168 REPORT OF THE, BOTANIST OF 



EXPERIMENTS AT THE COLLEGE. 



To fully understand what follows, the reader must first read the last 

 report as found on pages 141 and 178 of Michigan Board of Agriculture for 

 1888. The sizes of the plats are mostly sixteen feet square. In case the 

 plat is a prominent one, the plat is about thirty feet square or even larger. 



Full notes are made from time to time in regard to the success or failure 

 of each species. 



At present we have no conclusive experiments or observations to report on 

 this subject. 



It would be difficult to imagine a more unfavorable fall and spring than 

 the last has been for the purpose of establishing anything like a complete set 

 of grass plats. Many of the grasses are delicate and difficult to start at best, 

 and even those in common cultivation have, in many cases, proved unequal 

 to the task of forming a perfect seeding. 



About seventy-five sorts were sowed in the fall, beginning about the 

 time of wheat-sowing. Some of the earliest sowed sprouted last fall, but 

 more did not show above ground till spring, and at this writing (June 20) 

 not a few are only just pricking through after nearly nine months in the 

 ground. Time and season certainly are factors in the germination of many 

 seeds, as well as are heat and moisture. Still others have not yet appeared 

 above ground, and whether this is from poor seed or some other cause remains 

 to be seen. 



One plat seeded to chess was a great success, and, though thinly seeded, 

 it was the first to appear, has been the greenest spot in the field, and has 

 been lodged from its heavy growth since June 1. Many passers-by refuse to 

 believe it is from chess seeds, and in the spring offers were freely made to 

 bet money that the plat was oats. Such is still the lingering prejudice 

 regarding the origin of chess, happily fast disappearing, however, before 

 better farming and more exact knowledge. 



About one hundred plats were seeded in the spring and are looking well, 

 but their ultimate success will depend largely on the succeeding weather. 

 One plat of about a half acre was seeded to a mixture of one hundred sorts 

 of grasses and clovers, with the object of watching the battle for standing- 

 room and nutriment. The seeding is somewhat thin and in a variety of 

 soils. Certain features of a plant can be tested in no better way than by 

 placing it where competition is sharp and where the struggle for existence 

 is severe. 



Besides most of the common American native and cultivated grasses and 

 clovers, there are started some twenty sorts of Kussian forage plants. An 

 assortment of seeds from India arrived too late for spring planting, but will 

 be planted this fall. We have not yet succeeded in securing seeds from 

 eastern Asia or southern South America, but the plan is not abandoned, and 

 it is more than likely that among the many sorts native there, some might 

 be found of great value here. 



Four plats of the original sod, at least twenty years old, have been pre- 

 served as permanent meadow or pasture to be compared with newer seeding. 



Appended is an alphabetical list of the varieties already planted, exclud- 

 ing a few that have not yet appeared above ground and are not likely to 

 come. Of many sorts there are duplicate plats of seeds from different 

 localities. 



