Oi-ass 'Experiments at Wohurn. 25 
II. — Qrasn Experiments at Wohurn. By W. Carruthers, F.R.S., 
P.L.S., Consulting Botanist to the Society. 
I. Experiments with Single Grasses in the Stackyard 
AND Warren Fields. 
"When the clover experiments were begun at Woburn in 1883, 
three plots, of one sixty-fourth of an acre each, were sown with 
ryegrasses. In 1885 these grasses had become so mixed with 
brome-grass that it was resolved to dig them up and re-sow them, 
and at the same time plots of similar size were sown with some 
of the better pasture grasses. In all, ten plots were sown, and 
the following seeds were used : Italian ryegrass, perennial rye- 
grass, and a variety of this known in the market as " annual " 
ryegrass, and said to be shorter-lived than the common plant ; 
foxtail, cocksfoot, meadow fescue, tall fescue, timothy, rough- 
stalked meadow-grass, and smooth-stalked meadow-grass. 
The experiments were carried on in duplicate, plots of the 
same size being employed in the Stackyard and Warren Fields. 
The Stackyard Field is a very light sandy loam, about nine 
inches deep, with a sandy subsoil ; while the Warren Field is a 
firm clay loam, about eighteen inches deep, resting on a clay 
subsoil. 
The seeds were sown on May 31 and June 1, 1886. The 
same number of germinating seeds of each of the grasses were 
employed for each plot, with the view of securing a similar 
number of plants for experiment. The two meadow-grasses 
failed to establish themselves in 1886, and they were re-sown 
in 1887, when they again failed. In 1888 also the two plots 
were again sown, and again failed. A fresh attempt will be 
made in the spring of this year (1889) to secure plots of these 
grasses. 
The produce of the various plots in 1886 was so irregular, 
and the whole produce was so small, that it was not weighed. 
In 1887 all the plots were well covered with plants, with the 
exception of the meadow-grasses. The produce was carefully 
weighed and recorded. 
No manure was given to the plots in 1887. In April of 
1888 all the plots had a dressing of decorticated cotton-cake 
meal, at the rate of 5 cwts. to the acre. 
In 1887 the ryegrasses produced a nearly equal crop. The 
foxtail and timothy did not reach the same amount as the 
ryegrasses ; but the cocksfoot, meadow fescue, and tall fescue 
greatly exceeded them, so much so that two acres of cocksfoot 
would have produced as great a weight of food as three acres of 
ryegrass. 
