1 9 io.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 933 



Prohibition of the Use of Poison. — The laying of poisoned 

 grain or seed on any ground or other exposed place or situa- 

 tion is prohibited by the Poisoned Grain Act of 1863, subject 

 to a saving clause permitting the sowing of dressed grain 

 and seed. Under the Poisoned Flesh Prohibition Act, 1864, 

 it is an offence to lay poisoned flesh or meat on land, but 

 the Act allows the occupier of a dwelling-house or other build- 

 ing to lay it in the house or building or in an enclosed garden, 

 or in drains connected with the house, or attached to the house 

 if properly protected, and the owner of a rick or stack may 

 insert in it any poisonous ingredient or preparation for the 

 destruction of rats, mice, or other small vermin. 



Assistance by the Public in enforcing Acts. — The enforcing 

 of these Acts would be facilitated if persons who see any 

 infringement of their provisions would immediately com- 

 municate with the Police or an Inspector of the Royal Society 

 for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 



SUMMARY OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS* 

 Weeds, Insects, and Fungi. 



Dodder Seeds in Seed Mixtures. — (Journal of Roy. Agric. Soc. 7 

 vol. 69, 1908). — Experiments have been carried out by the Society's 

 Consulting Botanist, to ascertain the danger from dodder seeds present 

 in clover or in ready-made seed mixtures for laying down pastures. 

 Dodder seeds of the two kinds — the larger foreign and the native — 

 were sown with various seeds used in agriculture — red clover, white 

 clover, alsike, trefoil, lucerne, timothy, rye grass, cocksfoot, rape, and 

 kale. Both kinds of dodder attached themselves to these very different 

 plants, and the various clovers were more or less rapidly destroyed; 

 little damage was done to the cruciferous plants like rape and kale, 

 and practically none to the grasses. The dodder grew, flowered, and 

 produced seeds on the clovers, while the other plants only provided food 

 for the parasite for a time. The grasses suffered least from the attack, 

 but they supported the dodder plants from twenty-one to thirty-four 

 days in a condition vigorous enough to enable them to spread to the 



* The summaries of Agricultural Experiments which have appeared in the present 

 volume have been as follows : — Experiments with Cereals, April, p. 65, and May, 

 p. 150 ; Experiments with Root Crops, June, p. 239, and July, p. 311 ; Experiments 

 with Potatoes, July, p. 313, and August, p. 402 ; Miscellaneous Experiments, 

 August, p. 405, and September, p. 489 ; Experiments with Clover and Grass, 

 October, p. 589; Experiments with Live Stock, November, p. 660 ; Experiments 

 with Milk, Butter, and Cheese, December, p. 753 ; and Weeds and Fungus Diseases, 

 January, 1 9 10, p. 854. 



