260 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxviii. 



continuously cultivated, while at Inverchaolain fields 

 formerly under plough are now in pasture. 



The crops produced are roots, oats, potatoes and hay. 

 No wheat is grown. Three weeds, Spergula arven'sis, Linn. ; 

 Polygonum Persicaria, Linn. ; and P. aviculare, Linn., 

 appear everywhere in the ploughed land in such prodigious 

 quantities as to vie with the crop, almost obscuring in the 

 height of summer, with a lacy film of linear leaves and 

 pink and white blossoms, the crop plants which have not 

 yet had time to gain the ascendency by virtue of their 

 taller or more leafy growth. 



Other weeds which are common, but never present in 

 such formidable abundance, are Cerastium triviale, Link ; 

 Stellaria media, Vill. ; Potentilla Anserina, Linn. ; Gna- 

 phalium uliginosum, Linn. ; Achillea Ptarmica, Linn. ; 

 and Galeopsis Tetrahit, Linn. 



Pastures. — As the agriculture of the district consists 

 chiefly in dairy-farming and sheep-grazing, the bulk of 

 the farm lands are in either permanent or temporary 

 pasture. These pastures form a fairly constant type of 

 vegetation, merging on the upper sides of the fields into 

 that of the unenclosed hill-pastures, and on the lower sides 

 into that of the meadows. Here the most frequently 

 occurring plants are Holcus lanatus, Linn. ; Agrostis 

 vulgaris, With. ; Cynosurus cristatus, Linn. ; Anthoxan- 

 thum odoratum, Linn. ; Eriphrasia officinalis, Linn. ; 

 Potentilla Tormentilla, Scop. ; Trifolium repens, Linn. ; 

 T. pratense, Linn. ; Ranunculus repens, Linn. ; Prunella 

 vidgaris, Linn. ; Galium saxatile, Linn. ; Bellis perennis, 

 Linn. ; Gonopodium denudatum, Koch ; Plantago lanceo- 

 lata, Linn. ; Cerastium triviale, Link ; and Hieracium 

 species. 



Scattered plants of Senecio Jacobaea, Linn. ; Cnicus 

 arvensis, Hoffm. ; Cn. palustris, Hoffm. ; and Cn. lanceo- 

 latus, Hoffm., are widely distributed, while in damp and 

 ill-drained situations Juncus effusus, Linn., becomes 

 dominant. 



Meadows and Waste Places. — In low-lying and damp 

 situations many of the pasture plants still persist, but a 

 number of others, peculiar to such situations, now appear, 

 giving a special character to the meadow lands. Giving 



