ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 7 



excess of organic matter, though these may be in an 

 unavailable form for the majority of the plants which go 

 to form a good pasture, while quite available for the strong 

 growing and strong rooted plants in possession. The 

 question therefore came to be by w^hat means could the 

 nitrogen in excess in the organic matter be made available, 

 and how could the excess of strong vegetation be checked ? 

 Without wearying you with the agricultural details of the 

 treatment, I may say that in many cases this has been 

 successfully carried out, and, as you may see, the character 

 of the vegetation has been materially altered. Those of 

 you who are more proficient in the details of the different 

 plants will be able to correct me, where I am wrong ; 

 but what I have ascertained is that by the addition 

 of a considerable quantity of phosphoric acid, which is 

 the weak ingredient in moorland soils, by treading with 

 sheep when the ground is soft, by eating down with 

 cattle when the coarse Grasses are in their most succulent 

 state, and especially by using every means to encourage 

 the spreading of the running sub-surface stems of White 

 Clover, these results have been brought about, and the 

 capacity for grazing nearly doubled in many cases, the 

 improvement continuing for a considerable number of 

 years. The remarkable feature is that no re-seeding has 

 taken place, and that the weak White Clover plants of 

 twenty years ago have spread till now they fill 60 per cent, 

 of the area, while the stock render the determination 

 of the other herbage most difficult owing to very few 

 species being allowed to seed. I think there is no 

 reason to suppose that otherwise than in the case of 

 Clover the proportions of the herbage have materially 

 altered, and a botanical analysis which has been made 

 shows that though the White Clover may have gone up 

 from 4 per cent, to over 50 per cent., the plants which 

 form the residue are still there and in much the same 

 proportions as formerly, namely, Agrostis, still largely 

 in excess, Yernal, Foas, Sheep's and Hard Fescue and 



