AUGUST, 1921

Grass Diseases and ParasitesIN191G we published in our monthly

Service Bulletin an article on theabove subject in which we gave a longaccount of our experiences in Europeand America with different grass dis-eases including "Brown Patch" and"M ildew." This seems an opportunetime to reprint the article and add afew remarks in reference to the recentepidemic wllich has attacked so manygolf courses in different sections of thecountry.

Many of our readers are already fa-miliar with the most unfortunate expe-rience of the Columbia Country Club,~\Tashington, D. C., just prior to stag-lUg the Open Championship Tourna-ment.

The Green Committee of this Clubexerted every effort to condition theCourse and about three weeks beforethe tournament the turf was in satisfac-tory shape when suddenly, almost overnight, the grecns were attacked with afungoid "brown patch" disease or "mil-dew" which ruined the turf for theevent. It was necessary to sand thegreens in order that they would playfairly true and of course this made thethin turf look even worse. They had amoth-eaten appearance. It was a ter-rible catastrophe, but with severe cli-tnntic conditions to contend with and

considering the composition of the soilwe doubt if anything could have beendone to check the disease and save theturf. It will take some time to get theturf back into good condition again.

I t is a curious coincidence that themaj ority of outbreaks of this diseasebrought to our notice the past five orten years have occurred immediatelyafter a thunderstorm and it is quiteprobable that sudden atmosphericalchanges may account for the rapid de-velopment of the disease.

Last year at the Inverness CountryClub, Toledo, just before the Cham-pionship we experienced some troublefrom a plant parasite and since wehad contracted to prepare this coursefor the Championship it caused us con-siderable worry. Fortunately, however,we were able to check the disease intime and with an improvement in theweather conditions and a strong deeprooted turf to help matters the greenswere soon brought back into first classcondition for the play.

There are so many diseases which at-tack grasses from time to time that wethink it would be well to describe someof the different cases we 'have hadbrought to our attention. Do not befrightened, readers. for the welfare of

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Grass Diseases and Parasites(Continued from page 1)

your greens when we say that there arenearly a hundred odd diseases which af-fect grasses; for fortunately the ma-j ority of these diseases only attack thegrass when it is in the flowering stage,so that only a few diseases will befound on turf such as exists on a well-managed golf course.

As you are, of course, aware, turf iscomposed of a collection of differentspecies of grasses, such as the Poas,Festucas, Airas, Agrostides, etc., andeach of these species is liable to differ-ent diseases. We thus find that certainparasitic fungi are generally found ona particular sort of turf, and it dependswhether the turf contains a larger orsmaller proportion of, say, Bent orAgrostis grasses as to whether it isbadly attacked or not. For instance, theI saria parasite, to which we will referlater on, is mostly found on what wemay term a fescue turf.

There is, accordingly, a considerablevariation in the effects of any particu-la.r disease when it breaks out in theturf. Some districts or counties appearto escape the attacks, whilst elsewherethe grass may be affected by variousdiseases or epidemics not noticed inother parts of the country. Many ofyou have possibly noticed how grassthat 11as been growing strongly forsome time will suddenly turn yellowand apparently die off, forming thinor bare patches. Whilst this may ap-pear to be caused by some fault of soilor treatment, it is more often due tothe rapid spread of a fungoid parasite,attacking the tissue of the grass in thesame manner as mildew will break outon chrysanthemum leaves. In mostcases, however, when turf is growingstrongly under good treatment andfavorable weather, it will resist the at-tacks of disease, and comes up againhealthy and smiling, so there is seldomany need to break one's heart or one'sback in preventing it from becomingpermanently destroyed or injured.

Newly sown grass more often suf-fers from attacks of disease than es-tablished turf, and the unfortunateseedsman often receives letters from

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purchasers of grass seeds containingsome sarcastic remark about the seedsnot coming up, when in fact the onlyfault is that the young grass plant hasnot formed sufficient root or strengthto enable it to withstand an attack ofautumn mildew caused by a spell ofdamp or muggy weather when heavythunderstorms are experienced followedby extremely hot sun which makes thesoil sweat if it has not perfect ventila-tion and drainage. Nearly all our grassdiseases and parasites may be roughlydrafted into three main classes. Theseare--

( 1) The mildews and microscopicalfungoid diseases which attack and de-stroy the actual tissue, or live as para-sites on the grass plants.

(2) Disease or weakening of thegrass leaves or roots that originatethrough a poisonous or toxic conditionof the soil, caused by fungoid growthin the soil itself.

(8) Parasitic plants which attachthemselves to grass stems and roots bymeans of haustorea, and rob the plantof food material or strangle it.

The :first division contains the vari-ous rusts, mildews, etc., and possiblydoes the most harm to the whole orderof graminre. The rusts and Takeall ofwheat, the Black Mould of sugar cane,Ergots of rye grass are all fungoiddisease. The second division is com-posed of those cases in which the grassis killed by the fast-growing slime fun-gus, Fairy Rings, etc., whilst the thirddivision of plant parasites causes thepartial or total destruction of grass bysuch plants as Yello'W Rattle, Dodder,Bastard, Toad Flax, and other para-sites.

Of the parasitic fungi belonging tothe first division, the Smut group is themost injurious, not only to corn but tograsses as well. Those Smuts knownas Tillitias will often do a lot of harmto a crop of meadow hay, especially ina dry windy summer. For golfers Smutmay be said to have some advantage,as one variety (Tillitias decipiens)makes Agrostis much dwarfer in habit,and it is said that Agrostis pumila is

.AugU8t~ 1921

nothing more than Agrostis vulgarisdwarfed by this particular Smut dis-ease.

Still another disease of the Smutgroup is that known as Takeall inwheat, which is a bad fungoid diseasein Australia and France in the case ofwheat crops. It is also found to alesser degree to attack Couch grass andBromes. Fusiporium Lolii is a fairlycommon fungoid growth found on H ol-cus, Lolium, Paspalum, etc., in thevicinity of rivers and marshes, thegrass blades being covered with reddishplush-like spots. The H emibasieii areanothed group of Smut fungi which at-tack grasses and cereals, especially onclay soils. '

RUST GROUP

We now come to another group calledthe Puccinia, which causes the well-known rust on grass. This is a moretroublesome group of fungi, as it at-tacks the leaves and stems of grassesin all stages of their growth, even whengrowing strongly under good conditions.Nearly all greens and lawns will showa more or less badly rusted patch ofgrass in a dry Spring or at the end ofa dry Summer; in fact, it is the mostwidely-distributed of all fungoid pests,attacking corn, tea, coffee plants, andchrysanthemum, ete., and attacks nearlya hundred species of grass.

The commonest form of rust foundon grass is Puccinia avenre, found onfoxtail, tall oat grass, and cocksfoot.Puc. airre is found on A ira crespitosaon open heath lands; whilst Puc. agro-stides is nearly always found on Ag-rostis alba and A. cani1la. We have seenlarge patches of both these grassesattacked by rust on Wimbledon Com-mon; and on Horsell Heath, nearWoking, several varieties of grasseswill be seen infested with various rusts.Puc. pore confines itself to the variousPoas, and will be seen on Poa pratensisand Poa compressa, even when theseare shaded by trees. Another rust,Puc. coronifera, produces the spores inthe form of a small crown on the leavesof foxtail, r.lfe grass, tall fescue, Yorlc-

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shire fog, etc. In America Timothy iscommonly attacked by Puc. Phleii pra-tensis, but it is comparatively rare inEngland. Several of these Rusts alsogrow on buttercups, nettles and docks.It is, therefore, desirable to keep theseweeds down as much as possible when-ever the grass appears liable to attacksof rust. A usual sign of turf being in-fested by rust is in the turf turning adingy brown or gray color, which after-wards becomes white as the stems andleaves die and get bleached. Directlythese patches are noticed a mixture of1lh lbs. of copper sulphate and 11h Ibs.hydrated lime in 50 gallons of watershould be applied, if it is late in theseason using 10 to 15 lbs. of mixture insolution per green, making several ap-plications if necessary; or permauga-nate of potash (using a quarter-ounceto five gallons of water) if the rustoccurs in the spring. Bordeaux mixtureis also good a.pplied with a sprayer, 2lbs. in 50 gallons of water.

There is another disease allied tothe rusts that causes long brown stripeson barley as well as grass lea.ves: thismay be called the "grass leaf stripe,"Pyrenophora trichostoma. It was foundto have broken out very badly in partsof England in 1908, and we came acrossspecimens of Poas coclcsfoot, Sheep'sfescue, tall oat grass, etc., all badlydiseased. It is presumed that the dis-ease was spread in that year by thelarge quantity of cut hay left lying onthe fields during the two previous badhaymaking years: and it certainly seemsthat where cut grass is left on tbeground the spread of disease is has-tened, more especially amongst thePoas and softer meadow grasses.

The next group of fungoid diseasesare the Milde'lOs. Although there areseveral of these that attack grasses, thecommonest species is a white powder-like Milde'lo, er.ysiphe graminis, which,,-ows on several grasses, and can befound in almost any hedg-erow duringSeptember, and also where grass growsrankly on damp, badly-drained soils.It forms irre~lar brownish white spotson the sheaves and blades of the grassand the tips of the grass shoots are

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covered with a very minute mould.Another Mildew, Phytium de bary-anum, is that which causes the damping-off of seedlings, and those inter-ested in gardening know the effectof this disease when it gets a start ina box of seedlings. I t also attacksseedling grasses at the neck when theseare growing on a very alkaline soil, orif a spell of wet weather comes justafter the seed has sprouted, but, un-like the gardener's seedlings, the grassdoes not appear to be destroyed by themildew, and grows away from it di-rectly the weather becomes dry again.In cases where this damping-off occursa good dressing of sand or a dusting of£ne dry lime or ground charcoal inpreference will often check it. As arule, this Phytium mildew is more oftenfound where grass seed has been sownon a sour soil.

The different mildews only attackthe Poas and softer grasses, as a rule,and it is seldom that Fescues, etc., getattacked. The disease breaks out atany time of the year whenever theweather is muggy, damp and foggy,though it is seldom noticed in wind-swept places, and is therefore morecommon on inland courses than those bythe sea coast.. In addition to these mildews, there

is a small red mould which sometimesattacks grasses named Fusarium Itete-rosporum. This will be found on Y orlc-shire fog, rye grass, and grasses withdowny leaves or stems. Although notso common in England and America, itbreaks out periodically in most Euro-pean countries. We came across sev-eral cases of this disease in July, 1916,near Witham, England, the grassflower-heads and shoots being coveredwith a red or orange-colored gelatinoussubstance, which became very slimyafter a shower of ra,in. One speciesof mould, Fusarium loliacum, only at-tacks Italian rye grass, and is seen onsewage farms where the soil is exces-sively manured. It indicates itself byproducing well-defined brown spots onthe leaves, these spots developing intoa dense mass of mould, which ultimatelycauses the leaves to rot off.

The Golf Course

CLADOCHYTRIUM GRAMINIS

We now come to one of the mosttroublesome of the mildews, which canbest be described ~s the blood mildew.This is a comparatively new grass dis-ease which broke out in various partsof England ten years ago. We havejust had a case of this disease broughtto our attention at Valparaiso, Chile,where we are constructing a new golfcourse. It seems only to attack grassesin the seedling stage when they havegrown about one to two inches high.Whilst previous to being attacked thegrass may have grown strongly andevenly, it will suddenly be seen to turna brownish or blood-red color in smallpatches which rapidly extend outwards,and at the same time the ground is seencovered with a very minute reddish-gray mould. If the affected grasses areexamined it will be seen that all the tis-sue is infected with the disease, but thatthe seminal node or callus is alive, andthis soon puts forth two little tilleringS1100tS,and in a month or so later thelawn is perfectly green again. Thiswill also be hastened by a little stimu-lant in the way of a weak solution ofKainit.

Last year the disease was particu-larly bad in some districts and we sawmany varieties of grasses attacked in-cluding Poas, for as a rule only' theFescues and down grasses are attacked.'Ve are glad to say that all the lawnsthat were attacked last year are now ingood condition, and, in fact, it is inter-esting to say that one of the most badlyinfested lawns was one in Putney, En-gland, which was so bad that an in-spector was sent from the Board ofAgriculture to discuss the matter withus as to what could be done to arrestthe spread of the disease. In someplaces the turf looked quite destroyedand dead at the end of Ma.rch, but inJuly the lawn was being used for cro-quet without another ounce of seed be-ing sown, and in September an almostperfect "sole" of turf had been formed.

.Where this Cladochytrium or bloodmzldew breaks out it is inadvisable toroll the lawn until the turf has recov-

AugustJ 1921

credo The treatment consists of apply-ing a weak solution of sulphate of ironfollowed by a solution of Kainit. Par-affin has been tried with sometimes suc-cessful results, but we do not recom-mend this. We have also tried solutionsof sulphide of potassium, and this maybe used as a very weak solution appliedin the evening in very bad cases, butshould not be done unless the circum-stances render it imperative, as we areinclined to think that the liquid injuresthe young tillering shoots springingfrom the callus or basal node of theplant. Bordeaux mixture can also beused in some instances.

Another cause of alarm is when thegrass is seen to turn yellow in the au-tumn, but this is a very minor ailmentand no harm occurs through it. It isdue to a kind of "influenza" attack thatthe grass suffers from, caused bychanges of temperature, and is moreoften seen when the nights are coldafter a hot day. The grasses mostliable to attack are the different spe-cies of Po as, Aira, Lolium, etc. If theleaves are examined they are foundcrowded with small whitish yellowspores which grow into irregular sha,pedmasses. These spread and connectwith each other, destroying the chloro-phyll, which causes the leaves to turnyellow and appear to be dying. It iscommoner on soils containing an excessof potassic salts or on a strong alkaloidsoil. No special treatment is neces-sary, but a little quick-acting manuresoon puts matters right, and if, as issometimes the case, it is due to an ex-cess of carbonate of lime in the soil, aone-percent solution of iron will oftenconnteract it.

Besides the above microscopicalmoulds there are other fungi that liveas actual parasites on the grass, takingtheir food from the host plant, I sariafuciformis.

This is a common fungoid parasitethat attacks the leaves of Fescues andtemporarily causes the "fla~" to rot off,though the plant itself does not ap-pear to be injured. Where noticed it.is a ~ood plan to try a dusting of dryquicklime, or charcoal, followed by a

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solution of nitrate of soda or Kainit,and this will check the pest and enablethe grass to withstand its attacks. Itis generally found on light or calcare-ous soils. It does not do much damagein this country, however, though inAustralia, it is sometimes rathertroublesome, where it attacks all sortsof grasses. It is said by some authori-ties that this I saria fungus is an earlystage of the Cordyceps fungus whichlives as a parasite on caterpillars andother insects. The I saria has the pe-culiar property of being bright andluminous under certain conditions.

ERGOT IN RYE

\Ve should make a passing referenceto the Ergots, Claviceps purpurea,which are very troublesome to thefarmer, as they attack rye and some-times barley. The Ergot will also befound to attack grass in fairly largepatches on pastures adjoining roadsidesor where a footpath runs through afield. It is chiefly troublesome in July,when the flowers or spikes of rye grass,barley grass, etc., will be found to con-tain small black spore masses calledSclerotium. Its only harm as far as thegreenkeeper is concerned is that grassattacked by Ergot has a tendency tothrow up a large number of embryonicflower stems instead of tillering, so thatthe grass becomes coarse. Cattle aresaid to be poisoned by the Ergots,though some authorities dispute this,and there appears to be no absoluteproof of this happening. Where grassis badly Ergoted the grass should bemown with a scythe and then raked andburned on the spot, if possible.

Epichloe T!lphina, known as reedmace, red muff, etc., is a parasitic fun-gus found in summer growing on thebase or stalks of many grasses growingin damp places. We have found speci-mens of cocksfoot, Timoth.1f' and espe-cially tall oat grass with this charac-teristic parasite in various eastern coun-tries, but have not seen it growing onagrostis, which is said by authorities tobe its commonest host plant. It growsin the form of a muff surrounding the

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stem usually above the node or joint,and is w'hite at first, then turns orangeor purple, when it is in the conidia orspor~-bearing stage. Although it ispractically harmless, it is as well tocut the grass before the fungus turnsorange-colored.

1;'UNGUS GROWTHS

The second division consists of thosediseascs set up by poisonous conditionsof the soil, the commonest example be-ing the fairy ring. These are causedby various fungi, the commonest being~Ia1'a8mius oreades~ but Lycoperdonperlatum and Stropharia squamosa aretwo other species often observed. Themycelium of these fungi feed to a cer-tain extent on the roots of the grass,and the mycelium sets up a kind of fer-mentation in the soil, rotting the rootsso that the grass dies off in patches oris at least considerably weakened. Asit is difficult to dig out the rings, it isbest to apply a solution of sulphate ofiron (one pound to one and a half gal-lons of water) starting from the out-side of the green ring. A second solu-tion at half strength may be appliedfourteen days later, three applicationsbeing generally sufficient. The groundshould first of all be pricked over with afork before watering, and it is best to doit in the evening if the weather is hotor dry. The other fungi, Tricholomaand Lycoperdon~ are more troublesomeon light soils where the myceliumspreads out in an irregular net work,causing the turf to look very unsightly.It is generally due to decaying rootsof trees or hedges that have been cutdown on the site of the lawn or green.

We must class in this division theClover Mildew, Peronosporum trifolio-rum. This is not a grass disease, as itonly attacks clovers and other legumi-nous plants; but when it does, it setsup a decay which spreads to thegrasses, and for this reason it shouldbe checked where noticed. It can bedistinguished by the under surface ofthe clover leaves becoming covered witha dense dingy and lilac-colored mildew.The leaves turn yellow and then rot off.

The Golf Course

The disease spreads rapidly outwardsin rings if the weather is warm andmoist, but a spell of frost or dry brightweather will generally check it. Aparticularly bad case came under ournotice in England, where one of themost beautiful lawns we have seen wasmade unsightly a few years ago by theclover being attacked by this mildew.It was checked, however, by mowingthe turf very closely and applying aweak solution of liver of sulphur fol-lowed by muriate of potash. Besidesclover mildew, there are other mildewswhich attack plants in turf, such asPeronosporum calotheca~ which is com-mon on Spurrey~ Sheradia~ Serastium,etc. None of these diseases actuallyattack grass, but they make the turf un-sightly and weaken it, hence our makingreference to them here.

Spumaria Alba.-Although not actu-ally a parasitic grass fungus as it livesin the soil, yet it may be considered asan enemy of the greenkeeper, as theplasmodium creeps up the blades ofgrasses, especially on a calcareous soil,and forms a dense mass of hard sponge-like crust which effectually chokes thegrass. I t is also said to kill horses ifthey eat this crusted grass, so it is ad-visable to mow it as closely as possiblewhen noticed and the grass forced bysulphate of ammonia or a quick-actingmanure. We might also refer to thepoisonous drips of trees which killgrass, that from sycamores, beech, andhorse chestnut being particularly poi-sonous. Where it is necessary to makegrass grow strongly under trees it mustbe helped along with good dressings ofmanure or sweetened compost.

Slimy Morrell (Leotica lubrica).-This is troublesome in wet lawns undertrees, as it causes large black massesof fungus which rot the grass. It oftenoriginates from the use of sawdust,mush-room soil or peat moss manure;and if troublesome a dressing of basicsla~ or ground charcoal may be given.

Peltidia Canina Refulgens.-This isa small black lichenous growth oftenfound in mossy turf. It may be de-stroyed or checked by a five-percentsolution of sulphate of iron, the turf

A'ugust.l 1921

afterwards being dressed with potassicmanures.

'l'he 1!:lj' or Fairy Cup (Peziza au-rantia) is a troublesome fungus onloamy soils overlying c'halk, but as it isso readily removed by being cut bodilyout with a knife no further referenceneed be made to it.

Slime Fungus (Myxom!Jcetes).-Un-der this name may be classed the vari-ous slimes, green or black, that covera soil in shady or confined situationswhere it is not covered by grass. Theyusually prove most troublesome on adamp soil or after a spell of continu-ous warm wet weather. A two-per-cent solution of sulphate of iron maybe used if the grass is very thin, buthalf this quantity if the turf is of finequality.

Where the blacker olive-colored algaeN ostoc commune makes its appearance,it is as well to apply a dusting of drylime. This pest spreads rapidly overthe ground towards the end of summerin damp situations, especially whensituated near slow-rwming streams orpools. As the N ostoc has the power ofmovement and travels over the ground,in all probability it originates from ad-joining pools, and it is therefore ad-visable to apply a dusting of dry limearound the banks of the pool if itproves troublesome at all.

THIRD DIVISION

The third division consists of thoseplant parasites that live morc or lesson grasses, and we will briefly refer toa. few of the commonest plants that arcparasitic on grass.

The Yello'W Rattle (Rhillanthus cris-tagalli) is n pretty yellow-floweredplant found in meadows that are badlydrained. Spring grazing with sheepand an application of six cwt. of saltor basic slag is a good preventive andwill tend to check or destroy the plants.

Red Rattle (Pedicularis palustris)is another parasitic plant found ongrasses, especially cocksfoot and talloat grass when growing in peaty ordamp soils.

Rnrfsia Odullfitrs is n red flowcrco

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parasitic plant found on poor soils bythe roadsides or in gravel pits, and,whilst not invariably parasitic on grass,several of its roots will be found at-tached to grass roots by means of littlesuckers.

ll:1elanpyru71l Pratellse, the CowJVheat, is also semi-parasitic on grass,but as a rule only when growingstrongly on the edge of a plantationwill it become parasitic.

E,uphrasia Officinalis, the commonEyebright, is more often than not para-sitic on grass. The Bastard Toad Flax(1'hesium linophyllum) is another semi-parasitic plant, found more especiallyon chalk pastures in the southern coun-ties of England.

Bastard Toad Flax.-All the aboveparasites attach themselves to the grassroots by means of haustoria or suckers,and rob it of the food material that itmanufactures for itself.

Dodder on Gorse.-The well-knownDodtl er of clover is not parasitic ongrass, but there is a species, Cuscutaepithymum, that is said to be parasiticon grass; but whilst we have found itgrowing on many other plants, we haveonly once come across it, and even thenit was doubtful whether the Dodderwas living on a piece of heather or thegrass that surrounded it.

REMEDIES

Having described the more commongrass diseases, we must say somethingabout the remedies. First and foremostthe best treatment in all cases wheregrass is attacked by disease is to mowthe turf as closely as possible and thento encourage a strong growth of grassby quick-acting manures, so as to en-able the grass to grow away from thedisease. In soft shady turf, and ont110se ~olf courses that lie on riverflats where fungoid diseases spread,-err quicklr, drastic treatment may berendered necessary. Tn this case, spray-ing with sulphide of potassium (oneounce to ten gallons of water) may bedone. Permanganate of potash dilutedto a c1ea,r rose color also makes a use-ful preventh-e, Hnd applications of flow-

12ers of sulphur applied when the grassis wet may also be recommended forbad outbreaks of the red mould, etc.Excepting in cases where soil is sour,solutions of Kainit (one ounce per gal-Ion) are useful in helping the grassto resist mild attacks of rust, etc.Ground charcoal is particula.rly usefulin most cases. Note-Severa~ weakapplications of Bordeaux mixture ap-plied with a hand pump and spray willcheck most all of the common grassdiseases.

All dressings are best applied in theevening, as it is during the night thatmildew spreads most rapidly. On soilsliable to repeated attacks of variousgrass mildews, the excessive use of nit-rogenous and crude acid manures shouldbe avoided, and where it is necessaryto hasten the growth without undulyforcing the grass, phosphatic dressingsshould be used. Bone meal must beblamed for causing a large amount offungoid growth as well as encouragingclover; whilst leaf mould, especiallythat from ash and sycamore leaves, alsosets up mildews, though the advantagesof the leaf mould may possibly out-weigh the disadvantages. It is quitepossible that the use of mushroom soilfor top dressing greens causes a fungusgrowth under certain conditions.

~Iost of the diseases referred to arenoticeable when they are in the formof white, gray or orange-colored moulds,this generally being the spore-bearingstage. It is then that precautions toprevent the disease from spreadingshould be taken. Rough grasses inhedgerows, reeds, and rushes are nearlyalways infected with rust and otherdiseases, so these should be kept cutdown as much as possible. Cigaretteends and bits of rag lying in the turfare frequently the starting place of thewhite grass mildew. Leaving cut rycgrass on the turf is also particularlybad, as a poisonous ferment is set upby the rye grass leaves that rots thefiner grasses.

There is, however, a brighter side tothis gloomy article, for parasitic fungiare not always inj urious to the plantson which they lin" IInd in some cases

The Golf Course

plants when infested with a particularparasite often grow more robust andvigorous than the non-infested plants.This condition, known as symbiosis, isnoticeable in the case of rye grass.Even if grasses have their parasiticenemies, all plants are affected in thesame manner, and, like "the fleas thathave lesser fleas upon their backs tobite 'em," so these different mildewsand fungi have other moulds that liveupon them, which keeps the balance ofNature and prevents every blade ofgrass in the country from being de-stroyed. The Yellow Rattle is alsopunished for its greedy disposition ofliving on the grass roots by sufferingin its turn from a parasitic fungus thatcauses gouty swellings on its roots.

EUl'l'OlUAL

(Continued from page 2)enough seed to supply one-hundredthpart of the clubs which would naturallyuse it if they followed the advice of thebent agitators. Obviously since there isnot enough to go round, their advice isnot practical.

There is, however, no denying thatbent grass is the most desirable speciesin the finest putting green turf with thepossible exception of New Zealand Fes-cue. Unfortunately it is not at presentcommercially available. The time maycome when the importation of true Ger-man bent seed, of sufficicntly good qual-ity to satisfy the dcmands of our Gov-ernment and of reasonable price, willbe possible. 'Vhcn and if it does, let ususe it, not alone but in combination withreliable fescue and whcn occasion de-mands one or two other varieties to suitlocal conditions.

THE lh~N'l'Sl'l'UATION

(Continued from page 3)all-around turf for putting greens illmany sections of the country. In somedistricts the Bent varieties are naturalgrasses in the soil and should by allmeans be encouraged.

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