Grass Culture as Applied to Golf Course Con¬ 
struction in Florida 
Jos. R. Brooks, Palm Beach 
It is difficult to realize the great popu¬ 
larity of the game of golf. It is now 
played nearly all over the world. For sev¬ 
eral centuries it has been a favorite, in 
Scotland and England and its popularity 
is fast growing on the Continent. Bel¬ 
gium possesses several fine courses, the 
game having received impetus and royal 
patronage from Leopold II, of whom the 
following story is told. 
His Majesty was one day receiving a 
newly arrived American Ambassador, 
and in the course of the conversation 
happened to ask him what he thought 
of the country. The representative of 
the United States confessed that so far, 
he had not been very favorably im¬ 
pressed, as it had rained ever since his 
arrival, and worse still he found himself 
deprived of his favorite form of amuse¬ 
ment, as there were no golf links. Leo¬ 
pold II replied that he regretted his in¬ 
ability to influence the weather, but that 
he could and would supply the remedy 
to the second objection. The king was 
as good as his word, and gave his beau¬ 
tiful shooting-box of Ravenstien in the 
Sognie Forest, for the purpose, where¬ 
upon it was transformed into the Royal 
Belgian Golf Club, which now has a sum¬ 
mer course at Le Cog, a few miles from 
Ostend. 
Nearly every large city in this country 
now has many golf courses, Chicago 
alone having more than fifty in the city 
and its suburbs. 
The great importance of golf in this 
State lies in the fact that it is the most 
popular pastime of tourists. One of our 
best known hotel men recently said that 
if golf did not constitute the backbone 
of the resort hotel business, it formed at 
least a large portion of the vertebrae. 
Some of the oldest resort hotels in this 
State have within the last few years 
found it advisable to make, very large in¬ 
vestments in golf courses in order to re¬ 
tain their patronage. The total invest¬ 
ment in golf in Florida already runs well 
into the millions and is very rapidly in¬ 
creasing. 
Enough has been said to indicate that 
the construction of good golf courses has 
been and will continue to be, an impor¬ 
tant aid to the development of this State. 
Every member of this Society has there¬ 
fore, an interest in this game whether he 
be a player or not. 
The cost of production and mainte¬ 
nance of a fine turf on any course may 
depend very largely on the selection of 
the site. It is always essential to have 
an abundance of good water, and when a 
site can be. obtained which also contains 
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