Observations and Experiments on some English Pastures. 97 
how far the herbage of the enclosed plots represented the whole 
of the pasture of the field. The enclosures, I found, were in 
every case alongside of the places from which the turfs had 
been taken. They fairly represented the general character of 
the pasture, though in some cases important elements in the 
pasture were not found in the enclosure. 
The state of the plants at the time of my inspection enabled 
me to determine the time when the plots should be cut, and in 
the course of July and the beginning of August the herbage of 
the square yard in the centre of the enclosure was cut and for- 
warded to me. The different elements of the herbage were then 
separated into their various species. 
Dr. Fream weighed the plants immediately on completing 
the separation of each turf, and while they were yet green. As 
the plants I examined were cut in the various localities, were 
differently packed, and took different lengths of time in reaching 
me — and moreover as the time occupied in separating the 
different species of the various plots varied in proportion to the 
simplicity or complexity of their composition, or the close resem- 
blance of some of the species — it appeared to me that the better 
way to get a common standard for the various plants was to 
dry them all carefully and equally, and then weigh them. The 
relative proportions of the different elements of the pastures in 
the following tables are based, therefore, on their hay weights. 
The pastures examined maybe grouped into : I. Rich alluvial 
meadows ; II. Old grass pastures ; and, III. Small home fields. 
I. Rich Alluvial Meadows. 
1. Corsley Meadows, Longleat, Wilts : Mr. H. P. Jones. — I 
visited these meadows on J une 1 7 and was conducted over them by 
Mr. Moorson. There was a heavy pasture, the predominant plant 
being Yorkshire fog, then fiorin, sweet vernal, dogstail and 
rye-grass. Hard fescue formed the predominant undergrass. 
There were a good many plants of tufted hair-grass (Aira 
ccespitosa, Linn.), and here and there a plant of cocksfoot, but 
not contributing much to the general pasture. There were a 
good many buttercups and some sorrel. The field consisted of 
thirty-nine acres, and had fatted thirty Scotch animals. 
The plot was cut on July 26 under the direction of Mr. H. Fry, 
and the composition is expressed in the following table. The 
first column gives the proportion of all the herbage in the plot. 
The second column gives the relative proportion of the various 
grasses in the gramineous vegetation, for comparison with Dr. 
Fream's similar analysis, which is given in the third column : — 
VOL. I. T. S. — 1 H 
