10 



PETEIR HEHDEIRSOM 



37 COIRTILAHDT STo, HEW YOIRH 



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MAKING AND MAINTAINING GOLF LINKS. 



BY CHARLES HENDERSON. 



MUCH has been written and much advice given as to the 

 making and maintenance of golf links, particularly the 

 most vital adjunct, putting greens. From a practical 

 cultivator's standpoint the most essential point has been 

 missed, which is, that the trouble with most golf links 

 in this country is starvation. 



Most of the links experts have gained their experience in 

 Great Britain where climatic conditions are absolutely dif- 

 ferent from those that obtain here. There the cool climate 

 and frequent showers give an abundance of good turf al- 

 most without exception. In this country with its hot, 

 dry summers, much greater care and experience are 

 , necessary. 



FIRST in the selection of a composition of grasses for 

 the seeding that are best fitted to withstand such onditions. 

 SECOND frequent fertilization and watering are neces- 

 sary, particularly on the putting greens, in order to 

 sustain the grass which is weakened by the frequent 

 cutting, heat and drouth. 

 One of the safest and best methods of feeding putting greens during the 

 summer months is by means of manure water. This is easily made; four pecks 

 of horse or cow manure with two pecks of sheep manure (or one peck of hen 

 manure), which will suffice to make one hundred gallons of manure water; 

 thoroughly mix and allow it to remain two days before applying. 



The putting greens should first be sprinkled with plain water, then the manure 

 water should be applied liberally by means of an ordinary watering can with a 

 sprinkling rose on same. This operation completed, the water should again be 

 applied so as to wash it in thoroughly. It has been well said that water is 

 Nature's common carrier. It is, or should be, a matter of common knowl- 

 edge that all plant food to be available to the growing plant must be in solution. 

 Manure water can be applied in this way to great advantage every two weeks 

 during the growing season. The manure in the barrel should be renewed after 

 each application as its strength to a great extent is exhausted. Where it is 

 not convenient to make and apply manure water a good substitute is a light 

 dusting of The Henderson Lawn Enricher every two weeks, 14 lbs. to each 

 putting green, average size, 60 x 60 ft., followed immediately by a thorough 

 soaking with water. 



MAKING A PUTTING GREEN. A matter of primary importance in build- 

 ing a Putting Green, is the character of the turf which is to form its playing 

 surface. In the first place it is necessary that the ball run absolutely true, 

 and this requirement renders it impossible to sow Putting Greens with the 

 coarser grasses used for Fair Greens. These, because of their great extent, must 

 be seeded with grasses suited to the nature of the soil and the general character 

 of the grounds, which may be high and dry, or low and wet, or of varying forma- 



tion. On the opposite page we fully describe Henderson's Golf Course Grass 

 Seed Mixtures which have been used in laying down" many of the finest courses in 

 America. Because of the comparatively small area of Putting Greens it is quite 

 possible to bring the soil to suit the grasses to be grown on them. The grasses 

 for Putting Greens must be a combination of fine-leaved, dwarf grasses of inter- 

 weaving habit which form firm and elastic turf. Such turf cannot be obtained 

 by sowing one or even two varieties of grasses. There must be a mixture of 

 six or more, with different rooting habits — some deep and others shallow root- 

 ing — so that full advantage is taken of the soil, if a constant covering of turf 

 is to be maintained. Too often the Putting Green is made in a most haphaz- 

 ard manner, simply digging or plowing up the soil and giving it some fertilizer and 

 seed on the spot desired without regard to the mechanical conditions of the soil. 

 To obtain the best results, excavate where the Putting Green is to be made 

 to a depth of twelve inches, if the ground is gravelly or sandy, and fill in with 

 a compost composed of good top soil from an old pasture to which add twenty 

 per cent in bulk of well-rotted horse or cow manure and 200 pounds of raw ground 

 bone, all to be thoroughly mixed before filling in. In case the soil is of a clayey 

 nature with no natural drainage, it would be well to excavate to a depth of 18 

 inches, filling in the lower 6 inches with broken stone for drainage. The 

 making of Putting Greens should be done at least a month or so before the seed 

 is to be sown so as to permit them to thoroughly settle before seeding. 



REPAIRING PUTTING GREENS. The constant foot wear of greens as 

 well as the effects of heat and drouth will, even with the most assiduous and 

 intelligent care, cause bare spots to appear in the turf. The best way to repair 

 such damage is to have in reserve a grass plot sown with the same grass mix- 

 ture used in forming the greens. This should be prepared with the same care as 

 the greens and, of course, attended to just as regularly. Cut out the bare spots 

 in the greens, going to a depth of five or six inches, then fill in the excavated 

 space with a prepared compost composed of two parts good, fibrous sod from 

 an old pasture, a light soil is preferred, to one part well rotted stable manure. 

 Cut out a patch of sod from the reserved plot to fit the space, firm it moder- 

 ately after being put in place and water copiously. If this work is done carefully 

 and as described, the patching will be hardly noticeable and in a few days all 

 traces of it will disappear. The best way to prepare this compost is to put 

 down a layer of the sod, grass side down, then a layer of the manure and repeat, 

 having a layer of sod on top, always grass side down. After the pile is made 

 about a month it should be turned and the sod chopped up with the spade. 

 Two or three such turnings within a period of three months will usually be 

 sufficient to prepare it for use. The compost should be firmed down well after 

 being put into the space excavated and should be within two inches of the grass 

 surface after firming. A word of caution may not be out of place regarding the 

 position of the compost pile. It should be made on a hard bottom and where 

 water does not lodge. Weeds should not be allowed to grow on it, for 

 obvious reasons. 



