222 



TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS OF [Sess. lvi. 



and placed on a wire grating, which was supported some 

 inches above the bottom of the sink. 



On this grating the block of earth was carefully placed 

 by canting the box slowly over on its face, and the particles 

 of earth gradually fell away from the roots, and passed 

 through the grating, leaving the roots almost in situ and quite 

 uninjured. The roots were removed to another sink full of 

 clean water to get rid of their last traces of soil, and then 

 floated out upon zinc plates 6 inches broad, in the same way 

 as sea-weeds are managed, and there they were allowed to 

 dry. 1 have since -transferred them to white paper, where 

 they are better seen, and as you see I have gummed them 

 down. Before doing so I cut the roots away from the 

 stubbles, which were weighed separately, and the roots also were 

 cut at a depth of 8 inches from the stubbles, and the two 

 portions of root, namely the upper 8 inches and the lower 16 

 inches, were separately weighed. All these portions, the 

 grass, the stubble, and the two sections of roots, were weighed 

 in an air-dry condition some months after their removal from 

 the boxes, and- the actual weighings of the produce from a 

 block of soil 6 inches square and 2 feet deep, viz. half a 

 cubic foot in content, are given in the adjoining table. 



Table I. — Weight of Produce of Grasses in Grammes. 



The grasses are here arranged in order according to the 

 weight of root material they produced. 



