THE EFFECT OF SHEEP URINE ON THE GERIMINATION AND EARLY ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMON WEED GRASS

Sowings of annual meadow grass ( Poa annua ) were made in pots of soil which had been treated with sheep urine, with urine diluted × 50, or with water as a control. The treatments were applied before, at, and after sowing.
Urine, whether applied at sowing time, or eleven days before or after, significantly reduced the germination or establishment of the weed grass.
Diluted urine tended to reduce the number of established seedlings when applied at or shortly after sowing.
In a subsidiary experiment the number of viable seeds in soil taken from pastures which had received no urine for four years were compared with those from soil under pastures receiving urine. The difference was not significant.