412 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
consin, as pointed out by Chamberlin (5) (1877), this marsh 
meadow has probably been formed chiefly by the accumulation 
of vegetable material in a rather shallow expanse of lake area. 
The region is one of rather imperfect drainage due to the gla¬ 
cial deposits associated with the terminal moraines. The clay 
and the sand substrata undoubtedly form'ed the bottom of the 
former body of water and the 1 accumulation of plant substance 
accounts for the rather thin layer of peat and muck which now 
holds the rainfall like a sponge. Erosion of the surrounding 
knolls has resulted in washing more or less of the upland soils 
on to the borders of the area. 
The entire area is well clothed with a dense growth of grasses 
and sedges which form a well knit turf of sufficient firmness 
over much of the area to hold up teams in the work of hay 
making, at least during a dry mid-summer. If cut at all the 
hav is usually made during August although the work is often 
delayed until the ground is frozen in which case the product is 
more often used as bedding or for packing ice, etc. 
Method of Study 
The frequence and the abundance of the various species of 
plants on the area were studied by countings of the plant popu¬ 
lation on a strip four inches wide extending from edge to edge 
through the center of the marsh in a north and south direction. 
It was planned to extend this belt-transect in a straight line 
across the entire marsh but when the part north of the canal 
was reached it was found that cattle had eaten out portions 
making a slight deviation from a continuous straight line neces¬ 
sary. This belt-transect fairly represents the conditions, of the 
whole area and its population was carefully studied as to both 
the occurrence and abundance of all the species concerned. 
The enumeration was planned to give complete data through¬ 
out the transect in regard to—(1) the species present, (2) the 
numerical abundance of each species, (3) the numerical fre¬ 
quence, (4) the grouping of the species, and (5) the relative 
weight of the dominant species in the hay produced. 
In making the counts a ten foot measuring rod was pushed 
