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PG-4 NAME ----------------------------------------------------------------- ADDRESS ----------------------------------------------------------- C ITY------------------------------------------------------- STATE ZIP 2 ■ h L E CHEMICALS special th e MONTH THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN FERTILIZERS AND SWIFT CHEMICAL I.B.D.U. IS THE DIFFERENCE . . . LET US SHOW YOU HOW I.B.D.U. CAN WORK FOR YOU. Q. W HAT IS IBDU A N D HOW IS IT M AD E? A . IBDU is the re g is te re d trad e mark fo r is o b u ty lid e n e diu re a , a re la tiv e ly new c o n tro lle d re le a s e nitro g e n s o u rce. It is m an ufa ctu re d by com b in in g is o b u tra Id e h y d e and urea to y ie ld the m ost e ffe c tiv e source o f w ater in s o lu b le n itro g e n . IBDU is to ta lly un iq u e . A lth o u g h it is s lo w a c tin g , it is 100% a v a ila b le to the tu rf in a s in g le g ro w ing season. U n lik e U F s o u rc e s , IBDU is n o t s u b s ta n tia lly a ffe c te d by v a ria tio n s in te m p erature or b a c te ria l a c t iv ity , and depends a lm o s t e n tire ly upon h y d ro ly s is (w a te r) fo r its re le ase to the ^ o iI . Q. W HAT IS T H E A N A L Y S IS O F IBDU? A. IBDU c o n ta in s 31% n itro g e n . A b o u t 90% o f the to ta l n itro g e n from IBDU (27.9% ) is slo w re le a s e or w ater in s o lu b le n itro g e n . IBDU it s e lf c o n ta in s no phosphate or potash, but is a v a ila b le in Par Ex f e r t iliz e r grades c o n ta in in g phosphate and p o ta sh. Q. W HAT AR E T H E P H Y S IC A L C H A R A C T E R IS T IC S OF IBDU7 A . As can be seen in the p ic tu re in th is ad, IBDU is a w h ite , to ta lly hom ogenous g ra n u le . T he p ic tu re in th is ad show s the tw o c o m m e rc ia lly a v a ila b le s iz e s o f IBDU (fin e and c o a rs e ). It is n o n -c a k in g , unifo rm in granule s iz e , h ig h ly flo w a b le , and w ill n o t a b sorb w ate r du ring sto ra ge — m aking it id e a l for ha n d lin g and sp re a d in g . Q. WHY IS IBDU A V A IL A B L E IN TWO G R A N U L E SIZE S? A. The re le a s e rate o f IBDU to the s o il is o n ly governed by tw o fa c to rs — s o il m ois tu re and gra nu le s iz e . By cha ng in g the gra nu le s iz e , the rate o f re le ase can be c o n tro lle d . Q. WHY IS IBDU SLO W LY R E L E A S E D ? A . IBDU it s e lf is very s lig h t ly s o lu b le in w a te r, being ab ou t 1000 tim e s less s o lu b le than urea, a com m only used fa s t re le a s e fe r t iliz e r . In a d d itio n to its ba s ic in s o lu b le n a tu re , the re le a s e rate o f IBDU is slo w ed even fu rth e r by g ra n u la tio n , w h ic h de crea ses the c o n ta c t s u rfa ce o f IBDU w ith w ate r in the s o il. Q. G E N E R A L L Y , HOW LO N G W IL L IBDU L A S T ? A. Since the du ra tio n o f a v a ila b ility o f IBDU is m a in ly determ ined by s o il m o is tu re and gra nu le s iz e , its re le ase rate is very p re d ic ta b le . D epending upon the gra nu le s iz e and s o il m o is tu re , IBDU w ill c o n tin u e re le a s e o f n itro g e n o m inimum o f 3 m onths and a m axim um of 6-7 m onths a t norm al rates o f a p p lic a tio n . Q. HOW DOES T H E G R A N U LE S IZE A F F E C T TH E IBDU R E L E A S E R A T E ? A. The la rg er the o rig in a l IBDU g ra nu le, the longer it w ill la s t and c o n tin u e s u p p ly in g nitro g e n to the s o il. Q. HOW DOES S O IL M O ISTU R E A F F E C T TH E IBDU R E L E A S E R A T E ? A . Up to a p o in t, the hig h e r the s o il m o is tu re , the fa s te r the rele ase rate o f IBDU. H ow e ver, s in c e the re le a s e rate of IBDU is lim ite d by its s o lu b ilit y , it w ill o n ly re le a s e a t a c e rta in maxim um rate — no m atter how w e t the s o il becom es from w a te rin g or rain f a ll. T h is c h a ra c te ris tic prevents le ach ing in high m o is tu re c o n d itio n s , w ith o u t cha ng in g the rate o f re le a s e . Q. DOES S O IL T E M P E R A T U R E A F F E C T TH E IBDU R E L E A S E R A T E ? A. U n lik e U F f e rt iliz e rs , IBDU is not s u b s ta n tia lly a ffe c te d by v a ria tio n s in s o il tem p erature. There is o n ly a 25% v a ria tio n in re le a s e rate w ith IBDU from 40*F to 80” F . Q. DOES SO IL pH A F F E C T T H E IBDU R E L E A S E R A T E ? A. O nly s lig h t ly . Some te s ts have in d ic a te d th a t IBDU w ill rele ase a t a hig h e r rate as th e pH o f the s o il d e c rea ses. In other w ords, pH v alue s ra n gin g from very a c id to m od erate ly a lk a lin e (7.5 pH) do no t s u b s ta n tia lly a ffe c t the rele ase rate o f IBDU. H ow ever pH v a lue s in exce ss o f 9.0 (very a lk a lin e s o ils ) do tend to som ew hat in h ib it the re le ase rate of IBDU. Q. HOW IS IBDU M IN E R A L IZ E D ? A. IBDU can no t be used by the tu rf u n til it is f ir s t d is s o lv e d , and then it is m in e ra liz e d in the same m anner as other sources o f n itro g e n . In othe r w ords, the re le a s e rate o f IBDU is more dependent upon its gra nu le s iz e and the s o il m oisture than on the a c tu a l m in e ra liz a tio n process - s in c e once it is rele ase d from the g ra nu le, it is alm o s t im m ed iate ly con verte d to the a v a ila b le form . Q. DOES B A C T E R IA L A C T IV IT Y A F F E C T T H E IBDU R E L E A S E R A T E ? A. N o. Because IBDU is rele ase d by h y d ro ly s is (w a te r), its rate o f re le ase does no t depend upon b a c te ria l a tta c k . T y p ic a l U F fe rt iliz e rs depend a lm o s t e n tire ly upon the b a c te ria l a c t iv ity of the s o il for th e ir re le a s e . Q. HOW MUCH IBDU C AN BE A P P L IE D S A F E L Y ? A. The c r itic a l q u a n tity o f IBDU depends, o f course, upon the type o f tu rf, but g e n e ra lly it may be a p p lie d to m ost types of tu rf a t rate s 3-4 tim es hig h e r than other c o n v e n tio n a l slo w re le a s e fe rt iliz e rs w ith no damage. T e s ts at U C L A in d ic a te d no damage on tu rf when IBDU was m ixed in to the s o il (no t top dre ssed ) a t as high a rate as 32 lb s. N itro g e n per 1000 sq. ft. T op d re s s in g rate s as high as 12-15 lb s . N itro g e n per 1000 sq. f t . may be used w ith no damage to the tu rf. Q. W HAT IS TH E KE Y A D V A N T A G E TO U SING IBDU? A. C o n tro l. Because the re le a s e rate o f IBDU is so even and p re d ic ta b le , the p ro fe s s io n a l tu rf manager can lit e r a lly co n tro l the response o f tu rf a t w ill — withoi,** c o n s id e rin g the in te rfe rin g c o n d itio n s such as tem perature and w eather th a t a lte r the response to other slo w re le ase pro d u c ts . LE CHEMICALS DIVISION of LAWN EQUIPMENT CORPORATION 520 W. 11 M I L E R O A D Don Benham, Representative R O Y A L O A K , M I C H I G A N 48 068 (3 1 3 ) 3 9 8-36 36 3 MICHIGAN AND BORDER CITIES GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION "A Patch of Green" 31823 U tica Road, Fraser, Michigan 48026 (313) 293-3540 P u b lis h e d monthly by the Michigan and Border C itie s G o lf Course Superintendents A sso cia tion PRESIDENT GERALD GILL TAM-O-SHANTER COUNTRY CLUB 3466 Walnut Lake Road Orchard Lake, Michigan Off. 626-8325, R es. 851-7904 VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE PRIESKORN 5341 Brighton Road (R es.) Brighton, Michigan 48116 Res. 227-1381 BURROUGHS FARMS OOLF CLUB SECRETARY-TREASURER LOCHMOOR COUNTRY CLUB BOB HOPE 20740 Marter Road Qrosse Points Woods. Michigan 48236 ROGER GILL 1894 Alton Circle WILLIAM W. MILNE Off. 881-8112, Res. 884-8684 BOARD OF DIRECTORS C. H. WOLFROM, JR. DETROIT OOLF CLUB Detroit, Michigan 530 Kendry (R es.) ALBERT KALTZ MAPLE LANE OOLF CLUB Sterling H gts., Michigan Off. 268-2130, Res. 468-2892 PINE LAKE COUNTRY CLUB Walled Lake, Michigan 48088 Off. 681-1322, R es. 624-6931 COUNTRY CLUB OF DETROIT Orosse Points Farm s, Michigan Off. 881-8000, Res. 886-9319 DONALD LA FOND BAY POINTE OOLF CLUB 3635 Union Lake Road Union Lake, Michigan JAMES G. VLASSIS LAKE LANDS OOLF CLUB Brighton, Michigan 48116 PRESIDENT EMERITUS 709 Devonshire 220 C.C. Drive R es. 363-1142 OAKLAND HILLS COUNTRY CLUB TED WOEHRLE Birmingham, Michigan Off. 644-3352. Rea. 646-8512 C irculation 1,250 Ted Woehrle, Oakland Hills C.C. Clem Wolfrom, Detroit Golf Club C o-Ed ito rs Blakeman Publications Graphic A rts /C ir c u la tio n ADVERTISING RATES Double Page Spread............................................ 0100.00 Back Outside Page...................................................65.00 Full Page.......................................................................55.00 Half P age.......................................................................35.00 Quarter Page................................................................25.00 Eighth P age..................................................................12.50 Sixteenth Page...............................................................7.50 C lassified Ad (per inch)...........................................5.00 DISCOUNT RATES One Year 10 % THIS MONTH’S ADVERTISERS A g r i c o (B ud C om p ) A m e r ic a n R e s e a rc h C o r p o r a t io n C e n t u ry S u p p ly C o r p o r a t io n C h e m agro D i v i s i o n of B a y c h e m C h ip m a n D i v i s i o n o f R h o d ia W. A . C le a ry C o rp o ra t io n C o w b e ll Seeds, In c . J. J. D i l l C om p any G u n te r C o ., Inc. R. P. K le in & Sons, In c . L a k e s h o r e E q u ip m e n t L a w n E q u ip m e n t C o rp o ra t io n L & E C h e m ic a ls W. F . M i l le r Garden 0 . M. S c ott & Sons C om p any S p r in k le r I r r ig a t i o n S upp ly T e r m in a l S ales C o rp o ra t io n T u r f g r a s s , In c . T u r f S u p p lie s , Inc. W il k i e T u r f E q u ip m e n t C om p any 4 How Much Water is Enough? by J O H N H. M A D IS O N P r o f e s s o r D e p a rtm e n t o f E n v ir o n m e n t a l H o r t i c u l t u r e U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a at D a v i s P resen ted at “ C alifo rn ia G o lf Course Superintendents In s titu te ” 1973/ University of California at Davis The title raises the question of how much water is enough. The answer to this question may depend on who is asking it. The person developing a new golf course wants abundant cheap water and the more the better. is paying that $4000 a month to the city for water is apt to rephrase the question and ask, “How little water is enough?” The golf course CLASSIFIED ADS FO R S A L E — B u c k n e r S p r in k le r s . 25 - 870 GE S eries 3/8 in. n o z z le 1 in. d r iv e , 12 - 882 GE 7/16 in. n o z z le , 2 - 882 GE 1/2 in. n o z z le ; $25.00 e a c h . 228 Q u ic k C o u p li n g V a l v e s , M o del 3-31AR; $5.00 e a c h . C a l l C h a r le s K i n g s l e y , S upt., G e n e s s e e V a l l e y G o lf C lu b , 54 99 M i l l e r R d., S w a rtz C re e k , M ic h. 48473. (3 1 3 ) 7 3 2-23 81. In the figures irrigated west we manage water. It becomes an important tool. I rate it second only to fertilizer in management importance, and I’m not sure but what it should rate first in many management programs. At Davis there is a long history of research directed to the question of the economics of water and of crops and of how much is enough. One of the outstanding in the irrigation story is Frank Veihmeyer, a Professor Emeritus of Irrigation Science who retired over 15 years ago but is still an active worker in irrigation. Veihmeyer worked with range and tree crops and from his studies of dry weight yield set forth a principle that water to the plant for producing yield, from a moist soil at field capacity down to a dry soil at the point where the crops wilt. This principle has been a useful guide over the years to many ranchers, helping them to get optimal yields with minimum amounts of water. Continued on Page 7 is equally available (Scotts) ProTurf Helping the superintendent through turf research... ■ Controlled Release Fertilizers ■ Fertilizer/Pesticide Combinations SCOTTS • LELY • GANDY SPREADERS Finest quality turfgrass seed—Fairways • Greens »Tees • Roughs Scotts Windsor and Victa blends ■ Fungicides—Herbicides—Insecticides ■ Soil Testing—Weed & Disease Identification Charles Croley Technical Representative 1120 Jefferson Street Lapeer. Mich. 48446 Telephone: 313/664-8266 5 The "R ed F o x" of Oakland H ills Country Club • • • FORE-PAR MANUFACTURING CHICOPEE MANUFACTURING CO. 3M ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS AGRICO FERTILIZERS FOX VALLEY MARKING SYSTEMS E. I. DUPONT ACTI-DIONE PRODUCTS VELSICOL CHEMICALS CONTAINER DEVELOPMENT CYCLONE SEEDER COMPANY MALLINCKRODT CHEMICALS TURFGRASS, INC. Phone: Areo 313 437-1427 6 How Much Water Cont. After WWII, the USGA made many grants to the Universities of the US to in turf started again. get research Recognizing the need for more infor­ mation about water use and irrigation they placed a grant with Professor Veihmeyer to investigate the amount of water needed to maintain a putting green. Veihmeyer made his study along the lines used with walnuts and similar field crops and concluded that a putting green could be adequately maintained with an irrigation once a month. And you can, in fact, keep seaside bentgrass alive and healthy with only occasional deep irrigation. There were some missing variables in Veihmeyer’s experiment such as high levels of traffic and of nitrogen fertilizer, and I’ll come back to these later.When I came to Davis, Bob Hagan and I had some coo p erative work started. In our principal experiment we irrigated bluegrass turf at different intervals. The longest interval between irrigations called for us to irrigate when the grass began to wilt, and in practice this gave us a 20 day interval irrigations. For the shortest between interval we irrigated every other day whether the it or not. Irrigating once in 20 days we did get deeper turf, roots developed. The however, was not good looking. None of us would be proud to grow it. But oh, was it a joy to irrigate. That Yolo clay loam opened up cracks you could put a pencil in, and we couldn’t put water on fast enough to get run off. The water all went right in. Bob Hagan was asked to talk to the superintendents about our irrigation work on several o c c a s io n s . We couldn’t talk about our work because while it was started we didn’t have finished data to talk about. There were some basic irrigation principles how­ ever that we could talk about. It was those basic principles that Bob Hagan talked to you about that I am going to use to introduce my discussion today. The first point is that the soil is Continued on Next Page turf needed Once you uses Chipco something. You’ll be using Chipco everything. □ Chipco Spot Kleen □ Chipco Microgreen Liquid □ Chipco Turf Herbicide“D” □ Chipco Spreader Activator □ Chipco Thiram 75 □ Chipco Crab Kleen □ Chipco Turf Herbicide MCPP □ Chipco Buctril □ Chipco Turf Kleen C H IP M A N DIVISION OF R H O D IA . INC. New Brunswick, N.J. 08903 7 the amount of water How Much Water Cont. our reservoir for water. As with any reservoir, it contains depends on its depth. For us, the measure of reservoir depth is the depth of the roots - the depth from which the turf can use the water. The amount of available water in this reservoir is subject to additions and depletions. When there is rain, or when we irrigate, there are additions to the reservoir. When there is evaporation from the soil or transpiration from the plant, there are depletions. Once we have the idea of a reser­ voir, of additions and of depletions, that see can easily irrigation we in a sense a management becomes simple matter of bookkeeping. And as with bookkeeping where we can use fiscal periods for reporting, we can make time choices in our water book­ keeping. We can take a little out each day, add a little back each night and keep a balance. Alternatively we can take a little out each day, accumulate our withdrawals, and add back a larger amount once a week. The impor­ tant thing is to keep a balance, and not to allow the reserve to become overdrawn. The questions to which Hagan and I addressed ourselves were: 1 - Can we develop deeper roots so we can have a bigger reservoir? 2 - Can we go until the reservoir is dry and then refill it? Now why would we want to do this? Why would we want to wait till the reserve was gone before refilling? T U R F G R A S S/ l à TWO COMPLETE SEED INVENTORIES Merion Baron W inter Green Fylking Nugget Norlea C O W B E L L TELEPHONE WAYLAND 616-792-2241 Third, there First, there are labor savings. At that time you were all irrigating with quick coupling heads, and the labor savings with a interval could long have been considerable. Secondly, a long interval between irrigation provides one of the finest methods of weed control. You’ll often notice that one of the first results from of an automatic installation irrigation system is an immediate jump in the amount of weeds. is less soil compac­ tion. Compaction is greatest on a moist soil, one at field capacity. There is little compactability of a dry soil. Where there is shrinking of a clay the swelling action with shrinking and moisture cycles in re­ is storing soil structure and keeping the soil open so you get good water and air circulation. Fourth, with a longer interval you induce more in the grass and get a hard fiberous grass that resists wear and which has other good characteristics. Fifth, we save water with longer intervals between applications. The water the cracked soil readily and we wet the soil profile with much less runoff. As we irrigate less often lost from is evaporation. Another in actual water use by the plant. These savings occur in the following way: Each day a certain amount of sun’s energy falls on a turf. This energy is lost, some by being convected away on Continued on Page 10 less saving important fibre formation goes into there is ---------------------------------------- S P E C I A L I S T S GOLD TAG SEED QUALITY BLENDS Special Mixes for your particular need C O R P O R A T E D BRIGHTON 313-229-6169 GRAND RAPIDS 616-877-4614 l WAYLAND 1 MICHIGAN \ 49348 ★ BRIGHTON MICHIGAN 48116 8 Agrico 18-4-10 Works More Efficiently. And We’ll Go To Any Links To Prove It! It’s a fact. Agrico Country Club Fertilizer for tees and greens provides more efficient feeding. It gets down to the grass roots quicker, and gives you more feeding power for your money. We ll prove it to you on your own course, free of charge. While other fertilizers are still at the surface level— where they can be mowed away by greens mowers— Agrico’s 18-4-10 formula is already rapidly penetrating to the root zone. The key to its rapid penetration is Agrico’s scientifically sized, extremely dense particles. These tiny, non-burning granules are quickly dissolved and absorbed to provide instant, longer lasting feeding power. With far less pick-up by mowers. Proven on leading golf courses, Agrico’s 18-4-10 contains the balanced nutrient formula necessary for controlled sustenance of high-quality turf. Ten units of water insoluble nitrogen provide the balanced ratio necessary for continued, long-term feeding. Quickly available sources of nitrogen cause immediate green-up... Sulphate of potash increases summer durability and winter hardiness, while reducing disease incidence. Agrico’s low phosphorus content avoids excessive build-up while promoting vigorous, deep root formation. “Well Go To Any Links” To prove that Agrico works more efficiently, we ll go to any links. Complete the coupon below, and we ll come to you with a free product demonstration. We ll prove beyond a doubt the effectiveness of Agrico’s 18-4-10 formula for tees and greens. And we ll fill you in on Agrico’s full line of dependable course-care products. AgricoCountry Club Bud Camp 5208 Renfrew Drive Ft. Wayne, Indiana 46815 Please contact me for a free product demonstration of 18-4-10 and for information on Agrico's other course-care products. Name_____________________________________ Title______________ Golf Course_______________ Street or P O. Box____________________________ Phone Number______________________________ City__________________ State__________ Zip___ Offer good only m Agrico trade areas. 9 How Much Water Cont. the wind, some moves down into the soil by conduction, some is reradiated into space, and some is lost as energy used to evaporate water. On a given piece of grass kept continually moist a fairly constant fraction on the solar energy will be lost by evaporation. But if the soil begins to dry and water is less readily available; less water will be evaporated by the plant; leaf temperatures will be relatively higher by a couple of degrees; and so con­ vection and radiation will be more effective, and more heat will be lost by these means. Sixth, there is a more subtle reason to favor fully rewetting the soil at less frequent intervals. These have to do with the difficulty of managing a daily replacement. If we add back a bit too much each day, we have trafficked areas where the soil becomes com­ pacted, and where with daily irriga­ tion, the water sits on the surface and forms wet spots. Traffic tears up the turf and ruts the soil in these wet areas and they become progressively worse and form an ugly eyesore on the course. On the other hand if we misjudge and apply a bit too little each day, the top inch or half inch may remain moist but gradually we deplete the soil in thé lower part of the root zone and it becomes dry. Once we create this “dry bottom” pur grass goes through a period of daily water stress, and the salts in our irrigation water begin to accumulate in the surface layer where always results problem they become concentrated by evapora­ tion. This is a regularly occurring problem in irrigated turf. Every year we see areas of turf dying from physiolo­ gical drought caused by excess salts building up on top of a dry bottom. The from frequent light irrigations. The persons to whom this happens never believe they have a drought problem until we stick a shovel in the soil and show them. As I indicated earlier, Hagan and I succeeded in growing deeper roots by stretching the interval between irriga­ tions, but with long intervals we got poor turf. The best period appeared to be the longest interval we could go without causing stress to the grass. The recent work by Endo and his students confirms the need to avoid stress. He is finding that diseases such as Helminthosporium and Fusarium roseum may not be problems unless the thatch dries out. Then on re wetting there is a heavy release of sugars and nutrients from the thatch. This stimulates pathogenic growth of organisms. Again, let me note, we used blue- grass in our experiments. Had we used a grass adapted to water stress such as bermudagrass we would have been much more effective in stretching the period between irrigations. Let me give you again, the data from Vic Younger and the group at using" bermudagrass Riverside, irrigated at different levels. Continued on Page 12 No synthetically produced fertilizer can compare with MILORGANITE Golf Courses Use More MILORGANITE Than Any Other Fertilizer TERMINAL SALES CORR 12871 EATON AVE. DETROIT, MICH. 48227 (313) 491 -0606 10 The great Greensmaster 3 still has no equal. And now it’s the best spiker and thatcher, too. WILKIE TURF Equipment Company 1050 O P D Y K E R O A D P O N T I A C , M I C H I G A N 48057 (313) 373-8800 TORO 11 SISCO SALESMEN at your SERVICE JIM V IN C E has been d esigning irrig a tio n system s for a ll types of tu rf areas for the past 13 years. T h a t covers a lot of valuable experience for you in a p plying products to make up an irrig a tio n system . G ive Jim a c a ll and he w ill be there. SISCO sales o ffic e and warehouse is c o n ve n ie n tly located w est of 1-75 and 12 M ile Road e x it (R oyal Oak). S p r in k le r I r r ig a t i o n S upp ly C o m p a n y D i v i s i o n o f A. J. M i l l e r , In c . , 1316 N. C a m p b e ll R d., R o y a l O ak, M ic h . 4 8 0 6 7 , (3 13) 3 9 8 -2 2 3 3 (3 12) 6 2 9 -7 7 3 0 C h i c a g o ENGINEERED RAIN ARE YOU INTERESTED IN JOINING THE MICHIGAN AND BORDER CITIES GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION? Fill in the questionaire below and mail to: N A M E O F I N T E R E S T E D P E R S O N D A T E ALBERT KALTZ Maple Lane Golf Club Sterling Heights, Mich. 48077 Phone: Off. 268-2130, Res. 463-2892 M A I L I N G A D D R E S S -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C I T Y _____________________________________ S T A T E ________________ Z I P Or you may contact the next golf course supplier who calls on you and give him the information needed for application. 12 How Much Water Cont. TABLE I 43" 39" 38" 31" 27" Inches per year used How much water How irrigation determined Standard practice At 75% of evaporation loss When tensiometer reads 15cb When tensiometer reads 40cb When tensiometer reads 65cb The high rate used 60% more water than the low, yet all the grass looked equally good. is enough will the grass, but also on depend on where I am growing the grass. In those lovely lawns in the British Isles, the bentgrass is often under greater water stress than the bermudagrass in the above experiment. But in England we run up against the climatic factor of temperature. With a mean temperature of season grasses can tolerate and survive a great deal of water stress. In the California Valleys temperatures do exceed 70 degrees and even 80 and 90 degrees. Above 90 degrees the problem may be one of survival in­ 55 degrees, temperate stead of water use. Blue and bent- grasses will survive heat stress better with modest nitrogen levels and lots of water. Unfortunately, with frequent irrigation bent becomes a weed in bluegrass, bluegrass a weed in bent- grass and Poa annua and crabgrass increase as weeds of both. In all of this it is possible to set a maximum water use. The maximum is that needed to use up the sun’s energy input by using the energy for evaporation. This maximum is between 16-18” for June and July. (See Table II) To cut down from this maximum we might consider several factors. First is the grass. Bermudagrass can use less than the maximum as we saw. In 1955 we ran a s e r ie s of grasses from April to September with­ out water to test ability to survive drought. Bermuda was not only able to survive but continued to make a slight amount of growth. Zoysia was not as able as bermudagrass to tolerate Continued on Next Page Ran 1 an w h 0 1 6 S a 1 e d i b t r b u t o r p 22159 Telegraph Rd Southfield, M r 4 8 0 7 5 . . . 356-9137 irrigation system s R A I N - B I R D . . . S A F E - T - L A W N . . . N E L S O N Good Quality < § ^ Good Service - m a te ria ls j c o n s u lta tio n — design 3890 W. Eleven M ile Rd Berkley, Mi. 48072 . . . . 543 - 7730 13 other things happen. We have shorter roots and hence a smaller reservoir. The principle of Veihmeyer no longer applies. His work was done under conditions where nitrogen was limit­ ing. (Figure 1) As we increase nitrogen use our growth is affected more and more easily by water stress (Figure 2). the few How Much Water Cont. drying but did well on one irrigation every 3 weeks. Tall fescue grass not only tolerated 4 1/2 months of drying but within two weeks of receiving water was growing vigorously and had an excellent appearance. Most cool season grasses had some patches that survived drought but they were largely replaced with weeds. The exception was ‘Highland’ which had crowns surviving every inches. These crowns recovered and made a full turf again within a season. We can see the ability of Highland to recover from drought expressed on many golf course fairways where Highland takes over wherever sprinklers apply insufficient water. Another consideration in the use of irrigation water is the efficiency of the in using water. Grasses are plant reasonably efficient and their effi­ ciency can be increased by the use of fertiliz e r s. One problem is that efficiency of use and total water use are in opposition. With the use of nitrogen fertilizer, more water is used to make more grass with a higher degree of efficiency. We use nitrogen to grow more grass to take care of increased traffic and wear, to provide quick recovery from injury, and to grow a dense sod that competes with weeds. If none of these are problems, the least water will be used by a turf low in nitrogen which is making little growth. When we use nitrogen to provide us with this greater and denser growth, £GOLF COURSE CONSTRUCTION If we have high traffic and need a large amount of growth, then we need both high nitrogen and frequent irri­ gation. If we use less nitrogen we can use water less frequently. If we are limited in water use, then we should limit our nitrogen use appropriately. Continued on Page 16 GUNTER CO., INC. D-1 24 95 DIXIE HWY. HOLLY, MICHIGAN 313 6 3 4 -4 8 1 2 COM PLETE GOLF COURSE CONST. REMODELING EXISTING COURSES IRRIGATION SYSTEM IN STALLA TIO N CONVERSION OF EXISTING SYSTEMS 14 FIVE w ays TO GUARD These Chemagro turf pesticides make it easier to have great turf on your golf course. ®DYRENE turf fungicide DYRENE controls dollar spot, plus all Helminthosporiumstrains— melting out, leaf blight, leaf spot. Also controls copper spot, stem rust, brown patch and snow mold. "DEXON fungicide Stops Pythium. Non-mercurial also extremely effective in prevent­ ive programs to control cottony blight. »DASANIT nematicide Broadcast DASANIT 15% Granular for season-long control of microscopic "eel-worm” nematodes that destroy turf root systems; cause grass seedlings to wither and die. Thorough watering leaches it into root zone for maximum control. ®DYLOX insecticide Fast-acting selective insecticide gives quick clean-up of sod webworms. Dissolves readily in water for application with any spray equipment. BAYGON insecticide This carbamate controls turf insects, including species resistant to chlorinated hydrocarbons and organophosphate insecticides. For great turf that gives your golfers great shooting, order these Chemagro turf pesticides from your chemical distributor. Chemagro Division of Baychem Corporation, Box 4913, Kansas City, Missouri 64120. RESPONSEability to you and nature 7459 B 15 YOU’RE ENTITLED TO THE BEST Call Us For Your Needs GOLF COURSE CHEMICALS I (You’ll get it - and more!) Herb Carson Marvin Rothman AMERICAN RESEARCH CORP. 11840 M AYFIELD AVE. LIVO NIA, MICH 48150 (313) 522-2400 Ext. 2401/2402 3336 TURF FUNGICIDE - A broad spectrum sys­ temic fungicide that prevents and controls all 6 major turf diseases. Non-toxic, non-mercurial. BROMOSAN TURF FUNGICIDE - The newest broad spectrum systemic fungicide for those persistent problem areas or areas that have gotten out of hand. CADDY - Economical Liquid Cadmium Fungicide. PM AS (10%) - Crabgrass and Disease Control. SPOTRETE - 75% Thiram Fungicide. CLEARY'S GRANULAR TURF FUNGICIDE - For snow- mold, spring and summer diseases. CAD-TRETE - Broad spectrum fungicide containing Thiram and Cadmium. MCPP — Control of chickweed, knotweed, clover on bentgrass greens and fairways, bluegrass and fescues. MCPP—2,4-D — Controls chickweed, knotweed, dock, dandelion, plantain, ragweed, pigweed, etc. METHAR 80 — Controls Dallisgrass and crabgrass. Water soluble. METHAR 30 — A super crabgrass killer. AMA PLUS 2,4-D — Control of Dallisgrass, silver crabgrass, plaintain, dandelion, knotweed, chickweed, and other broad- leaf weeds. AMA (SUPER METHAR) - The new "A M A ” liquid crabgrass killer. ALL-WET - Added to water, it allows quicker and deeper penetration...enables soil to retain needed moisture. CLEAR-SPRAY - Liquid Hygrostatic Sticker to protect against w ilt and winter kill. TRU-GREEN - Liquid Chelating agent. GRASS-GREENZIT — Permanent green pigment, restores green color to dormant or discolored grass. Not a dye. l y L H r l l E I P. O. Box 10 Somerset, N. J. 08873 CO R PO R ATIO N 16 it Another to consider How Much Water Cont. factor in economy of water application is the frequency of application. Consider a hypothetical example in which we can use 10” of water over a 60 day period. We could apply l/6th inch every day. 5 The effect of this would be an evapora­ tion loss every day, and we would wet a loam soil no more than 1” deep (Figure 3). The soil would dry out every afternoon. “ We would probably create a dry bottom and would add all the salts to the top inch of soil. If we applied the whole 10” in a single irrigation we would wet the soil to about 5’ deep and since we probably don’t have roots that deep we probably ^ would lose most of the deep water. Our turf would dry out and we would j lose grass during the 60 days. If we j made 3 1/2” applications at 20 day intervals we would wet the soil to j about 21” deep and again, much of it would probably run through the root zone and be lost. If we were to apply 1” every 6 days or 2” every 12 days we would probably survive and make good use of the water. This would wet the soil either 6” or 12” . At the 6” level we could probably recover most of the water for | plant use, and salts would be spread over a 6” soil depth. subtleties of soil cracking, ; dry bottoms, wet spots, leaf tempera- tures, rooting depth when taken all | together may tend to add confusion to attempts to answer the question how often should I irrigate. But if you find j confusion arising, perhaps is be- 1 cause the wrong question has been asked. A better question is this: “If | water is limited, how do I use it most effectively?” To this question we can answer by laying down guidelines: 1- Dig down and find where your roots 1 are so that you know the usable size j of your soil reservoir. 2- From Figure 3 find out how many | inches of water is held in your soil in j that depth of reservoir. 3- From Table II note the ET for that time of year and see how long the: Continued on Next Page] The FIGURE 3 Depth of Water Required (inches) is HOW TO READ CHART: If a 12-inch depth of loam soil is to be wet, run down left-hand scale to 12-inch line, then across chart to diagonal line labeled "Loam'’ (at point A), and then project line vertically up to scale across top of chart. Depth of water required is IVz inches. water will last. Inches of water in but weediness and compaction become reservoir/Inches of water used per serious. Good management can be based on bookkeeping systems. The day equals Days water will last. This soil is a reservoir. The amount held is an average and doesn’t take account in the reservoir depends on soil and of the hot dry windy day when use depth of rooting. Water lost by soars etc. so the result needs inter­ evaporation and transpiration. It is pretation by that finest of computers, replaced by rain and irrigation. With the rational human mind. deep roots bermudagrass and tall | 4- Cut down your nitrogen levels to fescue grass will withstand the longest the minimum amount you need to get period between irrigations. ‘Highland’ good replacement growth, to make up makes good recovery following drought. for wear, caterpillar feeding, etc. Both efficiency of use and amount used 5- Minimize runoff and evaporation will increase with an increased nitro­ losses from applying water too fast, gen fertilization program. For good and too often. management superintendent will 6- Minimize percolation losses from ask himself the question, “How can I applying too much at one time. make most effective use of my water.” 7- If there is salt hazard use occa­ Use will be most effective if he sional irrigations that apply enough avoids from evaporation and water to leach salt out of the root runoff associated with application too zone before it becomes a hazard. fast and too frequently, and avoids Using such guidelines you should percolation losses from applying too be able to make the best use of limited much. Too fast and too frequently also water. If you have lots of water and no lead to dry high spots, wet hollows, need for care, the best question to ask dry bottoms, and excessive compac­ is still, “How do I use water most tion. effectively?” , and the same guidelines apply. SUMMARY Grass will survive infrequent deep irrigation but is poor. Grass will survive frequent irrigation Data for Davis is used. This will not apply in the fog belt. Elsewhere it may be taken as a in California, general guide. Next Page turf quality the losses TABLE II 17 R.P. KLEIN & SONS, INC. TURF EQUIPMENT SERVING EASTERN MICHIGAN AGRICO BEAN BERRIEN BRILLION DUPONT LELY ROYER YORK Call Toll Free 800-462-3263 Please Call Us for Prices & Literature 54 Brown Street Croswell, Michigan 48422 TURF SUPPLIES INC. 6 9 0 0 Pardee Rd.,Taylor, Michigan (313)291-1200 DON’T EVEN THINK OF BUYING....................... GRASS SEED FERTILIZERS FUNGICIDES WITHOUT CALLING 291-1200 TURF SUPPLIES INC. 6 9 0 0 Pardee Rd.,Taylor, Michigan (313)291-1200 CALL LAKESHORE COLLECT (216) 651-1600 FOR ALL YOUR TURFGRASS SUPPLIES - CHECK OUR PRICES - - QUOTATIONS ON REQUEST - LAKESHORE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLY CO. 10237 B E R E A ROAD C L E V E L A N D , OHIO 44102 to .937 1.94 3.01 4.84 6.08 8.35 8.36 6.46 5.04 3.35 1.67 0.91 From data of Pruitt on water use Average in. Month How Much Water Cont. hy turf: January February March April May June July August September October November December If we assume that it is worthwhile to save 0.3” of water per week - that is over 400,000 gallons a week on 50 acres, then it is worthwhile to change schedule II times a year, and apply I water following according the schedule: 0.3“ per week Dec. 20 — Jan. 20 0.6" per week Jan. 20 - Feb. 20 0.9“ per week Feb. 20 - Mar. 20 1.2" per week Mar. 20 - Apr. 5 1.5“ per week Apr. 5 — Apr. 20 1.8“ per week Apr. 20 — May 10 2.1“ per week May 10 - Aug. 15 1.8“ per week Aug. 15 — Sep. 10 1.5“ per week Sep. 10 — Oct. 1 1.2“ per week Oct. 1 — Oct. 17 0.9“ per week Oct. 17 - Nov. 15 0.6“ per week Nov. 15 — Dec. 10 The above are rather crude data and are illustrative. They make allowances for evaporation and other losses. One approach to use might be this: Suppose in mid-summer we apply 0.6” every other night, wetting the soil to about 4” deep. Then beginning Aug. 15, we skip one night a week and make 3 applications in 7 days; beginning Sept. 10, we make 5 applications in 2 weeks, beginning Oct. 1, we make 2 applications per week (7 sunny days); beginning Oct. 17, 3 applications in 2 weeks (i.e. 14 sunny days); beginning Nov. 15, 1 application per week; beginning Dec. 10, 1 application in 2 weeks, and then so on, back in the other direction. Of course, we make due allowance for rain, and pick up or schedule again only when skies are clear and sunny. The method of keeping the number of irrigations the same, but making them shorter or longer, is not desirable the obvious reason for that short irrigations are also shallow irrigations. only 18 the H S B 1 1 ■■ ON-3 Aerifìer® The big area tow-behind unit. . . . brings up to 16,000 lbs. of top dressing per acre. • Yi ton ca p a city w eight rack is standard. • H ydraulic lif t for ease of transport. • E a s ily removed to free tra cto r for other operations. • S T R A I G H T L I N E A E R I F I C A T I O N m e ans talcing lo n g e r c o r e s from h ig h e r, d ry e r, m ore c o m p a c te d area; s m a ll e r c o re s from lo w e r, s o ft e r s o il w i t h a s u b s e q u e n t l e v e l i n g a c t i o n th ro u g h d ra g g in g . • P A T E N T E D F L E X I - P R E S S S P R IN G S f i t o v e r sp o o n s and p r e v e n t t u r f t e a r in g . 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Individual hydraulic controls let oper­ ator adjust width of mowing swath to mow between trees and obstacles. With 7 mower units, the F-10 cuts from 45 to 62 acres per 8 hour day. Hydraulic sys­ tem raises and secures mower for safe transport. Travels at speeds up to 30 mph. Handles and slopes, too. on hills safely . . . THE NEWEST MOWING TNACTOR FOR MAINTAINING THE FINEST TURF IN THE WORLD W. F Miller GARDEN AND LAWN EQUIPMENT COMPANY 1593 S. WOODWARD AVE. BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN 48011 TELEPHONE: (313) 647-7700 MA Patch of Green” 3 1 8 2 3 U T IC A R O A D F R A S E R , M IC H IG A N 4 80 2 6 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY • SERIALS E, LANSING, MI. «8823