NOTES ON THE BOTANY OF EXPEEIMENTAL GEASS-PIOTS. 305 



flowering-stems of any plant. On another plot, similarly manured to 

 lla, DactijUs formed nearly 55 per cent, of the total produce. A 

 crop singularly rich in the leguminous element is the result of another 

 combination of manures, and in an adjoining plot, to which no sulphate 

 of potass is applied, the contrast is very marked. Thus leguminous 

 plants formed about 40 per cent, of the herbage on the first, and only 

 about 8 per cent, where there was no potass. 



Sufficient illustration for the purpose in view has now been given of 

 what Dr. Gilbert terms the " domination of one plant over another." 

 A few remarks on some of the principal plants which do not belong 

 to either the Leguminoscs or the Graminecc, must terminate this part of 

 the subject. Hanunculus acris, It. lulbosus, Trifolium pratense 

 Lathyrus pratensis, Pimpinella Saxifraga, Centaurea nigra, Achillea 

 Millefolium, and Luzula campesfr is occur on all the plots except lla 

 and lib, on which the quantity of ammonia-salts applied per acre 

 is 800 lbs. annually ; and these plants are all very conspicuous in 

 their flowering season. Achillea rarely throws up any flowering-stems 

 before the first crop is cut, and the leaves in the sample, which are 

 comparatively very light, by no means represent the extent to which 

 this plant has possession of the soil. 15ut the leaves alone of tliis 

 plant form about 10 per cent, of the herbage of one plot. Conopodium 

 denudatum, Heracleum Sphondylium, and Rumex Acetosa occur on all 

 the plots, but the second is in most instances represented by only one 

 or two plants. The Rumex is very abundant all over, and constitutes 

 on most plots a large proportion of the miscellaneous herbage, and in 

 rare cases it has almost or quite reached 25 per cent of the total weight 

 of the sample. Cardaraine pratensis, Stellavia graminea, Chrysanthe- 

 mum Leucanthemum, Senecio eruccBfolius, Hypochceris radicata, Plantago 

 media. Primula veris. Orchis Morio, Scdla nutans, and several other 

 species which are common in many meadows, are rare here. FritiUaria 

 occurs sparingly on one plot, but it is rather plentiful in a not very 

 distant part of the park ; and Orniihogalum umbellatum is quite rare. 

 Plantago lanceolata grows on all the plots except where ammonia-salts 

 are applied, having disappeared from several of these plots since 

 1862 or 1867. 



In conclusion, a few words respecting the analyses or separations 

 of the samples of hay into their constituent species, a labour which at 

 first appears to present insurmountable difliculties, and which no 

 botanist can perform without special training, but with a little prac- 

 tice it is easily accomplished. It is, however, exceedingly trying 

 work for the eyes. Sharp boys, from ten to twelve years of age, 

 learn to distinguish most of the species, even very small fragments of 

 the leaves of any of the grasses, in a fortnight or three weeks ; and 

 some of them after a month's teaching perform the operation as well 

 as it is possible to do it. It would occupy much space to describe 

 fully the mode of taking and separating the samples, but it will be 

 understood that the greatest care is exercised throughout, and no time 

 is spared in endeavouring to obtain a fairly representative sample of 

 the herbage of each plot. The characters by which the various 

 species are recognised in the condition of hay were only discovered by 

 degi'ees, and therefore the first separations were not so well done as 

 the later ones, and a larger proportion was left undetermined. But 



X 



