Full TGIF Record # 121454
Item 1 of 1
Web URL(s):https://gsrpdf.lib.msu.edu/?file=/1920s/1929/290238.pdf
    Last checked: 01/26/2017
    Requires: PDF Reader
Publication Type:
i
Professional
Content Type:Q & A
Corporate Author(s):USGA Green Section
Title:Value and use of humus
Section:Questions and answers
Other records with the "Questions and answers" Section
Source:The Bulletin of the United States Golf Association Green Section. Vol. 9, No. 2, February 1929, p. 38-39.
Publishing Information:Washington, DC: USGA Green Section
# of Pages:2
Question:"We can buy commercial humus in carload lots for $7.50 a ton at point of shipment. What value would it possess as a substitute for compost in top-dressing putting greens?"
Source of Question:Kentucky
Answer/Response:"Humus can replace compost to only a limited extent. It is pure organic matter in various degrees of decomposition. Some kinds of humus, if spread on turf, would dry out and remain on the surface as an inert covering of woody material much resembling chips or bark. It is slow to break down, and is slow to break down, and is of most value when mixed with soil, since it can greatly improve the physical structure of all but peaty soils. Compost, on the other hand, is soil in which considerable humus has been incorporated, and sometimes also other fertilizing materials. In using humus in the compost pile, first a layer of soil is laid down, then a layer of humus, then a layer of manure. This operation is repeated until a pile of layers several feet high is built. While constructing the pile it is advisable to throw lime on the humus at the rate of 25 pounds of lime to a ton of humus. If manure is scarce, the layers of manure may be comparatively thin. Fresh manure is of more value for this purpose than rotted manure, since the former contains various micro-organisms which assist in the decomposing the humus and releasing plant food, and it will heat and decompose more rapidly than rotted manure. Another use for humus is in the preparation of good top soil. An area of rough or waste land on the course may be top-dressed with large quantities of humus. Sharp sand may be added if the soil should require it. Fresh manure should then be applied at the rate of several tons to the acre. The area should then be plowed and disked. If the area is then cultivated so as to keep down weeds it will provide a fertile top soil of good mechanical structure. In our opinion, a price of $7.50 a ton at point of shipment is out of proportion to the value of any kind of commerical humus. We feel certain that fine garden loam could be purchased much more cheaply, and it would possess fully as much value provided it were of an open, friable texture. Heavy clay soils can be broken down by the incorporation of strawy manure, which can be procured more cheaply than humus and which is of more value. Also light sandy soils can be improved by humus in the form of manure, which can probably be obtained at a lower price than that which has been quoted to you on commercial humus."
Keywords:TIC Keywords: Composts; Cost efficiency; Golf green maintenance; Humus; Recommendations; Topdressings
Language:English
References:0
ASA/CSSA/SSSA Citation (Crop Science-Like - may be incomplete):
USGA Green Section. 1929. Value and use of humus. Bull. U.S. Golf Assoc. Green Sec. 9(2):p. 38-39.
Fastlink to access this record outside TGIF: https://tic.msu.edu/tgif/flink?recno=121454
If there are problems with this record, send us feedback about record 121454.
Choices for finding the above item:
Web URL(s):
https://gsrpdf.lib.msu.edu/?file=/1920s/1929/290238.pdf
    Last checked: 01/26/2017
    Requires: PDF Reader
Find Item @ MSU
MSU catalog number: SB 433.15 .B85
Request through your local library's inter-library loan service (bring or send a copy of this TGIF record)