b'How Kentucky Bluegrass Came to Play a Big Part in our LivesKENTUCKY BLUEGRASS.This species, known asand a weakness. Marion was susceptible to powdery Poa pratensis, is not usually associated with productionmildew and leaf rust and when such a disease struck, agriculture, but it does play an unrecognized but impor- the entire crop was affected. By blending two or more tant role in the lives of most Canadian homeowners.varieties, it ameliorated this risk. Plant breeders were The commercial sod industry in Canada and muchsoon on the hunt for more new varieties. Nugget, of the U.S. is widely recognized. The evolution of pro- a dark green variety, was discovered on the ocean gressively improved grass varieties is appreciated by ashore near Palmer, Alaska, and was commercialized. handful of producers in this vital industry.Touchdown was found on a fairway on the National Poa pratensis an apomictic species. In laymansGolf Links of America at Long Islands, Southampton. terms, it is cross-pollinating the flowers pollen to ferti- Superintendent Tom Rewinski brought this discov-MARTIN PICK lize the endosperm. While 99% apomictic, it may pro- ery to the famed turf program at Rutgers University, is a seed industryduce 1% cross pollinated seed. This pollination occurs atwhich commercialized it. It was hugely popular with legend and co-foundernight and that is when new pollen may be introduced.the sod industry largely for its disease resistance and of Pickseed Canada Some American and European breeders continuestrong root system. to use this process; this resulted in most early varie- The late Dr. C. Reed Funk, turfgrass researcher at ties being the result of their discoveries. The first suchRutgers University, was actively pursuing a system of widely recognized variety was Marion. It was discov- synthetization along with his grad student, Dr. G.W. ered growing on a few tees of the Marion Golf ClubPepin. The first such crossbred varieties included in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Their superintendent, JoeAmerica, Adelphi and Bonnieblue, were released into Valentine, took plugs to the USDA agricultural stationthe market. Concurrently, there were active breeding in Beltsville, Maryland.programs in Europe, mainly Holland and Scandinavia, The varietys characteristics included a strong darkand to a lesser extent, Germany.green color, a dense root system conferring someCurrently in Ontario there are 4,500 hectares of drought tolerance, as well as the roots forming a strongKentucky bluegrass sold annually. The seeding rate is carpet-like sod. Its appearance coincided with the birthapproximately 100 to 125 kilograms per hectare. As and growth of the sod industry in Canada circa 1955development land prices have increased, the building and much of the U.S.lots have diminished in size. Sod installers during this period would buy aThis industry has stabilized and an interesting side-pasture field from a livestock producer and strip thebar to this era is that of Gerry Brouwer, a grower in York sod. They noticed that the sod in the farms lanewayCounty, Ont. Gerry was always a leading-edge person was the best and strongest. This was attributed to theand decided that the old backbreaking sod harvesting traffic from the cows hooves, forcing out the weakerneeded mechanization. He hand-built the first tractor grasses and letting the bluegrass portion dominate.mounted harvester and has continually improved this and Around this time, a well-traveled and experiencedother turf machine products under his Kesmac brand. farmer from the Alliston, Ont., areaWilliam RuthvenProducing high quality seed of Kentucky bluegrassmade the decision to start growing sod commer- is demanding. Sod producers insist on seed free of cially. He purchased Marion seed and his product wasunsightly weedy grass. Most of this successful produc-called Marion Sod. Soon, other growers followed himtion has been situated in Idaho and Washington, but into this lucrative production, and it became stand- even there, other crops offer attractive options. ard to plant some areas with 100% Marion, but largerThe area became famous for its quality seed when areas in blends of 30% to 50% Marion and the balancethe Jacklin Seed Company of Spokane successfully common or no variety stated.produced high yields of the initial variety Marion. Because of the apomictic structure of this species,Kentucky bluegrass sod is a strong contributor to a varieties tended to be very uniform, both a strengthgreen world. SW 88/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2022'