The Washington times., 1938-07-04

o.. A. S..
gus. / e. II Lillian Rixey
thriveS here because high humid
fly causes the disease to rise
from the soil and attack the
creeping bent.
That much Is true, according
to the staff of DR.. John Mon
teith Of the Department of Ag-
riculture, who are at present en-
gagged in a project to determine
the best types of bent for use
throughout the country for golf
greens, tennis courts and play
grounds.
But the experimenters main
tain that, with care, grass ten
mis- courts in the District could
be as successfully maintained as
IN New England, for instance,
where brown patch is not SO
much a threat.
Grass courts are more care
than clay or composition any
where in the country. Washing
ton would be no exception. But
It would seem worth while for
some enterprising local club to
put in a couple. of grass courts
in view Of the fact that when
Washington stars go away to ma
jor tournaments they immedi-
ately strike grass play and find
themselves at q severe handicap.
OPINIONS VARY
The Women's Sears Cup team
went to Baltimore with scarcely
any preparation for grass.
If Barney Welsh or Dooly
Mitchell go to Forest Hills this
year, they will play on unfa-
n1iliar grass.
Experts vary on the differ
0nce between clay and grass
play. Some say it slows the
game up because the ball sinks
into the turf and doesn't re-
bound as quickly. Others say
the ball bounces lower and is
therefore in play faster. All
agree that the footing is differ
ent and that there is decided
change in the tempo Of play.
If a local club should be so
ambitious as to install grass
courts, it will receive the full
cooperation Of DR.. Monteith'S
experimental project.
Treatment Of grass to eradi-
cate and prevent "brown patch"
Is simple. Sprinkle generously
with bichloride Of mercury. For
earthworms, cut worms and
inch worms, arsenate Of lead is
advised. If the worms should
get q hold, each morning t III e
surface Of. the court must be
gone over with a long bamboo
pole to switch off worm casts.
Most hardy grass advised for
Washington's climate is a COM
bination Of creeping red fescues,
Colonial bent and Kentucky
blue grass. It is the type most
commonly used, and although it
Is not quite so uniform and soft
as the beautiful velvet bent
that New England is able to
use, 1t is much less care.
NUMEROUS EXPERIMENTS
For base lines, which wear out
first Of all, DR.. Monteith's staff
recommends comparatively thick
bladed Bermuda grass. They
are now experimenting with
ZoySias, a hardy bent from the
plains of Manchuria. which may
be more lasting than Bermuda
and may retain its green color
later in the season.
Nothing daunts the grass .ex-
perimenters. If your grass loses
its lovely green color early, you
have only to consult them and
they will send you the preScrip-
tion for restoring it to its former
beauty. If anything they can i'm
prove on nature.
DR.. Monteith has invented a
dye which also acts as a fungi
eide. It is a mixture Of auramine
O., malachite green and crystal
violet which, when sprayed on
your golf green's or tennis courts
afflicted with brown patch or
seasonal color loss restores them
to a rich, healthy green. y
The green's committee Of a
large Middlewestern club were
in a stew not so long ago be
cause a large golf tournament
was planned and the green's
were in a frightful condition be-
cause of a near-drought.
They wired to DR.. Monteith,
at the last moment, for help. He
sent them his prescription and
the morning that the tourna-
ment was to start, the commit
teemen rose at 5 a. m. and
painted all the greens with a
spray gun. At least ten of
the tournament golfers took
time out to compliment the
committee on the evenness, soft
ness and beauty Of their greens.