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| Web URL(s): | https://gsrpdf.lib.msu.edu/?file=/1920s/1929/2906109.pdf#page=5
Last checked: 01/26/2017
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| Publication Type:
| Professional |
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| Content Type: | Q & A |
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| Corporate Author(s): | USGA Green Section |
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| Title: | Value and use of muck |
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| Section: | Questions and answers
Other records with the "Questions and answers" Section
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| Source: | The Bulletin of the United States Golf Association Green Section. Vol. 9, No. 6, June 1929, p. 113-114. |
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| Publishing Information: | Washington, DC: USGA Green Section |
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| # of Pages: | 2 |
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| Question: | "We have a large supply of muck soil on our course and it would be advantageous if we could use more of it than we have been using. In employing it for top-dressing our greens and approaches we have found that it bakes extremely hard in warm weather. We believe also that it tends to make the soil sour. It seems to prevent the grass from knitting properly in spots on our approaches and fairways. When we mix the muck with sharp sand, it looks like loam but feels heavier on account of the clay it contains. Our fairways are naturally quite sandy. When mixed with sand and used on our greens the muck makes the greens hard and very fast. After we work it into the turf it seems to cake at the roots of the grass. We have used no material to assist in the decomposition of the muck and are trying to get the correct proportion of the right material to add to it in order to develop its real growing value. We are top-dressing our fairways with manure where this muck has been used, in the hope of encouraging a better growth of grass. The grass which has come up under treatment with fertilizer is very good. Samples of this muck soil have been sent to analysts, who have commended its value and advised us that it was well supplied with plant food. What do you think of adding to each ton of manure 75 pounds of muriate of potash and 75 pounds of 16 per cent acid phosphate in order to improve its value? Could this mixture be added to the manure that we might use for decomposing the muck? Can this type of soil be safely used in the delicate work on a golf course?" |
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| Source of Question: | Massachusetts |
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| Answer/Response: | "Except for perhaps a very thin top layer, muck found in beds or deep layers is usually quite inert and has comparatively little plant food value until it is mixed with soil, aerated, and otherwise broken down. This breaking down is caused for the most part by microscopic organisms in the soil. These organisms do not work in the muck as it is found in its native environment. By simply mixing the muck with sharp sand and spreading it on the surface, the soil would change its composition very little and the combination would be liable to give results such as you describe. We are very much in favor of composting muck before using it on the golf course. The compost pile should be built up in alternating layers of your natural soil, fresh manure, and muck. Top soil can be prepared from muck by plowing it and disking in from 10 to 20 tons of manure to the acre. In your locality the addition of several tons of lime to the acre would also be beneficial. A muck bed so prepared and frequently plowed and disked would become quite fertile and would be in good condition for mixing with soil. There are few cases in which it would be advisable to use material so rich in organic matter as muck, in its pure state, even after being treated in the manner we describe. In its native condition muck contains very little phosphorus and potash. With the addition of manure some phosphorus and potash are added and the phosphorus and potash already contained in the muck are rendered more available. However, you would improve your muck considerably by the addition of muriate of potash and acid phosphate, as you suggest. In composting the muck, 75 pounds of acid phosphate and 45 pounds of muriate of potash could be added to each ton of muck as it is laid down in the compost pile. The addition of nitrogen also greatly improves northern mucks, and in this respect if you should desire faster decomposition and more nitrogen it would be advisable to add about 50 pounds of sulphate of ammonia or nitrate of soda to each ton of muck. The compost pile should then be allowed to heat and should be turned several times. If the pile were mixed in the manner we describe, the addition of sand might not be necessary. However, after decomposition has taken place and the layers of the pile have been thoroughly mixed by frequent turning, you would be able to judge whether the addition of some sharp sand would improve the texture of the compost. Such a compost pile should be ideal for use on putting greens." |
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| Keywords: | TIC Keywords: Composts; Golf green maintenance; Muck soils; Recommendations; Topdressings
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| Language: | English |
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| References: | 0 |
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| ASA/CSSA/SSSA Citation (Crop Science-Like - may be incomplete):
USGA Green Section. 1929. Value and use of muck. Bull. U.S. Golf Assoc. Green Sec. 9(6):p. 113-114. |
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| Web URL(s):
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Last checked: 01/26/2017
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MSU catalog number: SB 433.15 .B85 |
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