52 Fastnre Problems 



above 600' (see Tables III and IV). It also comes in early (in small 

 amount) on good soils at low elevations and lasts for over a hundred 

 years which suggests its being a primary species under these conditions 

 (see Tables VII and VIII). It would appear that both ¥. ovina and 

 F. rubra are favoured by pasture conditions. 



It is difficult to estimate with certainty the effect of sowing the 

 various commercial counterparts of the indigenous fine leaved fescues. 

 The so-called F. duriuscula of commerce is frequently sown in Wales 

 and on the Cotswolds. On the Cotswolds one of us was able to prove 

 that the inclusion of this seed (4 lbs. to acre) gave only 3-2 % fine leaved 

 fescues to the herbage in the second year and the majority of this was 

 demonstrably the indigenous F. rubra var. 



In Wales where both 1 lb. and 2 lbs. of F. duriuscula (?) had been 

 sown, the contribution of fine leaved fescues to the herbage was no 

 greater than that reached on other fields by the unsown indigenous 

 F. rubra ; and on no pasture of any age have we found more than 3 % 

 of F. duriuscula^. At high elevations we have found no benefit from 

 including commercial F. ovina in the mixtures. The available evidence 

 is therefore all against including the commercial fine leaved fescues 

 in seeds mixtures in the districts under review. 



Molinia caerulea, Nardus stricta, and Triodia decumbens are primary 

 species very susceptible to interference and do not attain to a prominent 

 position, at all quickly, after a field has been properly reclaimed. Triodia 

 decumbens seldom appears before the seventh year but may be plentiful 

 by the eleventh. Molinia and Nardus only appear before the tenth 

 year if fields are quite neglected. 



(6) Secondary species {a few are possibly primary on good soils). 



Lolium perenne behaves as a primary species on good soils; but 

 since it is always included in mixtures it is difficult to say how rapidly it 

 comes in indigenously on suitable habitats. Considerable quantities have 

 been met with in the second year on small plots (see B, Table VIII) 

 where it was excluded from the mixture ; but this may well have been 

 due to seeding from adjoining plots. It frequently attains to a high 

 percentage up to the third or fourth year from sowing, then drops for 

 a few years, and subsequently rises. This suggests that the plants met 

 with after 12-20 years on a good soil are the indigenous counterparts 

 of the original sowing. Above 600' it is probably a local exotic^, for 



^ Or of any fine leaved fescue apparently dififerent to the locally indigenous varieties. 

 2 See footnote 1, p. 55. 



