Play

is

competitive
are

trivial

for

more

pleasurable
exercise

and

important
you

only

at

you

have

which

where

transient.

life that

mental

tasks.
do

the

It

played

physical

issues

involved

is a

And

those

and

fit
it

is

important
in

preparation
the

law

tasks

of
well

childhood.
—Stanley

Hall.

APRIL
1936

iffsriftrSftfiatiinsvii

This N E W S L E T T E R is published
monthly by the Greenkeepers Club of
New England, and sent f r e e to its members and their Green's Chairmen. Subscription price ten cents a copy, or a
dollar a year.
GUY C. WEST

Editor

312 M t . Pleasant St., Pall River, Mass.

J A M E S McCORMACK . . Business Mgr.
450 "William St., Stoneham,

April, 1936
SERVICE

Mass.

Vol. 8, No. 4
SECTION

DINNER

The f o u r t h annual joint dinner of
the Service Section of the Mass. Golf
Assoc. and the Greenkeepers Club of
New England was held on April 16th
at the Woodland Golf Club, Auburndale, Mass. Speakers included Pres.
Charles E. Mason of the M. G. A.,
George C. Carens of the Boston Transcript, E. R. Sawtelle of the Worthington Mower Co., James H. Kimball of
South Shore C. C., and F r a n k H. Wilson and Philip I. Cassidy of the Greenkeepers Club.
The f e a t u r e of the evening's program
was the presentation by President
Howard F a r r a n t of the Greenkeepers
Club of the John Shanahan Memorial
Award of Merit f o r 1935 to the Mass.
Golf Assoc., f o r the outstanding contribution to greenkeeping, thru its Service Section activities. In making this
award, Pres. F a r r a n t spoke as follows:
The Greenkeepers Club of New England was formed in 1924 with the following purpose, as taken f r o m our
constitution:
"Whereas we find that in all lines of
endeavor concentrated thought and action amongst men gathered together in
the interest of any one vocation are of
great benefit; t h e r e f o r e the object of
this club shall be the advancement by
co-operation of the interests and welf a r e of its members and the establishment of uplifting standards of dignity
and skill among greenkeepers by cooperative education and training in the
varied requirements of our profession
and the education and training of employees under us in the various departments of our work."
A large amount of the success of the
club has been due to the men who have
been its leaders. For eleven years the

club looked to John Shanahan f o r guidance. For the first five years as president and t h e r e a f t e r as Hononary president and Director of the club, and as
member of the Advisory committee of
the U. S. G. A. Green Section, he was
an outstanding leader in greenkeeping
in the United States. In October, 1934,
the Greenkeepers Club of New England
suffered a real loss in the death of John
Shanahan.
In memory of a man who had given
the best years of his life to Golf, the
Greenkeepers Club and the New England Section of the P. G. A. have honored John Shanahan by designating
their annual Greenkeeper-Pro Championship Tournament as John Shanahan
Day. The names of the winners of this
tournament are inscribed upon the .John
Shanahan Shield, which is hung in the
Trophy Room at the Brae Burn Countrv
Club.
Having in mind the fine qualities of
John Shanahan as a man and as a
greenkeeper, the Greenkeepers Club of
New England has f u r t h e r honored his
memory by awarding each year a medal
to be known as the John Shanahan
Memorial Award of Merit, to be presented to the person or persons who
during the year have contributed the
most outstanding service to the profession of Greenkeeping in New England.
For the past few years the Massachusetts Golf Association, by establishing
a Service Section, has contributed a
real service to greenkeeping. By appointing three greenkeepers on the
service section, confidence has been
instilled in the minds of greenkeepers
throughout New England. Through the
co-operative efforts of club official and
greenkeeper members of the Section,
much has been accomplished to benefit
greenkeeping. By establishing experimental work close at hand, greenkeepers
have been able to obtain first hand information on various golf course problems. Advisory work by various members of the Section has aided many
greenkeepers in their work. The annual
dinner of the Service Section, at which
greenkeepers and club officials meet
together, has created a closer relationship between the greenkeeper and his
chairman.
In recognition of this outstanding
service to greenkeeping in New England, f o r the year 1935 we are pleased
to award the John Shanahan Memorial
Award of Merit to the Massachusetts
Golf Association.

^^^

REDUCING
By

THE
E.

R.

COST

OF

GOLF

Sawtelle

Vice-Pres. Worthington Mower Co.
(From Service Section Dinner)
I feel that the subject of reducing
the cost of golf is timely. I t is also a
subject that should be of interest to
everyone connected with the game.
Golf is only a sport to the player—
everything else connected with golf
except the player himself is a business
in some phase making this sport possible.
It is to the interest of everyone connected with this business of golf to preserve and improve upon the progressive
steps t h a t have taken place in the past
f e w years.
Those steps have been to place the
business of golf on a more businesslike
basis.
The cost of golf has been reduced
approximately
$50,000,000
annually
since 1929.
I t is not necessary to point out what
this reduction has meant to the player
— t h e club member,—who support golf.
Of
this
amount
approximately
$12,000,000. annually has been saved in
the cost of the golf course maintenance.
The balance of this saving has been
through reduced initiation fees, dues
and cost of playing equipment. Also
the f a c t t h a t the Club House Management which has nearly always operated
at a considerable loss in the past—is
now through several influences being
operated a t a profit.
I know unquestionably that
the
$12,000,000. saved in the maintenance
department has made possible the additional savings in these other directions.
Education in the field of maintenance
I believe should receive credit for making this saving possible. I wonder how
many golfers realize what effort and
special initiative the greenkeepers—the
men they know simply as Bill—Joe—
or Tom on the course—are spending to
educate themselves to enable them to
f u r t h e r reduce the expense of their
g a m e — t h a t out of their own salaries
the greenkeepers over the country
spend some $35,000 in education.
You probably expected me to say the
development of machinery was responsible—in a large measure machinery
was the means of this saving—but the
machinery itself was available several
years before 1929, but its general
adoption was forced and brought about
largely by the financial conditions of

the clubs which lead to investigation of
labor saving methods and claims.
Education has played its g r e a t part
— t h e way to this saving has been
opened by several influences on the
people connected with this business of
g o l f — b y the Turf and Labor Management schools that are established all
over the country—by the influence of
writers and by the influence of advertisements on the subject—and of course
by the old school of practical experience. Many clubs were forced to cut
operating expenses or close.
I represented my Company here in'.
New England for five years. This period
extended several years before 1929 and
covered several years of the depression.
I had the opportunity, and of course it
was to my advantage as a salesman, to
study the maintenance costs of golf
clubs. A d e c i d e d change took place
during this period.
I remember that many, many prominent clubs expressed the* opinion that it
was necessary to have 18 or more men
— t h a t it was necessary to spend upwards of $25,000 annually to keep up a
satisfactory standard of maintenance.
A f e a r prevailed at any suggestion of
reduction.
I remember in one of the first "Open
F o r u m s " of a convention at Massachusetts State College, a long general discussion took place as to whether 16,
18 or 20 men were necessary on an
18 hole course. As I remember, the discussion closed with a compromise that
one man a hole and t h a t approximately
$1,000 a hole f o r maintenance—was
pretty well in line.
This has all changed—today many of
these same clubs are using only 6, 8 or
10 men and are spending only one half
the dollars and cents annually. It has
also helped to simplify a greenkeepers
problem. He has been able to pick the
smaller crews f r o m the most efficient
men available.
When these thousands of dollars are
saved at individual clubs—the saving
over the country has amounted to these
millions of dollars. It has reduced the
cost of golf.
When this change first took place,
well meant warnings were broadcast
verbally and editorially to guard against
budget and labor reductions—to guard
against accepting labor saving machinery. The thought being that it would
lead to the ultimate ruin of the capital
investment of golf courses, and that
temporary savings would only lead to
higher expenditures in the f u t u r e to

bring- the Golf Course back to the same
playing standards.
Now in my opinion the point that was
overlooked in these warnings was to
specify what part of the budget could
be reduced without h a r m f u l effects.
The labor cost is the largest item of
the maintenance budget—and of this,
the labor cost of cutting grass takes the
greatest percentage.
The effect of reductions by the use
of labor saving machinery was based
in those days in terms of available men
and not broken down into the terms of
available labor hours.
If you are paying f o r 1000 labor
hours a week and are satisfied with the
playing condition of your course and
modern equipment enables you to save
400 hours a week, and you keep on
600 hours—where is the damage? It
is simply a question of a redistribution
of labor.
This change has taken place on a
great many courses, and I haven't
found t h a t the playing conditions have
suffered. During the year I visit many
prominent courses in nearly every section of the country and in my opinion,
the 1929 playing standard has been
maintained or even improved.
The attitude of the men in charge of
these courses has also changed—the
same men that were alarmed at the
thought of reductions in 1929, are now
rightfully proud of their accomplishments and boast of the reductions they
have made in their operating expenses.
They are eager f o r ways and means to
operate still more efficiently.
This places a greater responsibility
than ever on the equipment manufacturers, f o r a f t e r all you need the same
amount of seed, fertilizer, water and
appurtenances that you always did, to
keep up a satisfactory standard of
maintenance.
Since the grass cutting
item takes by f a r the largest part of
the budget—it is in this direction only
t h a t you can look f o r still f u r t h e r savings with safety, and without danger of
impairing the playing condition of your
course.
At this point I want to express my
definite convictions—that
equipment
m a n u f a c t u r e r s and their representatives
—contribute a real service to golf.
In most cases as yet, no one individual connected with a golf club is
given the full responsibility of spending
these millions of dollars on golf course
maintenance.
The
responsibility
is
divided between the greenkeeper and
the club officials, all of whom, have

more to do, than to take the time to
study the art of cutting grass. To us,
grass cutting is not only a business,
but a profession. Our entire time and
thought is spent studying this subject.
Of course, we're licked if someone
develops a dwarf fairway grass that
will grow % of an inch and stop.
I feel that the golf clubs should call
more freely f o r a real service which is
available f r o m the equipment manufacturers. Let us analyze your present
methods and costs and give us the opportunity to make suggestions. It costs
nothing to investigate and may lead to
the savings of many thousands of
dollars over a relatively short period of
time.
_ The statement that "our course is
different" has circulated very freely in
many
discussions
of
labor
saving
methods and machinery. To my mind
this thought has retarded many investigations. Courses are different, yes—as
to soil analysis, seed requirements and
fertilizer requirements and the amount
of money allotted to refinements. All
clubs have individual problems.
But
when we are aiming at the big target
of saving—the grass cutting item of
your budget—all courses are very much
alike. They have nearly the same yardage—the same area of fairways, rough
and greens to cut. If we base our grass
cutting costs on the averages taken
f r o m thousands of courses all over the
country—we cannot be very f a r out
of line f o r any one particular course.
The golf course equipment field is
s o s m a l l , that a m a n u f a c t u r e r could not
afford to make claims and statements
that could not be supported to the golfing public, and expect them to remain
undetected. Golf is like a small town
•—everybody knows everybody else's
business.
My suggestions as to how the costs
of golf can be reduced still f u r t h e r by
the golf clubs and equipment manuf a c t u r e r s cooperating, are as follows:
1. For the golf clubs to thoroughly
investigate labor saving claims made by
the established firms in the field who
specialize on their problems. The investigations cost nothing, and will lead
to substantial savings.
2. For the golf clubs both large and
small—to keep accurate costs records,
to break down the budget so that separate costs of all operations are kept.
I t is much easier f o r the specialists to
render a service if the present costs
are known. If the costs are not known,
a certain amount of risk and uncertain-

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The
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Arlington,

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Course

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NEWSLETTER.

ty must be taken by both parties.
3. For the golf clubs both large and
small and ever more particularly the
smaller club, to adopt the business procedure, of writing off capital investments on equipment over a four or five
year period, so that the burden of these
investments will not fall on any one
year's budget and t h a t during this
period to plan systematic replacement
purchases by setting up each year a
reserve f u n d f o r this purpose.
Too
many clubs, who have not provided f o r
replacement purchases, are forced to
continue f o r years—to use worn out
and obsolete machinery. Although the
machinery probably will run, there are
many intangible expenses, in wasted
time and quality of results, t h a t do not
amount to very much money in just
one day's t i m e — b u t over a period of a
season amount to many hundreds of
dollars wasted.
Because of the lack of such a reserve
f u n d f o r new equipment purchases, the
large m a j o r i t y of clubs, find that they
are unable to afford new equipment
when needed, and are forced to spend
unwisely many hundreds . of dollars in
repairs to keep obsolete machinery running. The improvements of machinery
are advancing so rapidly t h a t today
equipment becomes obsolete sooner than
ever. Golf clubs m u s t protect themselves by such a reserve to keep up
their operating efficiently and f u r t h e r
reduce the cost of golf f o r their members.

HOW

EXPERIMENT
THE
By

WORK

HELPS

GREENKEEPERS
Frank

H.

Wilson

( f r o m Service Section Dinner)
The greenkeepers' problems are many
and varied. He is chiefly concerned
with the growing of a superior turf that
will meet all the requirements of a first
class golf course. To accomplish this
he must understand the limitations of
his particular soil type or types (there
are often more than one on a course).
Greens soil can be modified but fairway soils are more difficult to change.
Surface drainage and sub-surface drainage are problems to be worked out. The
depth of loam and the sub-soil are often
limiting factors; I remember well on
my own course when the fairway watering system was installed, a ditch was

dug through the center of each fairway; what an open book of information
that ditch was. The amount of organic
matter in the soil, the available phosphorous present, and the soil acidity
are valuable information to possess. The
kind of fertilizer best suited to soil
conditions, to the development of a
vigorous root system, and the formation
of a dense turf can not be passed
lightly by.
The greenkeeper works
under artificial conditions; many more
grass plants are grown on a given area
of a golf course than in any f a r m i n g
operation; over-watering of greens so
t h a t they will hold any kind of a golf
shot; the use of high analysis nitrogenous fertilizers to keep greens a
spring color throughout the season are
problems to be reckoned with. Because
of this over-watering and fertilization
the turf is susceptible to disease and
insect attack; to combat these, high
power and extremely dangerous chemicals are used. The greenkeeper is faced
by a multitude of fungicides, insecticides, fertilizers and what not, offered
by dealers in golf course supplies and
he welcomes any experiment work that
will help him solve his problems.
The greenkeepers problems can be
divided into two groups; practical and
technical. Experiment work to be of
the greatest benefit should be conducted
in a locality easily accessible in order
that it may be visited at f r e q u e n t intervals. The average club has not the
money available nor has the greenkeeper the time to conduct extensive experiment work. It is not practical for
the greenkeeper to attempt scientific
experiments which require the services
of a trained chemist, disease pathologist, or entomologist, where the use of
various chemicals is involved.
The
Service Section of the Mass. Golf Assn.
has f o r the past eight years conducted
experiment work which has proved the
worth of various grasses to golf club
use. They have also proven the worthlessness of other grasses. The susceptibility of certain grasses to large and
small brown patch, snow mold, leaf
spots, the rapidity with which damaged
turf of various grasses heals. Fertilizer
experiments on greens and fairway
t u r f ; green and fairway turf treated
with arsenate of lead f o r the control of
grubs; watered and unwatered fairway t u r f ; the effect of different heights
of cut on the root systems of various
turfs. At what rate various fertilizers
increase the phosphorous content of the
soil and its effect on turf. Studies of

>

^

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the effect of acidity on the growth of
fine turf were some of the problems
worked upon; this work I think has
benefited the greenkeeping.
There are plenty of problems yet to
be solved. The Service Section of the
Mass. Golf Assn. plans to s t a r t a new
set of experiment work this year. Some
of the problems to be worked upon a r e :
The effects of spike rolling on putting
greens. The benefits of sub-drainage.
Effects of arsenate of lead on t u r f . To
determine the value of different velvet
bents. Control of chickweed.
Clover
and Poa Annua. F u r t h e r information
on organic and inorganic fertilizers. In
conjunction with the above experiments
several clubs have agreed to conduct
similar work on their courses. Bear
Hill will study the effects of spike rolling on p u t t i n g green t u r f . Brae Burn
the effects of the use of arsenate of
lead. Charles River the effect of spike
rolling on the control of Poa Annua.
The Country Club night and morning
watering. Fall River scald and air
drainage. Salem night and morning
watering. Unicorn elimination of clover
and chickweed.
The technical work
recommended is as follows: Control of
Poa Annua by chemicals. Crab grass
control. Weed control. Disease control.
Insect work on the white grub, CUD
worm, sod web worm and the chinch
bug.
On April 10th, I received a letter
f r o m Dr. John Monteith, head of the
experiment work of the United States
Golf Assn. Green Section, as follows:
"We are arranging a series of weed
control treatments to check up on the
effects of chemical weed killers under
a big variety of soil and climatic conditions.
"I wonder if you would be interested
in giving these treatments a trial on
your course. I am enclosing directions
f o r applying the chemical, together
with charts showing the plan for the
tests. If you have a suitable area and
w a n t to make the tests, please advise
me and I will send you a carton containing: 20 packets of the chemical all
weighed out ready f o r use.
"If you know of any other courses
where there is someone who would be
interested in conducting such tests and
where there are suitable weedy areas
f o r the test, please let me know and I
shall be glad to send you whatever
number of cartons you wish to have.
" I want to emphasize that we don't
know what this material will do to the
grass under your particular conditions,

so the places selected should be out of
the way so "that any possible severe inj u r y to the turf grasses will not be considered serious. We feel reasonably
sure t h a t the material will be safe to
use, but nevertheless we think it is important to emphasize the risk involved.
" W e are sending similar lots of material to different parts of the country
and it will be interesting to learn how
the t r e a t m e n t s work under different soil
and climatic conditions."
This experiment should prove an interesting addition to those outlined by
the service section.
Experiment work is conducted under
artificial conditions.
In nearly all
instances the work is done on a plot of
land not used f o r golf course play.
Greens experiments are conducted on
an absolutely flat surface whereas
greens are contoured giving high and
low areas on which the same grasses
do not make the same growth.
The
greenkeeper often wonders if experiment work would give the same results
on greens under the heavy traffic of
play or on fairway turf mowed with a
tractor and five or seven f a i r w a y units
and walked over by an army of golfers
in a growing season. However, experiment work anywhere is preferable to
none a t all.
The discontinuance of the bulletin
published by the United States Golf
Assn. was a loss keenly f e l t by greenkeepers. I was glad to receive f r o m the
green section a leaflet entitled "Comments On Turf Culture" which came
early this month. As it is marked, Vol.
1, No. 1, I am hoping f o r other numbers. In the leaflet is a paragraph
headed information, which reads as follows: "While r e f e r r i n g to overhauling
and repairing of course equipment, it is
well not to f o r g e t the most important
piece of equipment used in maintaining
a modern golf course—the greenkeepers
mind. Perhaps there are a f e w worn
out or antiquated parts there in the
f o r m of theories or so-called practical
ideas. Perhaps some of these ideas had
better be scrapped or replaced, others
may need only a f e w repairs and adjustments, others may need only a little
polishing and , sharpening by rubbing
against similar ideas f r o m other minds
either through personal contact or
through the printed page."
All worthwhile experiment work has
f o r its ultimate purpose education. I
would like to r e f e r to an experiment
started 12 years ago, the Greenkeepers
Club of New England. Its primary pur-

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pose was to t r y to prevent such a condition as that described by Dr. Monteith
in the above paragraph. To achieve this
during the winter months many of the
foremost authorities on golf maintainance have lectured on t u r f , soils, fertilizers,
insects,
diseases,
irrigation,
drainage, golf course architecture, machinery, gas engines, experiment work
and other course problems.
Question
box meeting has been productive of
much information. Talks by members
of the club on various subjects of interest, talks by seedsmen, implement men,
landscape gardners, winter sports experts, have been productive of much
valuable
information.
The
"News
Letter", a monthly publication, has been
found a worthwhile experiment. Many
articles of interest and much information of value are found in its pages.
Recently a library committee has been
appointed with an initial appropriation
of one hundred dollars to assemble a
lending library of books, bulletins and
pamphlets on greenkeeping and allied
subjects f o r the use of club members.
The summer meetings held out of
doors at various clubs all over New England have been a wonderful source of
education; demonstrations of some new
piece of machinery in the morning, golf
in the afternoon, the opportunity to see
what the other fellow was doing, has
been productive of a few new ideas
taken home each time, and has perhaps
made golf more enjoyable. The answer
to this twelve year experiment can
only be found in the golf courses of
New England.
At a recent meeting of the officers
of the greenkeepers club a committee
was appointed to look into the possibility of the acquisition of a piece of
land, and the raising of sufficient f u n d s
to employ a trained greenkeeper. On
this piece of land experiment work
would be conducted. It would become
the headquarters of the club with the
possibility at some f u t u r e date of erecting some sort of a small building f o r
meetings. Perhaps the idea is visionary,
nevertheless
the
greenkeepers
would have a personal interest in the
work, a place to go f o r information and
it shows t h a t they are keenly alive to
the benefits of experiment work and
the need of keeping abreast of the
times.

"SHOULD
CUT

PUTTING

BY

HAND

By

Philip

GREENS

OR
I.

BE

POWER?"

Cassidy

(from Service Section Dinner)
The title of this subject might lead
you to believe that I will give you the
only solution of this much disputed
question. I doubt if you will think so,
but I do hope in the incidents and comments I have seen and heard there will
be some helpful solution to those contemplating purchasing power units to
replace hand ones.
While it seems to me that all discussion on this subject has been conservative, I see no reason why this
should be so, as it is generally understood t h a t all just criticism is constructive and the dealers with a very few
exceptions are promoting the sale of
both types of units in question.
In these observations of both power
and hand mowing, I will attempt to
bring out in conclusion a close relationship of all greens mowers, whether hand
or power ones.
Here are some interesting quotations
f r o m Greenkeepers who have given an
opinion on the subject:
One says, "I think I would like to
mow by power but I have heard t h a t
the weight of the machine packs the
t u r f , and I have a soil that packs
easily."
Another, "I have a power mower and
find t h a t it does a wonderful job and
saves an unbelievable amount of time."
Still another says, " I have mowed by
power but have given it up f o r my hand
units in order to keep an extra man
whom I otherwise might not have."
And still another says, "I think the
power mowers are all right, b u t they
like that ribbon effect at our Club."
Here are some quotations f r o m a f e w
dealers who are interested in the sale
of both hand and power greensmowers:
One says, "A unit that was practically
designed by Greenkeepers, and so it
must be the correct thing f o r greens
mowing."
Another says, " In the — —", and
he names a district outside New England, "power units are being sold f o r
a song by Golf Clubs who are t u r n i n g
again to hand mowing of their p u t t i n g
greens."
Still another says, "Ten sales in almost t h a t n u m b e r of days, that shows
that power mowing is an accepted
fact."

^

THE SIGN OF GOOD SEEDS
Blue Grasses, Colonial Bent, Seaside Bent, Velvet—B. P. I.
14276 and Highland, New Crop Chewings Fescue, Fine
Leaved Fescue, Red Top and all Fine Grasses.
CLEAN

WEED-FREE

GRASS

F .

II.

SEED

HIGH VIABILITY

DIVISION

W o o d r u f f

&

S o n s

MILFORD, CONN.

THE CHOICE OF ONE-QUARTER
OF THE COUNTRY'S
LEADING GOLF
CLUBS

The SILVER KING Tractor

Such

combines low first
cost, low maintenance cost, low gasoline and oil consumption, high speed
and g r e a t power. Investigate. Catalog and prices upon request.
The

Silver

King

POWER LAWN MOWER
SERVICE COMPANY
15

Tenney

Court,

Somerset

Somerville,
0S04-W

Mass.

It

popularity

is—for

Seed

and

have

won

over
like

Scott's
many

transient
to

must

Scott's

figure

be

Course

Creeping
a

weeds.
on

deserved.

Golf

your

Bent

tournament
We

would

spring

re-

quirements.

O. M. SCOTT & SONS CO.
73 Main

St.

Read the ads as well as the news.

Marysville,

Ohio

In all these statements there is no a hand mower but f o r some reason the
mention of the hand mower by the hand mower escaped all blame.
dealers. By that I mean they do not
A spectator a t a demonstration of
compare the hand mower and the power golf equipment said to me, "I saw that
mower when selling except f o r example power unit cross a certain point on that
as the automobile dealer would who has green f o u r times when it was being
a low and a high priced car to sell: mowed." There is no question but what
the high priced one gets you there in this did happen. What he didn't notice
a hurry and makes a nice appearance, was that the hand unit turned at least
while the lower priced one although as many times in the same given area
not so fast makes a fine appearance and with a sharp twisting motion when turnaccomplishes the same purpose.
ing, a motion which tends to pack deLet us compare the two types of cidedly more than a sweeping turn or
cutting units in their outstanding points a t u r n off the green surface.
New England soil being on an averof discussion.
First the step of the operator, an age of sandy loam content will stand a
important factor. When the operator great amount of foot traffic. I believe
pushes a hand mower he naturally leans that the operator of the putting green
f o r w a r d and pushes the machine. As units, power or hand, does the most ^ ^
he pushes, he presses the ball of his foot packing of the soil on the green, f o r *
firmly on the turf. The action t h a t takes example, on a certain piece of rough
place under his foot might be easily connecting two fairways a tractor and
explained by comparing it with the cart had travelled innumerable times
result of a step one takes when climbing and crushed the grass fiat to the ground
up the side of a sand covered bunker. in two distinct swaths, parallel to this,
Of course the action is greatly exag- caddies crossing f r o m one fairway to
gerated on account of the looseness of the other walked constantly and finally
the sand but I think that this action wore a path f r e e f r o m grass. I do not
does actually take place, however slight. believe that any more rolling effect was
made by the foot traffic of the caddies
On a green of which the approximate than by the tractor and cart, and I was
diameter is 90 feet, 35 steps were taken surprised to see that the marks where
to travel the length of it by the oper- the tractor and cart had travelled were
ator of this hand machine.
taking on the appearance of a fertilized
When the operator of the power unit area while the foot path had become
starts to walk he steps with a f r e e stride barren of grass. To me this seemed to
usually, with .his weight evenly bal- show that the feet of the operator and
anced and with no digging effect. On not the power driven or hand cutting
a green of the same diameter the unit is the m a j o r f e a t u r e in packing the
operator took 6 less steps than the edges of greens by t u r n i n g where it can
be blamed on no other cause.
operator of the hand unit.
This conclusion seems to give the
If it were possible to arrange the
power mower a point over the hand weight of the operator of a hand unit
mower but I feel that the added weight and the mower so t h a t they equalled
of a power mower, no matter how even- the weight of the operator and power
ly distributed, counteracts this advan- unit, then there would be very little
tage.
comparison in actual performance outIt has been said that the- power unit side of the difference in time.
)
tends to pack the edges of the green
I take this point f r o m the f a c t that
when turning, but I have noticed that units are being made f o r power mowers
where this claim has supposedly taken t h a t may be detached to be used by
place and a hard dry thinly t u r f e d sec- hand.
tion appears, it has nearly always a
This also seems to disprove a statehigh section of the green over which a ment that f a s t mowing is detrimental
m a j o r i t y of the players travel when to the grass blade and stem in that it
leaving the green toward the next tee, produces a pulling effect when travelor where the green is elevated near the ling above the- normal speed of a hand
outer edge and the soil so constructed mower.
t h a t moisture usually retained in lower
Let us take the hand and electric hair
sections of the same green soon leaches clipper used in the barber shop as an
away.
object where this condition might be
I recall t h a t this condition also ex- easily visualized.
isted on one particular section of a
The hand clipper with a certain numgreen I have in mind during the use of
ber of teeth and a slow speed forward

PERFECT CONDITION JIM/
THE COURSE WAJ NEVER
IN AS GOOD SHAPE AS IT
HAS M E f i SINCE THEY
MADE yOU CHAIRMAN OF
THE CREENS COMMITTEE

THANKS/

BUT GIVE THE

CRSPtT T ©

THOSE

NBW

PENNSYLVANIA

TOgy

m m

hot

I M P R O V E ® THE

MOWERS,

ohly

PLAYING

COWDITIOail EOT A R E
•saving o s m o m v .

CAN SAVE 20°o—W!TH THE
PENNSYLVANIA GIANT DE LUXE FAIRWAY
Unbreakable
Six h e a v y
blades
d o u b l e riveted to
five spiders.

36 inch

Timken
Alemite
tion.

Lower
blad
versible.

Bearings.
Lubrica-

Dust Proof casings.

Protected
single
ball
bearing
on
roller.

Three
gears
e a c h side.

Adjustable
roller.

ground

Model " K "
Low Priced
Send

This 30 in. unit
has the features
of
the
L u x e " but is
made of cast

for
Catalogue

Primos, Penna.

cuts without pulling if the gear ratio,
or rather the speed with which the fingers move the handles and teeth, develops a f r e q u e n c y great enough to cut
all hair the instant it comes between
cutting edges.
The electric clipper you probably
have noticed may be pushed through
the hair more quickly without pulling
because the electric motor moves the
teeth with the same gear ratio at such
a speed that the frequency of cut is
built up accordingly.
This same principle of speed cutting
applies to grass.
At a certain meeting of the Golf
section at Amherst last month one
Greenkeeper stated t h a t he didn't save
any time by power mowing as when
trying out a power unit in competition
with a hand mower the hand mower
mowed the same number of greens in
less time.
This cast no reflection on the power
mower as it really did a fine job, the
extra time being used up in transportation, which has since been remedied.
The choice of power or hand mowing
of putting greens seems to hinge on
these f e w f a c t s :
The operator whether of the power
or hand mower has the real control of
the appearance of the green to the eyes
of the Golfer who insists on that ribbon
or striping effect.
A hand mower and power mower
should be considered of equal value,
except where time is the deciding
factor and, if time is the deciding
factor, everything being equal, by all
means own both f o r you will most certainly use them.

W h e n a country club seeks the
s e r v i c e s of a g r e e n k e e p e r
it
is
f a c e d w i t h t h e t e d i o u s t a s k of investigating the records and references
of
numerous
applicant's,
m a n y of w h o m l a c k t h e
proper
qualifications.
O u r E m p l o y m e n t Committee offers a h a p p y solution to this problem by placing the country
club
in c o n t a c t t h r u
written
application or personal
interview,
with
m e n w h o s e q u a l i f i c a t i o n s fit t h e m
for the particular position to be
filled.
G u y C. W e s t , Chr.

RHODE

ISLAND

ASSOCIATION

MEETING

The Rhode Island Greenkeepers Association met on March 24th at the
Narragansett Hotel, Providence.
The
speaker was Dr. 0 . J. Noer of the Milwaukee Sewerage Commission. Dr. Noer
gave an interesting resume of his visits
around the country examining various
golf clubs this past year. Some highlights of his address lollow:
"The greenkeeper's problem is to
maintain good grass irrespective of
weather conditions. It is impossible to
r e t u r n to the maintenance methods of
years ago. We must learn how to get
grass in such shape that it will go
through bad weather conditions without
loss. Use grass adapted to weather conditions. A greenkeeper going f r o m one
section to another often has trouble,
due to f a c t that weather conditions in
the two sections are different.
"Soil is very important. A layer condition is very apt to cause much trouble
in hot weather. Soil on greens should
be of uniform texture, of medium sandy
loam, with gradation in size of sand
particles, and with 20-30% organic
matter.
"Drainage is important. Beware of
sharply contoured greens. Tile underdrainage is needed unless soil has good
under-drainage. When tile are needed,
the tendency is to use too few tile.
"Tendency is to over-water. Sometimes dry winds make watering necessary often to keep top f r o m drying out.
"Excess topdressing on stolon greens
may cause a m a t which will cause much
trouble. This is one reason why stolons
are often condemned; do not allow
thick mat to develop.
"Ventilation of greens is very important. Use of f a n near one green has
actually helped.
"The greenkeeper needs a knife with
a big blade to use to see what causes
the trouble before trying to cure it."

FOR SALE
I still h a v e l e f t
velvet

bent,

or

cutting

in

the

or

come

into

last
and

some

No.

of

14276,
greens,

that

desired

for

nursery

as

advertised

NEWSLETTER.
see

Write

it.

R. F. ROBINSON
Oaklawn

Rhode

Island

Making Life Easier for the Greenskeeper
Florida

Humus

has

what

healthy

greens

and

fairways

your

turf

needs.

because

it

is

It
an

r i c h in n i t r o g e n , e n t i r e l y f r e e of w e e d s e e d s a n d

creates

strong,

organic

matter,

foreign

matter,

high in w a t e r holding capacity, a n d

f a r less acid t h a n p e a t

moss.

Clubs

have

50%

ferti-

lizing

costs.

Analysis:
Holding
Write

reported

Organic
Capacity,

today

for

savings

Matter,

up

to

91.67%;

530.64%;

watering

Nitrogen,

Acidity,

full information

in

and

pH
free

and

3.52%;

Water

6.0.
booklet.

85 STATE STREET, BOSTON, MASS.
Tested Seeds and V. C. Fairway Fertilizer.
The Largest Seed House in New England.

MONEY SAVING DUMP BODY
W h e t h e r it's a trailer or a tractor,
the steel body self-dumps a n d selfswings back into position. Needs no
tail-board. H a s none.
if

Send for catalog. See for yourself
these tail-board-less d u m p bodies

Main

Office:

STROUDSBURG,

are not the best for golf
courses.
Prove to yourself how they will save
you money. No trouble at all to shift
body off tractor or p u t it back. Rect a n g u l a r body hold.s 1 cu. yard. Autom a t i c raising tail-board also available.

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PA.

OUTFITS

Lower

Boston
1 STATE

Office:
STREET

L»njxmif •

The advertisers pay for your N E W S L E T T E R ; deal with them.

IT'S BEEN A HARD WINTER
The weather-man doesn't have to tell us—we all know it's been a
mighty hard winter, the worst in a good many years. So it's all the more
important this Spring to give your greens extra attention—and t h a t means
extra good fertilizer.
Don't take chances—use a fertilizer specially compounded to meet
the exacting needs of putting-green grasses—use the famous Netco 8-6-2
Greens Formula.
Netco Special Putting Greens Fertilizer is the answer to requests
made by the many users of Milorganite on Fairways, f o r a specially prepared Greens fertilizer of the excellent 8 per cent (Nitrogen), 6 per cent
(Phosphoric Acid), 2 per cent (Potash) analysis, using as much Milorganite as possible f o r the organic base.
WHAT

IS

NETCO

8-6-2?

Netco 8-6-2 is compounded f r o m Milorganite—Dried Blood—Superphosphate—Amnios Phos A—Muriate of Potash—Sulphate of Ammonia,
with a correct amount of Dolomite Limestone as a conditioner. It is
f r e e of filler. Over -35 per cent of the Nitrogen is organic, coming f r o m
the Milorganite and the Dried Blood.
HOW

DOES

ACTION

TAKE

PLACE?

By properly balancing the organics with the in-organics we have
immediate nitrogen action f r o m the Sulphate of Ammonia, followed by the
Ammo Phos, then the Dried Blood, and lastly the Milorganite, thereby
assuring a steady and even feeding of nitrogen over a long period of
time with no lapses.

SPRING
Why
Use
Is A l r e a d y

IS ON TOP OF US

Milorganite-—Which
Fertilizer?
a Good

The f a c t that Milorganite is
used by a great many of the
New England Clubs assures us
that its excellent qualities are
already known, that it is an
excellent organic nitrogen f e r tilizer f o r grasses, and lastly
that it contains those r a r e r
elements so vitally necessary
f o r the continued and improved
growth of grasses, such as Calcium,
Magnesium,
Barium,
Manganese,
Copper,
Boron,
Iron, Aluminum, Sulphur, Iodine, etc.

Netco

8-6-2

is

manufactured
Company

N e w

of

by

North

How

Know

It

Is

a

Fertilizer

Through the co-operation of
competent golf greenskeepers,
who have been willing to work
with us on the mixing, trials
and use of this Netco 8-6-2,
we have seen greens and tees
which have been fed regularly
with this mixture f o r several
full seasons. The guess as to
results has been removed. We
know it will produce results
and so recommend it to you.

The

American

Weymouth,

E n g l a n d
WEST

We
Good

NEWTON,

Agricultural

Mass.,

T o r o
MASS.

Chemical

for

Co.