50 



EFFECT OF PHOSPHATES 



Several points of interest are brought out by these two tables. The 

 luxurious bottom of red and white clover which covered the treated 

 plots at Martin's Hearne in 1918 (see Plates III and IV) had all but 

 vanished during the 1919 season, and Leguminosae formed only a 

 fraction of a per cent, of the hay crop at both the above centres. 

 Nevertheless, the contrast in the botanical analysis of the treated 



TABLE XXII. BOTANICAL COMPOSITION, BY WEIGHT, OP THE HAY AT 

 MARTIN'S HEARNE FARM 



Soil: Boulder clay. Manures sown: Feb. 28th, 1917. 

 Sample taken: July 9th, 1919 



Composition of the grasses by weight 



and untreated plots is very striking indeed. The hay on the untreated 

 plots at both centres consists largely of weeds, and poor undesirable 

 grasses such as Holcus lanatus, Agrostis alba and Anthoxanthum 

 odoratum. The application of phosphates has either directly or in- 

 directly considerably affected the botanical composition of the grasses. 

 The better types of grasses such as Lolium perenne, Phleum pratense, 

 Cynosurus cristatus and Poa trivialis show a general increase on all 

 the treated plots. With the exception of the open hearth (fluorspar) 

 basic slag at Martin's Hearne, all the phosphates seem to be equally 

 effective in bringing about the change. Although the clovers have 



