a 
BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. $49 
cattle avoid the green plant because of its acrid juices; but the pun- 
gency is lost during the process of drying, when the plant is cut for 
hay. 7 
9. Hay of White Weed, or Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vul- 
gare). The plants were gathered by hand June 30, 1872, on a field 
adjoining the Plain-field of the Bussey Institution; they were in full 
flower, and the bottoms of the stalks were beginning to turn stiff and 
dry. The hay would doubtless have been of better quality if the plants 
had been gathered earlier. The plants were dried within doors, and 
the analyses made in the month of July following. The water was 
estimated at that time at 110°. A subsequent determination of 
the amount of water, made at 100° in December, gave only 7.69%, 
instead of the 10.87% that had been found in July, on drying at a 
slightly higher temperature. The results of this analysis have been 
reported already on page 36. 
10. Hay of Beach-pea vines (Lathyrus maritimus), gathered upon 
Nantasket Beach, Cohasset, Mass., June 24, 1873. The vines were 
dried within doors, and kept in a paper bag in a dry loft until analyzed, 
like the other samples, in the winter of 1874-75. 
The beach-pea is a plant of considerable scientific interest, because 
of its vigorous growth, often in the merest sand or shingle, under 
conditions which would seem to be most unfavorable for the develop- 
ment of such succulent and nutritious herbage. The results of the 
analyses given below show that the plant is really as rich as it 
appears to be in those ingredients that compose the better kinds of 
forage. The beach-pez has very long and vigorous roots, that extend 
to great distances in the loose materials upon which it commonly 
grows. Hence the food of the plant is doubtless collected from far 
and wide. It would be of interest to determine by experiment 
whether this plant is susceptible of cultivation, or of being made to 
grow thickly upon any considerable surface of sand, by the application 
of fertilizers. According to Mr. J. L. Russell, as cited in Colman’s 
“Fourth Report on the Agriculture of Massachusetts,” page 524, the 
beach-pea vines are eaten by horses. There are many localities on 
the seaboard of New England where the plant would seem to be 
worthy of more attention on the part of farmers than appears to have 
been given to it hitherto. 
