﻿Wellington 
  Philosophical 
  Society. 
  529 
  

  

  burnet. 
  Having 
  grown 
  some 
  in 
  a 
  garden, 
  I 
  was 
  anxious 
  to 
  introduce 
  it 
  

   among 
  the 
  native 
  grasses 
  in 
  a 
  low-lying 
  paddock, 
  wliicli 
  had 
  never 
  been 
  

   ploughed, 
  and 
  was 
  never 
  likely 
  to 
  be, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  floods 
  which 
  peri- 
  

   odically 
  submerged 
  it, 
  and 
  with 
  that 
  object 
  I 
  transplanted 
  a 
  few 
  roots 
  to 
  

   different 
  spots, 
  and 
  also 
  sowed 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  seed 
  in 
  small 
  patches, 
  which 
  

   were 
  carefully 
  marked. 
  The 
  roots 
  struck 
  readily, 
  and 
  tlie 
  seed 
  soon 
  sprang 
  

   up, 
  and 
  I 
  congratulated 
  myself 
  on 
  the 
  success 
  attending 
  the 
  experiment 
  ; 
  

   but 
  I 
  failed 
  of 
  my 
  object 
  in 
  substituting 
  burnet 
  for 
  inferior 
  plants 
  through 
  

   the 
  sheep 
  feeding 
  it 
  down 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  ground 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  could 
  not 
  seed. 
  

   The 
  author 
  concludes 
  with 
  a 
  suggestion 
  to 
  the 
  Society 
  to 
  publish 
  a 
  pamph- 
  

   let 
  on 
  such 
  exotic 
  grasses 
  as 
  have 
  been 
  proved 
  suitable 
  for 
  specified 
  soils 
  

   and 
  climates. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Travers 
  remarked 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Blundell 
  could 
  get 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  the 
  information 
  he 
  

   mentioned 
  as 
  to 
  grasses, 
  etc., 
  from 
  the 
  catalogues 
  published 
  in 
  England. 
  What 
  we 
  

   wanted 
  here 
  was 
  the 
  feeding 
  value 
  of 
  grasses 
  and 
  character 
  of 
  soil. 
  As 
  to 
  the 
  disap- 
  

   pearance 
  of 
  flax, 
  he 
  considered 
  that 
  the 
  opening 
  up 
  of 
  the 
  swamps 
  where 
  it 
  grows, 
  by 
  

   cattle, 
  and 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  other 
  plants, 
  did 
  more 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  disappear 
  than 
  merely 
  

   the 
  cattle 
  eating 
  it. 
  It 
  was, 
  no 
  doubt, 
  eaten 
  for 
  the 
  pleasant 
  bitter 
  it 
  contained. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Kirk 
  remarked 
  that 
  some 
  confusion 
  existed 
  with 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  burnet 
  ; 
  there 
  are 
  

   two 
  plants 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  agriculturists 
  imder 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  the 
  greater 
  and 
  the 
  lesser 
  

   burnet 
  respectively. 
  The 
  former 
  flourishes 
  best 
  in 
  cool 
  and 
  rather 
  moist 
  soils, 
  the 
  latter 
  

   in 
  those 
  of 
  a 
  dry 
  character 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  had 
  observed 
  the 
  latter 
  in 
  a 
  naturalized 
  condition 
  

   near 
  Castle-rock 
  and 
  in 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  colony. 
  Both 
  plants 
  are 
  of 
  great 
  value. 
  He 
  

   considered 
  the 
  consolidation 
  of 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  swampy 
  ground 
  by 
  cattle, 
  and 
  the 
  conse- 
  

   quent 
  establishment 
  of 
  exotic 
  weeds, 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  destructive 
  to 
  Fhormium 
  and 
  other 
  

   swamp 
  plants 
  than 
  the 
  direct 
  injury 
  caused 
  by 
  cattle 
  in 
  feeding, 
  etc. 
  He 
  regretted 
  that 
  

   he 
  could 
  not 
  agree 
  with 
  the 
  author 
  in 
  his 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  Dr. 
  Curl's 
  writings. 
  

   His 
  statements 
  were 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part 
  wanting 
  in 
  the 
  necessary 
  data 
  for 
  testing 
  their 
  

   value. 
  He 
  trusted 
  Dr. 
  Curl 
  would 
  furnish 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  the 
  analysis 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  referred, 
  

   with 
  particulars 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  soil 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  grasses 
  were 
  growing, 
  coui'se 
  of 
  

   culture, 
  and 
  quantity 
  of 
  food 
  fm-nished 
  by 
  each, 
  in 
  precise 
  terms, 
  at 
  some 
  future 
  time. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Newman 
  agreed 
  with 
  Mr. 
  Kirk 
  that 
  the 
  information 
  contained 
  in 
  Dr. 
  Cmi'a 
  

   papers 
  on 
  these 
  subjects 
  was 
  scarcely 
  full 
  or 
  complete 
  enough 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  much 
  practical 
  

   value. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Blundell, 
  in 
  reply, 
  said 
  he 
  did 
  not 
  think 
  it 
  necessary 
  for 
  him 
  to 
  defend 
  Dr. 
  Curl 
  

   He 
  still 
  thought 
  he 
  was 
  right 
  in 
  what 
  he 
  said 
  about 
  the 
  disappearance 
  of 
  the 
  Phormium. 
  

  

  4. 
  "Notes 
  on 
  the 
  Botany 
  of 
  WaUieke, 
  Eangitoto, 
  and 
  other 
  Islands 
  in 
  

   the 
  Hauraki 
  Gulf," 
  by 
  T. 
  Kh-k, 
  F.L.S. 
  {Transactioris, 
  p. 
  444.) 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Travers 
  said 
  that 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  impossible 
  not 
  to 
  remark 
  the 
  pecuHar 
  vegetation 
  of 
  

   Eangitoto 
  as 
  described 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Kirk. 
  The 
  cause 
  of 
  the 
  luxuriance 
  of 
  growth 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  

   due 
  to 
  the 
  moisture 
  of 
  the 
  climate. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Travers 
  drew 
  attention 
  to 
  a 
  paper 
  by 
  Professor 
  Houghton, 
  of 
  Dublin, 
  on 
  

   " 
  Physical 
  Geology," 
  lately 
  published 
  in 
  Nature, 
  which 
  bore 
  out 
  certain 
  remarks 
  made 
  in 
  

   a 
  paper 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  subject 
  written 
  by 
  him 
  (Mr. 
  Travers) 
  last 
  year, 
  and 
  published 
  in 
  

   Yol. 
  X. 
  of 
  the 
  Transactions. 
  

  

  a37 
  

  

  