32 Pasture Problems 



The cardinal figures for total miscellaneous plants are (7. 15. 30) 

 which compared with (1 to 5) on mountain fescue, (3. 9. 20) on undis- 

 turbed heath fescue, and (5. 11. 27) on disturbed heath fescue show 

 a progressive increase on the fescue types from high to low elevations. 



B. Tended: under crojps 20-50 years ago. 



It will be convenient firstly to consider the types that occur on the 

 above-mentioned heath lands ; that is to say on land that if neglected 

 long enough would revert via the untended types to mountain fescue 

 pasture, upland heath fescue pasture, or lowland heath fescue pasture 

 according to the altitudes. 



Secondly to deal with types which occur on alluvia, gravel, or 

 glacial drift, types which under prolonged neglect would not revert 

 to heath fescue pastures. 



1. Permanent pastures derived from heath fescue types. These 

 pastures are to be met with on the small "intaken" farms on the heath 

 zone and on the larger farms at the higher elevations of the main 

 cultivated tracts. The soils are usually thin and somewhat sticky, 

 being, in the case of most of the fields studied, derived from Terannon 

 Shales. It is sufficient for the purpose of the present paper merely 

 to differentiate between two main types, namely, those which occur 

 respectively (a) above and (b) below about 600'-700'. 



(a) Permanent pasture above 600'-700'. This differs from the 

 disturbed heath fescue pasture in three respects: (1) the far larger 

 and floristically more varied contribution of the Leguminosae to the 

 total herbage; (2) Agrostis vulgaris is usually more plentiful than 

 Festuca ovina, and a number of pasture grasses are appreciable con- 

 tributors to the herbage ; (3) the predominance of the more typical 

 weeds of tended grassland over the heath herbs and the greater aggregate 

 contribution of the miscellaneous plants. This is seen by reference 

 to Table I. Centaurea nigra and Rhinanthus spp. are also very 

 abundant. 



The chief contributing grasses and clovers with their cardinal 

 figures are as follows : 



