1909.] 



Meadow Foxtail. 



193 



picipes). The results of such attacks were especially notice- 

 able in a recent autumn, when plants occupying large areas 

 were completely devoid of root growth and with slight exer- 

 tion could be pulled out of the ground. I advised several 

 growers who were suffering from the attacks of these insects to 

 clear the infested area and dress with gas-lime, also stimulating 

 the crops with manurial dressings. On completing inquiries 

 later in the year one prominent grower informed me that 

 he pulled up all the infested plants and dressed the ground 

 with gas-lime at the rate of 12 tons per acre. The lime was 

 well incorporated with the surface soil, and the ground sub- 

 sequently received a liberal dressing of slag and kainit before 

 planting in the following year. This treatment was attended 

 with highly satisfactory results. Another grower resolved 

 not to sacrifice all his plants, which were but two years old, 

 and in order to destroy the maggots he dressed the ground 

 between the plants with 1 ton of slag and kainit per acre; 

 after two weeks the dressing was supplemented with 50 

 bushels of fresh soot per acre. At a later stage, when the 

 ground was deeply stirred by hoeing, only a few sickly grubs 

 were to be observed where, before dressing, they existed in 

 enormous numbers. 



Several plantations have also been infested with the Eel- 

 worm, which produces a distorted growth of the stem. As a 

 means of checking the ravages of this pest, dressings of 

 sulphate of ammonia and kainit have proved useful. " Damp- 

 ing off " or mildew is prevalent in some soils on which the 

 growth of foliage becomes rank, but on the lighter gravelly 

 soils fungoid growths are practically unknown. 



MEADOW FOXTAIL (Alopecurus pratensis, L.) 

 Daniel Finlayson, F.L.S. 

 Of the several species and sub-species of the genus 

 Alopecurus commonly found in various parts of the country, 

 the grass under consideration is the true Foxtail of the best 

 meadows and pasture-land, and is the only one of importance. 

 Meadow Foxtail is a perennial, and is indigenous to most, 

 if not all, European countries ; in habit of growth it is stolon i- 

 ferous or creeping. As a pasture grass or on leys of several 

 years' duration on suitable soils, it will produce early in the 



p 



