bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The utilization of the energy of artificially dried grass prepared in different ways
Authors: Wainman F. W. , Blaxter K. L. , Smith J. S. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYSheep were given artificially dried grass either in the long form or as pellets, and their energy retention measured. Experiments were made both at the maintenance level of feeding and when feed was offered ad libitum. An analysis of the effects of preceding and current daily feed consumption on heat production was made and both exact and approximate methods of estimating the mean food intake to which a determination of heat production should be referred, are given. Pelleting the dried grass increased voluntary intake of dry matter by 27%, and the intake above maintenance by 59% The metabolizable energy of the grass was depressed by pelleting but the net availability of metabolizable energy for production was 52% for pellets and 40% for long material. The percentage of the gross energy supplied above maintenance which was retained was 28% greater for pellets than for long dried grass. The results show that energy retention of the sheep was almost doubled when the grass was pelleted.
Environmental and genetic variation in some economically important traits in potatoes
Authors: Macarthur A. W. , Killick R. J. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryFive potato varieties were grown at four sites over 2 years, and assessed for yield, specific gravity and for sloughing, texture and discoloration following steaming. Variation in discoloration was attributed to differences between sites. Genetic differences were established for specific gravity, sloughing and texture, all of which were positively correlated. Genotype × environment interactions and years × sites interactions contributed to the variation for these and the remaining variables.
Effect of date of harvest on seed quality and viability of soya beans
Authors: Nangju D. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryField experiments were made in both 1974 rainy seasons in Ibadan, Nigeria, to evaluate the effect of harvest time on seed quality and viability of soya beans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). The first harvest was made when about 85% of the pods had ripened and subsequent harvests were made at 7-day intervals. Delaying harvest increased the percentage purple-stained, cracked and black seeds in the first season, and of cracked seed in the second season. In the second season soya-bean seeds showed neither purpling nor dark discoloration on the seed coat; the crop matured during sunny, dry weather. However, in both seasons the reduction in seed quality was accompanied by a corresponding decrease in germination percentage. Varietal differences were noted in that the small-seeded Improved Pelican was least affected, and Hardee was the most affected by field weathering in both seasons. Kent and Bossier were intermediate between the two extremes. The results point out the importance of proper timing of harvest of soya beans in rainy seasons, and the need for screening soya beans for resistance to weathering in the tropics.
Nutritional studies with sheep fed conserved ryegrass. 1. Silage and dried grass offered ad libitum without supplements
Authors: Wernli C. G. , Wilkins R. J. 
Published: March 2009

SummarySilage, dried-grass wafers and dried-grass pellets all prepared from a single crop of perennial ryegrass were given ad libitum as sole diets to six rumen-fistulated wether sheep.Feed intake, intake of digestible nutrients and the concentration of volatile fatty acids (VTA) in the rumen were lowest with silage, highest with pellets and intermediate with wafers. Conversely, digestibility, eating and ruminating time per kg D.M. consumed, rumen pH, the rate of D.M. and cellulose digestion in the rumen and the mean retention time of digesta in the alimentary tract were highest for silage, intermediate for wafers and lowest for pellets. The pattern of rumen fermentation differed significantly between silage and the dried-grass treatments. The rumen fluid contained higher proportions of acetic, iso-butyric, n-valeric and iso-valeric acids, but lower proportions of propionic and n-butyric acids with silage than with dried grass. Differences in rumen. VFA between the two forms of dried grass were small. Nitrogen retention was lowest for the silage treatment and this was associated with a high concentration of ammonia in the rumen.Low nitrogen status with silage could have limited voluntary intake, whereas the difference in intake between the wafer and pellet treatments probably arose from differences in the retention time of digesta in the alimentary tract.
Effects of the physical environment on the growth and yield of field beans (Vicia faba minor) in the Canadian prairie
Authors: Keatinge J. D. H. , Shaykewich C. F. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryThe effects of the physical environment in Manitoba on the growth of Vicia faba minor cv. Diana were monitored during 1974–5. Seed yields and dry-matter production were considerably lower than have recently been achieved with similar varieties in Britain. Factors integral to the prairie environment are suggested to be the cause of this productivity differential. In particular, high soil moisture stress appears to be capable of severely reducing yields especially when experienced during the early phases of reproductive development. Satisfactory dry-mayEer production is not likely to be achieved if the seasonal soil heat accumulation (above 5 °C) is less than 1000 degree days. Low soil temperatures in the initial vegetative growth stage may also be responsible for the failure to achieve potential crop growth. Similarly high ambient temperatures (above 20°C) appear to be deleterious to crop growth.Field-bean heat units were defined to facilitate the examination of potentially useful atmospheric heat on crop growth.
Some breed effects on the melting point and fatty acid composition of carcass fat in lambs
Authors: L'Estrange J. L. , Hanrahan J. P. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryTwo breed comparisons were made: (a) between Galway and Galway x Finnish Landrace (Fingalway) lambs, and (6) between Galway x Fingalway and Galway x (Finn x Texel) lambs, for the melting point and fatty acid composition of subcutaneous tail, subcutaneous 13th rib and perinephric fat. The lambs were slaughtered at market weight from September to January, being finished off on grass except for a small number finished indoors on concentrates and hay.Slaughter age and carcass weight, both of which had significant effects on some of the measurements, were included as covariates in the breed comparisons. Overall breed effects were small. The melting point of the fat from Fingalway lambs was lower than that of the Galway breed in each location, the difference being significant for subcutaneous rib fat. This was associated with a lower concentration of stearic acid and a higher concentration of oleic acid in each fat depot of the Fingalway breed, the difference being significant for oleic in subcutaneous tail and for stearic in subcutaneous rib fat. No significant breed differences or trends were observed for the other fatty acids measured. Results for a small number of pure Finn lambs supported the Finn ancestry influence indicated by comparison (a). In the second breed comparison, no significant breed differences were observed, the values being close to those obtained for the pure Galway lambs.
Observations on the grazing habits of grade and zebu steers in a high altitude temperate climate
Authors: Lampkin G. H. , Quarterman J. , Kidner M. 
Published: March 2009

1. Two series of observations are described on the habits of grade and zebu steers in an environment where maximum daily temperatures did not exceed 74° F.2. No signs of heat stress were found in either group and the steers used were able to adopt a reasonable pattern of behaviour and graze throughout the day like cattle in other temperate regions.3. Under wet conditions the zebus reacted to the cold much more than did the grades and did so by standing instead of Iying down.4. There were considerable differences in the amounts of water drunk and it is suggested that these differences may result from the steers' efforts to maintain a homothermic state.
The effect of paraformaldehyde on the fermentation quality and feeding value of ryegrass and lucerne silages
Authors: Cook J. E. , Wilkins R. J. , Wilson R. F. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYCrops of perennial ryegrass and lucerne were each ensiled without additives and after the addition of paraformaldehyde to provide about 0·1, 0·2 or 0·4% HCHO/t crop fresh weight. The ryegrass and lucerne silages were offered ad libitum to sheep in separate experiments of identical design.All theryegrass silages were well preserved with low pH values, the level of butyric acid was very low and ammonia-N comprised less than 8% of total N. The lucerne silage made without additive had a pH of 5 and acetic acid comprised the major part of the total fermentation acids. Ammonia-N comprised over 12% of total N. All levels of paraformaldehyde addition restricted fermentation in both crops and led to an increase in the proportion of total N which was insoluble in hot water.Voluntary intake of organic matter (OM) was higher for the lucerne than for the ryegrass silages but digestible organic matter (DOM) intake was higher for the ryegrass. Intakes of OM and DOM were not significantly affected by paraformaldehyde treatment. The addition of paraformaldehyde significantly depressed apparent digestibility of OM and cellulose with the ryegrass but had less effect with the lucerne. Nitrogen digestibility was significantly depressed in both crops at all paraformaldehyde levels. Paraformaldehyde addition resulted in increased faecal N output and decreased urinary N, but retention of N was not significantly affected.The lack of response in feeding value to paraformaldehyde treatment may have been due to the relatively high intake and N retention of the untreated silages which were fairly well preserved.
The manuring of sugar beet
Authors: Boyd D. A. 
Published: March 2009

Information on how growers actually manure their crops is available from the Survey of Fertilizer Practice, carried out by the Provincial Soil Chemists of the N.A.A.S., in collaboration with Rothamsted. These data indicate that, taking into account the nutrients in farmyard manure, the average amounts of nitrogen and potash applied are not far from the optimal amounts suggested by experiment, whilst phosphate dressings are on the average at least double requirements. This may be due in part to the fact that few compounds are available with a low ratio of phosphate to other nutrients.Except in one or two factory areas the use of salt on sugar beet is still very limited.
Nitrogen requirement of sugar beet
Authors: Holmes M. R. J. , Devine J. R. 
Published: March 2009

SummarySeventy-four field experiments on the nitrogen requirement of sugar beet were made in eastern England in. 1966 to 1974. Considerable differences in sugar yield response to nitrogen were found between the six soil types used, and these differences were found (on five of the six soils) to be related to sugar yield. Nitrogen response was large on chalk and limestone soils in Lincolnshire, intermediate on East Anglian boulder clays and least on East Anglian chalk and light drift soils. On the lighter soils (limestones, East Anglian chalks and light drifts) nitrogen response was greater with high summer rainfall than with low. Fenland silt soils were very high yielding, but nitrogen response was moderate.Optimum nitrogen rates differed between soils, in the range 100 kg/ha on East Anglian chalks and light drifts to 180–200 kg/ha on Lincolnshire chalks and limestones.
Chemical treatments for increasing the digestibility of cotton straw: 2. Effect of ozone and sodium hydroxide treatments on the digestibility of cell-wall monosaccharides
Authors: Ben-Ghedalia D. , Shefet G. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThe digestibility of cell wall (CW) monosaccharides of diets containing as 50 % of their OM, untreated, sodium hydroxide and ozone-treated cotton straw (CS), was studied in sheep cannulated in the rumen and at the duodenum with simple cannulae.CS contributed the major part of the dietary cell-wall glucose, xylose and uronic acid in the three diets. The digestibility of the diets' CW glucose was 38·2, 66·6 and 50·2 % for the untreated, ozone and NaOH-treated CS-diets, respectively. Ozone and NaOH treatments significantly increased the digestibility of cotton straw CW glucose by 108 and 42%, respectively. The highest digestibility of CW xylose in the whole diet was obtained in the NaOH treatment: 43·4% as compared with 19·1 and 31·2% in the untreated and ozone-treated diets. The calculated values of CW xylose digestibility in CS were lower than those of CW glucose. Ozone remarkably increased the degradation of CW uronic acids. The calculated value for ozonated CS was 68·7%, 4·09 and 1·47 times higher than in the untreated and NaOH-treated CS.Irrespective of diet, the digestibilities of the minor CW sugars, i.e. arabinose, galactose and mannose, were high, and their degradation was largely completed in the rumen. The contribution of the hindgut flora was expressed mainly in degrading the residues of the potentially digestible CW glucose and CW xylose.The digestibility values of ADF-cellulose and those of CW glucose were compatible, whereas those of hemicellulose (determined as NDF-ADF) and CW non-glucose polysaccharides (NGP) were clearly different. The digestibility of NGP was 16·8, 36·6 and 43·2% for the untreated, ozone and NaOH-treated CS, respectively. It is suggested that those values more closely represent the digestibility of the ‘true hemicellulose’ fraction.
Field response of poppies (Papaver somniferum L.) to lime application on acid krasnozems in Tasmania
Authors: Temple-Smith M. G. , Wright D. N. , Laughlin J. C. , Hoare B. J. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYIn two field experiments, ground limestone (2·5–20 t/ha), dolomite (4·25 t/ha) and gypsum (3·75 t/ha) were applied to acid krasnozems (Forthside, pH 5·6 and Elliott, pH 5·1), and poppy capsule and morphine yields, leaf nutrient contents and soil chemical properties were measured.Capsule and morphine yield increased more than two-fold at Forthside as the pH in the surface soil (0–150 mm) increased from 5·6 to 6·1, and by 30-fold at Elliott where the pH increased from 5·1 to 6·0. Capsule morphine concentration was depressed by high rates of ground limestone at both sites but maximum morphine yields of 15·7 kg/ha at Forthside and 11·3 kg/ha at Elliott occurred at the highest rate of ground limestone. Gypsum did not increase yield at Elliott, but at Forthside the gypsum and ground limestone treatment of equivalent calcium content increased yields to the same extent.The lowest yields at each site were associated with calcium concentration in the leaves at flowering of less than 1% and marginal or high amounts of extractable soil Al at Forthside and Elliott respectively. Concentrations of Ca, P and Mo in leaves were increased by lime applications but leaf concentrations of N, P, Mn, B and Mo on low yielding plots were considered to be in the normal range.Poppy yield responses to liming were attributed primarily to alleviation of aluminium toxicity but the effects on yield of reductions in soluble Al and increases in available Ca were confounded by application of ground limestone.
Seed vigour in field beans (vicia faba L.) and its influennce on plant stand
Authors: Hegarty T. W. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYTwenty-one stocks of spring and •winter types of field bean were sown in April 1975 and 59 stocks of spring bean cv. Maris Bead were sown in March 1976, to investigate the relationship between seed germination and seedling emergence in the field. Laboratory germination percentage proved to be a very poor indicator of emergence in the field whereas the seed leachate conductivity test was a more useful guide. Even at recommended sowing rates low plant stands are shown to be a likely cause of yield loss and it is suggested that the conductivity test should be used to identify seed stocks of low vigour so that sowing rates of such stocks can be increased. It is recommended that the conductivity test be carried out as a useful adjunct to the standard laboratory germination test.
Predicting dry weights of pigeon-pea plants from non-destructive measurements
Authors: Hammerton J. L. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYSeven non-destructive field measurements were made on 1270 pigeon-pea plants varying widely in age, size and plant type, before determining their dry weight. The non-destructive measurements were generally highly correlated with one another, and were all significantly correlated with total, total above-ground and structural dry weights. In one experiment dry weights were best predicted by a multiple regression using stem diameter, length of longest branch and number of branches as predictors. Field height and stem diameter were the best predictors in a second trial. It is suggested that dry weights can be estimated by taking certain measurements at regular intervals, simultaneously sampling a number of plants to determine the best predictive equation. Where it is unnecessary or impracticable to do this, stem diameter appears to be the best single index of dry weight.
Allozymes of phosphoglucoisomerase (PGI) in cultivars of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)
Authors: Gilliland T. J. , Tinman J. , Camlin M. S. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThe 65 spring and 14 winter cultivars of barley on the 1981 U.K. National List were examined electrophoretically for allozyme variants of phosphoglucoisomerase (PGI). Two different banding patterns were observed, a ‘fast’ and a ‘slow’ migrating type. With the exception of six spring cultivars in which the ‘slow’ type was found, all the cultivars were classified as ‘fast’. F2 progeny of crosses between ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ plants were used to interpret the banding patterns as resulting from the dimeric isozymes of two alleles (allozymes) each producing a triple band pattern, the faster two bands of which were considered to be ‘secondary’ or artefact bands. With the notable exception of Dragon and its sister line RPB 1115–75 all of the other ‘slow’ cultivars and breeders' selections were found to have the ‘slow’ cultivar Midas in their breeding history. Midas was bred using material from three ‘fast’ cultivars and a γ-ray mutant strain, the irradiation which produced this strain being regarded as the likely cause of the ‘slow’ isozyme. Unlike all the other cultivars tested, Midas was found to be a mixture of genotypes comprising 73% ‘slow’ and 27% ‘fast’ plants, a ratio which was most probably due to founder effects caused by the breeders' selection programme. In the light of the present investigation and other reports it is concluded that it is not an uncommon occurrence to find plants with different electrophoretic banding patterns within inbred cultivars.This result has serious implications for cultivar registration as there is a possibility of selecting electrophoretically distinct plants from within existing registered cultivars. It is concluded therefore that the protection afforded to plant breeders under Plant Breeders' Rights schemes could be seriously threatened by the use of electrophoretic characters for cultivar registration except in some specific incidences where it may be possible to apply appropriate safeguards. The implications for plant breeders of the existence of isozymes of PGI, of possibly different efficiencies, within commercial cultivars of the genus Hordeum are also discussed.
The Effects of Plant Density, Spatial Arrangement and Time of Harvest on Yield and Root Size in Carrots
Authors: Salter P. J. , Currah I. E. , Fellows Jane R. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYFour experiments were carried out over a 2-year period to investigate the effect of plant density and spatial arrangement and the time of lifting on yield and root size of carrots. Plant arrangement was varied by growing the plants in 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- and 10-row systems in beds with rows 12–5 and 37–5 cm apart. With each row arrangement crops were grown at target densities of 108, 323 and 537 plants/ma. There were three times of harvest. Total root yield was not significantly affected by plant arrangement or, in three out of the four experiments, by plant density but yields progressively increased with later harvests at all density levels. Yields of canning-size roots (20–30 mm diameter) were influenced by plant density and time of harvest and there were highly significant interactions between these variables on canning root yields. Highest absolute yields were obtained from the latest harvests from the medium and high plant density treatments; with the lowest density treatments the highest yields of canners were obtained from the earliest harvests. Mean root weight was significantly affected by plant density and harvest time. Row system effects on mean root weight were shown to be largely accounted for by differences in percentage seedling emergence and hence the plant density obtained under the different row system treatments and a possible reason for this effect is discussed. The relationship between mean root weight and plant density was not affected by the pattern of plant arrangement in these experiments. Total root yields were shown to be related to cumulative potential evapotranspiration from sowing rather than to chronological time. It is concluded that with the range of row systems used in these experiments, row spacing had little effect on root yield but confirmed previous work that plant density and time of harvest were the most important variables controlling mean root size and hence the yield of roots of any particular size grade.
The early weaning of pigs: II. The performance up to 56 days of age of pigs weaned at 8, 14 and 20 lb. live weight
Authors: Smith H. , Lucas I. A. M. 
Published: March 2009

Groups of pigs were weaned at 8, 14 and 20 lb. live weight from each of seven litters. Each of the twenty-one groups was housed separately and selffed a 30% protein diet ‘A’ up to 25 lb. live weight.From then until 56 days of age each group was selffed a 22% protein diet ‘B’.Weight at weaning had no significant effect on age at 40 lb. live weight, but weights at 56 day old of 46·5, 50·2 and 47·7 lb. for pigs weaned at 8, 14 and 20 lb. respectively tended to favour weaning at 14 lb. (P < 0·10).Pigs weaned at 8, 14 and 20 lb. each required 25, 16 and 6 lb. respectively of expensive diet ‘A’ to reach 25 lb. live weight. To grow from 25 to 40 lb. live weight they each required 30, 28 and 27 lb. of diet B, and this trend in favour of the pigs weaned at heavier weights was significant at P < 0·05.These results are discussed in relation to the system of early weaning.