1350 
MESSRS. J. B. LAWES, J. H. GILBERT, AND M. T. MASTERS, 
also gone down very much. Lolium perenne, occurring in smaller amount, has also 
declined. The grasses which have shown hut little decided tendency either to increase 
or decrease are Festuca ovina and Anthoxanthum odoratum, the latter being, however, 
in very small amount. 
But it is a consideration of the actual yield per acre rather than of the percentage, 
and the comparison of the amounts with those without manure, and with the 
nitrogenous and mineral manure without the straw, that bring out the change 
in the herbage the most strikingly. 
There was, on the average, 2165 lbs. of Dactylis glomerata annually contributed 
to the produce, nearly the whole of which was in excess of the yield of the same 
grass without manure. There was an average of 941 lbs. of Agrostis vulgaris, about 
two-thirds of which was in excess of that yielded without manure. There was an 
average of 564 lbs. of Poa pratensis, all but a fraction of which was in excess of that 
without manure. There was also a notable excess of Arena elatior, Poa trivialis, 
Alopecurus pratensis , and Arena Jlayescens ; but there was an actual deficiency of 
Festuca ovina, Anthoxanthum odoratum, and a few other grasses. 
The comparison with plot 9, however, brings out the most prominently the difference 
in the botanical composition of the herbage without and with the straw. 
In the last column of the table it is seen that there was, on the average of the four 
separation-years, 1633 lbs. more Dactylis with than without the straw. There was 
also an average increase, but much less marked, of Alopecurus pratensis, Poa trivialis, 
Agrostis vulgaris, and Festuca pratensis ; whilst there was a deficiency, with the straw, 
of more than 500 lbs. of Festuca ovina, a large deficiency of Poa pratensis (instead of 
excess, as of P. trivialis ), also of Holcus lanatus, and a less one of Arena Jlavescens, 
A. pubescens, Anthoxanthum odoratum, and Lolium perenne ; a small deficiency of 
Arena elatior , and collectively of Phleum pratense, Aira ccespitosa, Cynosurus cristatus, 
and Bromus mollis. Thus, the grass which is in very marked excess with the straw is 
Dactylis glomerata, whilst Alopecurus pratensis, Poa trivialis, and Agrostis vulgaris 
are also notably in excess. The grasses so brought into prominence are all free- 
growing, and three out of the four of good agricultural repute. On the other hand, 
the grasses most notably in relative defect are, Festuca ovina, Poa pratensis, and Holcus 
lanatus, whilst the several species of Arena, and Anthoxanthum odoratum, are also in 
decreased amount. Compared with the grasses which have become more prominent, 
several of those which have diminished are plants of more limited growth. The 
Festuca ovina especially, which is in the greatest degree in defect, is comparatively 
very superficial-rooted and fine-leaved. In fact, the most striking character is the 
enormous increase of Dactylis, and the very large diminution of Festuca ovina. 
With regard to the Leguminosse, the yield on both plots, 13 as well as 9, is so small 
that the differences are of little moment; but, so far as the figures go, the conditions 
seem to be rather more favourable for Lathyrus pratensis on the plot with the straw. 
As on plot 9, so on plot 13, the only three miscellaneous plants which have con¬ 
tributed as much as 1 per cent, to the mixed herbage in any one year, and which were 
