 By the end of the 19th century, there were the first steam and petrol-driven versions. American agronomist Dr. James Beard, who was so much an expert on grass that he was referred to among crop scientists as the Pope of turf grass, noted that the development of home lawns, ironically a connection to the wild, has been intrinsically linked to prosperity and development, as he explained. Basically, turf grasses were developed by modern civilizations in order to enhance the quality of life of humans.