Vol. XIV. No. 333. 



I Mi: AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



it 



TURF. 



Probably the best material whiph i iu be used in the West 

 Indies for the successful maki wn, is the well known 



'devil's grass' (Cynodon dactylon), yel all owners oi lawns 

 ,,. troubled from time to timi bj it h t two nuisances, the 

 growth of weeds or coarser grasses among the lawn grass, 

 and the tendency of the latter to get 'patchy', that is to say, 

 to die down in spots. 



In the Agricultural Journal of India, October I'M I. 

 Mr. C. M. Hutchinson, Imperial Agricultural Bacteriologist, 

 has an instructive article on the culture as turf, of Cynodon 

 dactylon known in India, as doob which has many points of 

 interest to anyone in these islands who wants to make the 



'of a lawn. 'I'll.' writer shows that the judicious use ol 



unmonium sulphate is eminently successful both for main 

 taining the condition of a lawn oi devil's grass, and for 

 ridding it of deeper rooted weeds and grasses. 



Devil's grass is a shallow-rooted plant, and obtains its 

 • I from the surface layer of the soil, whereas the obnox- 

 ious weeds and coarser grasses are comparatively deeper 

 rooted. To supply plant food which tends to remain near the 

 surface, or to undergo only near the surface such changes as 

 necessary to make it assimilable by plant roots, obviouslj 

 results in the increased growth of the -hallow rooted plants, 

 ,,,d the diminished power of growth of the deeper rooted 



kinds. Nitrogen is the chief requirement of devil's grass. 



as experiments have shown. Ammonium sulphate, as a source 

 of nitrogen, is retained by the soil to which it is applied, and 

 tends to remain near the surface, whereas nitrate of soda is 

 ily washed down through it. This, then, is the reason for 

 the use of ammonium sulphate for encouraging the growth of 

 devil's grass at the expense of other deeper-rooted coarser 

 grasses and weeds. Experiments at i'usa showed that the 

 application of ammonium sulphate to a very bad piece of turf. 

 containing in addition to devil's grass several species of 

 coarse grasses and Euphorbiaceous weeds, resulted in the 

 practical elimination of everything except the devil's grass. 



A plot of specially bad turf was treated with ammonium 

 sulphate at the rate of .'U lb. dissolved in 4 gallons of water 

 per 100 square feet. Tins was applied with a watering pot. 

 Thus for a tennis court of 78 x 36 feet, 98 &■. of ammonium 

 sulphate would be required. In forty eight hours after the 

 application the coarser grasses and weeds appeared to be 

 dead, as did also the devil's grass, being brown and burnt: 

 but two days later fresh green shoots of devil's grass were 

 .seen, which gradually spread over the plot, and in one month's 

 time with no further treatment but daily watering and 

 occasional cutting, the whole surface was covered almost 

 exclusively with devil's grass. 



It will be seen that this rate of application of ammo- 

 nium sulphate, being very high as compared with agricultural 

 practice, is certainly expensive, but in dealing with such 

 small areas as tennis courts, putting greens, cricket pitches, 

 or small ornamental lawns, this expense would probably be 

 more than justified by the result. Audit must be empha- 

 sized that unless ammonium sulphate is employed in this 

 liberal manner, the elimination of weeds aimed at will not 

 be obtained. It does not seem likely that an application of 

 ammonium sulphate would be necessary more than twice a 



year, ami that at only half the quantity, i.e., 1 ^ tt>. in \ gallons 



to 100 square feet, roughly speaking 50 tt>. for an ordinary 

 tennis curt. The necessity for such application can be 

 judged by the colour of the grass; if this becomes pale green 

 or yellowish, an application of this sm titer quantity will s 



ire it to its proper colour. In cases where an mi 

 duly vigorous growth of weeds occur . the application of the 

 ammonium sulphate in a solid f >t the first-mentioned 



rate, has hail even a moi I ■ id effect in the di i of 



the weeds. It should be sown bvei the ground i 

 possible, on! then watered i i with the same 

 as if dissolved. This resull may perhaps be obtained jusl 

 well, and more simply, bj dissolving the amount of ammo 

 niuiM e in 3 gallons of water instead of I gallons. 



In dry weather, lawn I be watered daily: but to i 



Ii water will countei i eft© u alt, bj 



down the available plant I from the surface layer whi 

 it is needed by the devil The a< I ual ami t daily 



needed is small just sufficient to moisten the top inch or 



two of the soil. 



Dhe use of sand as a dressing for a lawn is net j 



At I'usa, it is stated, ih ■ ipplication oi an inch of river 



to a piece of poor turf .' 



only in the growth of but in the eliminate f 



bad weeds from the turf. 



With regard to cutting thegrassona lawn, the follow 



ing remarks by the writer quoted are worth noting. If the cut 



grass is not caught in the box on the mowing machine, an 



removed, it remains on the surface, either to dry up and re 

 decay for some time, or to attract insects which may injure the 

 growing turf. ThemanuriaJ effect, sometimes attributed to 



the untidy habit of leaving the cut grass on the lawn, does 



not seem to be real. But if the cut grass is removed, and 

 soaked in water for about a week, theextract thus prepared 



does contain a considerable proportion of ammonia, audit 

 watered on to the lawn, has a similar effect to the application 

 of ammonium sulphate, although not so lasting. [Jnfortu 

 nately the grass water thus prepared has a most objectionable 

 odour, which, however, disappears after a short time. 

 Cutting should be carried out systematically. To. Ion.. 

 intervals between cuttings ruin turf, because they allow the 

 formation of stems which are not only long, but thick. 

 Cutting in fact, may be regarded as a form of pruning tin- 

 grass plant, which stimulates its growth while altering its 

 shape, causing it to produce a larger number of leaves and 

 stems on the same area, and therefore a thicker and closer 

 turf. 



With regard to rolling, it is fatal to turf, if carried out 

 when the surface is too wet. This is also true of cutting. 

 It is obvious that the weight of the roller or mower will 

 puddle the wet surface of the soil, causing the formation of 

 a hard crust. 



The treatment of turf with ammonium sulphate, OUtli ted 

 above, should be adopted preferably at a period when heavy 

 rain is not to be expected, which would probably wash tic- 

 salt, too quickly from the top layer of soil. In I'usa the 

 stimulating effect of the treatment in dry weather was much 

 more marked than during the rains. 



In conclusion, it maybe said that experiments in turf 

 formation on the foregoing lines may be made b\ anyone 

 possessing a few square yards, a fair supply of water, and 

 sufficient interest in the subject. 



The manurial value of road sweepings is naturally vt 

 variable. In sweepings collected from country roads there 



may be a large proportion of sand ami other material 

 of no direct manurial value. The smaller proportion 

 of urine in road sweepings makes them less valuable than 

 stab 1 .- manure, as the nitrogen is not s,, readily avail 

 able. An analysis of a sample of road scrapings, carried 



out by the consulting chemists to the Royal Agricultural 

 Society in England, leads to the conclusion that tie- scrapings 



are little, if at. all, richer than ordinary soils ,,- far as 



manurial value is concerned. (The Journal of '/<■ Board of 

 Agriculture, November, 191 I.) 



