ON THE MIXED HERBAGE OF PERMANENT MEADOW. 
i30£ 
tlieir percentage. For example, Holcus lanatus has gone down from a yield of nearly 
400 lbs. to less than 90 lbs. per acre.; Avena pubescens from nearly 300 lbs. to little 
more than 3 lbs.; Avena elatior from more than 150 lbs. to less than 7 lbs.; and 
Lolium perenne from nearly 130 lbs. to less than 3 lbs. ; whilst even Anthoxanthum 
odoratum is reduced in amount from 222 lbs. per acre in 1862, to scarcely 121 lbs. in 
1877 ; and Dactylis glomerata, though yielding rather more in the fourth than in the 
first separation-year, has in neither case contributed 100 lbs. 
Of the four Leguminosse, not one is in any degree prominent; but it is noteworthy 
that the only one which has shown any appreciable tendency to increase is the deep¬ 
rooting, self-dependent, Lotus corniculatus. 
Of Miscellaneous species, the only one in any prominence is Rumex Acetosa; but, 
excepting that it was in much larger proportion and amount in the second separation- 
year (1867) than in the first, it also has in the main much declined, yielding more 
than 9 per cent, in the first, and little more than 2 per cent, in the fourth separation- 
year ; and, in actual weight, more than 350 lbs. per acre in the first, and scarcely 
63 lbs. in the fourth separation-year. Achillea Millefolium has declined from 1’33 in 
the first, to 0*16 in the fourth year, and Luzula campestris from more than 1 to a very 
small fraction. Conopodium denudatum was in small proportion, and amount, and also 
declining, though, as in the case of Rumex Acetosa , it increased remarkably in the 
second separation-year (1867), when, from the characters of the season, the growth of 
the Graminese was so restricted. The only miscellaneous species which uniformly 
increased, though still occurring in insignificant amount, was Scabiosa arvensis. 
The table shows that a large number of miscellaneous species, which occurred in 
moderate amounts on the unmanured plot, did not collectively contribute 1 per cent, 
to the herbage of this plot, and about an equal number were not represented at all. 
Compared with the produce without manure, the columns on the right-hand of the 
table show that, taking the average of the four years, there was an increase of about 
865 lbs. per acre per annum of gramineous herbage; more than this amount in the 
first, third, and fourth years, but less than one-fourth as much in the second separation- 
year. In each of the four years there was actually less leguminous herbage, and on 
the average 185 lbs. less on the manured plot, 5, than on the unmanured plot, 3. 
That is to say, the leguminous species, which are characterised by containing a very 
high percentage of nitrogen, developed and yielded actually less under the influence 
of highly nitrogenous manure than they did without manure continuously. 
Of the collective miscellaneous herbage again, the members of which are also 
generally richer in nitrogen than the Graminese, there was each year, with one slight 
exception, less on this manured plot than on the unmanured one; and, taking the 
average of the four years, there was 121 lbs. less. The actual quantity of Rumex 
Acetosa was, however, considerably more on the manured plot, and that of some 
other species slightly more; but the balance against the manured plot was due to a 
large number of species that were represented on the unmanured plot occurring either 
MDCCCLXXXII. 8 E 
