76 Report of the Botanical Section. 



Commmon Nepaul 



Barley. Barley. 



Measuro of Grain per imperial acre, 7 quarters,.... 51 quarters. 



Weight of Straw, do. 48 cwt, 24 cwt. 



Weight of Grain, per bushel, 54 lbs., 58 lbs. 



" The common barley was very fine. The weight of the bushel of 

 Nepaul barley was above the standard very considerably. The field 

 in which both kinds of barley wero sown had been trenched for tho 

 potato crop 16 inches deep, that is, in the winter of 1842-43, and 

 was in good condition ; indeed, the common barley wa3 too strong and 

 rank. It is probablo that the Nepaul barley may do better in another 

 year; and the extraordinary weight of the grain, per bushel, fully 

 warrants another trial on a more extensive scale. The quantity of land 

 sown this year did not exceed three square poles, from which the 

 quantity per acre was calculated." 



Some of the seed raised by Mr. Fleming, and exhibited to the 

 Society, was this year sown in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, and 

 came into ear about ten days before the common barley. 



The following report was received from the Botanical Section: — - 



25th March, 1845. — The Chairman, Dr. Balfour, exhibited several 

 ferns and lycopodiums from New Zealand, and a section of the wood 

 of Cedar of Lebanon, and some other botanical specimens from Pales- 

 tine. He also read an account of an excursion to Ben Lawers in 

 1844. 



April 29th, 1845. — A paper on the uses of the fibre of plantain, 

 was read by the chairman, also an account of an excursion to Ailsa 

 Craig last autumn. The section elected its office-bearers for the next 

 twelve months. 



Dr. Balfour, Chairman. 



Mr. Wm. Gourlie, Jun., Vice-Chairman. 



Dr. Henry Bottinger, Curator of Herbarium. 



Mr. Wm. Keddie, Secretary. 



The following notices have been communicated to the Section 

 during the present summer: — 



May 27th t 1845.— Dr. Balfour exhibited a spatha of the Areca 

 oleracea upwards of four feet in length ; also specimens of the stem of the 

 Guaiac tree, Rose-wood tree, and Moreton Bay Pine. Dr. Balfour also 

 exhibited some specimens of American ferns, belonging to the section 

 Osmundacece, and traced the changes which take place in cases where 

 the leaves are transformed into fructification, thus illustrating mor- 

 phological doctrines. 



