Evening star., 1938-02-10

Dyeins grass green might seem par
adoxicAl job-but not for the owner OF
lawn or golf green.
The problem Of how to do it has just
been solved by chemists Of the Depart
n,ent Of Agriculture. working In CO.
operation with the United States Golf
Association.
Brown patches" are often caused by
4 specific disease due to fungus which
kills of the grass in midsummer. This
fungus can be kept In check with a dye
known Is mAlachite green. The trouble
has been that it colors the grass blue-a
queer, unsightly kind Of blue that Is al
most As unpleasant to the eye as the
brown patches themselves.
Now, according to an announcement
from the Department OF Agriculture, it
has been found that the dye Is just As
effective when mixed about half-and-
half with auramine o, yellow dye,
with . small mixture Of crystal violet, =
red dye. Together these result in q
very srAsslike shade Of green which
cannot be distinguished from the origi-
nal color Of the greensward.
A half ounce OF the mixture, worth
about 10 cents, is sufacient when mixed
with water to spray 1000 square feet Of
turf. It keeps the grass green from three
days to three weeks, depending on the
weather. Rain before it has had time
to dry washes it of quickly. It also has
some tendency to bleach out under hot
summer sun, but during . dry spring or
autumn It is almost perfect.
Experiments have shown that this dye
ing process does not injure healthy grass.
It may even improve putting scores by
giving the golfer an evenly colored ex-
panse between the ball and the Gun.
Variation In shades may lead to mis-
judgment Of distance.
Man cannot make synthetic sunshine
nor something "just as Sood."
He may be able. however, to mix up
some limitations which are better than
others, 80 far As plant life is concerned,
according to experiments just reported BY
Dr.. Earl 3. Johnston Of the Smithsonian
Institutions Division Of Radiation and
Organisms.
The trouble is that plants and sun
shine have been associated for 4 long
time-at least 4 half million years.
Those plants that didn't thrive on It have
been eliminated in the course Of evolu-
ton, or driven into dark places where
they do not get much Of it. Those for
whom it was the ideal mixture have
thrived, remained in the open, and elm
mated their weaker competitors.
Sunshine, nr. Johnston explains, con-
sists Of an almost infinite number Of
wavelengths Of light. ranging through
the visible spectrum from the dark red
to the deep violet, and extending in both
directions into the invisible ultra violet
and infra-red. Now plants, like animals,
must eat, drink and breathe in order to
grow healthily. They are able to per-
form these functions through activAtion
by light which falls upon them.
First Of all, they must form chlor-
ophyll, the green In the leaves. This
process Is the keystone of life on earth.
Without it the whole structure Of life
would collapse. After the chlorophyll
has BEEN formed carbon dioxide gas must
be absorbed from the atmosphere, Of
which It forms very small constituent.
Moreover, they must draw up nutriment
food and drink-from the water and
soil through their roots.
Previous experiments have shown that
each Of these processes ID best promoted
By certain narrow bands Of light wave
laasth1 IN the solar 1pocttunn. while
a1h1eD AnNo sola1tVoly 61t3o e6oek 0hieg.