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1

KEWSIL

THE LATE J O H N SHANAHAN

NOVEMBER

1934

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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 mem-bers and their Greens' Chairmen. Sub-scription price ten cents a copy, or a dollar a year . GUY C. W E S T Edi tor

312 Mt . P l e a s a n t St . , P a l l R i v e r , M a s s . HOWARD D. FARRANT Business Mgr.

132 R u s s e t t Rd . , W e s t R o x b u r y , M a s s .

November, 1934 Vol. 6, No. 11

I t i s w i t h d e e p r e g r e t t h a t w e a n -n o u n c e t h e d e a t h o n O c t o b e r 3 1 s t o f J o h n S h a n a h a n , g r e e n k e e p e r f o r t h e p a s t t h i r t y - o n e y e a r s a t t h e B r a e B u r n C o u n t r y C l u b , W e s t N e w t o n , M a s s . , a n d H o n o r a r y P r e s i d e n t o f t h e G r e e n k e e p -e r s C l u b o f N e w E n g l a n d .

J o h n w a s b o r n i n T e m p l e d e r r y , C o u n t y T i p p e r a r y , I r e l a n d i n 1 8 6 4 , c o i n i n g t o t h i s c o u n t r y a t t h e a g e o f t w e n t y - f o u r .

K n o w n a n d l o v e d b y t h e m a n y t h o u s a n d s w h o h a v e e n j o y e d B r a e B u r n f o r h i s d e v o t i o n t o h i s j o b a n d h i s f i d e l i t y t o h i s c l u b , J o h n w a s p a r t i c u -l a r l y g i f t e d w i t h p o w e r s o f o b s e r v a t i o n a n d a v i s i o n t o c o m p r e h e n d t h e v a r i o u s p h a s e s o f h i s w o r k .

I n h i s p a s s i n g e a c h a n d e v e r y g r e e n -k e e p e r h a s l o s t a f r i e n d a n d h e l p i n t i m e o f s t r e s s , a n d t h e G r e e n k e e p e r s C l u b o f N e w E n g l a n d h a s l o s t n o t o n l y i t s H o n o r a r y P r e s i d e n t , b u t a l s o i t s a b l e s t a d v i s o r .

J O H N S H A N A H A N M E M O R I A L

A committee of Messrs. Treat , Wilson and Swanson has been appointed to make various suggestions toward a John Shanahan Memorial. These suggestions and any others offered by our members will be discussed a t the December meet-ing. All members are requested to take special note of the fol lowing repor t of this commit tee: "The committee on memorial to John

Shanahan offer the fou r following sug-gestions.

" ( 1 ) I t is the concensus of opinion of the committee tha t there shall be a John Shanahan Golf Shield to be played f o r each year a t the annual Greenkeep-er-Pro Championship. It was suggested by the committee and chairman of the Pro Golf committee tha t this be an annual event, and f u r t h e r it was sug-gested tha t the committee take the mat te r up with Mr. Sawyer and the Brae Burn officials to see if Brae Burn will cooperate to the extent of having this championship as a permanent event a t Brae Burn and allow us to place the shield in their t rophy room as a perma-nen t memorial to John Shanahan; the names of the winners each year to be inscribed on the shield. " ( 2 ) I t was also suggested tha t the Greenkeepers Club of New England es-tablish a f u n d to be known as the John Shanahan Fund and tha t the club hold itself responsible to set aside each year the sum of not less than f i f ty dollars, this money to be available as a long t ime loan to any deserving greenkeeper or greenkeeper ' s son, the same to be used fo r educational purposes. Fur the r tha t a sum of one hundred dollars be ap-propria ted this year to establish this fund . " ( 3 ) Fur the rmore t h a t the editor of the Newsletter investigate the cost of a Memorial Number of the Newsletter , which shall contain a loose leaf por t ra i t picture of John Shanahan, 4" x 6", and suitable articles to go therewith. I t is suggested tha t this be the J a n u a r y issue. " ( 4 ) Fu r the rmore tha t the Green-keepers Club of New England have struck off each year a medal, to be known as the John Shanahan medal or reward of meri t , to be awarded to the person or persons who during the year contr ibute the most distinguished ser-vice to the profession of greenkeeping. (This is intended as a award not par t i -cularly to greenkeepers, but to any machine, remedy, control, or outs tand-ing contribution of any kind to the pro-fession of greenkeeping by any company or person."

We have recent ly heard f r o m Alex G. Bryce, whom most of our members will remember as one of the founders of our club. Alex has been with the Aron-mink C. C. of the Philadelphia District, bu t has changed his affiliation recent ly to the Wilmington Country Club of Wilmington, Del.

P U R C H A S I N G G R A S S S E E D F O R Y O U R G O L F C O U R S E

Golf is a game played on grass. The kind of grass varies in tees, fairways, greens, rough, in sandy soils, in clay soils and in the individual tas tes of clubs. Have you a definite program for the improvement of tees, greens and fa i rways of your course, or do you as some clubs do, order tee mixture, fa i r -way mixture and greens mixture with-out regard to the suitabili ty of the seed mixture to your conditions? Find out what type of a green you wish, what seed mixture is best fo r your soil and what is the mixture which is best fo r tees. Lay out a long t ime program and stick to it. The purchase of grass seed should be considered early in the year. The time to buy is not a day or two, or a week or two before it is used. Prices should be obtained several months ahead, the pur i ty and germinat ion noted, and the actual value of the seed worked out. A f t e r a selection has been made it should be tested. If the seed is as represented, well and good—if not, i t should be re tu rned . I t is well to be-gin in J a n u a r y to figure your seed re-quirements f o r spring use. If it is nec-essary to purchase seed on short notice buy your seed f r o m a reliable seed dealer in whom you have confidence. In the purchase of grass seed the highest priced seed in most cases is the cheapest. In figuring the value of seed f r o m the cur ren t price list, the purity, germinat ion and selling price are the th ree items of prime importance. Di-vide the selling price of the seed by the pur i ty multiplied by the germina-tion. For example: An 80 x 78 lot of South German Mixed Ben t selling a t a quoted price of $1.15 a pound. Multi-plying 80 t imes 78 gives a percentage of 62.4 of viable seed contained in this lot. Dividing the price per pound of $1.15 by the 62.4% equals $1.84 as the actual cost of one pound of viable seed. A 70 x 70 lot containing only 49 % of viable seed offered a t $1.00 a pound, actually costs $2.04. Take Red Top f r o m the same list—98.5 x 96 a t twenty-eight cents a pound actually costs twenty-nine cents. Take a 92-94 x 92 at twenty-six cents costs thir ty-one to thir ty-two cents per pound. Or a 90 x 90 a t twenty- four cents, cos*bs twenty-nine cents per pound. The first

Red Top and the last are of equal cost bu t not of equal value, the first contain-ing 94.5% of viable seed while the last has only 8 1 % . In the purchase of cheap seed of low pur i ty there is also the danger of noxious weeds which cost a g rea t deal to get rid of. Also seed of low germi-nation, even if the price is low is not an economy. To go back to the bents mentioned above, i t is obvious tha t i t is necessary to sow more seed when using a 70 x 70 seed of 49% viable seed, than an 80 x 78, 62.4% of viable seed. Actually it is necessary to sow 2.04 pounds of 70 x 70 and 1.6 pounds of 80 x 78 to get a pound of viable seed into the ground. The labor of pre-par ing a piece of land may be com-pletely wasted by sowing an infer ior grade of seed, and the opportune t ime f o r seeding may be lost by the fa i lure of the seed to grow satisfactori ly. Take care of the seed when it ar-rives. Much good seed can be wasted by improper storage in a warm damp place. I t soon loses its vitality, and real good seed when bought may be very poor seed when sown fo r this reason. The purchase of a f e w waste paper (galvanized) barrels with a t igh t cover to keep out mice is a good investment . Store the seed in a cool dry place, stir it well be fore using f r o m the barrel , the light seed gradual ly works to the top. Final ly—label each bar re l conspicuously so t h a t a workman will not make a dis-astrous mistake by tak ing or using the wrong seed.

— f r o m a Bulletin of the Service Section of the M. G. A.

M E E T I N G A T F R A N K L I N

At a meet ing held a t the Frankl in Country Club, Frankl in , Mass., on Octo-ber 29th, prizes were won as follows in the regular 18 hole medal handicap t ou rnamen t :

G. West, 94-22-72. M. McDonough, 88-16-72. P. Hayden, 94-21-73. S. Braio, 101-28-73. E. Ohlson, 92-17-75. P. Cassidy, 93-18-75. H. F a r r a n t , 99-24-75. Guest prize won by C. Howe.

A N N O U N C E M E N T

G r e e n k e e p e r s ' S h o r t C o u r s e R . I. S t a t e C o l l e g e

I t is with sincere regre t s t h a t the col-lege administrat ion has to announce that , due to the conditions brought about by the new building program at the college, it will be impossible to schedule the Greenkeepers ' Short Course this year . The classrooms are in con-s tan t use even now. When the remodel-ing and buildings p rograms gets under way it will be necessary to do a con-siderable amount of shif t ing of classes f r o m room to room. I t will be a difficult s i tuation a t best to care fo r the regular classes. The college plans to offer this course again as soon as conditions permit . There should be ample facil i t ies when the new buildings have been completed. T. E. Odland

The following are repr inted f r o m some of the advertising l i te ra ture in our files. We believe they are of in-terest . The development of bet ter tur f on pu t t ing greens has brought into use pure s trains of the finer leaf types of grass in place of mixtures of the coarser leaf grasses. To keep the tur f in the acme of playing condition, i t has been neces-sary to make f r e q u e n t applications of fer t i l izer and water . This forc ing of the grass also provided conditions con-ducive to the development of a number of diseases which undoubtedly occurred commonly on grasses fo r many years pr ior to their intensive culture. These diseases were fo rmer ly overlooked or disregarded as it was general ly assumed t h a t grasses na tura l ly died out to a cer-ta in extent during the summer months; also other grasses covered up the spots l e f t bare by disease. Now tha t only one or several varie-ties of grass are used fo r the greens, diseases have become of the greates t importance, as o f ten they may almost ru in the playing sur face of the green overnight. The t rue diseases of grass tu r f are caused chiefly by parasit ic f u n g i which a t tack the leaves or blades, and stolons or stems of the grass and, through killing the leaves or plants, usually pro-duce brown-colored areas on the tur f t h a t are popularly known j^s brown

patch. These diseases, with f e w excep-tions, have distinct symptons by which they may be distinguished f r o m in ju ry due to other causes. The successful correction of turf in-ju ry depends primari ly upon the cor-rec t diagnosis of the trouble, and secondly, upon the application of the proper remedy. S n o w - M o l d

Snow-mold is most prevalent in the nor thern t ier of states, part icularly Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and in Canada. I t may occur as f a r south as Virginia under favorable con-ditions and may appear in the early spring on both greens and fairways. Snow-mold is caused by the f u n g u s F u s a r i u m n i v a l i which lives in most soils. To thr ive on tu r f , it must have a t empera tu re near the f r eez ing point and a supersa tura ted atmosphere such as is found on greens when snow dr i f t s slowly mel t in the spring. High organic mat te r content of the soil, tender grass, and snow on unf rozen ground encourage its development.

Snow-mold occurs in i r regular circu-lar patches, usually less than twelve inches in diameter, which may run to-gether to cover large areas. The spots are a dir ty white or gray color, and may have a pinkish cast. Individual plants have a characterist ic bleached appear-ance and when the leaves are wet have a slimy feeling. The f u n g u s a t tacks mainly the leaves and at t imes the patch is covered with a cotton-like growth or aerial mycelium. Sometimes this myceli-um is so abundant tha t the leaves are mat ted together and f o r m a thick layer over the affected area, which usually kills the grass making resodding neces-sary. The dried spots somewhait re-semble brown patch. ' S n o w M o l d Snow mold is a f u n g u s disease tha t makes its appearance in the spring a f t e r the snow melts. I t a t tacks bent grass greens in much the same way tha t brown patch doSs. The disease can be controlled with Calogreen, Corrosive Sublimate, or . Calo-Clor, which should'; be applied at the' r a t e of 3 ounces per 1,000 square f e e t of green. I t is best ^ to t r ea t in the fal l a f t e r the first f ros t , but before heavy snow sets in.

C a r e o f V e l v e t B e n t T u r f V e l v e t B e n t demand less a t tent ion than most of the tur f grasses. A moder-

T o w n s e n d H E A V Y D U T Y F A I R W A Y U N I T S

F . O. B. F a c t o r y P r i ces 3 Gang w i t h F r a m e $300.00 5 G a n g w i t h F r a m e $500.00 7 Gang w i t h F r a m e $700.00 3 0 " U n i t o n l y $ 90.00

S i m p l i c i t y , s t r e n g t h a n d long - w e a r a r e c o m b i n e d in t h e n e w l i g h t d r a f t , s m o o t h c u t t i n g T o w n s e n d s .

Oil t i g h t G e a r H o u s i n g s . U n b r e a k a b l e G e a r s . 8 " D i a . R e e l w i t h 1 w i d e B l a d e s . T h e T o w n s e n d is a W o r k e r , i t h a s e v e r y t h i n g a g o o d f a i r w a y m p w e r needs . I t c o s t s l e s s t o b u y and to use a s i t h a s no f r i l l s o r g a d g e t s i n i t s m a k e u p .

B l a c k h a w k G O L F T R A C T O R S F. O. B. B o s t o n P r i ces

B l a c k h a w k M a s t e r $755.00 w i t h D u m p B o d y F a i r w a y C h i e f w i t h 900-15 $768.00 A i r w h e e l s a n d D u m p B o d y P a r k C h i e f — 7 5 " W r e e l Base $800.00 900-15 A i r W h e e l s 95% of t h e B l a c k h a w k T r a c t o r c o n -s i s t s of t h e n e w F o r d V8 c h a s s i s a n d eng ine . W e g u a r a n t e e t h e e n g i n e a n d c h a s s i s t h r o u g h Y o u r L o c a l F o r d Dea le r .

T h e r e d u c t i o n u n i t i s t h e s t r o n g e s t u s e d in a n y golf t r a c t o r a n d is g u a r a n t e e d f o r t h r e e y e a r s . T h e S p e e d y , P o w e r f u l , s p r i n g m o u n t e d B l a c k h a w k wi l l s a v e y o u m o n e y . W r i t e f o r d e t a i l s .

D i s t r i b u t o r s :

Power Lawn Mower Service Co. I S T e n n e y C o u r t , S o m e r v i l l e , M a s s . S o m e r s e t 0 5 0 4 - W

MODERN SERVICE The day of the i t inerant scissors gr inder as an all around repai rman has passed. Modern times have demonstrated the need fo r specialization along all lines. Conforming to the spiri t of the t imes we have developed the best equipped and most efficient L A W N MOWER REPAIR SERVICE in New England, working exclusively on fac to ry principles, where t ra ined men sharpen and recondit ion mowers, prolonging their life. This service makes it unnecessary to discard a used mower, hand or power, because of some defec t tha t may be remedied.

What Our . Service Includes: Every mower, including the engine uni t in power mowers, is taken apar t and completely REBUILT (not merely repaired)".' Every pa r t is thoroughly cleaned and any worn par ts replaced. Cylinder and bot tom knife are reground. When assembled, the mower is greased and the blade is again ground in a specially constructed machine, assuring a pe r fec t cut t ing edge. ATI mowers are painted without addi-t ional charge. We will examine your mower and fu rn i sh est imate without cost. Truck service is maintained f o r -ollection and delivery within one hundred mile radius of Boston.

IDEAL MOWER SALES and SERVICE 1 1 1 C y p r e s s S t r e e t , B r o o k l s n e , M a s s . — T e l e p h o n e B e a c o n 2 8 9 8

ate application of a complete lawn fe r t i -lizer is desirable in early spring and again in early fa l l on established tu r f . Likewise, lime should be added approxi-mate ly once every three years to pre-ven t development of excessive acidity. Otherwise, the only care required is periodic mowing and adequate water ing. T o p D r e s s i n g

A light top dressing with compost 3 to 4 months a f t e r seeding will aid in producing a smooth surface . Fur the r top dressings are unnecessary, unless pu t t ing turf is desired. For put t ing t u r f , regular mowing a t a height of % inch, combined with light top dressings in the spring and fall , is all the addi-t ional a t tent ion required. A v o i d i n g D i s e a s e

In common with all other bents, Vel-v e t B e n t may occasionally suffer f r o m at tacks of brown patch disease in hot humid weather , par t icular ly if closely cut. Outbreaks are most ap t to occur on grass which has been over-stimulated by heavy water ing and feeding. Water-ing in the evening should be avoided,

early morning or daytime water ing be-ing preferable . Where "Brown P a t c h " occurs, merely apply Semesan or Nu-Green or another reliable product, in accordance with the directions fo r con-t rol of the disorder. Brown Patch is rarely, if ever, serious on turf cut a t lawn length, provided the simple in-struct ions per ta in ing to fer t i l izat ion and water ing outlined above are followed. T h e R i g h t W a y t o W a t e r G r e e n s "Slow, long sprinkling over rolling par ts is an absolute necessity if desired resul ts are to be obtained." Wate r should be pu t upon greens only as f a s t as it will go s t ra ight down into the soil. Fas te r than tha t means much of the water will flow down to the low parts , carrying top soil and fe r t i -lizer with it, resul t ing in too wet low par ts or too dry high par t s as well as a considerable waste of water .

A D V E R T I S E R S ! — A T T E N T I O N ! All advertising copy fo r the Decem-

ber issue must be in by December 10.

The Buel Perforator F o r B e t t e r G r e e n s

A e r a t e s — P e r f o r a t e s — C u l t i v a t e s

S a v e s L a b o r W a t e r — F e r t i l i z e r

P o w e r A t t a c h m e n t s F u r n i s h e d , I f D e s i r e d

J. F. BUEL Woburn — Massachusetts

MA - CHES - OK L e a f M o l d a n d L e a f M o l d P e a t

For use on P u t t i n g G r e e n s , L a w n s , F l o w e r

G a r d e n s a n d P o t t e d P l a n t s N. J. Exp. Sta. found 91.73% or-ganic mat te r and water holding capa-city of 242 .1%. R . I. D e p t . o f A g r i . found 94.6% organic mat te r . M a s s . D e p t . o f A g r i . found 1.03% Nitrogen. D r . H o w a r d S p r a g u e says: "Materi-al is careful ly sieved and is f r e e f r o m objectionable roots and dead branches and no toxici ty."

P r i c e s : Per ton—$25 Vz ton—$15

% ton—$8 100 lb.—$1.75 M a y be p u r c h a s e d on B u d g e t P l a n

i f des i red .

M . F . S M I T H C o n c o r d , M a s s . P . O . B o x 1 7 4

Can You Read This? "ThE rEiSn OhAl Fwa yToTh EiRgR oWi NgQuA lit leS"

To every Greenskeeper or Club Buyer of seeds who writes us the correct interpretation, we will send one of

our new, automatic, complimentary mechanical pencils.

THOMAS W. EMERSON CO. BOSTON, MASS.

" N e w E n g l a n d ' s L a r g e s t W h o l e s a l e S e e d H o u s e "

— Worthington Mowers Sickle Bar Mower for W o r t h i n g t o n T rac to r s

AG A I N W o r t h i n g t o n c u t s S o w n o u t -t i n g c o s t s f o r y o u . N o n e e d to b u y t h e w h o l e t r a c t o r o u t f i t to g e t it." If y o u r W o r t h i n g t o n is a n y m o d e l f r o m t h e 1933 one on, i t c a n be e q u i p p e d w i t h a p o w e r t a k e - o f f a n d s ick le b a r . T h e b a r fo ld s u p o u t

pnpanu-

of w a y w h e n n o t in u se . I s e a s i l y r e m o v a b l e . W i t h W o r t h i n g t o n t r a c t o r g a n g m o w e r s a n d s i ck le b a r , t h e one o u t f i t m e e t s all y o u r c u t t i n g n e e d s . S e n d f o r c i r c u l a r . G e t t h e f a c t s . See f o r y o u r s e l f .

Sill WORTHINGTON MOWER COMPANY

f i r B o s t o n Off ice S T R O U D S B U R G , P A . 1 S T A T E S T R E E T

GREENS SWEEPERS B E A U T I F Y Y O U R G R E E N S

a n d e c o n o m i z e in u p k e e p w i t h S p r i n g f i e l d L a w n S w e e p e r s . U s e d a n d r e c o m m e n d e d b y G o l f G r e e n s S p e c i a l i s t s e v e r y w h e r e .

M a d e l a r g e l y o f w e a t h e r r e s i s t i n g a l u m i n u m , m a k i n g t h e m v e r y l i g h t a n d e a s y t o r u n . I n d i s p e n s a b l e f o r q u i c k l y r e m o v i n g a l l u n d e s i r a b l e m a t t e r f r o m t h e g r e e n s , s u c h a s l e a v e s , s t i c k s , s t o n e s , w o r m - c a s t s , a n t -h i l l s , e t c . A l s o i n v a l u a b l e f o r c o n t r o l o f b r o w n p a t c h , a n d i n w o r k i n g in a n d r e m o v i n g e x c e s s f e r t i l i z e r . A l s o v e r y e f f i c i e n t i n c l e a n i n g u p a r o u n d t h e C l u b H o u s e and; G r o u n d s . S p r i n g f i e l d S w e e p e r s c o m e i n H a n d O p e r a t e d a n d T r a c t o r a n d H o r s e - D r a w n M o d e l s f o r t h e F a i r w a y s .

H a n d o p e r a t e d s i z e s a r e 2 8 " b r u s h , 3 6 " b r u s h a n d 4 2 " b r u s h . T r a c t o r a n d H o r s e D r a w n s i z e s a r e 3 6 " b r u s h a n d 4 4 " b r u s h .

D i s t r i b u t e d b y

NEW ENGLAND TORO CO. 1 1 2 1 W A S H I N G T O N S T R E E T — — W E S T N E W T O N , M A S S .