bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of ambient temperature and daylength on hoof growth in sheep
Authors: Wheeler J. L. , Bennett J. W. , Hutchinson J. C. D. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYIn Southdown sheep, which grazed and were fed during the day to maintain body weight and were housed at night, there was no clear effect of ambient temperature on hoof growth. In these sheep, equatorial or reversed photoperiods did not influence hoof growth.In an indoor experiment over 19 months on Merino sheep, with natural light and temperature, fleece accumulated normally between spring shearings. Hoof growth in winter was low at a low level of nutrition but was not reduced in sheep at a higher nutritional level. It fell dramatically at both levels of nutrition in the first month after shearing.Hoof growth was measured in Merino and Southdown sheep exposed to equatorial daylength in two climate-room experiments in which ambient temperature was varied. Fleece length was kept short and nearly constant by clipping. Hoof growth was greatly reduced by low temperature. At a given ambient temperature it was more rapid when ambient temperature was rising from month to month than when it was falling. The low hoof growth observed in the cold was associated with low hoof temperature and there was some evidence suggestive of reduced blood flow to the skin of the lower legs.These temperature effects would complicate the use of hoof growth as an index of nutrition.
The growth and performance of rain-grown cotton in a tropical upland environment: II. The relationship between yield and growth
Authors: Hearn A. B. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYAn hypothesis, based on Mason's nutritional theory of boll shedding, was set up to relate the yield of cotton to crop growth in three agronomic experiments. It was postulated that bolls were set only if the demand for carbohydrates of the metabolic sink which they formed did not exceed the supply, both of which were estimated. Two components of the sink were recognized — the daily growth rate of a single boll, DGRB, and the number of bolls on the crop plants. The effects of genotype and environment on these components were analysed. Their product gave the size of the boll sink, CB, which was compared with the crop growth rate, C, to indicate respectively carbohydrate demand and supply. Three sets of evidence to support the hypothesis were considered: (i) when CB > C, the number of bolls, and hence the size of the sink, ceased to increase, and bolls started to shed heavily; (ii) a model to predict yield, based on the hypothesis, accounted for all non-random variation in yield between sowing dates and varieties; (iii) the correlation between yield and various crop attributes, recorded before picking, became strikingly closer between 110 and 130 days from sowing when CB > C, suggesting that yield was determined during that period of time. The network of relationships, studied in these papers in order to relate the yield of a cotton crop to its environment and genotype through their effect on its growth, indicates the form of a dynamic model to simulate growth and predict yields.
Ryegrass populations from intensively managed leys:I. Seedling and spaced plant characters
Authors: Charles A. H. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYSeed of Lolium perenne L. was grown from material collected from three S.23 leys and one S.24 ley that had been subjected to high rates of stocking and nitrogen application. Comparisons were made between plants grown from seed derived from the leys and from breeders' seed of S.23 and S.24.Seedling characters indicated that the populations derived from leys differed from each other and from the plants grown from breeders' seed. In S.23 populations the main change occurring in intensively grazed leys was towards higher tillering prostrate seedlings. This did not occur in the S.24, but here the survivor population had a slightly shorter fifth leaf and a lower number of leaves on the main tiller of the seedlings.As spaced plants, the population derived from the S.23 ley, with the highest percentage ryegrass and the reputation for the highest yields on the farm, gave a higher yield, recorded in three cuts in the first year and in four cuts in the second year, than any other populations. Small differences between S.23 populations in aftermath heading, reaction to rust, and mean date of panicle emergence were recorded. Variance of spaced plant yield decreased in ryegrass derived from older S.23 leys. The S.24 ‘survivor’ population was much later in mean date of panicle emergence than S.24 grown from breeders' seed.
Results from experiments with winter wheat, spring barley and grass, comparing a liquid N-fertilizer either alone or with added herbicide, and top-dressings of ‘Nitro-Chalk’ without or with herbicide sprayed alone
Authors: Penny A. , Freeman S. C. R. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryDuring 1970–3 three experiments with winter wheat, three with spring barley, two with permanent grass and one with perennial ryegrass measured the effects of a liquid N-fertilizer (26% N) sprayed over the leaves either alone or with a herbicide added to it. ‘Nitro-Chalk’ (21% N) was used as the standard for comparison. The liquid N-fertilizer was made from urea and ammonium nitrate; the herbicide was a mixture of dichlorprop and MCPA. Each experiment tested all combinations of the two N fertilizers applied to give 38, 75 or 113 kg N/ha without the herbicide and with either 2·8, 5·6 (recommended dose) or 8·4 1/ha of herbicide. The 24 treatments were applied to winter wheat at growth stages 4–5 of the Feekes scale, to barley at growth stage 5 and to grass in late spring and again to regrowth after cutting.Herbicide alone sometimes scorched the leaves but seldom badly. Liquid N-fertilizer nearly always scorched the leaves and the amount of scorch was increased by adding herbicide; scorch also was increased by increasing the amount of either and so was most severe when most liquid fertilizer and most herbicide were sprayed together; this damage did not decrease yields appreciably except when only 38 kg N/ha was given.Spraying the herbicide with the liquid fertilizer always gave slightly better weed control than herbicide alone in the wheat, but not always in the barley; in the grass, weed control was no better than from herbicide alone.‘Nitro-Chalk’ gave larger yields of wheat grain than the liquid N-fertilizer did in seven of nine comparisons without herbicide and in 20 of 27 with it, of barley grain in five of nine comparisons without herbicide and in 15 of 27 with it, of permanent grass in 25 of 27 comparisons without herbicide and in 70 of 81 with it, and of perennial ryegrass in nine of nine comparisons without herbicide and in 25 of 27 with it. Thus herbicide did not alter the advantage that ‘Nitro-Chalk’ had.Percentages of N in the crops were larger with ‘Nitro-Chalk’ than with the liquid N-fertilizer but were changed little by herbicide.
The effect of two feeding levels of diets containing field-cured or frozen Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana), on digestibility and rumen metabolites in sheep
Authors: Tagari H. , Ghedalia D. Ben , Shtern Y. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryA digestibility and metabolism experiment was carried out to study the effect of two levels of feeding Rhodes grass-concentrate mixed diets when the grass had been preserved as hay or as frozen grass. Twenty Awassi lambs were used.The method of preserving the Rhodes grass did not affect the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein or nitrogen-free extract. However, the digestibility of energy and crude fibre was lower with the hay treatments.A consistent trend towards higher digestibility of the diets' constituents was observed with the high level of feeding.Acetic acid concentration in the rumen was lower with the hay than with frozen grass. Feeding the high level resulted in higher concentrations of volatile fatty acids in the rumen.A highly significant effect of the level of feeding on the C2/C3 ratio was observed; the high level of feeding resulted in a lower C2/C3 ratio
The genetic control of red cell glutathione deficiencies in Finnish Landrace and Tasmanian Merino sheep and in crosses between these breeds
Authors: Tucker Elizabeth M. , Kilgour L. , Young J. D. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryFinnish Landrace sheep with low red cell GSH concentrations resulting from a defective transport system for certain arnino acids were crossed with Tasmanian Merino sheep with a red cell GSH deficiency due to impaired activity of the enzyme γ-glutamyl cysteine synthetase. Inheritance data showed that the two types of GSH deficiency were under independent genetic control. In the Finnish Landrace breed, the gene coding for the transport defect (Trn) was inherited as an autosomal recessive and sheep homozygous for this gene had high red cell concentrations of lysine and ornithine (Ly ×) as well as low levels of GSH. In the Tasmanian Merino breed the GSH deficiency behaved as if controlled by an autosomal dominant gene (GSHL). Backcross breeding experiments resulted in lambs which had inherited both types of GSH deficiency. Evidence suggested that such ‘double low’ GSH lambs had an impaired viability. In Tasmanian Merinos the GSH deficiency was established prior to birth. Newborn Finnish Landrace lambs were clearly separable into two types on the basis of their red cell lysine and ornithine content but not on their GSH concentrations.
Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: theory and practice
Authors: King J. M. , Heath B. R. , Hill R. E. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryThe term game is applied to those wild animals which are pursued in the chase or kept for pleasure. When an animal has been domesticated it belongs to the family, lives in or near the habitations of man and is tame, not wild.Wild African buffalo, eland, oryx and gazelle were caught by either dart-immobilization, chasing and roping, or driving into a corral. Weaned, sub-adult animals were preferred. The taming procedures started in small, dark, padded cells and progressed through a series of larger enclosures until the animals were grazing in a 40 ha paddock 7 weeks after capture. Gazelle was the only species which was not established as a domestic herd by this method, because of its liability to self-inflicted injuries.The domestic game animals were grazed over thousands of hectares without fencing, but under supervision of herdsmen. They were subjected to standard domestic animal husbandry procedures including eartagging, dehorning and castration.The conclusion is that some African game animals are easy to domesticate as has also been demonstrated in the prehistoric and recent past. The reason they have not displaced conventional livestock can be found in the history of domestication. The condition originated in the Middle East and spread mainly by the introduction of an alien culture and livestock to Africa. The time when sub-Saharan Africans had established a suitable way of life for domestication coincided with the arrival of cattle, sheep and goats forced south by the desiccating environment.The potential of African game animals to domestic animal production will be evaluated in subsequent papers.
Effects of previous cropping and N fertilizer on grain yield and take-all in spring barley
Authors: Slope D. B. , Etheridge Judith 
Published: March 2009

SummaryGrain yield and incidence of take-all were measured in barley grown continuously and in successive barleys after two crops (oats, beans) not susceptible to the take-all fungus. Without fertilizer N, first barley crops after beans yielded about 1 t/ha more than second barleys and 2 t/ha more than third; growing more barleys did not further lessen yield. With increasing amounts of fertilizer N yields of barleys after barley nearly equalled yields of barley after beans. Take-all increased to a maximum in third barleys and was decreased by N, but it was not possible to separate the effects of take-all andsoil and fertilizer N on yield.
A comparison of spring barley grown in England and in Scotland. 2. Yield and its components
Authors: Ellis R. P. , Kirby E. J. M. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryYields of two spring barley varieties, Golden Promise and Maris Mink, were greater at the Scottish Plant Breeding Station (SPBS) than at the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) in both 1976 and 1977. In both seasons more ears per plant were produced and the number of grains per ear was greater at the SPBS. Weight per grain was greater at the Scottish Plant Breeding Station in both 1976 and 1977, but the distribution of grain size along the ears differed between seasons. Grain at the tip of the ears of plants grown at SPBS in 1976 was lighter than the corresponding grain on the Cambridge-grown plants. In 1977 the SPBS-grown plants had heavier grains at all the main shoot spikelet positions. At the SPBS the relative difference between main shoot and tillers 1 and 2 was smaller than at the PBI.These results are taken to indicate that the combination of climatic factors in Scotland affects plant development in such a way that intraplant competition is reduced and more spikelet primordia survive to form grains and more tillers produce fertile ears.
Milk secretion studies with New Zealand Romney ewes: Parts V–XI
Authors: Barnicoat C. R. , Murray P. F. , Roberts E. M. , Wilson G. S. 
Published: March 2009

Experiments on the milking qualities of New Zealand Romney ewes, maintained at liberal standards of grazing and at different planes of nutrition under stall-feeding conditions, were described in four earlier papers published in this Journal (Barnicoat, Logan & Grant, 1949).In the meantime several other original papers in this field have appeared: Coop (1950) studied the effect of certain factors including milk intake on the growth and development of lambs of various breeds of sheep in the South Island of New Zealand; Barnicoat (1952) discussed some practical applications of the work; Owen (1953), employing a modified technique for measuring milk yields of Welsh hill ewes, found that the correlations between lamb gains and estimated milk yields were of a similar order to those established elsewhere under easier conditions of farming; Thomson & Thomson (1953) carried out experiments with Cheviot ewes fed indoors, and their results support the viewpoint that adequate nutrition in the final stages of pregnancy is of paramount importance; and Gill & Thomson (1953) discussed the significance of milk yield of ewes under farming conditions in Great Britain which contrast widely with conditions pertaining to the district in which the experiments described in this series of papers were conducted.
Plant-breeding studies in leguminous forage crops III. Preliminary studies on the developmental physiology of English stocks of beans (Vicia faba L.)
Authors: Chakravarty A. K. , Drayner Jean M. , Fyfe J. L. 
Published: March 2009

1. The reaction of spring and winter types of field beans and of Windsor broad beans to artificial vernalization treatments and to successional field sowing has been studied.2. The broad bean type came into flower earlier and at a lower node on the stem than any of the field bean types, and this was not affected by either vernalization treatments or successional sowing.3. The field bean types flowered at a low node when sown in winter, but in summer sowings the level of the first flowering node was much higher; the response of the winter types was more extreme than that of the spring types.4. In the summer sowings vernalized plants came into flower earlier and at a lower node than unvernalized, but in the winter sowings both vernalized and unvernalized material flowered at an equally low node.5. A convention for naming the different stems contributing to the yield was evolved, and using this it was shown that the date of sowing affected the stems produced.6. The survival of plants in the field was not found to be affected by vernalization previous to sowing.
The metabolic changes which occur in sheep transferred to lush spring grass I. Changes in blood and rumen constituents
Authors: Annison E. F. , Lewis D. , Lindsay D. B. 
Published: March 2009

1. Changes are observed in the concentrations of a wide range of substances found in blood and rumen contents when sheep are first turned out to lush spring grass.2. With some metabolites (e.g. rumen α-amino nitrogen, blood VFA) the increase is only temporary, and the animal (or its rumen microbial population) quickly adapts to the changed conditions. With other metabolites (e.g. rumen VFA) there is a sustained increase over a period of at least three weeks on grass.3. It is possible that the nature of the previous diet may determine the magnitude of the metabolic changes occurring.4. The overall nature of these changes should be taken into account in assessing the aetiology of the metabolic diseases occurring in ruminants under similar conditions.
A multivariate study of pig carcass growth and composition: 2. Dissected tissues and parts
Authors: Evans D. G. , Kempster A. J. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYAn analysis of pig carcass composition was carried out, using data for 11 genetic source populations in the Meat and Livestock Commission's Commercial Pig Evaluation (CPE). The data were from years 3–5 of CPE and a total of 720 carcasses were involved. Weights of dissected tissues and parts were considered simultaneously, and the effects of growth, source population, sex, feeding regimen and time period were incorporated into an integrated model, the multivariate allometric development model.Canonical variates were constructed for each of the classifying factors except time period, and the residual variation in carcass composition was analysed by principal component analysis. The first canonical variate for source populations was interpreted as a tissue distribution characteristic associated with the distribution of lean between joints in the dorso-cranial and ventro-caudal regions of the carcass. It accounted for 39% of the variation between source populations. The second canonical variate was associated with the ratio of subcutaneous fat to lean in the carcass, and accounted for 20% of the variation between source populations. The results explain the bias found in predicting the proportion of lean tissue in a carcass from subcutaneous fat thickness (P2).In a graphical display of differences between source populations, nine were shown to be distinct, with only two intermediate and not clearly differentiated from some others. The interpretation of canonical variates and the relative positions of the populations were closely related to those obtained from the analysis of production and grading characteristics in the first paper of the series.
Some results of an experiment to compare ley and arable rotations at Woburn
Authors: Mann H. H. , Boyd D. A. 
Published: March 2009

The effect of short leys and arable cropping on the yields of the following arable crops has been tested since 1937 at Woburn Experimental Farm, Bedfordshire. The leys were a 3-year grazed ley and 3 years of lucerne cut for hay and the arable cropping was potatoes, winter cereal and either a 1-year ley or a third tillage crop. The effects of these crop sequences were measured by test crops of potatoes and barley, uniformly treated except that 15 tons farmyard manure was applied on one-half of each plot for potatoes.Without farmyard manure, the yield of potatoes after the grazed ley was higher than after three tillage crops by an average of about 3 tons per acre; after lucerne it was about 2 tons per acre more than after the tillage crops and after the 1 -year ley under 1 ton per acre more. With farmyard manure the benefit from leys was less (about 2 tons per acre for both lucerne and the grazed ley). The average effect of the farmyard manure was about 2·8 tons except after the grazed ley, where the increase was only 1·6 tons per acre.Effects of the previous cropping on the yield of barley were small in the early years of the experiment, but in the last 5 years the yield after ley and lucerne has exceeded that after the tillage crops by about 15%.Part of the difference in potato yield between the ley and arable sequences can be attributed to the differential incidence of potato-root eelworm, which has reached a high level of infestation on some of the arable plots. Much of the remainder may be ascribed to the low level of basal manuring which has affected the yield of all plots, but particularly those under tillage crops. How far the observed differences can be explained by these considerations remains a matter for speculation, but may to some extent be clarified when further results are obtained from a revised scheme of cropping and manuring.
Variation in lean distribution among steer carcasses of different breeds and crosses
Authors: Kempster A. J. , Cuthbertson A. , Smith R. J. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryDissection data for 753 steer carcasses comprising 17 breed-type × feeding system groups were used to examine the distribution of lean between 14 standardized commercial joints. Breed types included Ayrshire, Friesian, Friesian × Ayrshire and crosses out of Friesians by Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin, Simmental and South Devon sires. Most cattle were grown on cereal or grass/cereal systems of feeding. Group means for weight of lean in the side (half carcass) ranged from 60·0 to 85·2 kg with a pooled within-group S.D. of 7·81 kg.The increase in lean weight in each joint relative to that in the side was examined using the allometric equation. Pooled within-group growth coefficients (b values) indicated that relative lean tissue growth was lowest in the leg (hind shin) and rump (b = 0·84 ± 0·03 and 0·85 ± 0·03 respectively) and highest in the clod and sticking (b = 1·19 ±0·03). The result for the combined higher-priced joints was 0·95 ±0·01.The pooled growth coefficients were used to adjust the weight of lean in each joint to equal total lean weight in the side where this was legitimate. Statistically significant (P < 0·001) but relatively small differences were recorded between groups in the adjusted means for all joints tested. At equal total lean weight, Charolais × Friesian, Limousin × Friesian and Simmental ×; Friesian groups had the highest weight of lean in the combined higher-priced joints and the Ayrshire and Friesian × Ayrshire groups the lowest. The difference between the two extreme groups was 2·1 kg (for one side).