ON THE MIXED HERBAGE OE PERMANENT MEADOW. 
1329 
total Leguminosse amounted to a little over 16 per cent. In 1872, the seventeenth 
year of the experiments, the Leguminosse contributed nearly 40 per cent., Trifolium 
pratense giving little more than 1 of this, and Lathyrus nearly 37. Since that time 
the percentage of total leguminous herbage has been—under 13 in 1874, under 9 in 
1875, about 9|in 1876, 13f in 1877 (of which more than 12 was Lathyrus), 13J in 
1878, little more than 8 in 1879, and only 7J in 1880. 
It is thus obvious, not only that the Leguminosse were very much more prominent 
in the earlier than in the later years, but that the deeper-rooting Trifolium pratense 
rapidly gave place to the more superficially-rooting Lathyrus ; whilst this, in its turn, 
would appear to be now declining. 
It has been assumed that the source of the large amount of nitrogen essential to, 
and taken up by, the Lathyrus, was the accumulation within the surface soil, which has 
been shown to have diminished considerably in recent years. The question arises, how 
far the decline in yield is to be attributed to the amount of nitrogen available from 
this source from year to year being, under the influence of the mineral manure (inclu¬ 
ding potass) and the exhausting growth of the Leguminosse, gradually reduced ; or 
whether, in addition to or apart from this, there is anything in the treatment of the 
vegetation which would tend to lessen the recuperative power of these leguminous 
species. On this point it should be observed, as has been explained in detail else¬ 
where, that owing to the injury done to the animals when the second crops were 
consumed on the land by sheep without any other food being given, it became necessary 
to abandon the practice and to cut the aftermath instead. Thus, in 1866, 1870, 1873 
(twice), 1874 (twice), and in 1876, the after-growth was cut and left on the land to 
decay; whilst in 1875,1877, 1878, 1879, and 1880 the second crops were not only cut, 
but were removed from the land, thus considerably enhancing the tendency to exhaus¬ 
tion of the soil. 
Taking it for granted that the reduction in leguminous growth in recent years 
under the influence of the continuous application of the mineral manure is not merely 
a temporary effect due to the characters of the seasons, but a permanent tendency 
set in, we may, perhaps, safely conclude that reduction in the amount of nitrogen 
annually available from the accumulated resources of the soil is one cause of the decline, 
but we may, perhaps, also assume, that the altered treatment of the second crops has 
not been without influence. Reference has already been made to the comparatively 
injurious effect of the first cutting upon the Lathyrus, as exhibited in the character of 
the second growth of that plant, and it would seem only reasonable to suppose that 
such injury, clearly manifest after the first cuttings, would be enhanced when the 
second growth is annually treated in the same way. The question suggests itself 
whether, as the Trifoliums and the Lotus suffer less than the Lathyrus by cutting, 
they will, in consequence, show any tendency to recover their position. There is 
already, perhaps a slight indication of this, so far as the Trifolium is concerned. But 
in so far as the relative prominence of the Lathyrus has been due to the supplies of the 
