BOWLING.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 781, 3 November 1922, Page 6

BOWLING.

THE CARE OF GREENS, In recent years the game of bowls has gained much popularity in New Zealand and new clubs have sprung up almost Hike muchrooms. More especially is this so in the country districts, when in travelling about one sees enthusiasts hard' at work on some stage or other of laying .down a new green. In view of this an extract from a pamphlet issued by the well-known English firm of J. Carter arid Co. , turf specialists on topdressings may be of interest. Messrs Carter and Co. speak of top-dressings as though they were imperative, and should be applied as a matter ot course, and give the composition of suitable .dressings and their method of application as follyows “A favourite mixture is equal parts of loam (top spit from an old meadow or pasture), sea sand, and old; wellrotted manure. Some people substitute bone meal, guano, or a good artificial manure for the dung, and others cut out the loam. Sand, which (£s not a manure at all, has a distinct value as an agent in the drainage scheme, and as a fine surface producer, and is rarely omitted. “.Probably more damage has been done to bowling greens by farmyard manure than by anything elese, It is frequently thrown on to the turf - in lumps, which either burn or smother the tuijf an.d thus cause bare places to appear in the following ( season. This has occurred so often that green-keepers have become prejudiced against dung, and many will not use it all,

“Let me say here that I am of opinion that no dressing should be put on to a green which will not go through a quarter inch sieve, nor should quantities- be applied which cannot be easily worked down into the roots of the grass

“;It is far better to give the dressings at two, three or four treatments, with an interval of two or three weeks between than is one, because then the weather works the dressing down into the top soil gradually, ancl the grass is not called upon to* make -a special effort to work its way through. “For an averaged sized green (say 40 x 40 yards—l6oo square yards) the following quantities may safely be used. If a compost, consisting of equal parts of dung, soil and sand is to be used, give seven tons, equal to about one-sixth of an inch in thickness all over the green. If equal parts of soil and sand use eight tons and add one and a half hundredweight of bone meal or guano. ;This will Nive a thickness all over the green of about one-fifth of an inch ” Treatments of this kind should be dealt with, for preference, between the end of March and late September, because the weather during that period will work the material down into the grass roots and form a foundation for next season’s surface. WEIGHT AND SIZE OF BOWLS, The maximum size and weight of bowls allowed by the regulations of the Englsh, Scottish, and colonial associations is 16 1 2 in circumference and 3 1 2 hb. respectfully, but players are permitted under the laws of the game in competitions to use smaller and lighter bowis at their discretion. There is no minimum limit to either size or weight. The following standard sizes have been arranged for convenience in offder : Largest or first size, 5 3-16 i ; second size, 5 l-Bin ; third size, 5 l-16in : ' fouyrth size sin ; and so on in one-sixteenths and thirty seconds. Bowlers are advised to use the size they can most comfortably handle ; but' as weight is a consideration for play on flat green, bowls made of Lignum vitae, of the greatest density should be selected. The variations in bias are denoted thus : No. 1, a nearly straight bow! ; No, 2, narrow bias : No. 3 .medium bias as usually adopted, (The min'imum bias permissible under the English, Scottish and colonial regulations is No, 3, except in New Zealand and Australia, where the minimum bias approximates to No. 3 full), No, 4, a full bias; No. 5, a wide bias.