The Trend 1n the Greenkeeping ProfessionAn acute analysis of the green keeper's place in the golf field

By B. R. LEACHAddress delivered at the Third Annual Convention of the National Association of Greenkeepers of

America at Hotel Statler, Buffalo. February 13-15. 1929

B. R. LEACH\V hose speech at Buffa-lo attracted wide atten ..

tion

....,GREENKEEPERS,individually and

collectively, are inter-ested in two things.They are in terested inthe technical side oftheir profession, bythat I refer to thegrowth of turf, dis-ease control, etc., andnaturally they are in-terested in maintainingand improving theirstatus in the turf main-tenance work.

During the past tenyears, things have hap-pened, and in each case,

they have had an effect one way or the otheron the green keeper, individually and collective-ly, and we can give the situation of the green-keeper's status by discussing these even ts.

In 1920, or thereabouts, the Green Section\vas formed. Tl;1ere is no doubt that theGreen Section has had a pronounced effecton the status of the green keeper. There isno doubt that the Green Section has greatlyaided the green keeper in maintaining his turf.

From a technical angle, and from constanteffort and direct con tact, the Green Sectionhas had a pronounced influence. Whetherthis supply of technical information IS asgreat as it might have been is an open ques-tion.

There is another angle, to the Green Sec-tion influence upon the green keeper, which Ibelieve is especially realized by every manhere. When the Green Section was formed-to put it bluntly and boldly-the green-keeper was ignored. I sometimes wonder ifthe powers tha t be knew as much then as theyknow now whether or not that gross mistake\"ould have occurred.

Greenkeeper Was IgnoredBUT at any rate in the formation of the

Green Section, the greenkeeper was Ig-nored. That action had two results. Inthe first place it hurt the greenkeeper-hurthis individual dignity and it hurt his profes-sional standing. I scarcely question whetherthere is anyone who will contradict me onthat point. Another result of this ignoringof the green people in the formation of theGreen Section, and the lasting result, hasbeen the formation of a formidable army ofama teur green keepers.

In ignoring the greenkeeper, the Green Sec-tion catered to the Green chairman. It ishardl y necessary to bring back to your mindssome of the slogans in days gone by in theGreen Section. You probably remember thatfamous slogan-' 'Come and bring your green-keeper if you wish."

Now, in ignoring the green keeper and cater-ing to the chairman, the situation rose andcontinued where the green keeper was simplysubmerged, unless by chance he was associ-ated with a club in which the chairman wascon ten t to let well enough alone, and letthe green keeper attend to his business. Thegreenkeeper through force of necessity be-came a "yes" man, and when an individualin any business becomes a "yes" man, thatbusiness does not prosper the way it should.

Inasmuch as I have known a great manygreenkeepers, I think you will bear with mewhile I make just one criticism of green-keepers, and this is my criticism. You menknow your business. You might say thatnobody realizes that any better than we tech-nical men. You know your business, butyou keep too damned quiet about it. There'sthe whole trouble. No\v, when I say thatcollege men are getting into this field, andwhen I say that I think in the long run itmay prove a good thing, I have one thingin mind, and that is that you can't keep a

PAGE SEVEN

college man quiet! They are not built thatway. So that if this situation ultimately be-comes a mixture of older, wiser heads, withan influx of young so-called educated, ener-getic young college men, it is very probablethat these young men will exert an influenceon your proposition the like of which hasnever occurred until this time.

It may be you need these college men.'They may start something that you coulddo if you would, or have missed, or what-ever you want to call it. In other \vords,we might apply a little particle of philoso-phy to this thing. It has been my experience"Everything happens for the best, and everyknock is a boost."

I have heard many reasons advanced insupport of this army, as I characterize it, ofamateur greenkeepers-I have heard manyarguments advanced, but I have never heardone advanced yet which would hold water.

This afternoon you have heard ProfessorDickinson. * I hope you \vill remember whathe said about the qualifications of the green-

keeper. After hearing him, I realize thatthe qualities are even greater than I had pre-viously supposed. Now, if a green keepermust have all those qualifications, and ittakes all those years of training and workand study to become a green keeper, how in thename of Heaven can the chairman, or a chair-man of any sort, without all this achieve-men t-serve in the place of the green keeper ?This situation doesn't lead to any improve-men t in this business.

Business Interests NeglectedW HEN the Green Section was formed,

another phase of turf maintenance workwas neglected. I refer to the business inter-ests ca tering to golf courses. The GreenSection has never had adequate funds. Theyare very frank to tell us that. In otherwords, the golf courses which have utilizedthe Green Section have never supported itadequately. Furthermore, they have nevergiven anyone else the credit of supporting itadequately.

*Dr. Dickinson's address was published in the May iSllue of theNational Greenkeeper.

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It may be said that when you admit abusiness or industry into this organizationthat business enters in, and that such a thingis necessary in modern times. Industries, re-search insti tu tions all over the country arebeginning to demand more and more fundsfor the business of research.

In the New Jersey Experiment Station, Dr.Lipman never neglects an opportunity to getmoney for business of scientific research. Ifyou wanted to know whether money gottenin that way had any influence in the researchwork, the doctor would simply smile.

As an instance considering the reason lyeis used on turf, I will venture to say that ifyou went to a lye manufacturer, and said:-"Gentlem'en, you are not selling any lye togolf courses. Does it occur to you that this~ubject should be looked into?" they wouldanswer "We should do it for $5,000."

Business is interested, selfishly interested,and business rarely overlooks an opportunityto make money. I venture to say that hadthe business interests been considered duringthese years of Green Section activities, thatour progress along the technique of handlingturf would be much further advanced .

If I \vanted to be a court-house lawyer, Icould advance another argument showing theunreasonableness and unfairness of this mono-poly of the Green Section activities by thegolf clubs. I might say at this point that theethics. of my considering this at a meeting ofgreen keepers may be questioned, but I amsure that my code of ethics in this respectis entirely above board and not open to ques-tion.

Turf Research Costs MoneyIT IS amazing how little the average man

in the turf maintenance field, whether heis a business man or greenkeeper or club offi-cial-how little he knows regarding the finan-cial status of turf research. As you know-you probably know the Green Section-thegolf clubs of this country are financing theGreen Section to the extent of $28,000. Now,for every dollar of that money that the golfclubs put up-five or possibly ten dollars

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PAGE TEN SAY YOU SAW THE AD IN THE NATIONAL GREENKEEPER

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or

were put up for turf research by other insti-tutions, and I refer mainly to the federal andstate governments. The Green Section could-n't last two weeks on $28,000.

As an instance of where the money comesfrom for this research, I can give no betterinstance than my own work on grubs. Thediscovery and the working out of the leadarsena te method cost every penny of $100,-000. You must appreciate the fact that thefirst five years of that time, my salary listcovering myself, three technical assistants, andtwo workmen was well over $10,000 a year,to say nothing of the thousand and one thingstha t enter in to the research all the time.

Now, of that $100,000, the contributionof the Green Section of the golf clubs of thiscountry was $2,500. A little bit of golfclub money going in, but it would not lastfive minutes without the tremendous sumsof money from the government. As theGreen Section is now organized, a little groupof bankers acting for the clubs control theGreen Section. They control its activities.They control its program. You know bankersare clever men. We have an apt instanceright here, $28,000 controlling five times thatamount of money.

So when any question is made regardingmy code of ethics in bringing up this ques-tion, I simply say the golf clubs of this coun-try are putting in $28,000, but you and I,as citizens, are putting in all the balance.Therefore, it would seem logical and onlyfair tha t some of the pre-conceived and setideas of the Green Section might be verywisely modified.

The greenkeeper has a great deal at stakeon this. poin t. To the greenkeeper, turf isa living-his means of income. To the green-keeper, it is a hobby and a side line-not avocation. Whether turf lives or dies, whetherturf continues or stops, they will go righton making money in the banking and insur-ance business just the same. The influenceof these things on the greenkeeper are para-mount.

Until the greenkeeper-until the bus.i-ness interests catering to golf are given ade-quate representation on the Board of Direc-

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PAGE TWELVE SAY YOU SAW THE AD IN THE NATIONAL GREENKEEPER

tors of the Green Section, we will never pro-gress at the pace we should.

Now a talk of this sort five years ago-or four years ago (How long is it, Mr.McGregor? A. Three and one half years.)four years ago would have been just asvaluable as practically nothing. But thegreenkeepers are now organized. You havesome means of giving them information. I'don't suggest anything drastic. I believethese golf clubs and Green Section officialsare essentially fair-minded. I think that's afair statement to make. But the great diffi-culty is that their" education has been neg-lected along certain lines, and I would mostcertainly suggest that this organization beginthe rather difficult task of awakening them toa sense of their responsibilities and a sense ofwhat is most efficient, just, and right.

Now, before I left home, my wife, who is.of the cautious type, said to me: "Whenyou get up there, for God's sake, keep quietabout service bureaus. The subject is loadedwith dynamite." But fortunately the madamisn't here!

So I shall exercise my freedom as a free-born w hi te man to do as I please.

I t is very easy to see the fundamen taltheory of a service bureau from the view-point of golf club officials. To their mind,the Service Bureau simplifies their job ofpurchasing, and it cheapens the cost of theirsupplies, so that there was every reason thatService Bureaus should be permitted. Froman impersonal angle, I have learned somevery significan t and enlightening things abou tthese Service Bureaus.

Let me give you an illustration.All of us are finding our lives lengthened,

our pleasures increased, by these individuals,whom we sometimes think of as impractical.As far as doing our work is concerned, theyare no more impractical than we would bein doing theirs. They are filling a very\vorthy place in society, which we cannotcommence to estima te in money or comfort.

It is only when we work with them, andtell them what we have found out in ourpractical work, and then accept and applywhat they have found in their work, do

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FAIRWAY Water either of us make the progress that we should.How Service Bureaus OperateHose A COUPLE of weeks ago, I went to see

a friend of mine who is in the golf supplybusiness. He was called out on business,and I was sitting there, smoking one of hiscigars, and looking over a copy of the PoliceGazette. Everything was quiet and peace-ful. Suddenly the telephone rang. The clerkwent to the phone, answering: "Yes, thisis so-and-so Service. Yes, we have some verygood and durabe rakes for $1.35." He spokethis into the phone.

There was a little interruption while theother party talked. "Oh! we can su ppl y rakesat 85c also. Two dozen?" He took theorder down and cursed a little under hisbreath. The incident aroused me from myperusal of the magazine, and r said: "Jack,it's none of my business, but would youmind telling me who that was?" "Thatwas Lillian Russell of the Hoboken ServiceBureau." "What was the difficulty?" "Shesaid she could get plenty of rakes for 8Sc."That was interesting to me.

r said: "Do you mind letting me look atthose rakes? I use a great many in the courseof a year. If you have some real rakes for,8Sc, I am in the market." He took me inthe back room, and pulled out one of theserakes. For 8Sc it was a good rake. Butit wasn't the kind of rake that we wouldordinarily buy. In the first place, it had apoor handle. You know when you use arake of that nature all day, it knocks intoyour hands. The teeth had never been milled.They were rough as cast. It would be muchmore difficult to pull grass from them thanfrom a rake with a smooth and milled tooth.This rake had the customary curve in theline of the teeth of a cheap rake. This inter-ested me very much.

"Jack,"I said, "do you sell very many ofthese 8Sc rakes. " "Yes, we do. we sell agood many other service bureaus." The green-keeper wouldn't buy a rake like that. Heknows they are not a good buy at 8Sc whichI consistently say, and which is true with

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PAGE FOURTEEN SAY YOU SA\V THE AD IN THE NATIONAL GREENKEEPER

MILORGANITE PRIOR TO SEEDING WILLINSURE EARLY PLAY NEXT YEAR

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Hastens Turf Forinationon New Fairways

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Proper fertilization prior to seedingfairways, usually neglected, is essen-tial for quick formation of dense,uniform turf.

The first six weeks after seeding arecritical. Unless amply fed with ni-trogen and phosphorus, thin, disap-pointing turf results.

Poor, thin turf once obtained is dif-ficult and expensive to improve sub-sequently.

Milorganite equals results obtainedwith manure at lower cost and with-out danger of introducing undesir-able weeds.

Milorganite is easily applied, eco-nomical, and will not injure theyoung seedlings.

We make detailed soil examinationsand specific fertilizer recommenda-tions.

If that incident is typical of the servicebureau situation, there are one or two sig-nifican t things disclosed. In the first place,the club isn't getting wha~ the green keepershould have, so that the greenkeeper is great-ly affected by the service bureaU" movement.In the second place, the unsurmountableargument for the service bureau is saving-cheaper buying. Answering that, I submitto you that that incident, if it is indicativeof conditions, is not cheaper buying. It i~more expensive buying, as any man in busi-ness or running a golf course knows.

I doubt if many clubs realize this condition.I think some do. I have heard, if what Ihave heard is true, that there is some pullinga\vay from service bureaus. Now, it would2ppear that if the service bureau is to pros-per-if the service bureau is to continue asa factor in the turf maintenance game, itmight possibly be better to give competitivebusiness a better break, and to confine thebuying on a basis of quality as well as price.

Now, I hope to live to see the day whenthe green keeper runs the course. I hope tolive to see the day when his chairman is sim-ply a sort of curb on expenditures, a sort ofbalance wheel which will help to keep thegreen keeper on an even footing. I hope tosee the day when the professional and ama-teur green keeper are touring around the courseas a combination.

There is a club in Philadelphia, theAronomik Country Club. They have madea decidedly new development in maintain-ing their club. I understand that they havesimply eliminated the "Green Committee."Simply voted it out of existence. The green-keeper has to handle the situation, be respon-sible for the running of the course, responsiblefor the buying, and once a month he has toreport to the Presiden t or the Board of Direc-tors. I offer that we propose to watch thatexperimen t wi th a grea t deal of in terest andwatch its progress and from time to time getsome idea of how it is going. When thetime comes that the greenkeeper is such thatthe maintenance is left to him, then thegreen keeper will come into his own.

SAY YOU SAW THE AD IN THE NATIONAL GREENKEEPER PAGE FIFTEEN

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PAGE SIXTEEN

About the College ManJUST one other little point I want to bring

up and I am through. There has been agrea t deal of talk la tel y among green keepersabout the college man .

Now, any man who has served a four yearterm in one of our so-called higher institu-tions of learning is fully aware of the fact thata certain percentage of our college professorsare partially or entirely full of bull. Onthe other hand, a certain percentage of thesemen are unusually capable, One of myoidprofessors in Cornell is a man of this type.I am much reminded of him in hearing Pro-fessor Dickinson. This professor had a streakof humor in his cosmos, and one morningwhen he had had a fight with his wife atthe breakfast table, he came to class and deliv-ered barrels of wisdom to we young hyenas.I will never forget a little oration he gave usone morning. He began this way.

"Now, gentlemen, before we continue ourdiscussion on the economics of the cottoncrop, I propose to give you a short dis-course on the whys and wherefores of thisand that.

"Your mamas and papas send you herefour years, pay all the bills, and you live the'life of Riley. ' You are sent here to learn tobe farmers, agriculturists, or what not. For-tunately for posterity and the states of theunion, most of you will develop into bondor automobile salesmen, because of the smallpercentage of you who eventually gravitateback to the farms are going to be a disa ppoin t-ment to your parents and society at large.

"Agricultural is three per cent science andninety -seven per cent business. We can teachyou in a measure the three per cent science,but," he said, "we can't teach you the ninety-seven per cent business. In other words, youcan't make a silk purse au t of a fertilizerbag."

As I say, it is almost twenty years sincethat occurred, but I have never forgotten it.It was with that idea in mind that I madethose remarks yesterday about the percentageof "jack-asses" among college men. We col-lege men don't kid ourselves. Certain fac-tions do kid themselves. We have had cor-

SAY YOU SAW THE AD IN THE NATIONAL GREENKEEPER

respondence recently which shows that soclearly that there is no doubt of it. Youknow city men dominate golf clubs, and thecity man naturally knows city conditions,but he doesn't know other conditions-hedoesn't have the faintest conception of whatgoes into any question in which soil isinvolved.

Professor Dickinson is maintaining histen week course for greenkeepers. I t is tragicthat he can't at the same time run ten oneweek courses to teach: Green chairmen theetror of their ways.

Now, the entrance of the college man intogreen -keeping is something I don't feel per-sonally should be blocked. I have known agreat many green keepers in my time, and as. aclass they are a very interesting type of mento know. They are strictly individual, in-dependent, resourceful, and in' every way'worth cultivating. They are a type of mentypicall y American.

More About the Seed Markets-ChewingsFescue Crop PoorBy E. E. PATTISONIT IS expected that the market on Rough

Stalk Meadowgrass and Wood Meadowgrasswill be much higher. No new crop seed willreach here in time for Fall planting and stockson hand of both articles are exceptionall ysmall.

At this time of the year there is a natural in-terest in the 1929 crop of Chewings fescueand the early shipments from New Zealand orin other words those made during May andJune will arrive in time for Fall planting.

The quality of the 1929 crop of fescue willnot be as good as that of the 1928 crop. Thisis due to unfavorable climatic conditions ex-isting at the time of harvest. In the whole-sale market there has been quite a fluctuationIn pnce.

The market opened low, went to a highlevel as the result of an unusual brisk Ameri-can demand and during the last three weekshas receded somewhat. Based on the averageprice at which American importers havebought Chewings it is safe to say that the pricethis coming Fall will be approximately the

(Concluded on page 34)

SAY YOU SAW THE AD IN THE NATIONAL GREENKEEPER

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PAGE SEVENTEEN