434 
The Herbage of Old Grass Lands. 
100 
No. 19. — A turf from a rich old pasture in Buckinghamsliii'e, 
the soil being a dark-brown loam of very good quality. From 
the time this sod was planted, at the end of January, to the day 
when the herbage was cut, on July 18, it always presented a 
beautiful appearance, and it won the admiration of all who saw 
it. The herbage was composed of: — 
Gramineous liertage • ■ • • , » 95 ' 
Leguminous herbage . , , , , ,'5 -100 
Miscellaneous herbage . , , • • , a trace. 
The grasses were in the following proportions : — 
Lolium perenne .»,,,,, 80 
Phleum pratense 15 
Agrostis sp • 3 
Alopecurus pratensis"! 
Cynosurus cristatus I 2 
Holcus lanatus [ * ' ' ' * * 
Poa trivialis J 
The leguminous herbage was all Trifolium repens, and the 
only miscellaneous plant present was Ranunculus. 
No. 20.— A turf sent by Mr. Louis T. Delcomyn, of The 
Old Court, Bredwardine, Herefordshire, who writes : " It is a 
fair specimen of our uplands old pasture, and is never touched 
by the floods which we have in winter over the gi'eater part of 
our pastures. It comes from a pasture called ' The Radnor,' 
and is used chiefly for sheep, but they seldom get cake while on 
it." The specimen was a rich, reddish, friable loam, and the 
turf was absolutely free from weeds. The herbage, a choicer 
natural sample than which it would be difiicult to find, was cut 
on July 23. Nothing can so eloquently describe this excellent 
turf as the following brief table showing the percentage 
composition of the herbage : — 
Gramineous herbage (exclusively Loliiun perenne) . 88 \ 
Leguminous herbage (exclusively Trifolium repens) . 12 [lOO 
Miscellaneous herbage , . . , , . 0 j 
Of course, in this case, Lolium perenne forms 100 per cent, of 
the grasses, and Trifolium repens 100 per cent, of the clovers. 
No. 21. — This and the two following turfs were sent thi'ough 
the courtesy of the Marquis of Bath, and the information con- 
cerning the lands whence they were drawn is supplied by Mr. 
H. Fry, his lordship's bailiff" at Longleat. No. 21 comes from 
Corsley Meadows, Longleat, Wilts. It is old grass land of the best 
quality, possessing excellent fattening properties ; was formerly, 
tvventy-fiv o years ago, a water meadow. It is now mown almost 
every year, and Scotch oxen graze the aftermath for Christmas 
beef. The specimen had the appearance of a brown stony loam 
