fTT 



Expei'hnent Station Report. 77 



The various samples of marsh or "salt hay," which served 

 for the above analyses, were supplied by different members 

 of the club ; they arrived in good condition, and had evi- 

 dently beeu collected with care. The individual plants, 

 however, were in a condition which did not allow a satisfac- 

 tory determination of their botanical names, and of the rela- 

 tive proportion of the various kinds of plants present, nor 

 of their particular stage of growth. The communication 

 received from the secretary of the club has to furnish, for 

 this reason, the basis for a few subsequent remarks. A small 

 collection of the upper portion of marsh meadow plants, 

 neatly fastened upon suitable paper, accompanied the hay 

 samples. To each specimen of this collection was attached 

 its local name, with some general remarks as follows : — 



" No. 1, — Sedge grass, grows on low spots. 



" No. 2, — Branch grass. 



" No. 3, — Goose grass, stalks with seeds. 



'* No. 4, — Fox, or red grass, the most common salt grass. 



" No. 5, — Marsh mallows, called by some rosemary. 



"These varieties of plants are generally found more or 

 less mixed in all salt marshes. On marshes that have been 

 ditched, a grass called white-top — by some called red-top — 

 comes in and grows together with the above-stated fox grass. 

 This white-top is nearly as early as ' black grass,' which is 

 one of our earliest grasses, and the only one which grows 

 digtinct by itself." 



As grass, like " rushes" and " sedges," exerts a controlling 

 influence on the local character, and thus the comparative 

 feeding value of the hay obtained from different places, it 

 has to be conceded that the absence of a more detailed in- 

 formation regarding the particular character and condition 

 of the vegetation, etc., which served for the production of 

 the above-described hay samples, imparts to our analytical 

 results in the majority of cases (from three to six) a mere 

 local interest. A comparison of the various samples seems 

 to confirm the prevailing impression that the " black grass" 

 (Juncus bulbosus) furnishes a valuable fodder; and that 



