Stout—Vegetation of a Typical Wild Hay Meadow. 413 
through the grass (dose to the surface of the ground. Then the 
vegetation at one side was trampled down as shown in the 
photographs of plates XX and XXI. A comb or rake like de¬ 
vice was then used to determine definite areas of uniform size. 
This comb was one foot long and had four pointed teeth each 
four inches apart measuring from tip to tip. It could be pushed 
into the vegetation at any point along the rod and when thus in 
place it enclosed on three sides the vegetation growing on three 
four inch square areas, or quadrats, which were the unit areas 
on which the different species present were noted and their 
number determined by count. With note hook previously 
ruled and numbered the data were recorded for each quadrat of 
every other foot, thus data were obtained in successive order 
representing rather completely all the conditions on the area. 
A stake was pla'ced at the end of each ten foot segment. These 
stakes were numbered and left standing throughout the season 
so that continuous observations could he taken concerning sea¬ 
sonal changes in growth. Plants undetermined at the time of 
the census because of immaturity were staked and labelled to 
await the development of the floral parts. It was impossible to 
determine the individual plants of the various grasses and 
sedges. These types have a more or less highly developed un¬ 
derground stem system. In Car ex strict a, Car ex riparia, Car ex 
. aquatilis and Car ex filiformis, especially, the underground 
stems branch out in all directions from the individual stools. 
(See Plates XXI and XXII). This method of propagation 
gives a rather widely spread plant if we consider that all the 
clumps of culms having direct connection with each other consti¬ 
tute a plant. The result gives an intermixing not only of plants 
of different species but of the same species. Por the grasses and 
sedges it was hence deemed best to count the culms. 
The species of Eleocharis were not counted. Although 
widely distributed in the marsh and exceedingly abundant in 
point of number of culms, they were everywhere weak and slen¬ 
der and overshadowed by more vigorous species. The abun¬ 
dance of the Eleocharis species is given in the relative terms, 
absent, sparse, medium dense, and dense. 
