514 Transactions. 



about the place on his return. This is one of these inferior 

 aliens that is destined to take possession of large tracts of the 

 run. It is, however, better than most of the native grasses, 

 and will be welcome on certain soils. It originally reached 

 New Zealand in hay used for feeding a cargo of horses from 

 Valparaiso. 



Festuca elatior probably arrived in grass-seed. As far as I 

 know, there is but a single plant on the run. 



Lolium italicum, Bromus unioloides, and Phleum pratense 

 have been purposely sown on Tutira. The first and second 

 have done fairly well on good worked soils ; the third has been 

 twice sown and twice been given a good chance, and altogether 

 failed on each occasion — at rare intervals I see an occasional 

 plant. jjj 



i Alopecurus pratensis has found its own way to the run, where 

 it is a very rare plant. 



For several years I had a plant of " Johnson's grass " in my 

 garden, and although the plant thoroughly established itself, 

 and even to some extent spread, the seed never matured. Cattle 

 and horses, I remember, used to eat the great succulent leaves 

 with eagerness. 



Setaria viridis has been a garden-weed for several years. 



Panicum crus-galli appeared in a lawn-mixture, and Phalaris 

 canariensis in bird-seed. 



Hordeum murinum has quite lately arrived on the road- 

 sides, almost certainly carried in mud adhering to wheels. 



Polypogon monspeliensis appeared also on the roadside. At 

 first a single plant, it has spread into several damp spots, and 

 was also probably carried up in mud during wet weather, for it 

 is a common species in flooded land near estuaries. 



Paspalum dilatatum I surface-sowed during 1903 on the 

 pumiceous lands. It has completely failed, though seeds that 

 were roughly scratched in with a knife appeared in a few cases. 

 The species, however, must have great vitality, for in the dense 

 sward of the homestead paddock a chance-dropped seed has 

 forced its way through the other grasses and reached the 

 state of seeding. The seeds sown in a well-manured garden of 

 pumiceous soil, after a good start, were overrun by fog that 

 germinated weeks later. It was also badly burnt by winter 

 frosts. 



Lastly, Aqropyrum repens arrived in the roots of plants 

 bought from a Hawke's Bay nurseryman. 



Of the native grasses enumerated by Mr. Cheeseman in his 

 "Manual of the New Zealand Flora," one-fifth have been 

 noticed on Tutira, or twenty-one out of 113. This proportion 

 is not small, I think, considering that there was almost no 



