ll.l)> Wn MI-ADOWS 



-9 



fruit dispersed in llie sanu- way. 'i'he i^ire- 

 sjarious plants are dispersed usually by llie 

 wind. Tlie Compusiies i;eneially. suih as 

 ihistles with feathery pappus, the Dandeliiiii 

 and (io.it's Beard with their parachute arranj^e- 

 nient, disperse their fruit with the assistance 

 of tlie wind. 



The small seeds of the t Vchids, those of the 

 Campions, &C., with a sort of " censer " fruit, 

 are jerked out of the capsules by the swaying 

 of the tVuil-stalks in the wind. The cat.'ipult 

 arransjenients of such pl.anls as the .Meadow 

 Crane's Bill are devices of the plant itself 

 Of these the majority are hedijerow plants 

 which, fjrowinji^ in shehered spots, require 

 such assistance to disperse them lo a distance. 



Clayey Meadows, Sandy Meadows. &c. — 

 One of the most important factors in causini; 

 the distribution of plants is the character of 

 the suil. There are some lifty ijeoloijic.il 

 formations which are distributed in ditferent 

 parts of the country, and these are responsible 

 for the different types of soil. Of these there 

 are six or seven, clay and loam, siliceous soils, 

 sand, lime or chalk, humus, peat, saline soil. 



The soil of meadows and pastures is of one 

 of the lirst four types as a rule. Where peat 

 or humus are present the vejfet.'ition is usually 

 of moorland or heath type, and by the sea the 

 salt marsh is larijely saline. 



Where a clayey meadow exists we shall find 

 such plants as the Pilewort and the Cowslip. 

 On a sandy meadow the clovers, especially 

 White Clover, are cominon. .\ limestone or 

 chalk meadow is indicated by such plants as 

 Knapweed, .Salad Burnet, Cicely, Bur Parsley, 

 Purple Scabious, &c. Lady's Smock, .Meadow 

 Crane's Bill, Yellow Rattle, Spotted Orcliis 

 usuallv indicate .sandy meadows with some 

 peat ;ind a little lime in the soil, as tliey are 

 very often mi-mbcrs of a marshy type of flora. 

 In saline soils of salt marshes, which are con- 

 verted into meadows by the sea very often, 

 the Sea .Aster, Wild Celery, Sea .Milkwort, 

 and many other maritime plants are found. 



It will be very useful for pupils lo draw up 

 lists of plants found upon different types of 

 soil in meadows aiul pa-lurrs, and lo comp.ire 

 them. 



Drainage and its Effect upon Meadows. — 

 Not less profound than lln-etTecl of tree-fellinjj 

 and cultivation upon the original forest land 

 has been that of drainajje. .Apart from the 

 conversion of the forests into corn lands by 

 the ridge-and-furrow method which at once 

 disturbed the plant formations native to the 

 soil, the influence of mod<-rn drainage has been 

 still more marked by (i) causing wet meadows 

 to become drv, (2) causing bog and marsh 

 plants to disappear, (3) assisting the work of 



tree-l'elling and other modern causes in making 

 the whole countrv much drier as a whole. 



The whole of I he Kens has bi'i-n convi-rled 

 in this way during the last two hundred vears 

 from ai|u.'ilic vegelatiim into meadow and 

 arable land. In other parts unreclaimed land, 

 often swampy, boggy, or waste, more espe- 

 cially in lowland regions, has become ordinary 

 p.isture. .Many persons living to-day can 

 testify to this, and it is going on ,il the present 

 lime on a grand scale in Ireland. 



So that it is only here and there, in .areas 

 largely given up lo meadows to-day, that it 

 is possible to liiid any traces of thi' original 

 vegetation, so many difl'erent stages has it 

 gone through owitig to different causes. But 

 there do exist what the author has called "ves- 

 tiges" or "vestigial floras" that help one to 

 understand wh.it the virginal character of tlie 

 veget.'ilion ri'ally w.is. These are i|uili' istilated 

 .and owe their isol.ition largely to drain.ige. 



General Methods of Survey. — (a) The Field 

 Itself. — The author h.is ri'ccntly h.ul to under- 

 t.ake the survey of a particul.ir district upon 

 ecological lines, and has found th.it the intro- 

 duction of a novel plan of work has been the 

 most productive of results, and is adapted to 

 all classes of workers. 



In this system fields are studied one by one. 

 .An Ordnance map of the district is procured, 

 .and upon this the fields .ire iiumberi'd. In the 

 field the plant-lists f>ear the same numbers as 

 those given to the fields on the map. 



The plan adopted is to m.ike a general survey 

 of the field by considering the .abundance or 

 dominance of the (brasses in the first place. 

 The one which is most dominant is put down 

 first in the list, and the percentage may be 

 stated in relation to that of other (irasses. 

 Then the next most coininon Grass is put down 

 second, and the others in their order, and so 

 on. In a drv field one m.iy h,i\e .111 abund.ince 

 (75 P^"" cent) of Yellow Oat (irass or Sheep's 

 Fescue ; in a wet meadow Tussock Grass may 

 locallv be dominant. .As meadows are artificial 

 enclosures, the dominance or frequency in one 

 has to be contrasted and checked by that of 

 other fields. (The terms used are .ibundant. 

 locallv abundant, frequent, occasional, rare.) 



.After the Grasses have been put down, the 

 rest of the plants are noted in order of abun- 

 d.ance or liy frequency or percentage. Whi^n 

 a detailed survey is required, a plot is slaked 

 out in squares, and every plant is noted and 

 mapped on squared paper. 



(b) Ditch.— 1\\c examination of the ditches 

 surrounding a field may come next. The>e 

 are likewise artificial, but may indicate in 

 connection with the type of w.iter (hard or 

 soft) the character of the natural aquatic 



