814 Annual Report for 1893 of the Consulting Botanist. 
timothy, nearly half of the samples of tall fescue examined being 
badly ergoted. Very low germinations were observed in several 
grasses, due no doubt to carrying forward old seeds. One sample 
of smooth-stalked meadow-grass failed altogether, and another 
gave only 18 per cent, of growing seeds ; a sample of cocksfoot 
yielded only 24 per cent, of germinating seeds, one of l’ye-grass 27 
per cent., two samples of hard fescue gave only 28 and 36 per cent., 
and dogstail gave 34 per cent, in one sample. 
Excluding these cases the germination of the grains has been 
very good, the averages being, for — 
Cocksfoot . . . 
per cent. 
Meadow fescue 
... 91 
Tall fescue 
... 82 
Sheep’s fescue . . 
... 85 
Hard fescue . . 
... 86 
Red fescue . . . 
... 86 
Meadow foxtail . 
... 74 
Sweet vernal 
... 76 
per cent. 
Rough-stalked meadow-grass 83 
Smooth-stalked meadow-grass 7G 
Wood meadow-grass ... 50 
Timothy 93 
Yellow oat grass .... 53 
Dogstail 90 
Perennial rj r e grass ... 94 
Italian rye grass .... 92 
The clovers showed a larger amount of weeds than the grasses, 
but they had a high germination. In white clover no less than 
30 per cent, contained more or less weeds, in some cases reaching 
10, 12, and even 15 per cent . ; the principal impurity being 
the seeds of sorrel. More than a third of the samples of red clover 
contained weeds, some having as many as 12 and 14 per cent. : 
dodder was detected in only 6 per cent, of the samples. Alsike 
was quite free from dodder, and fairly free from weeds. Trefoil and 
lucerne were also free from weeds. The average germination was 
as follows : — 
per cent. 
White clover ..... 91 
Red clover 94 
Alsike 89 
per cent. 
Trefoil 91 
Lucerne 96 
Samples of yarrow were pure and clean : they germinated on an 
average 78 per cent. ; sheep’s parsley grew 83 per cent. 
Very good samples of timothy and lucerne from Canada have 
been analysed and reported on. 
Several plants causing injury to animals have been determined. 
Horses and bullocks have died from eating yew. The applicant, 
under the impression that one sex of the yew w T as harmless, was 
anxious that the sex of the plant causing the injury should be 
determined. Pheasants found dead under a yew tree had been 
eating the leaves, the fragments being found in quantity in their 
intestinal canal. The seeds of laburnum caused the death of 
several fowls. 
Among the injuries affecting plants that have been investigated 
there have been attacks of minute fungi on oats, turnips, apples, 
and on foi'est trees. An account of the parasite causing finger-and- 
toe in turnip was prepared for the Journal and published in the 
