TRANSACTIONS OP SUB-SECTION B. 587 



at certain times of the year. Such pastures are known locally as 'teart' or 

 'tart' land, and their presence considerably lowers the value of farms in the 

 district. The area of land involved may be very roughly put down as fifteen 

 thousand acres, and since the whole of this part of Somerset is devoted to dairy 

 farming and is nearly all pasture land, it is a problem worthy of attention, to 

 investigate the cause, and, if possible, to find some remedy for this condition. 



The extent to which the scouring properties of the herbage are developed varies 

 greatly in different places. Scouring and sound pastures are often intermixed in 

 a very intricate manner. It is therefore not possible to make any reliable estimate 

 of the actual financial loss which may be put down to this difficulty. 



All kinds of cattle are affected, cows in milk being the worst sufferers. Lambs 

 also scour badly. Sheep and horses, however, are exempt. 



Scouring is usually most prevalent in the autumn — when cattle are fed on the 

 aftermath — and as a rule the more abundant the growth the more serious the 

 trouble becomes, varying with the season. Also individual animals vary in the 

 degree to which they may be affected. 



' Teart ' land in Somerset is entirely confined to one geological formation, the 

 Lower Lias. The typical surface soil on the Lower Lias here is an extremely 

 stiff unyielding clay, with the blue or yellow lias clay subsoil not far below. 

 Where this formation is obscured by deposits of alluvium or drift, giving rise to 

 a soil of an entirely different type, the pastures are all quite sound. The physical 

 natures of the soils of adjoining sound and 'teart' fields have been compared, and 

 the results tend to show that this is a factor of much importance. 



So far it has not been found that the chemical composition of the herbage 

 is peculiar in any way. 



Scouring on ' teart ' land has been attributed to a variety of causes, among 

 them the presence of some particular plant in the herbage, or a bad water-supply. 

 Neither of these explanations, however, can be substantiated. 



The usual result of the application of manures to ' teart ' pastures is to make 

 matters worse with increased growth, and where large numbers of sheep are fed 

 in these fields the same result is noticed. On the other hand, the first two or 

 three sharp frosts remove all tendency to cause scouring from the autumn herbage. 



It is possible to ascribe the peculiarities of 'teart' land cither (1) to the pro- 

 duction of abnormal compourids in the herbage affecting the animal, directly or 

 indirectly, by causing unusual fermentations to be set up in the intestines; or (2) to 

 a specific organism picked up from the grass or soil. These two hypotheses were 

 compared and discussed. 



TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6. 

 The following Papers were read : — ■ 

 1. The Cost of a Day's Horse Labour. By A. D. Hall, 31. A., F.B.S. 



2. Costs in the Danish System of Farming. 

 By Christopher Turnor. 



Joint Discussion with Section F on the Magnitude of Error in 

 Agriculture Experiments, 



(i) Scientific Method in Experiment. 

 By Professor H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S. 



(ii) The Interpretation of Experimental Results. 

 By Professor T. B. Wood, M.A., and F. J. M. Stratton, M.A. 



