22 JOUKNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTUBAL SOCIETY. 



the whole year round. But, however good a green may be, there is a limit 

 to its powers of endurance, and consequently if it is to continue in a 

 healthy condition it must have a periodical rest. To meet this difficulty, 

 when it is found practicable to do so, no better course can be adopted 

 than the formation of duplicate greens. If this is impossible, however, 

 each green should be made of greater dimensions than are actually 

 required for the exigencies of play, so that the hole may be constantly 

 moved and the wear to which the turf is subjected evenly distributed. 



According to the prevailing taste of the day the golfer's paradise 

 consist^s in a course on the sea coast where sand dunes predominate. It 

 will be readily conceived that the formation of putting-greens under such 

 circumstances is no easy matter. No amount of rolling will make such 

 soil cohesive, for it is always dry and crumbling in character, and the rain 

 goes through it as it would through a sieve. In such cases undoubtedly 

 the best plan to adopt is to apply a good dressing of clay or marl before 

 the greens are formed. In the same way, where the conditions are the 

 reverse, an application of sand to a heavy clay soil will effect a permanent 

 improvement in the turf. 



Turfing versus Sowing. — The question of turfing versus sowing has 

 already been dealt with at some length in the former part of this Paper, 

 and there is nothing for me to add thereto, unless it is to say that perhaps 

 sowing has even more advantages over turfing in the case of putting-greens 

 than it has in the case of lawns. As I have already stated, natural turf 

 varies greatly according to soil, climate, and locality. Probably no natural 

 turf in Great Britain approaches in quality the famous Silloth turf, which 

 is almost entirely composed of perennial grasses, for the growth of which 

 the conditions prevailing at Silloth are ideal. If is, however, an indis- 

 putable fact that such turf, when placed in different surroundings, does 

 in course of time deteriorate, and even the employment of turf possessing 

 such a reputation as Silloth turf undoubtedly has can hardly therefore 

 be considered worth the great outlay involved, in view of the fact that a 

 beautiful turf may be formed in a comparatively short time with a mixture 

 of the finest grass seeds, so proportioned as to entirely suit any particular 

 locality. On up-to-date putting-greens such a perfect surface is demanded 

 that the number of grasses suitable for the purpose is strictly limited, 

 and within such limitation the success of the green entirely depends 

 upon the proportion in which they are used. I have seen many a green 

 absolutely spoilt by the inclusion of too great a preponderance of one 

 species. 



Amongst grasses particularly useful for this purpose are : — Poa 

 jyratensis, Festuca rubra (true), Festuca ovina (true), Festuca ovina 

 tenuifoUa, Festuca duriuscula, and Agrostis vulgaris. All these grasses 

 have their distinctive uses on different soils ; they are compact growing, 

 not too exacting in their requirements, and capable of producing perfect 

 puiting-greens when given proper attention. Other grasses which are 

 useful in certain cases are : — Poa trivtalis, Cynosurus cristatuSj and 

 dwarf Perennial Rye Grass. The remarks which I have already made 

 relative to the latter species when dealing with lawns are even more 

 important in connection with putting-greens, and much thought should 

 be given to the many important considerations involved. 



