TURF COMMS VOI I SSUE PfcM ..3 1 1 PURPOSE: To pass on what we learn willingly and happily to others in the profession so as to improve turf conditions around the country. SOME MORE FROM THE OKLAHOMA TURF CONFERENCE COMPUTER IRRIGATIONS Mr. Terry Little, an Irrigation Engineer, discussed all the extras that computer irrigation allowed you to build into the system. Such as rain sensors, temperature sensors (high and low), wind sensors, flow sensors, monitoring of flow, pump run monitoring in addition to all those other goodies you have seen and heard about such as precise timing of heads. DISEASE CONTROL: Mr. Doug Montgomery, assistant Extension Specialist Oklahoma State University, presented the results of their last years research. Best preventative Brown Patch control was obtained with Lesco 0586, Dyrene and Daconil, HWG 1608<2 oz/M good for 2 wks.). Best curative was obtained HWG 1608 at 1 fl oz/m Best preventative dollar spot control was HWG 1608, PP-523, Vorlan with Fungo(2 8< 2oz/M>, Dyrene, Fungo, Daconil, Banner and Benefit in that order, but all gave excellent to good control. Best curative were Dyrene, Fungo, Vorlan S< Fungo, Daconil. 60 day control was experienced from Vorlan, Banner, Fungo, HWG 1608, PP-523, and S-1194. Negative long term control (these plots at 60 days had more dollarspot than the check) from Risolex, Lesco, and Benefit; in order from most negative to least negative. Pythium preventatives - Koban & Aliette (4.5 & 8 oz/M) - best, Aliette at 8 oz good, Apron at 1 oz - fair, Subdue at 1 oz -fair. TURFCOMMS is published at unpredictable intervals by the editor and publisher! Douglas T. Hawes, Ph D Certified Professional Agronomist Specializing in Golf Course Maintenance Consulting 2408 Roundrock Trail PIanof Texas 75075 (214) 867-0176 Subscription cost is *10. Send checks to Doug Hawes at the above address. WINTER PROTECTION - AN UPDATE The January issue of Sportsturf, 1987 has an article on the new geofabrics as protective covers for turf. In it Gary Anderson, marketing manager of DuPont's Turf Blanket is quoted as saying "In the past three years we have increased the tear strength of the Turf Blankets six fold and the sunlight resistance three fold*1' They have also simplified the process of holding the sections together. The article quotes Dr. Roberts of New Hampshire as now recommending DuPont's "Typar blankets for sports turf uses." The article goes on to say that HPI Ltd. of Canada has set up distributors in the U.S. for its Evergreen protective covers. These are made to order in one piece. It was suggested that mowing be delayed for a day or two after removing the covers in the spring. It was also suggested that one take two or three mowings to reduce the height of cut to that desired for the season. Emory Hunter speaking about Warren's TerraShield protective covers says they should last more than three years if hosed down and swept off before being put away in the spring. COMPUTERS - STILL MOREs Had two recent request for information and advice on these new tools. As you may have noted prices continue to drop even on the IBMs and their compatibles. Also, as the prices drop the amount of memory available goes up. Where as 10 years ago a home computer with 4K was a minimal standard. Now 128K is minimal standard. I would suggest purchasing 512K if you were planning on being a serious user. The new computers are much faster now but unless you have a large data base you may have trouble appreciating that improvement. The newest software is very user friendly, but to be so it demands more machine memory. One of those seeking advice was headed toward one of the Apple II series. The other was headed toward an Apple Macintosh. Both good choices for their situations, as an IBM compatible would be for most of you. Most of you are going to need some help to get the best use out of what ever computer you buy. So give heavy consideration to what your best friend is using. If you have no computer using friends give the Macintosh strong consideration. The programs written for it are very user friendly. GARRETT HARDIN - Professor Emeritus of Human Ecology at the University o-f California is one of my favorite authors when it comes to writings on ecology and protection of the environment. Although I must confess to having only read two of his books, "Stalking the Wild Taboo" (SWT) and just recently "Filters Against Folly" (FAF). He first came to my attention when quoted in detail in an article written by a fellow professor during my University of Maryland days. The article quoted then was the one that Hardin became famous for in conservative circles his comments on "The Tragedy of the Commons". He is also well known for his "Lifeboat Ethics" essay. I have yet to see the first article in its entirety. It is available in "Soundings, Vol. 59(1)s120-137. The second is part of "Living on a Lifeboat" and is published in "Stalking the Wild Taboo" and Bioscience, 24(10)3 561-568. A sampling of Dr. Hardin's writings will follow here. For simplicity I will give immediately after the quote the page number and the abbreviation the appropriate of the two titles given in () above. But first why review this author at all in this "turf" newsletter? Good question. As golf course superintendents or close associates don't ever forget you are some of the most knowledgeable people on ecology and environment amongst your friends. You often have direct contact with the movers and shakers of the world. You therefore should be able to intelligently discuss the problems of the environment and ecology from a worldwide viewpoint as well as your own 150 acre viewpoint. Perhaps reading and understanding a world wide approach to environmental and ecological problems will help you better understand and make arguments to defend your approach for your 150 acres. Garrett Hardin is controversial1y proabortion. But, aren't most famous people of thought controversial? But first let us shift gears and look at another side of Hardin. "The attitude that regards work with thingsŠwork carried out with the hands-as dirty is one that is reborn time after time in societies prosperous enough to support a class that uses its skill with words to belittle those who make things work. Each such birth sets in train the potential suicide of society. Scholars' deprecation of working with the hands is still a serious roadblock to scientific advancement in Latin America, where entrenched upper classes honor poets more than scientists. The style of the humanistic cultureŠno manual laborŠhas infected the scientific culture in Latin America." (I have been told that this is also a problem in class conscious India.) "Latino scientists commonly assign all the routine work of the laboratory (of which there is much) to lowly untrained helpers. Thus do they deprive themselves of the subtle but real benefits that only "hands on" experience can give. National leaders in Latin America wonder why their science is unproductive. To scientists in other countries the answer is obvious." pg.l7inFAF. Or Hardin on pesticides, "The tunnel vision of enthusiasts seldom encompasses either time or the reticulated web of organisms and causes. The ecolate critic, with his irritating question "And then what?", is not welcomed by enthusiasts, whether they be profit-minded promoters or altruistic reformers. The commercial promoter wants to make a fortune selling something, e.g., pesticides. The reformer wants to diminish human suffering through single-minded attention to only one of the factors involved: for example, through increasing food production in a 
poor country in which the environment is being ruinously exploited by an overfertile population." pg. 24 in FAF. And Hardin on commonizing medical costs. "First of all, personal choice does enter in. Perhaps no one wants to be sick, but many people want to live the sort of life that favors illness. A recent study showed that 13 percent of hospital patients accounted for 50 percent of medical costs, and that smokers and drinkers were more common in the more expensive portion of the population." "Does the right to live unwisely include the right to impose extra costs on those who are wiser and more abstemious?" pg.122 in FAF. Hardin on abortion, "Critics of abortion generally see it as an exclusively negative thing, a means of non-fulfillment only. What they fail to realize is that abortion, like other means of birth control, can lead to fulfillment in the life of a woman. A woman who aborts this year because she is in poor health, neurotic, economically harassed, unmarried, on the verge of divorce, or immature, may well decide to have some other child five years from nowŠa wanted child. The child that she aborts is always an unwanted child. If her need for abortion is frustrated she may never know the joy of a wanted child." pg. 10 of SWT. 
Why bring up the abortion controversy? Because population growth represents the greatest unsolved problem in the human - world ecology picture in his viewpoint and mine. For an expansion of this viewpoint read "WorldWatch Paper 74, Our Demographical 1 y Divided World". This is available for $4.00 from Worldwatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 This report is not written by Hardin, but brings home the population problem of much of the world in a factual and frightening manner. It will be reviewed in the next issue. Both of Hardin's books quoted here are available in reasonably priced paperbacks if not found at your local library. END