Winifred E. Brenohlev 11 



B. Pasture, originally arable. 



(1) Laboratory House Meadow^. 



The field was originally under arablecultivation, but in 1856 was fenced 

 in and was sown with barley and grass. The grass seeds failed at first, 

 and it was not xintii IS.")!) that a successful stand was obtained. Since 

 that date the field has been kept as a meadow and mown for hay, no 

 stock beiuj; run on it. 



This field has been down to grass longer than any other area considered 

 in this experiment, with the exception of the permanent pasture of the 

 Park and Common. Although 58 years have elapsed since the land was 

 under the plough a certain number of arable seedlings appeared from the 

 soil samples, and the number is large enough to lead one to assume that 

 a considerable proportion must have been buried in the soil from the 

 time of grassing down. Atriplex palula, Polygonum aviculare, and 

 Veronica Tournefortii occurred in two or three of the holes to a depth of 

 several inches, and it is most improbable that so many well distributed 

 seeds should have been introduced by external agencv and have worked 

 their way through the grass carpet down through the soil. It is more 

 difficult to draw any conclusion with regard to those species which 

 appeared in one single hole or as isolated individuals. Arenarin serpyUi- 

 folia, Polygonum Conmlndus, Brassica sp. and Matricaria inodora were 

 represented by single plants, but as the seeds all occurred at a consider- 

 able depth, and as none of them are at all well adapted for dispersal over 

 any considerable area, it is quite possible that they represent survivors 

 from long buried seeds. On the other hand Pa paver sp. and Sonchus 

 asper appeared only in the first and second inches, and as both these 

 species are easily carried by the wind, the seeds were almost certainly 

 introduced in these cases. Anagullis arvensis and Alchemilla arvensis are 

 doubtful species. Anagallis appeared from three holes from three to 

 seven inches below the surface, which is an argument for the seeds being 

 survivors of widely distributed long buried seeds, but as the species is 

 most abundant in the allotments close by an element of doubt must be 

 admitted. Four Alchemilla arwnsis seedlings appeared from one hole, 

 three of them being in the second inch, which suggests that by some 

 accident a fruiting plant or a number of seeds were introduced at the spot, 

 so that the seeds jnight be of more recent date. 



• J. B. Lawes, "The history of a field newly laid down to permanent grass," Joarn. Roy. 

 Agric. Soc. Eng. 1889, 25, pp. 1-24. 



