bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Growth and venison production from red deer (Cervus elaphus) grazing red clover (Trifolium pratense) or perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)/white clover (Trifolium repens) pasture
Authors: Semiadi G. , Barry T. N. , Wilson P. R. , Hodgson J. , Purchas R. W. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYA study of growth and venison production from weaner red deer grazing pure tetraploid red clover (RC) or conventional perennial ryegrass/white clover (PRG) pasture was conducted in 1990, with the objective of attaining a minimum slaughter liveweight of 92 kg (50 kg carcass) by 12 months of age in the stags. Ten weaner red deer stags and ten weaner red deer hinds were randomly selected and rotationally grazed on either RC or PRG forage. In autumn and spring, forage allowances were 7 kgDM/hd/day and 8 kgDM/hd/day respectively. In winter, the animals from both groups were grazed together on PRG pasture, at a residual dry matter (DM) of 1100 kgDM/ha. Total nitrogen (N) concentration was higher in RC on offer than in PRG on offer (autumn 3·4v.3·1 %DM; spring 3·8v.3·1 %DM), whilst organic matter digestibility (OMD; autumn 80·5v.76·5%; spring 82·1v.80·3%) was also higher for RC on offer. Diet selected showed similar differences in total N concentration, but there were negligible differences between forages in OMD.Liveweight gains of RC and PRG stags were respectively 263v.192 g/day, 101v.106 g/day and 354v.341 g/day during autumn, winter and spring, with the corresponding values for hinds being 198. 173 g/day, 52v.53 g/day and 242v.218 g/day. At one year of age, stags grazing RC were 7 kg heavier and hinds 3 kg heavier than animals grazing PRG pasture. Animals grazing RC forage had higher voluntary feed intake (VFI) in both autumn (P< 0·10) and spring (P< 0·001), than animals grazing PRG pasture.All stags grazing RC forage reached the minimum slaughter liveweight by one year of age, compared to 75% of those grazing PRG pasture. At slaughter, stags that had grazed RC produced heavier carcass weights (59·9v.54·5 kg,P< 0·01), had higher carcass dressing percentage (55·3v.53·2 %;P< 0·01), and tended to have slightly greater carcass subcutaneous fat depth than stags grazing PRG pasture, but this effect disappeared when the data were corrected to equal carcass weight. All stags grazing RC produced velvet antler, relative to 75% of those grazing PRG; in stags producing harvestable velvet antler, there was no difference in antler weight between those grazing RC and PRG. It is concluded that RC offers potential as a special-purpose forage for the growth of weaner red deer.
Leaf area and transpiration efficiency during different growth stages in oats
Authors: Ehlers W. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYDry matter production, transpiration and transpiration efficiency (DM production: transpiration) were studied during vegetative growth of oats over 4 years (1976–77 and 1982–83) in field experiments on loess-derived soils near Gottingen, Germany, under different weather conditions. Shoot and root dry matter and leaf area were measured or estimated regularly during the season. The rate of evapotranspiration including intercepted rain water by leaves (ET) was determined during five consecutive growth stages from the water balance in the 2 m soil profile. The rate of soil evaporation (E) and the rate at which rain water was intercepted by leaves (I) were estimated separately in order to attain T, the transpiration rate (T = ET–E–I), or IT, the rate of interception of rain water by leaves plus transpiration (IT = ET–E). The potential evapotranspiration rate (ETp) was derived from meteorological parameters.During the early stages of oat development (seedling growth and tillering), T and IT, related to ETp, were higher than expected from crop growth rate (CGR), calculated for shoot and total dry matter including roots, respectively. It was concluded that, at a leaf area index (LAI) of < 3·4, part of the solar radiation was converted to sensible heat between plant rows, increasing ETp near the ground and hence T, but not CGR. Because of this, LAI influenced IT efficiency and the crop-specific constant m of de Wit's formula. IT efficiency was not only dependent on LAI but also on ETp. Grain yield was related to both cumulative IT (ITC), normalized by ET, and leaf area duration during the period from anthesis to harvest. Increased leaf area duration after anthesis may partly explain the higher yields obtained with modern high-yielding varieties of small-grained cereals.
Integrated management of straw and urea nitrogen in lowland rice under a rice-wheat rotation
Authors: Mahapatra B. S. , Sharma G. L. , Singh Nayab 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThe average yields of a 3-year field experiment (1985/86–1987/88) on a mollisol at Pantnagar showed that, at 87 kg N/ha, applying urea supergranules (USG) gave 0·47 t/ha more rice grain than split application of prilled urea (PU). The data also showed that, at this rate of N, one-third (29 kg N/ha) of inorganic N can be substituted by fresh straw (wheat or rice) applied at planting to give similar rice yields. However, at a total of 58 kg N/ha, 29 kg N/ha applied as straw with 29 kg N/ha of PU or USG reduced yield compared with 58 kg N/ha of PU or USG alone, except in 1986/87. Yield differences were attributed to differences in number of panicles/m2, N uptake by the crop and mean wet soil NH4+-N obtained at various stages of crop growth during 1986/87 and 1987/88. Wheat grown after rice in 1985/86 and 1986/87 showed significant residual effects in plots with straw application and these were correlated with the rate of hydrolysable organic N (HN) obtained after rice.
Nodal structure and branching ofTrifolium repensin pastures under intensive grazing by sheep
Authors: Hay M. J. M. , Newton P. C. D. , Thomas V. J. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThe nodal structure of white clover plants was studied in New Zealand in pastures stocked at 22·5 ewes plus lambs/ha and either continuously or rotationally grazed. Intact plants were sampled every month for a year (1988/89) by removing turves and washing out the plants. Plants were classified according to the degree of branching as first (unbranched, single-stolon plants), second, third or fourth order (plants with at least one quaternary branch). Where possible from each turf, four plants of each of the four branching orders were sampled and, for each stolon of each plant, nodes were ascribed positions numbered from the stolon apex, and the position of nodes with a live branch and the total number of nodes/stolon were recorded.The mean number (and 5 and 95% quantiles) of nodes/plant was 15·7±0·26 (9, 24) for the firstorder, 42·2±0·90 (18, 81) for the second-, 91–4±2–13 (37, 163) for the third- and 163·7±7·49 (63, 367) for the fourth-order plants. Grazing management and month of sampling had minor effects on these values. The mean number of nodes/stolon within branched plants depended on the category of the stolon within a plant, the presence or absence of an apex and on the branching order of the plant. The first 10,.15, 20 and 25 node positions accounted for, respectively, 64, 79, 90 and 95% of total nodes in the field population and 39, 62, 79 and 90% of all branches. Successful branch initiation occurred at recently formed nodes at positions 3–10, emphasizing the significant contribution of such nodes in growth and persistence of white clover in grazed swards.Where grazing management allows little consumption of stolon and there is adequate moisture, growth and fragmentation maintain the mean node composition of the branching orders reasonably constant throughout the year. Thus, any seasonal variation in the overall mean number of nodes/plant in a population must be driven by seasonal changes in the distribution of plants among the branching orders. However, there was evidence of mean number of nodes/plant decreasing in the third and fourth orders after dry conditions.
Comparison of boom and airblast sprayers on T-trellis apples
Authors: Hogmire H. W. , Diener R. G. , Crim V. L. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYT-trellis apple trees treated with combinations of fungicides and insecticides applied with a boom sprayer had a lower percentage of fruit damage from diseases and insects than those treated with an airblast sprayer. With the boom sprayer, chemical deposit was uniform in distribution between outer and inner parts of the tree canopy, but with the airblast sprayer there was more than a threefold difference in deposit between parts of the canopy. The boom sprayer was inferior to the airblast sprayer in the control of apple aphids (Aphis pomi) when vertical top growth (watersprouts) had grown to 0·7–1 m. Management of aphids with a boom sprayer would probably require the control or periodic removal of watersprout growth, or the use of systemic insecticides.
Effect of feedingLeucaena leucocephalaas the sole ration on nutrient utilization and body weight in goats
Authors: Girdhar N. , Lall D. , Pathak N. N. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYIn an experiment conducted in the sheds of the Animal Nutrition Division of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in 1988/89, eight adult Black Bengal goats were divided into two groups of four animals each. Animals in the control group were offered a conventional diet (concentrate and available roughage as per National Research Council standards) and those in the experimental group were fed exclusively on fresh leucaena foliage (young and newly developed leaves and shoots) for 300 days. Dry matter intake (DMI) and body weight of animals in the experimental group decreased in the first 6 weeks; daily DMI/lOOkg body weight was 306 ± 0·34kg in the control group and 2·40 ± 0·18 kg in the experimental group.There were significant differences in the apparent digestibilities of crude protein and nitrogen-free extractives; contents of digestible crude protein (DCP) and total digestible nutrients were 5·2 and 20·3%, respectively, in the controls and 65·6 and 59·1 %, respectively, in the experimental group. DCP intake was significantly higher in the experimental group as a result of high protein content in foliage but it was not well utilized.In the control and experimental groups, respectively, daily mean retention of nitrogen was 2·01±0·14 and 1·54±0·12 g/day, of calcium 1·60±0·08 and 2·92±1·69 g/day, and of phosphorus 1·12±0·25 and 0·24±0·07 g/day, the phosphorus balance being significantly lower in the experimental group. Blood calcium and serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase/serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase concentrations were statistically similar in both groups but the concentration of inorganic P was significantly lower in the blood of animals fed leucaena.
Effects of plant population density on determinate and indeterminate forms of winter field beans (Vicia faba) 2. Growth and development
Authors: Pilbeam C. J. , Hebblethwaite P. D. , Nyongesa T. E. , Ricketts H. E. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYIn studies at the University of Nottingham at Sutton Bonington in two consecutive seasons beginning in 1986/87, Bourdon, an indeterminate cultivar, and 858, a determinate selection (provided by Plant Breeding International, Cambridge), were compared under six target plant population densities ranging from 10 to 80 plants/m2.As the season progressed, total dry matter production increased to a maximum and then declined. However, growth rates slowed at pod set because, it is suggested, of the change in the chemical composition of the newly synthesized biomass, from carbohydrate to protein, at that time. Leaf area duration was greater in Bourdon than in 858, especially during pod set, but it bore no relation to seed yield. Specific leaf area was unaffected by competition for light. It is proposed that changes in plant population density affect the competition for assimilates within a plant rather than the competition for light between different plants. Losses of branches and reproductive nodes, with time, are cited as evidence for this. The apparent causes of the lower yield of determinate forms of winter field bean relative to indeterminate forms are discussed.
Light interception and utilization in determinate and indeterminate cultivars ofVicia fabaunder contrasting plant distributions and population densities
Authors: Stützel H. , Aufhammer W. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYIn a 2-year field experiment at Hohenheim in 1987–88, with an intact or partly deflowered indeterminate cultivar and a determinate cultivar, light interception and dry matter production were highest in crops grown in isometric stands (equal distances between plants), lowest in double rows and intermediate in single rows. Dry matter production was greater at high than at low population density and in the wetter and cooler weather of 1987. Population density had a greater effect on DM production than on light interception. The greater leaf canopies under high density and in 1987 (Stützel & Aufhammer 1991) reduced light extinction coefficients. In the determinate cultivar, light extinction coefficients were consistently higher and light use efficiencies were consistently lower than in the indeterminate cultivar. Deflowering the indeterminate genotype and different planting designs did not change light use efficiencies and light extinction coefficients. In general, differences in light use efficiencies were inversely related to differences in light extinction coefficients.
Growing spring cereals in a white clover (Trifolium repens) crop
Authors: Williams E. D. , Hayes M. J. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYSpring barley and spring oats were strip-seeded into crops of the white clover cultivar Alice at Hereford in 1987 and cultivar S184 at Aberystwyth in 1988. Drilling was done with or without a band-spray of glyphosate, a moderate or low (1988 only) dose of paraquat or into plots where the clover had been killed by herbicide 2 months previously.In the first experiment, initial cereal emergence was sparse; growth was suppressed in the unchecked (unsprayed) clover base but was vigorous in the clover-free plots; the cereals also became dominant in the swards sprayed with herbicide. Whole-crop yields in mid-August were 13, 3–4 and 8–10 t DM/ha in the plots in which clover was killed, unchecked or checked with herbicide. Clover contributed 4–12% of the harvested herbage in the latter treatment. This treatment also yieldedc. 70 % as much N, carbohydrate and fibre as that without clover. Grain yields exceeded 7 t/ha without clover but were only 0·3 t/ha for barley and 1·1 t/ha for oats with unchecked clover; in the checked clover plots, barley yielded 60% and oats 78% as much as on the clover-free plots. Four and 5 weeks after whole-crop harvest, residual clover growth was 27 and 39% of that on unchecked plots for oats and barley, respectively.In the second experiment, the cereals emerged thickly but were later dominated by the clover, and an equitable balance was achieved only with the larger dose of paraquat. However, the oat cultivar Emrys was suppressed less than the tall barley cultivar Dandy; the short barley cultivar Digger was the most suppressed. Mean whole-crop yields were 11 t/ha in the treatment without clover, about half this in the unchecked bases andc. 9 t/ha with the larger dose of paraquat. Differences in chemical composition reflected much larger clover contents in 1988 than in 1987. Yields of N and water-soluble carbohydrate were at least as large or larger with moderate paraquat than for the clover-free plots. Grain yields ranged from 5·6 to 6·9 t/ha for the three cereal cultivars without clover but were negligible to very small in the unchecked and band-sprayed treatments, and were 3·4 and 2·0 t/ha for oats and barley, respectively, with the larger dose of paraquat. Residual stolon weights, 70–80 days after whole-crop harvest, greatly exceeded initial values in all treatments. They were smallest following the larger dose of paraquat, and larger in Digger than in Dandy, which in turn was larger than in Emrys.It is concluded that the concept of growing cereals in a clover base shows potential as a low input–moderate output system of cereal production. However, further longer term work is needed on regulation of the cereal–clover balance, on the release and uptake of N and the environmental effects of the technique.
Cultivatino practice, sowing season and soil erosion on the South Downs, England: a preliminary study
Authors: Robinson D. A. , Boardman J. 
Published: March 2009

SummarySeven plots were laid out for the 1985–6 growing season on the Chalk Downs near Lewes, East Sussex, to study the relationship between cultivation practice, soil conditions and erosion rates. Three plots were sown with cereals in autumn and three in spring. The seventh plot was ploughed and kept bare. In both spring and autumn, one plot was conventionally cultivated by ploughing and harrowing, one was direct drilled through burnt stubble and the third was direct drilled through the debris of the previous year's straw and stubble. Erosion was greatest from the conventionally cultivated plots and least from those direct drilled through unburnt stubble. Monitoring of moisture, infiltration, strength and compaction properties of soils suggests that from late autumn onwards soil conditions on the plots were very similar and the major factor determining the different erosion losses from the plots was the percentage vegetal cover (crop, weeds and residues). The results suggest that direct drilling through unburnt stubble may be a way of obtaining high yields with low erosion risk on the Downs, but the long-term consequences of such a practice remain unknown.
An analysis of morphological development stages in avalon winter wheat crops with different sowing dates and at ten sites in England and Scotland
Authors: Porter J. R. , Kirby E. J. M. , Day W. , Adam Jill S , Appleyard Margaret , Ayling Sarah , Baker C. K. , Beale P. , Belford R. K. , Biscoe P. V. , Chapman Anne , Fuller M. P. , Hampson Janice , Hay R. K. M. , Hough M. N. , Matthews S. , Thompson W. J. , Weir A. H. , Willington V. B. Anne , Wood D. W. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryAn experiment to measure the variation in the phenological and apical development ofwinter wheat (cv. Avalon) in England and Scotland is described. Ten sites which ranged from Aberdeen (57·2° N), the most northerly, to Newton Abbot (50·6° N), the most southerly, were included in the survey, and at each site seed was hand-sown in mid-September, October and November 1983. Developmental stages and sampling procedures were precisely defined to ensure uniformity in scoring by the observers at each site. Temperatures during the growing season were in line with the long-term means, though spring was cooler at all sites and summer warmer at most. The range of monthly-mean temperatures between sites was about the same as the difference between consecutive months. The method of analysis of development rates and durations was in terms of thermal time, modified by sensitivity to photoperiod and a vernalization requirement that slowed early development until a number of days of low temperatures had been experienced. In general, crops at northern sites developed more slowly than those in the south and particularly the south-west of England. There was less variation in the timing of apical stages for later sowings. Developmental rates responded linearly to temperature and photoperiod, with the base temperature increasing for later phases of development. The effect of photoperiod in modifying the rate of development was apparent for all developmental phases from emergence to anthesis, longer days accelerating development, but there was no effect on the duration of the grain-filling period. Vernalization exerted its effect solely within the phase from emergence to double ridge, and had a major influence on the variation between sites only for the first sowing.
The effect of sheep urine on clover performance in a grazed upland sward
Authors: Marriott Carol A. , Smith Morag A. , Baird M. A. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryThe effect of artificially applied urine on clover performance in a perennial ryegrasswhite clover sward grazed by sheep was examined during summer. Sheep urine or deionized water (51/m2) was applied to areas (2·70 × 1·25 m) which were protected from subsequent excretal return by graze-through cages. Grass and clover populations, nitrogen-fixing activity, soil nitrogen and soil pH were monitored over the following 90-day period.Urine reduced clover population density, stolon length and dry weight but had little effect on number of grass tillers. Nitrogen-fixing activity of clover was reduced initially to less than 30% of control values, perhaps owing to high levels of soil inorganic nitrogen inhibiting fixation, although osmotic effects due to the high salt concentration in urine cannot be discounted. The lower levels of activity at later dates were due largely to reduced clover in urine-treated areas. Soil pH (0–5 cm) was increased by about 0–5 units 3 days after urine application, with a smaller increase in the 5–10 cm horizon. Recovery of urine nitrogen in the soil mineral N pool was at best 27% of the added nitrogen.The results are discussed in terms of the significance of urine-affected areas in determining a patchy distribution of clover in grazed swards; the role of animals in the transfer of fixed N from clover to grass is considered.
Effect of conceptus growth on the contents of the maternal gastrointestinal tract in ewes fed at a constant rate throughout gestation
Authors: Faichney G. J. , White G. A. , Donnelly J. B. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryMultiparous Corriedale ewes were maintained on a constant feed intake such that the body weight (i.e. live weight less gravid uterus) of single-bearing ewes at the end of gestation approximated their live weight at mating. The ewes were allocated to one of five groups, designated for slaughter at 0, 50, 90, 120 and 140 days of gestation. At slaughter, the gravid uterus was removed, weighed and its components dissected out and the contents of all sections of the gastro-intestinal tract were removed, weighed and sampled.Foetal growth was described by a Gompertz model. It was predicted that, at day 150, a twin foetus would have been 0·95 of the weight of a single foetus but this difference was not statistically significant. The foetal proportion of the gravid uterus followed a sigmoid curve during gestation to reach a predicted value of 0·60 at day 150. Predicted birth weights represented 10·4 and 18·6% of maternal body weight in single- and twin-bearing ewes.The digesta content of the rumen and of the whole gastro-intestinal tract was not significantly affected by gestation. However, there was a tendency for the values to decline to day 90, then increase during the last third of gestation. It was suggested that the decline was due to hormonal rather than direct physical effects. By contrast, the amounts of organic digesta constituents in the rumen descreased as gestation progressed (P < 0·01) indicating an effect of gestation on rumen propulsive activity.
Root formation in cuttings ofDioscorea composita
Authors: Viana Ana Maria , Felippe G. M. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryThe tubersof Dioscorea compositaHemsl. contain a high level of diosgenin, and hence there is economic interest in this plant. Levels of diosgenin vary greatly in different clones of the species. Vegetative propagation was studied with a view to obtaining plants with high levels of diosgenin. In this study cuttings from 1-year-old vegetative plants were used for propagation. The cuttings were treated with a single application of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and several applications of 6 benzyladenine (6-BA). Rooting was never observed in untreated cuttings. Cuttings treated with IBA produced callus and roots. Early application of 6-BA delayed senescence but inhibited callus and root formation. New plants were obtained with one application of IBA followed by applications of 6-BA at 48 h intervals initiated 2 weeks after IBA application. In some experiments, all cuttings treated this way produced new plants.