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DR ALFRED E. CAMERON. 
derived from Middle Sand overlying Boulder Clay and Keuper Marl, evidences of 
which can be traced in the escarpment connecting the two meadows. Naturally, 
after a period of time, soils become modified by the accumulation of humus, which 
tends to make a soil “ heavy.” There is really very little difference to be found in 
the texture of the soils of the two meadows, although derived from such different 
sources, and very little variation in their water-content. That of Glover’s Meadow, 
with its underlying strata of clay which prevents leaching, has a large retentive 
capacity for moisture. The Alluvial Pasture, by reason of its position on the banks 
of the Dane, does not dry readily, and its moisture content is continually being 
added to by the waters draining from the higher lands down the declivity on its 
southern side, so that at the base of the slope on the side distal from the stream 
the ground, even in midsummer, had almost always a tendency to be marshy. If 
anything, the soil of the Alluvial Pasture is the more friable when dry, that of 
Glover’s Meadow tending to become compact and cloddy. 
The Alluvial Pasture varies in evenness. It is flat on the west side and rises 
gradually at the east and south sides towards the escarpment (PL II, fig. 1.) Sundry 
undulations cause here and there the formation of moister hollows. The surface 
of Glover’s Meadow is almost level, dipping slightly on one side towards the wood 
(PI. II, fig. 2). The Farm Pasture is level for a great part, but its evenness 
is interrupted by the steep gradient leading down to the banks of the river. 
It was not considered necessary to make chemical analyses of the soils of the 
habitat. A knowledge of the mechanical nature of the soil, its coarseness or 
fineness, is much more important for ecological purposes.* The texture of a soil 
determines and regulates its water-content, which is of far more importance to 
animal and plant life than its chemical composition. Mechanical analyses need 
not be too exact, and the measurement and separation of the particles according 
to definite units of size or variation represents a waste of effort. The results give 
no real clue to the nature of the soil as it actually exists, where the particles are 
all mixed up. Therefore, it is sufficient to know that the Alluvial Pasture soil is 
a dark-coloured loam, that of Glover’s Meadow a reddish clay loam. 
The Plant Environment and its Eelation to Insects. 
With the assistance of Mr C. H. Gadd, Lecturer in Biology at the Holmes 
Chapel Agricultural College, a thorough analysis was made of the dominant floral 
species. The vegetation is essentially of the mesophytic type. In Glover’s Meadow 
the predominant herbage of the field consists of Anthoxanthum odoratum and 
Holcus lanatus. Among species which could be designated abundant, there were 
Dactylis glomerata, Festuca ovina, Rhinanthus crista-galli, Rumex acetosa, and 
R. acetosella, Cynosurus cristatus, Ranunculus repens, Plantago lanceolata, and 
Clements, F. E., Research Methods in Ecology, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1905, pp. 15, 80. 
