Grass 
seems a temptingly low price, but 1,000,000 germinating 
seeds would cost at that price half-a-crown. 
Tall oat grass at 1s. a pound means 8s. 1d.’ per 
million germinated seeds. Italian ryegrass at 3d. per 
pound means 114d. per million. Smooth-stalked poa 
at od, per pound means 53d. per million, and so on.’ 
Grass seeds are of very different sizes, and as one 
seed only is required to form a plant, fewer pounds 
are wanted of the smaller ones. 
By this time the reader will appreciate the skill and 
experience of those ancestors of ours who have really 
succeeded, somehow or other, in forming old pastures 
which let sometimes at £5 to £6 per acre, and are pro= 
bably not surpassed by those of any other country in 
the world. 
Unfortunately we must confess that those old pastures 
were not much assisted by British botanists. Even now 
there are great differences of opinion as regards essential 
points. 
Mr, Elliot’s many years of careful experimenting have 
led to very interesting results which, if true, would 
revolutionise our ideas in laying down pastures. It is 
unnecessary to say that those expensive trials of his 
were carried out at his own expense. In any other 
country, abundant funds would have been at once pro- 
vided by the Government to confirm and extend such 
valuable work. 
Mr. Kipling says that “Providence looks after the 
British Government because it is so big and helpless,” 
which we hope is true. 
! 
1 Tschermak. * Scott Elliot (2), 3 Elliot, R. H. 
4 Aitken. 5 Hunter. 
273 S 
