. I think you gentlemen will be interested in a point that
he stressed. To quote him as nearly as
I can remember, he stated that the putting of our course in good playing condition should not be confined to the
condition of the putting surfaces, because the condition of the rest of the
course was equally important. To explain what I mean, we considered it
necessary to measure the depth of sand
throughout every trap so as to make
sure there were no hidden stones or
rocks that would interfere with an explosion shot; that the banks of the
traps should be carefully scrutinized so
as to eliminate any holes where balls
could come to rest in a practically unplayable lie. We then looked at the
greens from various angles to make
sure that there were no branches overhanging any green which would unfairly interfere with an approach shot
played from a drive which was slightly
off the line. Branches in close proximity to traps were also eliminated so
as not to interfere with the back swing.
I mention these few examples to show

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how carefully we went into detail and
to prove that the job of a Greenkeeper
in preparing for a championship is not
one alone of getting his greens in condition. Certain changes were made on
the course during the past few years but
please do not misunderstand me—these
changes were not made for a large
tournament, but were made to meet up
with the times. The long flight of the
new golf balls was one reason. Another—the demand for accuracy on the
course. All meant that the standard of
golf to-day is materially higher than
ten years ago; also, that to keep within
an average labor cost, we must eliminate and make additions where necessary to keep up with the trend of time.
I think, possibly, a good way to make
clear what I mean would be to subdivide the work to be done into differend headings as Tees, Fairway and
Rough, Traps, Greens and Miscellaneous.
Tees

When a club is having a large tournament, naturally they want the course
to play long. Length seems to be a big
factor and some clubs have gone to
great expense by building new back
tees, and they are used, at the most,
a very few times, because the average
player cannot get enjoyment out of the
back-breaking drives he must get,
and seldom does. There is, of course,
this angle—that the clubs with these
back tees are fortunate to have all this
spare land, but with the way things
have been, the up-keep must cost something and it is the cost that clubs now
think of first. So at The Country Club,
the tees are where they have been for
years, except that one or two were
moved right or left for a better line
of play. We could not lengthen the
course on account of our boundary
lines, but even had we the room to do
this we would not, as we could see
other ways and means of tightening the
course to make one play real golf and
still have our up-keep at the same cost.
Our tees during the season of 1934 had
the same treatment as other years.
That is, they were fertilized and topdressed twice and cut two or three
times each week. During the National
Amateur, each tee was roped off fanshaped, allowing the player plenty of
room and protecting the spectators
from a pulled or pushed tee shot. Tees
were ropped off a few days before the
start of the tournament and remained
so until the last day. In roping off the

tees we used 800 iron stakes and
12,000 ft. of rope, which is purchased
by the club holding the tournament
from the club who had the last tournament. During the week, section men in
their sections were responsible to have
these ropes in a tight and neat condition. Tee markers were changed whenever the wear and tear demanded a
move, and would say the average on
each tee was from half way on the tee
to the back.
Fairways and

Rough

Fairways and the rough in our mind
you can do a lot with to make your
course play hard. Not many years back
most fairways were cut with a nice long
line generally quite straight, as wide
near the green as it was near the tee,
and often with a nice spread of fairway all around the green. We would
say on a public course this naturally
would be fine, but for a real test of
skill, which a good golfer has, under
these conditions he could play most
anywhere, so for the past few years we
have given this considerable thought,
and by allowing width where it is needed and making all our approaches very
narrow we have demanded more accuracy from the player. In some places
we have cut new lines altogether on a
fairway so as to make some traps which
we did not care to move come into play.
In one case, a perfectly straight hole
was cut so as to make a slight dog leg
to use traps built years ago, and the
rough along this particular hole is such
that you will want to follow the fairway. It is not only to make the course
harder to play, but the appearance of
a winding fairway leading up to a
bottle neck green in our mind makes
one feel a little more golf-minded. Our
rough we have cleaned the past few
years so that we cut most of it by
tractor, but it has meant a lot of work
in moving stumps, rocks, ledges covered, open drainage ditches tiled, bad
holes filled and trees limbed where
needed, so with any large tournament
coming along,- a four or five weeks
growth of the rough calls for more skill
from the expert player than the average shallow trap. Of course with a
gallery around, after a few days it is
pretty well trampled. In the fall of
1933 we concentrated on the weak spots
in fairways, and with the fairway watering system installed that fall, 1934
showed a big improvement in the turf.
Fairways had their fertilization and

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were cut two or three times each week.
The only unusual thing about fairways
the past season was the running of a
white line in the rough on three holes.
Two of these lines were for the
marshals to keep the gallery behind, the
other was an out of bounds line where
before we only had stakes. During the
tournament our fairway cutting was
done early and late—that is, starting
early in the morning, both tractors
cutting with seven units would start,
one on number one, the other on number two hole and keep going forward
until play had caught up. They would
then jump to the 17th and 18th fairway and work back until stopped by
play. Fairways left uncut were finished
later that day, and at no time was there
any night cutting of fairways, tees or
greens.
Traps

It used to be said if you had a lot of
traps you must have a hard golf course,
but we all feel quite differently about
it now, so we have been filling traps all
over the championship course. In 1929
we had 185 and we now have 111, and
we are still considering eliminating a
few more. Some of these filled traps
were old cross bunkers and many of
them were never used. The old traps
were pretty much the same shape,
usually with a nice even edge. To-day
our traps are of all shapes and sizes,
and most of them are with the steep
face towards the green, and with a
grass tongue cut in somewhere along
the faces to eliminate the player walking up the face of the trap and leaving
foot marks. We did not eliminate these
traps for the National Amateur, but
for the benefit of our Members and to
save on our up-keep. We were particular about the depth of sand in each
trap, and this was hauled in the previous winter.
Greens

give more thought to their shots, and
surely it does give the better golfer
a chance to come through. The past
season our greens were treated as in
other years, no more, or no less food,
nor did they have any special attention. We would like to see them better
and hope we will show improvement.
During the National Amateur, greens
were cut every morning, and during this
tournament they were cut at the same
height we had been cutting all season,
as we feel often when the height of cut
is changed up or down it invariably
leads to trouble of some kind. To help
out with the gallery we laid out large
white lines around each green. These
lines were six inches wide, and during
the one week of play we used one and
one half tons of whiting. It was a problem to keep these lines showing clearly
as we had considerable wet weather, so
it meant going over them a number of
times. We hauled the whiting, white
wash buckets, brushes and water around
the course by truck. These lines were
well out from the greens, keeping outside of the surrounding traps, and the
circle was large enough so a large
gathering had room to witness the play
on or around the green.
The placing of cups at a championship
is generally the duty of the chairman
of the Championship committee of the
U. S. G. A., but due to the fact that
our Greens chairman was associated
with the U. S. G. A., this duty was left
to him, so we therefore studied carefully the contours of each green so as
to be sure that the cup was placed in
as fair a position as possible, constantly
bearing m mind that we did not want
any contestant to feel that the cup had
been placed in an unfair or tricky position. You will probably all be interested to learn that even with a playing
field of over 180 contestants and persistent rains, the location of these cups
were unchanged the entire tournament,
with the exception of one change on
five greens and one of these changes
was made necessary on account of a
player having to use his niblick on an
imbedded ball. Our caddies being well
trained were extremely careful in removing and replacing the pin, thereby
avoiding injury to the rim of the cups.

The Greens at The Country Club up
to a few years ago were quite large, but
we have controlled that by reducing
the number of square feet on the putting surface by pulling the traps in
closer, rounding square corners, curving
straight lines, so that the appearance to
the eye, when you play a shot to the
green, makes you think where you
Miscellaneous
would like to be, not just shoot away
There are numerous things in any
and figure you will be near enough. We large
which come up and
felt by changing these lines and pulling must betournament
to. As in one case
the traps in, that we made our players we had aattended
young lady who dropped a

We heartily congratulate The
Greenkeepers' Club of New England and Massachusetts State
College upon the splendid success of the Recreation Conference
just concluded at Amherst.
Everyone directly or indirectly
interested in golf should certainly cooperate to the fullest extent toward the perpetuation of
this as an annual occasion.
Our sincere objective is to give the utmost in service in
the equipment we offer and we deeply appreciate the genuine
interest shown in our exhibit.

CARPENTER TOOL COMPANY
4 9 B r o a d w a y — P r o v i d e n c e , R. I.

T h e g r a n d condition of the 1 9 3 4
c h a m p i o n s h i p turf at Brookline
w a s a tribute to

the tobacco stem f e r t i l i z e r imp r e g n a t e d with 6-6-4 f o r m u l a allsoluble plant foods.
Investigate
its e c o n o m y .

General Chemical
Company

543 Commercial

58 Weybosset St.

St.

Boston

Providence

ring through a man-hole cover into a
catch basin. While the large crowd
around the home green looked on, four
work men had to bucket out the contents of the catch basin and after a
time we were fortunate in finding the
ring. The score board must be in some
desirable place, where all can see, so
this, naturally, must be roped off.
Around the course were eight telephone
booths which had to be trucked out and
in, and numerous other little details
while not large, did take a little time.
One thing which is always an eye sore
is the litter of papers and bottles left
around, so we had a caddie with a bag
over his shoulder and spiked stick on
the go all the time, and we feel we kept
the course pretty well picked up. Of
course the work men were also instructed to help out on this clean-up.
Speaking of the men on the course, we
feel we have a mighty fine crew at our
club, and these men are interested in
seeing things done for the best, not
only in a large tournament, but right
through any golf season, and we have
been very fortunate in being able to
keep these men over a period of years.
I would like to say a few words about
how I feel and what I think is necessary where you are apt to have a few

large tournaments. I think a chairman
of a Golf Committee should be a man
who is actually interested in the golfing
end of the club as well as the financial
end. He should not be satisfied to sit
back and say "Carry on", but be on his
toes all the time and see some of the
work actually done. Then he would
realize what a man can be expected
to do. My chairman, Mr. Pierce, is of
this type, on his toes all the time—
and on mine, too—but for all I might
have felt hurt at times, I think it is
as it should be. It surely is good protection.
Then your crew on the course. In my
mind, you have got to understand
human nature a little and you surely
have to have a heart. Things do not
always go right and often flying off the
handle makes more trouble than a few
seconds of thought. My crew has worked well and I appreciate it.
Now comes the point of being satisfied with the conditions on a course. I
never have been, and never will be satisfied, because I feel I am interested in
the work and the people I work for.
You have heard people say after a
tournament "Well, your worries are
over now". To me that sounds like

FRED W. GOLDTHWAIT
Golf Course Irrigation
M . I. T . 1 9 0 5 M e c h ' I E n g n g .

2 0 Y e a r s E x p e r i e n c e in P u m p i n g P r o b l e m s in N e w E n g l a n d .
1 5 , 0 0 0 I n s t a l l a t i o n s of A l l T y p e s .

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

S p e c i a l i z i n g In
Doctoring of "sick" irrigation systems by increase of capacity
or pressure.
Investigation of underground water and study of saving in
water cost through ground water.
Application of water with reference to particular soil and
turf requirements.
Comparative costs—electric vs. gasoline pumping.
Lower cost fairway irrigation.

RESIDENCE:
35 Park Ave., Wakefield, Mass.
Crystel 1761-W

OFFICE:
1 7 5 H i g h St., B o s t o n , M a s s .
Hubbard 5580

tic £8S®iS f S I t f i

fiolfill.g§

B

W h e n factory g e a r s turn steadily, doing their
p a r t to p r o d u c e good/3, c o u r s e s a r e b e s t
patronized. Natural enough! Turning gears
m e a n s o r d e r s a r e c o m i n g in . . . profits a r e
in the m a k i n g . W i t h business o p e r a t i n g at
a profit e v e r y o n e , f r o m the big chief down
to t h e office b o y h a s m o r e i n t e r e s t i n g o l f .
T h a t ' s t h e c a s e t o d a y . Y o u c a n f e e l it in t h e
a i r . . . t e l l it b y t h e w h i r l w i n d r e s o r t b u s i n e s s d o n e t h i s w i n t e r . T h i s is c e r t a i n l y t h e
t i m e to g e t y o u r c o u r s e i n t h e " p i n k " of
condition for you know . . . it's good golfing
that wins a n d holds p l a y e r s .
S W I F T ' S S p e c i a l Golf F e r t i l i z e r , u s e d b y o u t s t a n d i n g c o u r s e s a l l o v e r
t h e c o u n t r y , d e v e l o p s i d e a l t u r f s f o r p l a y . In t h e s p r i n g it a s s u r e s
quick growth o f strong, hardy plants that can withstand trampling
a n d e x t r e m e w e a t h e r c o n d i t i o n s . St e n c o u r a g e s d e e p r o o t i n g , p e r m i t t i n g t h e p l a n t s to r e a c h o u t f a r t h e r f o r n o u r i s h m e n t a n d m o i s t u r e .
Greenkeepers have found that turf properly fed with
SWIFT'S
S p e c i a l Goif F e r t i l i z e r s h a s t h e s t a m i n a a n d h a r d i n e s s to o f f e r g r e a t e r
r e s i s t a n c e to d i s e a s e a n d i n s e c t p e s t s . If y o u a r e n o t u s i n g it, i n v e s t i g a t e
t h e a d v a n t a g e s of t h e e c o n o m y f e e d i n g p r o g r a m w e h a v e d e v e l o p e d .
W r i t e f o r p r i c e s a n d l i t e r a t u r e on . . .

Swift's
S p e c i a l Golf
F e r t i l i z e r 12-6-4
SWIFT AND COMPANY
FERTILIZER W O R K S
25 Faneuil Hal!

Boston, Mass.

^

^
SWIFT'S

SPECIAL GOLF
FERTILIZER

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
NITROGEN
12.00%
PHOS. ACID AVAILABLE
6.00%
POTASH (K,0) WATER SOt 4.00%

SWIFT&C0MPANY

'hokum', or else they do not understand the ways of a golf course. There
is always plenty to worry about, and
to my way of looking at it, there is
no end.
WINTER INJURY TO TURF

(presented by Prof. L. S. Dickinson at
Recreation Conference)
It is very doubtful if any of the basic
grasses of New England are affected
by the severe cold weather alone. Bermuda grass wintered at the college over
the steam lines; altho the tops were
killed, the roots sent up new shoots in
the Spring.
There is no need to protect turf from
the cold; the protection may give more
trouble than the cold.
Effects of severe Winter of '33-'34
seemed to kill Much grass; no evidence
that cold alone did the injury, altho
it may have helped.
Much turf treated as "Winterkilled" when not killed. Grass with
yellow or yellow brown color may be
only set back. If grass is dark brown,
it is probably gone; sod or seed or take
a chance. Root systems in Spring are
not known enough; if area shows light
colored roots and if crown shows signs
of bud growth, indication is that grass
will come back, and in time of coming
back there is turf upon which to play.
The root system needs new roots, grass
plant is trying to push up new leaves
to manufacture food to help itself,
hence it is suicidal to cut grass too
short at this time. Do not chop off as
soon as a few shoots show.
Primary causes of winter damage and
rough percentages are—Poor drainage
and attendant soil conditions, 6 5 % ;
slopes and location, 5 % ; over-watering
in Summer and Fall, 20%; wind, 5 % ;
misc. including strain of grass, 5%;
habits not suitable, 5 %. Snow mold
and ice damage are included in above.
The pH factor is a side issue to soil and
drainage.
Poor drainage, either of surface or
sub-soil is largest cause. On sluggish
surface, water goes down and waterlogs the soil. Such a condition is liable
to follow a surface thaw, followed by
high winds and no snow, when pH and
cultural treatments have been right for
roots in top two inches; top two inches
dry up, and sun causes warming of soil

and starts growth. Then severe cold
comes on, and cell saps freeze, with a
structural breaking down of the cells.
Winter injury on bents is largely on
shallow rooted areas. Practically all
injury was on low slopes or flat surfaces. Injury was found where there
has been a building up of organic
matter.
Ice will give the greenkeeper little
trouble, may help snow mold. Black
ice may be possible cause of injury.
Best to leave ice on unless it can be
removed very easily.
Slopes location may be a damage
cause. Strong winds over soil will dry
turf to give damage. Overwatering in
Fall especially on poorly drained areas
is cause of damage; this may be the
case in fairway watering.
Snow mold if often called Winter
injury; for this disease, dry out and
brush out to give turf a chance to
grow.
MEMBERS—ATTENTION!

We regret to announce that the
Frolic planned as the April meeting
must be postponed until Fall thru unavoidable reasons. This is not due to
any fault of the Entertainment Committee, who worked hard on plans for
this event, but rather, to several mixups which prevented us from holding
it at this time.
RECREATION CONFERENCE
NOTES

Fingerprinting grasses by a method
which depends on identification of internal structure of grass blades, studied
in cross section, was an interesting subject presented by Miss Elfriede
Klaycke.
Get members turf problem conscious
—Evaul.
Officers elected by Winter School for
Greenkeepers Alumni were Paul Wanberg, Pres., Clinton Bradley and Joseph
Whitehead, Vice Pres., Wm. F. Nye,
Sec. and Treas.
Values of Forestry, as given by Pres.
Hugh _ Baker—water
conservation,
recreation, labor stabilizing value,
beauty, and wood value.

IT WILL BE DANGEROUS

this year to go "shopping around" for prices on
golf turf seeds. Why? Because there will not be
enough good seed to go around.
Sooner or later you are going to know and depend
upon us for true value.

THOMAS W. EMERSON CO.
213-215 State St., Boston, Mass.
BOSTON, MASS.

"New

England's

Largest

Wholesale

Seed

House"

H O W IT C U T S D O W N O I L I N G T I M E
need a t t e n t i o n only t w o or three t i m e s
I s n ' t it so, t h a t w h e n you cut down
n season. T h e g e a r s r u n in oil, also
oiling t i m e on y o u r c u t t i n g units, you
needing a t t e n t i o n only 2 or 3 t i m e s
c u t down cutting' t i m e ? All right
each season. T h i n k w h a t a t i m e s a v e r
then, h e r e is h o w w e do just t h a t
all t h a t is.
for you
E v e r y time W o r t h i n g t o n outfits save
T a k e t h e B-gang' m o w e r s for inyou time, t h e y save, you money. You
stance. On o t h e r m o w e r units, t h e r e
c u t down c u t t i n g costs. Send for
a r e 40 l u b r i c a t i n g points requiring
catalog. Get all t h e facts. See for
daily a t t e n t i o n . On the W o r t h i n g t o n
yourself.
t h e r e a r e O N L Y 10. Only 10 t h a t
M a i n Office:
Stroudsburg, Pa.

Workington

Mower
\6mpany

B o s t o n Office:
1 State Street

8-6-2 GREENS FORMULA
Already several announcements have been made for our
new Organic Base Putting Green Fertilizer. Indications based
on orders already received and additional inquiries for prices
lead us to believe this will be one of the most popular blends
of the season.
NETCO 8-6-2 Greens Formulae is 35% organic, and this
comes from the Milorganite and Dried Blood content. This
slower action organic form of nitrogen is supplemented with
the quicker inorganics such as Sulphate of Ammonia and
Ammo-Phos. Together they make a most perfect combination.
NETCO 8-6-2 can be used with excellent results on Fairways, but we believe that Fairways will be sustained for a
longer period if you use straight Milorganite at rates varying
from 750 to 2000 lbs. per acre, (depending on condition of
the turf and last previous feeding).
Quantity

100 lb. bag
1 Ton
20 Tons (per ton)

Prices (Zones C-D)
Ca'sh w i t h o r d e r

$ 3.00
49.50
46.20

Charge account

$ 3.00
55.00
52.25

Full freight allowed to destination. These prices conform
to the new Fertilizer Code Schedule.

Estimate your requirements, send in your order at either
the cash with order or charge account schedule. You can
make quite a saving by cash with order. It actually amounts
to ELEVEN PERCENT. Many clubs are trying it for their
first time. We should like to have you try it this season.

NEW ENGLAND TORO CO.
1121 W A S H I N G T O N S T R E E T

—

—

WEST NEWTON,

MASS.