New Jersey Golf Course Report 

Vol. 1, No. 3

November, 1968

1968 - A Most Difficult 
Year For Grasses

by Alexander M. Radko,  
Eastern Director,  
USGA Green Section
You name it and we’ve had it in ’68. 
This has been a most difficult year for 
golf turf and unquestionably one of the 
toughest of all time for courses in the 
Northeast.
Winter

Desiccation caused for severe weak- 
nesses on several areas of most golf 
courses, greens in particular were bad- 
ly affected. Recovery was extremely 
slow, greens were not up to their usual 
standard until mid-summer.
Spring

The rains came and the skies were 
overcast for most of the spring, the sun 
shone very little. Greens grew soft and 
weak, they never really “hardened off.” 
This put them at a decided disadvan- 
tage going into the summer.
Summer

The sun, high temperatures, high 
humidity (at nighttime too) caused 
grasses to be extremely susceptible to 
wilt and disease. It was impossible to 
irrigate without over-watering if the 
grasses were to be saved. Superintend- 
ents who had automatic systems were 
able to get around more quickly to 
syringe. CONTINUOUS GREEN AND 
FAIRWAY SYRINGING WAS THE 
ORDER OF THE SEASON. This was 
very unusual that fairways should need 
this sort of attention. The period be- 
ginning the second week in July 
through early August was most critical. 
Every day, weekends included, constant 
and uninterrupted syringing was re- 
quired in the attempt to save the 
grasses, Poa annua in particular. Golf 
car use during these weeks proved to 
be damaging. Tire marks turned into 
brown streaks and weeds encroached. 
This was one period when fairways 
suffered badly from car use and this 
unquestionably added to summer weak- 
nesses.

Diseases ran rampant, insect activity 
was high, and where weaknesses de- 
veloped, weeds were quick to encroach. 
Crabgrass invasion was particularly 
severe. In effect the crabgrass belt 

moved north this smumer, and the 
Northeast experienced the kind of in- 
vasion that courses in the crabgrass 
zone normally experience. (The so- 
called crabgrass zone normally extends 
from upper Virginia to St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, to Philadelphia.) It will take 
concerted effort on the part of Super- 
intendents over the next year to con- 
trol this weed.

All in all, it was one of the poorest 
weather years, and as a result, one of 
the most difficult management years on 
record for golf turfgrasses.

The Annual Field Day was again a 
great success. A record 30 firms par- 
ticipated. The weather was great, for 
once, and an excellent turnout was 
shown. Much of the credit goes to Rich 
Browne, Chairman, and host Jim Mc- 
Nally of Greenbrook C.C.
Tree Poison Was  
Sprayed By City

by Mel Jones,  
Tribune City Hall Reporter 
Winnipeg Tribune — Sat., Aug. 3/68 
— The deadly weed poison, 2, 4-D, 
which has affected trees in the plush 
Eastgate - Westgate - Middlegate areas, 
came from City of Winnipeg tractor- 
sprayers. The Tribune learned Friday. 
Tests have shown that the chemical 
spray killed or damaged most of the 
foliage on trees, garden plants and 
shrubs.

Parks Superintendent Ole Johanson 
told The Tribune that 2, 4-D had been 
used mistakenly in place of DDT dur- 
ing June in the area, but he refused to 
say whether a city employee had filled 
the spray machine, or if it had been an 
act of sabotage.

A secret meeting was held Wednes- 
day night between parks department 
officials and area residents.

Retired city aiderman and lawyer, 
E. D. Honeyman of 131 Westgate said: 
“We expect them (the city) to replace 
the shrubbery and to undo the damage 
that has already been caused.”

One resident, who complained to the 
city, is considering legal action, and a 
decision on whether the parks depart- 
ment will pay damages will be made 
next week following a report from 
solicitors.

An inventory of damage is being pre- 
pared for Tuesday’s parks and recrea- 
tion department meeting.

Mr. Honeyman said the condition of 
plant life in the area “is worse now 
than it’s ever been. Leaves which were 
curling up last month, are dropping 
off their branches. And they are as 
brown as the ones on the first day of 
November. If these trees do die,” he 
added, “then we expect them to be 
replaced.”

Mr. Johanson told The Tribune if the 
city does find itself at fault, the shrub- 
bery — it won’t be know until after 
next summer if it will survive — will 
be replaced.

The 2, 4-D spraying was supposed to 
have been DDT to combat budworm.
The above article was taken from 
the publication of the Canadian Golf 
Course Superintendents Association, 
“The Greenmaster,” September, 1968.
Activated Charcoal  
Nullifies Residues In  
Tests At The University  
Of Rhode Island

by William F. Munk,  
Essex County Agent
Activated charcoal or carbon is wide- 
ly used to remove impurities from vari- 
ous substances. Agricultural scientists 
are now finding that it can have new 
and important uses, even for home- 
owners. Research at the University of 

Rhode Island has shown that harmful 
residues of chemical weedkillers used 
in lawns can be nullified by the use of 
activated charcoal. Charcoal has been 
used in the past by agriculture in var- 
ious ways. Today, it is receiving wide- 
spread attention by agricultural sci- 
entists, with the recently introduced 
weed-control chemical and the prob- 
lems of their residues in soils. Several 
universities are studying the effects of 
charcoal on various chemical residues. 
Results indicate that charcoal can in- 
activate many of them. The tests at 
the University of Rhode Island have 
been conducted with activated char- 
coal and several of the weed control 
chemicals used on lawns. Weed-killers 
are a valuable tool for the homeowner. 
When properly used, they cause few 
problems. But residues from these 
chemicals persist in lawns from several 
weeks to several months depending on 
the chemical. Pre-emergent crabgrass 
control chemicals, for instance, must 
persist in the soil to be effective since 
crabgrass seed can germinate over a 
period of four months. A serious prob- 
lem develops when homeowners try to 
establish new grass from seed in soils 
that have been treated with chemicals. 
Successful seedings can not be made 
for about six weeks after the use of 
such broadleaf-type weedkillers as 2, 
4-D, Banvel D, MCPP, and Silvex. Pre- 
emergent crabgrass control chemicals 
such as Azak, Bandane, Betasan, and 
Dacthal prevent successful seeding for 
up to several months. Homeowners 
who plan to make successful seedings 
can avoid the use of chemicals or wait 
until it is safe to seed. It is apparent 
that an easy and economical method of 
eliminating harmful chemical residues 
is needed. In the tests at the University 
of Rhode Island, the chemicals were 
applied to soil in test areas. Six days 
after the application of the broadleaf- 
type chemicals, and seven weeks after 
the use of pre-emergent crabgrass 
chemicals, seedings were made with 
and without the use of activated char- 
coal. The seeding mixture contained 
Kentucky bluegrass, red fescue, and 
colonial bentgrass. Observations were 

then made on the stands of grass that 
developed. The results showed acti- 
vated charcoal successfully nullified the 
harmful effects of the chemicals men- 
tioned earlier. Research on the subject 
is continuing.
A Point To Ponder —  
Desiccation

by Alexander M. Radko, 
Eastern Director, 
USGA Green Section
Desiccation is and has been a winter 
problem for years, but like all prob- 
lems it doesn’t hit home or seem to be 
important until it happens to you. Last 
winter was one of the meanest winters 
for the golf courses in the Northeast in 
many a year. The winter was open (no 
snow cover) and windy ... in fact 
strong winds blew incessantly day and 
night and the grasses in exposed areas 
dried-out. Few escaped injury, and 
these were principally the newer 
courses. After the GCSAA Conference 
we began to get reports of dusty, dry, 
and crackly turf that was powder-dry 
in February.

Desiccation can occur on certain areas 
during years of good snow cover too. 
Course in the northernmost areas 
normally enjoy more snow cover than 
we in the lower New England and Mid- 
western States; however, even on snow- 
bound courses strong winds can remove 
the snow to expose areas which can 
become desiccated. Superintendents in 
the northernmost areas soon learned 
that one way to curb serious injury if 
desiccation was a threat on a green or 
tee is to topdress the exposed area 
heavily in January or February, with 
double the normal amount of topdress- 
ing soil (i.e., two cubic yards per 5,000 
instead of one). This affords good pro- 
tection, and those who have done it 
swear by it as an excellent treatment 
to reduce desiccation problems to a 
minimum.

This past winter others watered as 
best they could; some rented city water 
trucks, some watered with their spray 
tanks — and this helped — if enough 
water was applied.

Other materials advocated or being 
tested are polyethylene plastic tarps, 
polypropylene screens (black and 
green), snow fences, branches and 
brush, fertilizers (principally organic), 
and anti-desiccant materials. In my 
experience to date, the topdressing 
technique has been the most successful 
of all. Additionally, topsoil acts as a 
smoothing and truing material to keep 
greens in top form. Not just any soil 
is suitable, it must be the kind that is 
normally used for topdressing your 
greens. Another side benefit is that 
snow mold fungicides, applied to top- 
soil after it is spread, will keep the 
green protected better than if the fungi- 
cide were applied alone.

How do you know whether you will 
need to protect your greens against 
desiccation this winter? Only time will 
tell! It isn’t possible to forecast this 
anymore than it is possible to forecast' 
January’s exact weather at this time. 
You must wait and see how the weather 
breaks. If it is an open and continuous- 
ly windy winter, as it was from De- 
cember ’67 through February ’68, be 
ready to treat greens that are exposed 
by mid-January.

If the weather is mild, or if lots of 
snow falls, there will be les danger that 
desiccation will occur. But this is what 
makes the job a challenging one — 
after one experiences the rigors of 
summer mortis, it would be helpful to 
have a relaxing winter. If we could 
count on it, we’d all be happier when 
spring rolls around.
Turf Clippings
With snow and ice on the way, we’ve 
all been approached by the “pellet” 
men in recent days. However, a new 
approach was in evidence this season 
with the rather noticeable drop in the 
price of urea. It has apparently always 
been known that this substance will do 
very well in removal of ice down to 
temperatures of about ten degrees, but 
not until recently has the price been 
competitive, especially in view of the 
fact that it will not injure plants in 
the area.

Cleary Products For Better Turf

“PMAS” — Crabgrass & disease control  
“CADDY” — Liquid cadmium fungicide  
“SPOTRETE”— 75% Thiuram Fungicide  
“TRU-GREEN” — Liquid chelating agent  

(Broad Spectrum)

(iron, magnesium, etc.) 

“ALL-WET” — Wetting agent  
“THIMER” — Mercury and Thiuram  

“METHAR” & “SUPER METHAR” —  

Crabgrass control 

“CLEARY’S MCPP” — Weed control in  

bent grass 

“CLEAR-SPRAY” — Liquid Latex Protective  
Sticker (extends the life of fungicides)

W. A. CLEARY CORPORATION 

New Brunswick, N. J. 08903