144 Inject Fauna of Permanent Pasture 



The area marked F on the map is the College garden, in which many 

 kinds of fruit and vegetables are grown. The enclosures marked L are 

 permanent pastures. The enclosure marked is the field in which the 

 investigation was carried out. 



3. Description of the Field. 



The field in which this investigation was carried out forms part of 

 the farm of the Holmes Chapel College of Agriculture, and is known as 

 the "Lane Field." It lies at an altitude of about 220 feet above sea 

 level, and has an area of about 10-2 acres. 



The Lane Field is roughly rectangular in shape, the longer sides 

 running almost due north and south , with the shorter sides approximately 

 at right angles to them. The field is surrounded on all four sides by 

 hawthorn hedges, those on the north, east and west sides being well 

 grown, thick, and kept fairly clean. The hedge on the south side is 

 older and thinner, the bushes not having been cut back, and it is more 

 overrun with brambles than the other hedges, and also contains a few 

 furze bushes. In these hedges grow several trees, chiefly oaks, with one 

 or two ashes, sycamores, and alders, and there are also six oak trees in 

 a line east and west across the centre of the field, which, with a slight 

 depression beside which they stand, appear to mark the position of a 

 former hedge, which has been removed many years. 



On the west side, near the south-west angle, is a row of three small 

 ponds lying along the boundary of the field, and on the east side a row 

 of five similar ponds lies just on and beyond the boundary of the field, 

 while just outside the south-east corner is a small area which is usually 

 rather swampy, where a similar pond has been filled in. 



The field is almost level, there being a slight slope from the east side 

 down to the west, but this does not amount to more than about five feet. 

 The lowest part is the north-western portion which is liable to become 

 water-logged in very wet weather, and may then have water standing 

 in small pools on it for a short time. 



The soil of the College Farm "consists almost entirely of a strong 

 loam of Glacial Drift overlying the Triassic rocks. It shows variations 

 in places from a pure Boulder Clay to a lighter class of sandy loam, the 

 latter occurring in small patches here and there, and being more marked 

 round the College buildings and near the main road. There is an outcrop 

 of the underlying Keuper marl along the broken hillside bordering the 

 Eiver Dane, and an area of alluvial deposit immediately adjacent to 

 the stream" (College Prospectus). 



