UNITED STATES QOLF ASSOCIATION SECTION QREEN Southeastern Office Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station T I F T O N, G E O R G IA SOUTHEASTERN TURFLETTER B. P. Southeastern Director ROBINSON V o l. 2 No. 2 October 1955 T U R F G R A SS C O N F E R E N C ES P AY D I V I D E N DS PLAN N0r7 TO ATTEND TURFGRASS CONFERENCES Why Attend Turfgrass Conferences? This question may be asked by Club O f f i c i a l s, Superintendents, e t c ., who have not had an opportunity to attend one of the educational schools» Certainly, those who have attended immediately recognize t h e ir value» Authorities t e ll us that the rapid advances in a ll f i e l ds has made it necessary f or a ll of us to keep up-to-date with progress« Certainly, the Turf grass Field with the tremendous increase e t c «, since World "Jar II presents a challenge to any one associated with t h is branch of a g r i c u l t u r e« in research, new grasses, materials, equipment, and Almost a ll of the Conferences are designed to 1« report s i g n i f i c a nt phases in research on a l o c al and national scale 2. present data or recommendations on the use of new materials, grasses, equipment, and e t c », and 3. the to help evaluate p r a c t i c al applications of turf grass management f i e l d. in industry and f i e l ds of agriculture Nearly a ll phases of educational programs. Certainly the f i e ld of turfgrass management is coming into i ts own and must, t h e r e f o r e, keep abreast of a ll developments. Other f i e l ds of agriculture throughout the United States have government supported research and extension programs. The f i e ld of turfgrass management, however, must f or the present maintain i ts own research and extension developments. The attending of turfgrass conferences is a big step in accomplishing this t a s k. in some way have adult Tips From the Florida Turf grass Conferen ce Many discussions and several a r t i c l es have appeared concerning the mat formation in t u r f, Dr* J» R« Watson, Jr# made a significant statement when he~3aid that, "Some mat is needed on most t u r f "« Exactly how much is not known« J«M« Latham, Jr reported findings from California that, at l e a s t, 2% nitrogen in a ll plants required for decomposition« This indicates a need f or the addition of nitrogen materials along with other elements to establish the equilibrium which Watson pointed out x^as needed« Ward Wood indicated that the use of brushes helped maintain a desirable equilibrium« small areas had been restored to normal growth by the use of nitrogen« It was reported that sod-»bound conditions on is "evapotransparation" work in various Due to the high amount of r a i n f a ll which normally exists in the Southeastern United States, this section of the country is considered to have abundant rain- f a ll f or the production of turfgrass or other crops« Noted exceptions, however, have been the droughts experienced during the past three years« Even during normal periods many sections of the Southeast go through droughts which are damaging to grasses« D« E« KcCloud with his sections of Florida finds that enough r a i n f a ll is obtained f o " ^ o od plant growth without i r r i g a t i on only f or short periods of the year« Thus, i r r i g a t i on should pay dividends FoF~m any Clubs in the Southeast which once thought t he y lia d ample r a i n f a l l« The amount of water required to wet d i f f e r e nt s o i ls to a depth of 10 inches is striking« For instance, of 10", 1 3/4 !! is required f or loam, and 2 required depends upon the season of the year, type of plant, depth of roots, type of soil, penetration of water, and e t c« Col« Ward, like many superintendents, wondered why dry spots occurred on putting greens shortly a f t er he was getting good distribution from the type of sprinklers used« Thorough checking of the sprinklers six f e et of the sprinklers, while others had a d i f f e r e nt pattern« Correcting this condition has helped to overcome one of the i rr i g a ti on problems f or Col« Ward« I r r i g a t i on and water requirements of plants is a complicated subject« indicated that some threw the majority of water within f or clay» The amount of water it takes 1" of water to wet aañd tóaa depth i r r i g a t i on and, if A ll turf producers are interested in the economical production of satisfactory turfgrass« A practical requirement for plant growth in the Southeast is zation« Turfgrass cannot be maintained without the application of plant nutrients« The storehouse f or these nutrients is the s o il and s o il tests point the way to increase the build-up of nutrients in" the s o i l« Your Regional Director pointed out the results of s o il analyses from several golf clubs indicating that 95% of the putting greens sampled had a s u f f i c i e nt to excess amounts of phosphorus, while 65% of the same greens were deficient had s o il pHfs below 6o0 and could use additional lime« Dr« Gene Nutter the following as important in determining the f e r t i l i ty requirement of grasses: the type of grass, variety management, season of the year, and variety growth differences « in potash, 25% of these greens sampled indicated f e r t i l i- In discussing some of the turfgrass problems Dr« Fred H« Hull reminded us a ll that sometimes the turf owner is the biggest problem« This is true because the turf owner or producer f a i ls to meet the minimum requirements f or growth« I' any tips on the i d e n t i f i c a t i on and control of turf grass pests were given. One which f i ts into the coining season was that diseases cannot always be i d e n t i f i ed by s3nn.pt oms • Brown patch or dollar spot symptoms my be caused by or "an isms not generally associated with these diseases. The a r t i c l e, "Important Diseases of Rye Grass Greens11, appearing; in the turf management section of the September 1954 issue of the USGA JOURNAL should be good reading for most turf producers f or t he c omin g seas on • in the use of pre-emergent herbicides for the control There is much interest of weeds in existing turf and in newly planted areas. During the field d a ~ at the Florida Conference plots sprayed with 5 10 10 pounds 'per acre of naleic hydrizide prevented seed head production in bahia grass grass) • (grass resembling Dallis There is No Monopoly on Knowledge Many new developments and problems are discussed or demonstrated at turfgrass conferences. A small sample from a Conference is given herein to re: ind a ll that plans should be made to participate in a local or The 27th National Turf grass Conference and Show to be held February 7-10, 1955, at Long Beach, C a l i f o r n i a. The Southern Turfgrass Conference, Femphis, Tenn., is held in early spring; the Southeastern Turfgrass Conference, 1 i f t o n, Georgia, is held each A p r i l; and, the Florida Turfgrass Conference, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, is held in August. Regional Turf Service is For Your Club- It Beginning A p r il 1, 1S54, the United States Golf Association Green Section, in cooperation with the Southern Golf Association and the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station, opened the Southeastern Green Section Office at T i ft on, Georgia. is the purpose of the Southeastern and other Regional Offices established throughout the country to insure that new developments and standard information are promptly available to golf courses and to promote turf research» Establishment of the Southeastern Green Section Office has greatly strengthened the Southeastern Turf Program. Approximately,100 courses now are members of the Southeastern Regional Turf Service and more applications are being received» You have an opportunity to see the layout at T i ft on and become familiar with turfgrass work f or the Southeast during the 10th Southeastern Turfgrass Conference to be held at T i ft on, Georgia, April 11-12, 1956. Any suggestions that you may o f f er which w i ll add to the effectiveness of the program w i ll be g r a t e f u l ly accepted. Mark these dates on your calendar today and make your plans to attend a Turfgrass Conference. Southeastern Turüetter US G A G R E EN S E C T I ON Sec. 34.66, P. L. & R. U. S. POSTAGE l%c PAID TIFTON, GEORGIA Permit No. 46 Mr. Alexander M. Radko Lipman Hall, College of Ag« Rutgers University Efew Brunswick, New Jersey