Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 153 



As to the soil in which the plant is grown, Mr. Traill gives the 

 following, progressing from the best to the worst : — 



Mr. Traill's soil, generally speaking, is of the very worst kind ; but 

 he overcomes this disadvantage by mixing sand, peat, and retentive 

 clay. The principal objection to this soil is, that the plants, perhaps 

 a tenth, die out the first year, and sometimes a few in the second. 

 If they sur^^ve this period, they thrive quite as well as those grown 

 in the better soils. 



Mr. Horsburgh of Tongue, one of the factors of the Duke of 

 Sutherland, has, at the request of his Grace, also instituted a series 

 of experiments with the Tussac, which, however, in their results, are 

 somewhat different from those of Mr. Traill, Mr. jNIatheson, or the 

 Messrs. Lawson. Mr. Horsburgh obtained in 1846 two plants of 

 the grass, which " tillered out," to use his own words, '•beautifully." 

 In the following year, by a division of the roots sixty plants were 

 obtained, which were planted in his garden at Tongue. In 1848 the 

 plants were again divided, and a portion of them dibbled into mossy 

 ground, exposed to the influence of the sea spray. In the year fol- 

 lowing (1849), all the plants, wdth few exceptions, flowered and pro- 

 duced abundance of apparently good seed, which was sown in August 

 of the same year, but did not vegetate. In December, the plants in 

 the garden were cut, and the grass given to cattle, who devoured it « 

 greedily. In the spring of 1850 a number of the plants which had 

 been cut, withered away and completely " died out." A few of the 

 healthy plants were again divided, and set in a patch of sandy ground 

 near the Ferry at Tongue (west coast of Sutherland), and at the 

 present date are reported to be healthy and thiiving. Very few of 

 the plants in Mr. Horsburgh' s garden bore seed this year. A portion 

 of last year's seed, which was saved for further experiment, was sown 

 in June of the present year and vegetated freely ; but in consequence 

 of being hoed up by an ignorant lad, the result of this experiment 

 cannot be known. Mr. Horsbiu-gh states as the result of his obser- 

 vation, that the Tussac thrives best in rich garden soil, where its 

 growth is very luxuriant, while on poor mossy land the plants thrive 

 very indifferently. The greatest length of blade of Mr. Horsburgh' s 

 specimens was 6 feet; but the average was only between 4 and 5. 

 All the plants stand the winter very well. Mr. Horsburgh' s gardener 

 is inclined to attribute the decay of the cut plants to the nibbling of 

 mice, which little animals not only lived upon them, but constructed 

 their nests at the base of the thick bushy tufts. 



Mr. Matheson's experiments, as to the growth of the Tussac grass 



