UPON the practical side of golf there is not a more important question than that concerning the care lavished upon the average golf links. The closer the turf the better the golf, and the greater the attention devoted to the greens the more will be the improvement manifested thereon.

Mr. D. Finlayson, F.L.S., lecturer to the Royal Botanic Society, and seed analyst and grass expert to Messrs. James Carter and Co., of London, has had such a wide experience in specially regulating grass seeds to the requirements of golf links all over the country that I had no hesitation in approaching him to secure the best and most expert advice. In the following pages I have attempted to place the information obtained at the disposal of club secretaries and others interested in the welfare of their links-an attempt, I trust, that may be favoured with success.

To a certain extent, Mr. Finlayson was diffident; but once started upon his pet subject, all went well.

"What of the soil?" was my opening query; "what of its preparation?"

"Well," was Mr. Finlayson's reply, "it is almost impossible for me to give you hints upon the management and upkeep of golf links, more particularly as far as the greens are concerned, because the subject in its entirety, or even speaking only of the soil and its preparation, is as wide and as deep as the sum of our knowledge of soil chemistry and soil physics. Still, I trust I may be capable of putting a few practical facts before you.

"The varied characters of many of our golf links are well known. Some are laid out upon stiff, impervious clays, others, lighter in texture, may be classed as medium or loams, while yet others are what one might term almost pure sand with the barest skin of organic matter upon the surface. Between these extremes we find all the varying gradations from the very heavy to the very light.

"Speaking in a wide and general sense, I can only say, without entering into the causes of the diversity of soils, that the nearer we approach to the loamy character the better the soil proves itself to be, and perhaps I might add still further that the ideal soil is that which contains sufficient sand for warmth and friability, clay and humus for tenacity and retention of moisture, and a sufficiency of lime as an essential element of plant food and for the power it exercises in liberating dormant material in the soil itself and decomposing organic matter.

"The organic nitrogen," continued Mr. Finlayson, "contained in humus exists practically in an insoluble condition, and undergoes a process known as nitrification, that is to say, it is oxidised into nitric acid ; as such it enters into combination with lime, and as nitrate of lime enters into the circulation of the growing plant.

"Though this is somewhat technical, I would emphasise and impress upon you this fact, that whether the soil is found to be heavy or light, lime is absolutely necessary, and if not present in sufficient quantity must be applied.

"The further application of lime? Well, yes, there might be a great deal more to be said, but we shall return to this part of the subject a little later on. There is another subject that is worthy of attention now, for there are few things in connection with the royal and ancient game that is of more abiding interest, both to the enthusiastic amateur and the professional, than the condition of the turf; and seeing that the quality of the turf depends upon the nature and the character of the soil upon which it grows, you will not be surprised at my saying that it is only throwing money away to turf a piece of ground, or to sow valuable seeds, irrespective of whether the soil has been thoroughly prepared and enriched.

"You are surprised? Possibly so, but I can only say I am distinctly and decidedly averse to turfing as things are at present upon many of the golf links in the country.

"My reasons for this aversion ? Because of the great difficulty experienced in procuring good turf, uniform in character, fine in texture, and free from weeds. Such turf may possibly be obtained, but it is the striking exception, and not the rule, on that you may depend; while occasionally we discover enemies in our best turfs, in the shape of rough grasses that are far more objectionable than would be imagined by the lay mind.

"Yes, that is so. And my remedy? It is this: I am strongly of opinion that if each individual club would but realise the importance of establishing a small nursery in some convenient portion of the course for the special culture of the grasses that are suitable to the greens, they could, in a very short time, establish a perfect turf, free from weeds and uniform in texture.

"Naturally, it goes without saying that to produce the best possible results these nurseries would call for constant attention, combined with intelligent oversight."

"How would you set about establishing such a nursery?" was my next query.

"In this way," rejoined Mr. Finlayson, "and I may say that the same treatment is applicable to greens or reserve greens. By the way, that is another point. When green-committees realise fully that October meetings are as a rule not consistent with the welfare and preservation of the greens, and that the work of renovation should then be well in hand or even finished ; then they will see the necessity of having reserve greens whenever such a thing is possible, and then periodically take in hand the renovation of winter greens in the early spring and summer greens in the autumn. It is perfect folly and time wasted to close a green and trust in Providence without seeding and manuring.

"I will now suppose a case where the ground is covered with a very indifferent turf, weedy and patchy. On such an unpromising surface my purpose is to establish fine turf, either for a nursery or a green, as the case may be. The first operation is to skin the surface, that is, remove the turf by means of a spade or turfing-iron to the depth of two inches, or should it be extremely foul, to a depth of three inches, turn it, and then dig the surface to a uniform depth of six or nine inches.