FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
33 
Country Club course that it has been fol¬ 
lowed there ever since first tried about 
three years ago. The greens at the Ev¬ 
erglades Club at Palm Beach and those 
at the Miami Country Club are produced 
in the same manner. 
In order to keep a golf green in a high 
state of perfection, constant watching is 
required and the greens keeper has many 
difficult problems to solve. For instance, 
on the Miami Country Club links the 
greens were at times affected by what 
has been termed “damp off” or “die 
back.” Fertilizers and fungicides of 
many kinds were tried to correct this but 
with very indifferent success. The ap¬ 
pearance of this disease was peculiar and 
interesting. It was liable to be found 
particularly on a damp, foggy morning, 
of which variety we. do have one or two 
occasionally in Miami, boosters to the 
contrary. Very early in the morning a 
few small spots of thick white watery 
looking material would be found on the 
grass. These would more or less dry up 
and disappear as the sun mounted high¬ 
er, but around them the grass in a circle 
as true as if drawn with a compass, would 
lie down like dead. I have seen a dozen 
or more such circles on a single green, 
varying in size from a few inches to a 
couple of feet in diameter. A solution 
of sulphate of ammonia or nitrate of soda 
would sometimes partially revive this ap¬ 
parently dead grass. Finally an expert 
from one of the best known New York 
seed houses came down, examined the 
greens, pronounced them too highly am- 
moniated, and advised the application of 
acid phosphate. This was applied as 
greens were not treated. In a week the 
directed except that two of the afflicted 
greens had all recovered, treated and un¬ 
treated alike, so the, dieback still has us 
guessing. 
An interesting attempt is now being 
made here by the Miami Golf Club to 
keep nine of the greens of the Miami 
Country Club playable during the next 
few months. Heretofore, as far as I 
greens of the northern grasses playable 
know, there has been no attempt to keep 
during the summer months in Florida. It 
may be possible to keep them in fair 
shape for a couple of months if the 
weather is not too hot, provided night 
watering only is done and the grass be 
cut high enough to give the roots good 
shade. 
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness 
to Mr. Wm. Fremd for some of the facts 
used in preparation of this paper. 
