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THE FARMER»S MAGAZINE. 



Thus, iu the second experiment this modification has 

 manifested itself on 0.001 gr. of nitric acid only ; and it 

 would very likely have passed unperceived, if I had not 

 conducted it by a process of analysis so certain and, I 

 do not fear to add, with an execution so easy. 



It is to the excellent stats of the roots of the plants 

 during the eighty-nine days of vegetation that we must 

 attribute this result. I have already said that the water 

 employed in lixiviation of the soil remained limpid ; by 



the evaporation it was not coloured, nor had taken that 

 tawny colour which always determines the presence of 

 brown acids; and the nitrate of potash remaining in it, 

 and which we have collected in order to control the 

 analyses, was in colourless crystals perfectly cha- 

 racterized, BOUSSINGAULT, 



Member of the Academy of Science 

 and of the Imperial and Central 

 Society of Agriculture. 



NOTES ON MEADOWS AND PASTURES. 



By JAMES BUCKMAN, F.G.S., F.L.S., 



Professor op Botany and Geology at the Royal Agricultural College. 



It now remains to describe two classes of weeds in 

 pastures which, though not presenting long lists, are yet 

 very serious in their consequences. These are— 



Firstly ; Weeds possessing poisonous properties. 



Secondly : Weeds which cause disagreeable flavours 

 to the products of the dairy. 



Of the first of these there is reason to believe that 

 many plants which are in themselves comparatively 

 harmless, yet, by reason of constantly forming part of 

 the food of cattle, in the end create serious disturbances 

 in the animal economy. We have known meadows which 

 would cause scouring in a short space of time, whilst 

 there are others which, by the general stimulating and 

 astringent nature of the herbage, will at once cure such 

 malady. These, indeed, are matters which do not at all 

 times depend upon the species of plants of which the 

 herbage may be composed, but more frequently upon the 

 condition of the soil in which these grow, A damp, 

 ill-drained meadow is often pregnant with mischief, 

 though utterly devoid of a really poisonous plant ; 

 whilst a dry upland, in which anything other than grasses 

 may be present, will often be much better adapted to 

 the well-being of stock. 



Still, there is one plant, which is very prevalent in 

 some parts of England, which is often the cause of such 

 serious consequences that v/e shall not do wrong to de- 

 scribe it with the greatest care and attention. This 

 plant is the Colchicum autumnale (meadow saffron), 

 sometimes called the autumn crocus — an error that 

 should be corrected at the outset, inasmuch as the col- 

 chicum possesses six stamens and three pistils, and be- 

 longs to the natural order Melanthacece ; while the 

 saffron crocus, though otherwise the same in the general 

 form and colour of its flowers, has three stamens and 

 one pistil, and is classed with the Irideos. 



The colchicum, in all its stages of development, and 

 in every part of the plant, contains an active principle 

 of very poisonous qualities, which has been named by 

 the chemist vsratrin. The presence of this renders it a 

 very active medicine, and pharmaceutical preparations 

 are made from the corms, commonly called the roots, 

 and from the seeds ; but the flowers are, probably, still 

 more replete with the active principle, and consequently 

 more poisonoua than any other part of the plant. These 



medicinal qualities have for ages recommended colchi- 

 cum as a remedy for gout ; but it is so powerful a medi- 

 cine, and withal so uncertain in its effects, that these 

 require the sedulous watching of a medical practitioner- 

 facts that are mentioned only to show the powerful 

 effects of colchicum upon the human system. 



The colchicum is an inhabitant of moist meadows, 

 particularly in calcareous districts. It sends up simply 

 flowers in the autumn, which are not succeeded by 

 leaves until the following spring : it is then at these two 

 different seasons that its effects are to be dreaded. 



In the autumn we constantly hear of cases of poison- 

 ing by the colchicum, of which the following may serve 

 as an example. In 1844 we find the following statement 

 in a Cheltenham paper for September : 



" It is only a few days since a farmer at Eyeford, 

 near Stow-on-the-Wold (Gloucestershire), had ten 

 calves killed by eating of the flowers of the colchicum, 

 and two or three years since three cows were destroyed 

 by this plant in flower in the same neighbourhood ; 

 whilst we frequently hear of many accidents to cattle in 

 the spring from eating the leaves, although it is some- 

 times refused by them on account of its bitter and 

 nauseous taste : yet there is no doubt but that accidents 

 would be still more frequent, were it not that farmers 

 keep their cattle from the meadows in which it occurs in 

 any quantity during the autumn and .spring months." 



This then may serve as an example of the effects of 

 colchicum, which indeed may almost be kept up as a 

 permanent form by the press, to be reproduced from 

 year to year. In the spring these effects are either not 

 so marked, or, as we suspect, the leaves, which are 

 large and bitter, are less seldom partaken of by cattle ; 

 still, if the foliage and seeds get into the rick in any 

 quantity, much danger may result without its cause 

 being even suspected. From what we know then of 

 this plant, we should consider it unsafe to depasture it 

 when in flower ; and as its large leaves take up a great 

 deal of room which would be much better occupied 

 even if this weed were innocuous, there is every reason 

 to aim at its destruction, which we have found easily 

 brought about by the following processes. When the 

 colchicum is in full bloom, let the meadow be well 

 rolled along and across by a Crosskill : this so scotches 



