10 
Mr.  William  Carruthers. 
considered.  Suppose  ten  million  plants  to  be  sufficient  for 
an  acre,  the  cost  per  acre  would  come  out  thus  : — 
Cost 
Seed  for 
10,000,000 
plants 
Cost 
Per  lb. 
lb. 
Per  acre 
s d. 
s.  d. 
Timothy  .... 
0 ^ 
8 
3 0 
Rough-stalked  meadow  grass 
1 8 
5 
8 4 
Italian  rye-grass  . 
0 3| 
40 
12  6 
Perennial  rye-grass 
0 31 
46 
13  5 
It  would  clearly  be  a gain  to  the  farmer  in  every  way  to 
substitute  timothy  for  rye-grass  both  in  his  annual  and  biennial 
lays,  as  well  as  in  his  permanent  pasture. 
Improving  Existing  Pastures. 
In  association  with  my  colleague.  Dr.  Voelcker,  numerous 
experiments  have  been  made  throughout  England  with  the 
view  of  improving  the  herbage  of  parks  and  old  pastures. 
The  results  have  been  set  out  in  several  joint  reports,  and  sug- 
gestions have  been  made  of  great  practical  value  to  the  farmer. 
; Pasture  Weeds. 
Many  contributions  have  been  published  on  the  weeds 
of  pastures  and  cultivated  lands.  The  different  methods  of 
treating  biennial  and  perennial  weeds,  and  the  difficulty  of 
eradicating  those  with  underground  creeping  stems  or  roots, 
have  been  pointed  out.  It  has  been  established  that  yarrow 
should  have  a place  in  all  mixtures  for  laying  down  permanent 
pastures,  not  because  it  has  great  nutritional  value,  but  because 
stock  like  it  and  eat  it  down  in  all  well-fed  pastures.  All 
other  weeds  should  be  extirpated,  as  they  are  rejected  by 
stock  and  reduce  the  value  of  the  pasture,  even  when  they 
are  not  really  dangerous.  Records  have  been  given  in  the 
Journal,  as  they  occurred,  of  cases  of  poisoning  in  horses,  cattle, 
and  sheep  by  unsuspected  weeds.  A complete  illustrated  review 
by  the  botanical  assistant,  Mr.  H.  T.  Gtissow,  of  the  poisonous 
plants  which  are  natives  of  England  was  published  in  the 
Journal,  Vol.  68,  1907. 
, Diseases  of  Plants. 
An  important  part  of  the  work  of  the  Botanist,  which  was 
hardly  anticipated  at  the  time  of  his  appointment,  but  has 
steadily  and  largely  increased  in  recent  years,  has  been  the 
investigation  of  injuries  to  plants. 
