1. Old clover and common rye grass (second year).

2. “Old seeds,”—clover, trefoil, common and Italian rye grasses (second year).

3. New seeds, clover and rye grass (first year).

No. 1 examined on August 31; 2 and 3 on the 24th September, 1859.

4. TABLE OF WEED-PLANTS IN SEEDS.
The dashes (—) in three columns intimate the occurrence of the
plants signified in the fields 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
No.Botanical Name.Trivial Name.Old.
1.		Old.
2.		New.
3.
1Knautia arvensisCorn Scabious—....
2Centaurea JacobeaHard Head———
3„ nigraBlack Head—....
4Achillea millefoliumMilfoil—....
5Chrysanthemum leucanthemumOx-eye—....
6Tussilago farfaraColtsfoot—....
7Gnaphalium GermanicumCudweed———
8Anthemis arvensisCorn Chamomile—....
9Bellis perennisDaisy..—..
10Senecio vulgarisGroundsel———
11Leontodon taraxacumDandelion———
12Apargia hispidaRough Hawkbit—....
13„ autumnalisAutumnal ditto—....
14Sonchus arvensisCorn Sowthistle———
15Carduus arvensisCorn Thistle———
16„lanceolatusLancet-leaved Thistle..—..
17„nutansNodding or Musk Thistle———
18„acanthoidesWelted Thistle....—
19Arctium lappaBurdock——..
20Sinapis arvensisCharlock..——
21Sisymbrium officinaleTreacle Mustard....—
22Rumex obtusifoliusRound-leaved Dock——..
23„ crispusCurled-leaf Dock———
24Veronica serpyllifoliaThyme-leaved Speedwell——..
25„ agrestisField Speedwell..——
26„ BuxbaumiiBuxbaum’s ditto..——
27Euphorbia exiguaPetty Spurge———
28Geum urbanumCommon Avens—....
29Prunella vulgarisSelf Heal———
30Acinos vulgarisBastard Thyme——..
31[152]Polygonum aviculareKnot Grass———
32„ convolvulusClimbing Buckwheat....—
33Plantago mediaBroad-leaved Plantain———
34„ lanceolataLancet-leaved ditto———
35Ranunculus repensCreeping Crowfoot———
36Geranium molleSoft Cranesbill———
37„ ColumbinumLong-stalked ditto..—..
38Galeopsis LadanumRed Hemp Nettle....—
39Glechoma hederaceaGround Ivy——..
40Stachys sylvaticaHedge Stachys—....
41Stellaria mediaChickweed..——
42Cerastium arvenseMouse-ear———
43Arenaria serpyllifoliaThyme-leaved Sandwort———
44Lychnis dioicaWhite Campion....—
45Convolvulus arvensisSmall Bindweed———
46Urtica dioicaNettle—....
47Petroselinum segetumCorn Parsley——..
48Torilis anthriscusHedge Parsley....—
49„ nodosaKnotted Parsley——..
50Anagallis arvensisPimpernel———
51Capsella Bursa-pastorisShepherd’s Purse———
52Sherardia arvensisField Madder———
53Chenopodium polyspermumGoosefoot—..—
54Potentilla anserinaSilver Weed—....
55Bartsia odontitesRed Bartsia..——
56Linaria spuriaRound-leaved Toad Flax....—
57„ elatineFluellen ditto....—
58Myosotis arvensisCorn Forget-me-not....—
59Lamium amplexicauleHenbit....—
60Poa annuaAnnual Meadow-grass....—
61Agrostis stoloniferaCreeping Bent——..
62Bromus mollisLop or Soft Brome-grass—....
63„„var. racemosusLop or Smooth Brome-grass..—..
64Triticum repensCouch——..
443938

These three fields are situate on the Agricultural College Farm, the substrata of which are forest marble and great oolite, and 2 and 3 were absolutely adjoining each other. How different, then, are the species of wild plants in fields so close together, when out of a list of sixty-four species only twenty-four, or a little more than one-third, are common to all three of the fields examined; and yet we can safely affirm that the aboriginal flora of any three fields of the district would scarcely offer half a dozen species in the one field that could not be found in all; and, indeed, in a field that had lain fallow for several years not half of the present list would be found.

That these, then, have to a great extent been sown with the seed is quite certain; but what tends further to strengthen the argument is, that the Veronica Buxbaumii (Buxbaum’s Speedwell) and the Petroselinum segetum (Corn Parsley) are not native to the farm; and, indeed, it is doubtful whether very many of our agrarian weeds are true natives, as on examination many weeds will only be found in special crops, and these occur in the same crops all over the world wherever those crops can be cultivated. Our own country, then, has, doubtless, imported a large portion of her weed flora from abroad, just as we have traced in the United States, European (not American) plants, tracking the settlers from England, Ireland, and Scotland. It is thus that the European daisy (Bellis perennis) has got the name of the “White Man’s Foot.”

Seeing, then, that the clover seeds are so liable to be dirty, it becomes an important inquiry as to whether it is possible to get pure seed; and in reply to this query we should answer, from a long experience, that though one seldom sees pure clover seed, yet it sometimes falls in our way, or at least so pure that its weeds are reduced to a minimum. Such samples may be expected to be high-priced; but still, how much cheaper than a dirty article!—for, independently of having only the seed of the crop you wish to cultivate, you are saved the annoyance which must arise when a weed has taken root, in that then the clover cannot grow, and you ultimately see the ground occupied by a spreading noxious plant, or, this dying out, there will be a vacant spot,—in either case resulting in a loss of nutriment.

But, besides the more natural method of selling dirty seed from weedy patches, seedsmen are too apt to mix the seed of plantain (Plantago lanceolata) with that of clover; for, as the colours of the seeds are not unlike, and some people speak favourably of plantain as a sheep-feed, it is unblushingly mixed and sold with clover seed, though the plantain at most is only worth about half the price.

Where it occurs naturally amongst clovers, it may be separated to make a good sample, but only to be ultimately mixed again and sold to greenhorns with a cheap sample. We have had before us samples of clover containing plantain as under:—