58 ECOLOGY, PLANT GEOGRAPHY [Bot. Absts., Vol. IV, 



382 Sim, T. R. Soil erosion and conservation. South African Jour. Indust. 2: S67-8S1. 

 1919 — Where the grassveld is so vigorous that it cannot be grazed sufficiently by the full stock 

 of the farm without annual or frequent burning, then that veld is naturally tree veld rather 

 than grass-veld. Where the grass-veld and some cultivation carry the full stock of the 

 farm through successive years without grass burning, there is little excuse for burning. The 

 destruction of a bush which has existed for centuries results in the area reverting to grass land 

 for a time, followed later by further retrogression. — E. P. Phillips. 



383. Smith, W. G. The improvement of hill pasture. Reprint from Scottish Jour. Agric. 

 1 : 1-8. July, 1918. — Hill pasture is defined as "land never ploughed and not enclosed as fields. 

 Sixty per cent of the area of Scotland (18,000 square miles) is uncultivated land or hill pas- 

 ture." Different types of herbage occur and these represent distinct plant associations which 

 the author designates by applying the name of the dominant plant, or some term descriptive 

 of the general habitat. Each association "indicates some particular combination of climate, 

 soil, and grazing animals." The principle upon which improvement is based is found in the 

 fact that the herbage changes in proportion to the changes effected in conditions under which 

 it grows. — (1) Alluvial and flush grassland, the former occurring on the alluvial borders of 

 streams and the latter occupying areas of seepage associated with the outflow of springs, rep- 

 resent the better type of hill grassland. Such areas are made more extensive by irrigation. 

 Water draining from peat soils must be conducted away from alluvial grassland by definite 

 channels, as it is injurious to the grasses of this association. Places where water lodges must 

 also be drained. (2) The bracken association includes a fine grassy herbage which can be 

 developed by removing the taller bracken either by cutting or spraying with 5 per cent sul- 

 furic acid. (3) Heather land characterised chiefly by Calluna may be improved by burning 

 with due regard to proper rotation; a fifteen year rotation is recommended in which one-fif- 

 teenth of the moor is burned each year. (4) Plant herbage consisting mainly of segdes (Eri- 

 ophorum and Scirpus) and heather may be improved by drainage or burning depending upon 

 the types of herbage desired. (5) Rough grass and bent consisting of mat grass (Nardus 

 slricla), blow grass (Molinia caerulea) and dwarf heather occur on the "higher hills of southern 

 and central Scotland." Improvement is effected by removing the previous season's growth 

 in order to induce a fresh early growth. Burning in large blocks is advised and grazing by 

 hardier breeds of cattle to reduce the roughness of the herbage. On such areas spring flush- 

 ing and diverting of the surface water favors the substitution of the rough grass by a finer 

 herbage. — P. D. Strausbaugh. 



384. Wells, Morris M. The relation of ecology to high school biology. School Sci. Math. 

 18: 439-446. May, 1918. — Teaching biology requires more effort than in better standardized 

 subjects, as physics and chemistry. There are two main problems; the organization of the 

 course, and the securing of material. Ecological methods should be introduced. Teachers 

 should become thoroughly acquainted with local regions. Plants and animals should be studied 

 together. Ecology deals with the organism as a whole, and takes little account of the physi- 

 ology of organs. Ecology is essentially natural history. Biology is awakening from the leth- 

 argy of extreme specialization. The man who revolutionized biology in 1859 was not a product 

 of a man-made laboratory, but a scientist who secured his information from the laboratory of 

 nature. The transfer of the study of biology from the laboratory to the field will be the pro- 

 cedure followed by all enthusiastic teachers. — A. Gundersen. 



