1905.] Formation of Permanent Pastures. 395 



was cut for hay, and botanical analyses of the herbage were 

 made. At Abbotsley, after the land had been pastured by sheep 

 for three seasons, portions of each plot were fenced off. A 

 hay crop was cut, and this was again submitted to analysis. At 

 the same time, the pasture plants on certain plots were counted, 

 and the area occupied by each was approximately measured 

 by means of a frame divided off into 144 square inches. The 

 botanical analysis of the Abbotsley herbage in 1901 was made 

 by the Department's Botanist, Mr. R. H. Biffen ; the other 

 hay samples were analysed by Mr. Sydney Armstrong, a senior 

 student, who was also entrusted with the laborious work of 

 counting and measuring the area occupied by the plants in the 

 Abbotsley pastures of 1905. It may be mentioned that the 

 plants were counted and measured on four separate square feet, 

 which were selected as representative of the plots. The figures 

 obtained from the four squares on each plot were found to agree 

 very satisfactorily. 



Three of the mixtures employed at Abbotsley and Saxmund- 

 ham tested the effects of sowing increasing quantities of rye- 

 grass. No. IV. was a mixture containing no rye-grass ; in 

 No. III. a small quantity was present; while in No. II. there 

 was a large quantity. The figures obtained from these three 

 mixtures will serve to illustrate the connection or want of 

 connection that exists between the composition of the mixture 

 and the composition of the resulting hay crop and pasture. 

 The hay crops which were analysed weighed as follows 

 per acre : — 









Mixture No. 









II. 



in. 



IV. 







Cwt. 



Cwt. 



Cwt. 



Saxmundham ... 



... 1904 



48 



46 



39 3 



Abbotsley 



... 1901 





Vh 



2l| 



Do. 



•• I905 



m 



i6| 



i6| 



Saxmundham met with a favourable season, while in both 

 years the Abbotsley plots suffered severely from dry weather 

 in May. It will be noticed that the omission of rye-grass in 

 Mixture IV. considerably reduced the hay crop at both stations. 



The exact character of the mixtures sown, and the com- 

 position of the herbage, are given in Table I. The different 



