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 Editor

312 Mt . P l e a s a n t St . , P a l l R i v e r , M a s s . MARSTON BURNETT . . Business Mgr. W y a n t e n u c k G. C., G r e a t B a r r i n g t o n , M a s s .

December, 1932 Vol. 4, No. 12

We are pleased to have this oppor-tun i ty to wish each and every one of our readers a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Sat isfactory New Year to come.

All of us can do our share to help this country of ours "come back" by shopping a t home, buying American products. Where all other things are equal, why not keep our money in New England, and t rade with the dealers who pay the taxes here, and help to keep our local inst i tut ions living. But, above all, keep American dollars in America.

There is a circle to all this ma t t e r of economics which hits us all. We are all interested in golf and golf courses. Golf, being a sport, and something of a luxury as played by the member of a pr ivate club, can only flourish when there is Prosperi ty. There can be no Prosper i ty while there is Poverty. There can be no Prosper i ty while there is much Unemployment. There can be no real Prosper i ty while this present era of low wages, and wage cuts, and price cuts, continue. There can be no real Prosper i ty unti l the f a r m e r who raises the raw product, the manufac tu re r who makes something of it, and the dealer who sells it, all can make a profit. The dealer only can sell when there is a demand f o r his product, there will only be a demand when the prospective customer has the means to buy the product, and the prospective customer

only will have the means as wages and salaries are raised, not lowered. What is vital to Prosper i ty is vital to us, as with Prosper i ty assured, our tasks will be easier, our jobs will be safer , and our salaries more adequate .

There are ways and means by which we all can help to bring back Prosperi-ty. By buying American goods, goods made in the good old U. S. A., we can st imulate business. By paying our bills promptly we can keep our credit sound, and help to keep the dealer f r o m bor-rowing money to keep going. By patron-izing those dealers who in the past have given us service and of ten credit, we can help to keep their businesses stable. We should recognize that cut prices of-ten mean weaknesses, not a volume of business.

A speaker at a recen t meet ing ut-tered this new slogan "Live and H E L P live". Cooperative competition should be the leading thought among business men. Price cut t ing sooner or la ter brings down not only the quali ty of the merchandise but it takes the bigger and s tronger seller down a f t e r the small-er and bargaining seller has fallen. We as buyers should be cognizant of these facts .

And so we urge not only tha t you be good citizens, t ha t you take an interest in your government , and reduction of taxes, but t h a t also you remember these fundamenta l s of economics. We ask the buying of American products, the keeping of American money here in America. Certainly the reluctance with which the debtor nat ions pay us the vast sums which they owe us should impress us with the need of keeping our money here in our own country.

By keeping our money at home we help to keep American f a rms tilled, American factor ies running, and Ameri-can dealers working, we help to bring along t h a t day when real Prosper i ty is with us again, and hence we help Golf and ourselves.

NEW CONSTRUCTION AT SACHUEST G. C.

When this golf club was first laid out the greens were seeded with R. I. bent. Gradually they were one by one covered with stolons f r o m an excellent s train of creeping bent. This bent gave a very sat isfactory pu t t ing surface, if it was topdressed fou r or five t imes dur ing the first months, and kept closely mowed. Probably it is as immune f rom brown-patch as any grass grown fo r greens.

However, a f t e r visiting the plots a t Rhode Island State College, and play-ing some of the fine courses around Boston, I became keen to have a t least one green surfaced with velvet bent comparable to the eleventh at Braeburn and those at the home of Kernwood vel-vet, the Kernwood Country Club, Salem, Mass. I secured two sods of Kernwood velvet and now have th ree generat ions and several hundred square f e e t of sod.

My number seven green was of f r eaky construction, a weak imitation of one at St. Andrews, fa l l ing away f r o m the shot, with only one place for a cup in 8,000 square fee t .

I t was heart i ly disliked by all golfers, dubs and pros alike. Last year I used an old discarded tee to build a kind of fo rmal backstop, t ha t an occasional ball might stop within pu t t ing distance of the cup. This was a stop gap, not a cure. This Fall, despite the Depression, I was able to convince the Committee tha t a ma jo r operation was necessary, and that no g rea t expense was involved; and I was permit ted to completely remodel and resur face the green with velvet bent a f t e r October 1st.

The only excuse fo r giving details of reconstruct ion is tha t some of the methods may help some beginners in using stolons.

We worked the first week construct-ing a substantial back to the green, a semi-circle f o r t y yards long, eight fee t

high in the center, leaving the f r o n t half of the green in play, fo r the tem-porary green which I had constructed proved none too sat isfactory. With a sod cut ter and t rac tor , two men were able to remove, roll up, and pu t aside about 3500 square f e e t the first day. The difficult problem was where to put the tons of sod with the least possible handling.

The only impractical thing we had to do was to sod the back bank before it had settled, as it was certain to be un-even. The al ternat ive would have been infinitely worse. Prompt sodding pre-vented the banks f r o m washing, and the piled up rolls of sod f r o m disintegrating, leaving only the put t ing surface ready fo r stolons.

By using a road scraper behind the t rac tor we were able to ge t a t rue grade on the pu t t ing surface, and pack the ground so firm t h a t set t l ing was out of the question.

When first we used stolons, we were taught to cut them fine, and distribute evenly over the su r face ; however, such a method leaves many places with little or no roots. It is much bet ter to t ea r the stolons apa r t in as small pieces as convenient, leaving some root on each piece, distribute evenly, and roll in so tha t the roots unite with the under soil, and cover with screened loam, if t ime permits.

This Fall the rain came down in tor-rents , no less than five heavy downpours in three weeks set the stolons even when not covered a t all. Also mild warm weather prevailed, so the stolons got a splendid s tar t , and have been topdress-ed with soil to protec t f r o m Winter f ros ts . A light covering of seaweed is a g rea t help to prevent f r eez ing and thawing during Winter months, where it is possible to get the seaweed.

In remodeling this green, I have made it simple, natura l , and with every par t visible f r o m where the third shot should be played in a par five, 545 yard

hole. The f a d of contour ing the greens unt i l the re is no place to cup has been grieviously overdone; they are dist inctly pa in fu l r a t h e r than p leasurable to the average gol fer .

As we did this recons t ruc t ion dur ing the slack season, the ex t ra cost was very l i t t le ; we kep t the course playable, and completed the new work in approxi-mate ly th ree weeks.

R. Wallace Peckham.

DECEMBER MEETING

The December mee t ing was held as a jo in t mee t ing with the Rhode Island Greenkeepers ' Asso&iation, a t the Nar-r a g a n s e t t Hotel , Providence, on Decem-ber 5th. Fol lowing luncheon, Lawrence Hay, as Pres iden t of the R. I. Associa-tion, welcomed the New England Asso-ciation, and in t roduced Dean G. E. Adams of Rhode Is land S ta te College. Dean Adams explained the Shor t Course f o r Greenkeepers to be given this Win te r a t the Sta te College. (P rogram f o r this Course is given elsewhere in this issue.) The enrol lment is l imited to 24 because of lack of more l abora to ry space. Among the speakers who will be pres-ent a t p a r t of the course a re Dr. Mon-te i th of the Green Section, and P ro f . Dickinson of the Massachuset ts S ta te College. Much of the Course will be buil t up a round the labora tory .

P ro fessor H. F. A. North , as the nex t speaker, told of the work which had been done on the exper imenta l plots a t the R. I. Expe r imen t Stat ion this past season. A new exper iment has been s tar ted , a comparison of fe r t i l izer ra t ios on th ree var ie t ies of bent kep t a t p u t t i n g green length. A new build-ing has been built to house equipment , etc. The plots seeded in 1905 showed no sign of th inn ing out ; roots were jus t as deep on acid plots as on alkal ine; accumulat ion of old roo t s on acid plots was more evident ; ammonium sulphate

works best in w a r m e r pa r t of season, n i t r a t e of soda in cooler par t s . Other resu l t s no t ed : On Ken tucky Blue, finer qual i ty and thicker tu r f comes f r o m ro t t ed m a n u r e compost. Compost has benefi ted creeping ben t more t han R. I. bent . Arsena te of lead controlled ear th-worms and chickweed. The seed mix t u r e plots showed tha t Colonial ben t and Kentucky blue are best p e r m a n e n t grasses, f o r other conditions red fescue can be added. Fo r ea r thworm control on f a i rways five pounds of a r sena te of lead per 1000 square f e e t is recommend-ed. Fescues and bluegrasses are un-fitted to close cut t ing. Plots of No. 14276 velvet f r o m stolons and f r o m seed show g rea t similari ty. Seasonable damage f r o m sod web worm in velvet ben t showed t race in May, very l i t t le in June , f a i r a t t ack in Ju ly t ape r ing off in August , heavy a t tack in September , t ape r ing off in October. In the new section, the bes t fe r t i l izer ra t io in cover-ing ground was 10-12-4, used as a pre-seeding fer t i l izer .

Dr. T. E. Odland spoke of the experi-menta l work and explained its re la t ion to the f u n d s which paid fo r the work. If more f u n d s were supplied, t hey could be used to advantage . Work to be t aken up would be done in cooperat ion 4

with the Rhode Island Greenkeepers Association.

A t the business meet ing, Roy W. E lder and Harold C. Durkin we re elected Associate Members.

The nex t mee t ing will be the Annua l meet ing, wi th election of officers, re -por ts of officers and committees, and will be held a t the Hotel Sta t ler , Bos-ton , on J a n u a r y 9th. A banque t will be supplied by the club f o r members .

Woodwor th Bradley and Gerald Simonet t i of Providence have recen t ly incorpora ted as Woodwor th Bradley, Inc. with office and store a t 156 South Main St ree t , Providence, R. I.

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RHODE ISLAND STATE COLLEGE Kingston, R. I.

WINTER COURSE FOR GREENKEEPERS January 30 — February 3, 1933

In response to reques t s which have been received f r o m individuals and the Rhode Island Greenkeepers ' Club there has been a r r anged a one-week course of lec tures and labora to ry work designed to assist those in teres ted in the development and ma in tenance of golf courses in solving the many problems which arise in this work.

An appl icant f o r this course mus t be a member of a g reens committee, a g reenkeeper or have had experience in the work connected with the care and m a n a g e m e n t of golf courses. , .

No en t r ance examinat ions are requi red . The n u m b e r oi s tudents is limited to 24. A reg is t ra t ion f e e of $3.00 will be requi red of all a t t end ing the_ course.

All lec tures and labora tory exercises will be held in Agr icu l tu ra l Hall. Lunch may be obtained at the college ca fe te r i a .

P R O G R A M MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 1933

10:00 - 10:30 A. M. Regis t ra t ion. Room 31. Second floor. 10-30 - 10:45 A. M. Greet ings. Room 41. Third floor. P R E S I D E N T BRESSLER. D E A N ADAMS. 11-00 - 12:00 M. The S ta te Survey of Golf Courses. DIRECTOR B. E. GILBERT.

1:00 - 3:00 P. M. Wha t Is Soil Acidi ty? Methods of Tes t ing Soils f o r Acidity and Phosphorus .

L. A. KEEGAN. (Br ing samples f r o m your course f o r testing..!

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31 10-00 - 11:00 A. M. Grasses Found on the Golf Courses of Rhode Island and

Types and Varie t ies Used in the Rhode Island Exper iments . ¡1. K. A. NORTH.

1 1 - 0 0 - 12:00 M. How Plan t s Live. H. W. BROWNING. 1-00 - 3:00 P. M. Seed Identif icat ion and Test ing. H. E. A. NORTH. L. A. KEEGAN.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 10-00 - 11-00 M. Soil Types and Their Adapt ion to Golf Courses. L. A. KEEGAN. 11-00 - 12-00 M. The Use of Lime Mater ia ls on T u r f . T. E. ODLAND.

1-00 - 3-00 P. M. Fer t i l izer Mixtures and Composts. T. E. ODLAND. L. A. K E E G A N . THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2

10-00 - 11:00 A. M. Control of Weeds in Tur f . T. E. ODLAND. 11-00 - 12-00 M Insects I n ju r ious to Sod, with Methods of Control . G. B. DURHAM.

1:00 - 3:00 P. M. Why Cost Accounts? P R O F E S S O R L. S. DICKINSON, Amhers t , Massachuset ts .

FRIDAY.. FEBRUARY 3 10:00 - 11:00 A. M. Insects In jur ious to Sod, Continued.

G. B. DURHAM. 11:00 - 12:00 M. Causes of Plant Diseases.

LESTER E. ERWIN. 1:00 - 2:00 P. M. Landscaping of Golf Courses.

DANIEL A. CLARKE, Proprietor , Red Oaks Nursery, Fiskeville, R. I.

2:00 - 3:00 P. M. Questions and Discussions. A f t e r each lecture there will be a period for group discussion.

As the enrol lment must be limited to 24, application fo r enrollment should be made a t once to G. E. Adams, Dean of Agriculture, R. I. State College, Kingston, R. I.

OUR HONOR LIST Our honor list includes those members who have contr ibuted at least one arti-cle to the N E W S L E T T E R during the last four years. Is your name on this list?

Marston Burne t t John Counsell Denis Crowley Thomas Fahey Howard F a r r a n t James Ferme Elmer Fuller Thomas Galvin Martin Greene Edwin Hansen Lawrence Hay Paul Hayden John Latvis William Lindsay Ernes t Lord M. D. Maxwell William McBride James McCormack Rober t Mitchell Harold Mosher Charles Mullaney

Alex Ohlson Michael O'Grady Thomas O'Leary Charles Parker William Par t r idge Wallace Peckham Elliot Pierce Evere t t Pyle Roland Robinson George Rommell John Shanahan Daniel Snow Clifton Sowerby Lloyd Stott James Sullivan T. W. Swanson Patr ick Tameo Carlton Trea t Paul Wanberg Guy West F r a n k Wilson

Robert Mitchell of Kernwood repor ts t ha t his course barely escaped serious damage f rom the very high tide of the last of November. The old foundat ion stones of the building which burn t at Kernwood this past Fall have been used fo r r ip-rap work a t the sides of the fifth and sixth holes. A new em-bankment has been built a t the seventh green f r o m marsh sod, which was cut with a Champion sod cutter , with the kn^fe set to cut as thick as possible, 3 inches.

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The old drains on the 11th, 13th, and 14th holes a t Braeburn choked up dur-ing the storms of the past Fall, and much work has been done lately get t ing them in working condition again. There will be extensive Winter sports a t Braeburn this year as usual.

Old Adam was a lucky hound, his days were filled with rest, i t is a cinch Eve never found a blonde hair on his vest.

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Newport Country Club, Newport, R.I. I t o l e » i l l h o U P s " 9

jyjR. GRANGER'S report is typical of the many received f rom users of this "new-standard-of-performance" Toro

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