FIELDS AND MEADOWS 



225 



Wet and Dry Meadows. A very few simple 

 observations will enable the pupil to discover 

 that meadows differ very greatly in the relative 

 water content. It will be seen very readily 

 that the influence of a cold clay soil is to 

 make some meadows wet or even water- 

 logged. In other cases the soil may be found 

 to be very dry, and at certain seasons of the 

 year to exhibit a parched appearance, espe- 

 cially in seasons of drought. This would natu- 

 rally be connected with the existence of a sandy 

 soil. A few rough examinations of soil may 

 with advantage be undertaken to elicit these 

 facts. But the appearance of a cracked 

 surface in summer will very quickly suggest 

 the fact that the soil is a clay. 



As a rule, too, the contour of the surface 

 will mould itself according to the distribution 

 of wet and dry meadows, and a connection will 

 be observed between the occurrence of hollows 

 where water will usually lie, and hilly or 

 slightly rounded surfaces where it will run off. 

 So that tin- difference between soils and the 

 occurrence of hollows and slopes will suggest 

 the division of meadows into wet and dry 

 meadows. Then the plants that are respec- 

 tively found in each will readily be recog- 

 nized after a little practice. The occurrence 

 of Clovers and Sandworts, or such very dry 

 soil plants as Mouse-ear Hawkweed, which 

 also grows on walls, will indicate dry soils. 

 The extensive patches of Sedges, Rushes, and 

 Spike Rushes which are found in wet spots will 

 indicate on the other hand wet meadows. 



Slope and Aspect. If the relation of the 

 meadows and pastures to the drainage of the 

 country be studied, it will be seen that streams 

 and rivers are arranged upon a definite system. 

 In many cases the streams may be found to 

 run in parallel series. And between one sys- 

 tem of streams and another there may be seen 

 to be dividing ridges which determine the 

 areas of drainage of each system. This will 

 be at once connected with the natural slope of 

 meadows on either bank of the stream. The 

 influence of such slopes may be regarded as 

 the cause of distribution of certain plants at 

 certain points. The aspect of the slopes will 

 be found to have an important bearing again 

 upon the occurrence of a plant, some species 

 preferring a north, south, west, or easterly 

 aspect. 



These facts may be illustrated by the draw- 

 ing up of a list of the plants found to grow on 

 the different aspects. The same thing will be 

 noticed in regard to the banks of a ditch or 

 hedge, and it will be recognized that banks or 

 slopes are the special habitat of some plants, 

 as Ivy, Ground Ivy, &c. 



Effect of Grazing of Animals. In addition to 



the effect of enclosure, which has been pointed 

 out, there is the effect of the grazing of 

 animals. Enclosure has resulted in this case 

 in limiting the area to be grazed or browsed. 

 Consequently the influence of this factor to- 

 day is much greater than in the past. It is 

 readily appreciated in a pasture. In times of 

 drought the surface is almost entirely dried up 

 and parched where animals are in the habit of 

 grazing. 



Several effects are produced by all classes of 

 animals. The flowering stems and the later 

 fruits are necessarily reduced in number by 

 the browsing of animals. The normal struggle 

 for existence, it may be pointed out, is thereby 

 also greatly accentuated. For the tenderer 

 succulent plants are liable to disappear, or to 

 retreat to the hedgerow, where they are more 

 or less protected, owing to the possession of 

 thorns and prickles or spines by the Hawthorn, 

 Bramble, Sloe, Rose, and other plants. Such 

 fodder plants as Furze are protected by their 

 needle-like spines. Trees in the hedgerow, as 

 the Elm or Ash, are protected by their hard 

 bark and by the tree habit, which raises the 

 main branches and foliage above the reach of 

 animals that relish the leaves, &c. 



Among herbaceous plants, thistles and Rest 

 Harrow are protected by their sharp spines, 

 the Sow Thistle by its prickly leaves. The 

 Dandelion and Goat's Beard possess a bitter 

 juice which is distasteful to cattle as a rule. 

 Some plants, as Alkanet, Comfrey, and Borage, 

 are provided with stiff bristly hairs. The 

 Nettle, found also in fields, which protects the 

 other plants below it, is provided with stinging 

 hairs containing a poison. 



The White Dead-nettle has a bristly calyx 

 which may assist it in being protected. Some 

 plants that are poisonous, as Hemlock, grow 

 in fields. This latter has a nauseous smell and 

 spotted stem. The Bittersweet is also poison- 

 ous, and the flower a purple colour, with a 

 central yellow cone, which is also a warning 

 sign. The common Buttercups, owing to their 

 acridity and power of blistering, are thus pro- 

 tected. 



Grasses and Sedges in meadows are often 

 protected by the sharpness of the leaf margin 

 in the former, e.g. Tussock Grass, or by the 

 triangular sharp-edged stem, as in the latter. 

 These are only a few of the facts that may very 

 usefully be pointed out, or better, discovered by 

 the pupils, in studying the relation of grazing 

 to the meadow or pasture. 



Apart from these general features, it may be 

 seen that it makes a great deal of difference 

 what class of animal grazes a meadow. For 

 instance, when sheep are continually grazing 

 it may be noticed that crested Dog's Tail grass, 



30a 



