Selected data of McMeekan (1940, 1941) were reanalysed to compare the proportions and distribution of tissues, and the weights of some organs, in pigs growing at different growth rates due to differing levels of nutrition. The effects of variation in fat content were excluded, and the distribution of tissues was compared at the same total weight for each tissue, by allometric regressions. Except for components of the head and neck, and the stomach, the results do not support a concept of retardation of development by poor nutrition of those parts of the body with the highest relative growth rates.

Response of rice to root inoculation with Azospirillum under different N fertility levels was studied over three consecutive seasons under tropical conditions. The response to Azospirillum was more pronounced at lower levels (30 and 45 kg N/ha) of fertilizer N than at a higher level (60 kg N/ha). Although the root inoculation with Azospirillum resulted in a significant increase in mean yields of both grain and straw especially at low levels of N (30 and 45 kg N/ha), the interaction between the N fertilizer and inoculation was not statistically significant.

Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the weight of water, protein and ash (kg) and fat-free empty body (FFEB) weight (kg) in data from six published and one unpublished experiment conducted in this laboratory. The analysis involved 201 sheep divided into 12 groups which were either in positive growth, weight stasis, weight loss or compensatory growth prior to slaughter. Each of the relationships between water, protein or ash and FFEB was linear and could be expressed by a common slope. Small (though statistically significant) differences in intercept were found between treatments. The following overall equations provide a simple description of the data:

water (kg) = 0·721 FFEB + 0·37, R.S.D. 0·18,

protein (kg) = 0·215 FFEB - 0·22, R.S.D. 0·16,

ash (kg) = 0·055 FFEB - 0·07, R.S.D. 0·09.

Published data for cattle were also examined and corresponding equations are:

water (kg) = 0·701 FFEB + 3·59, R.S.D. 2·6,

protein (kg) = 0·234 FFEB - 2·00, R.S.D. 2·3,

ash (kg) = 0·060 FFEB - 0·71, R.S.D. 1·8.

It is suggested that these equations could be used in computer simulation models of growth to calculate FFEB gain (or loss) from nitrogen balance.

Left and right 9–10–11 rib joints from 104 Madura, Ongole, Bali, Grati (or Friesian cross) and buffalo bulls were dissected into bone, muscular and fatty tissues and then ground and chemically analysed for water, ash, ether extract and protein contents. The carcasses from 48 of these bulls were also ground and analysed for these same chemical components. Within-breed relationships between dissectible and chemical composition in the rib and between dissectible composition of the rib and chemical composition of the carcass were tested by regression analyses.

There were no breed differences in the relationships between bone and ash or between muscle and protein in the rib, but at the same content of rib fatty tissue, buffaloes had less predicted rib ether extract than Bali, Ongole or Madura cattle. At the same ash content of the rib, Madura bulls had the most carcass ash. Rib-muscle content was considered to be a poor predictor of carcass protein. At the same fat content of the rib, breed differences in predicted carcass ether extract were large with Grati having higher levels than Bali and all four cattle breeds having higher levels than buffaloes. Use of rib-fat or rib-energy contents to predict carcass energy yielded relative breed differences similar to those when rib fat was used to predict carcass ether extract.

Differences in the distribution of fat within the carcass, particularly in the subcutaneous fat depot, were considered to have a major bearing on differences in the within-breed relationships. Therefore, published part-whole prediction equations should be used with caution when comparing genotypes likely to differ in the distribution of tissue within the carcass.

Indonesian Ongole and swamp buffalo bulls were fed ad libitum a diet of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) with five levels of rice bran (0, 1·2, 2·4, 3·6 and 4·8 kg/head/ day) in a study lasting 161 days. Measurements were made of the digestibility of the diet, the balances of nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and water and the metabolizability of the gross energy. Using multiple regressions, the daily intakes of metabolizable energy were partitioned between maintenance and growth.

Feeding rice bran stimulated appetite, initially improved feed conversion efficiency and increased growth rates. Each additional kilogram of rice bran fed depressed grass dry-matter intake by 0·8 kg in the buffaloes and 0·6 kg in Ongoles. Rice bran had little effect on digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and energy. Metabolizable energy contents of rice bran and elephant grass were calculated to be, respectively, 9·5 and 8·2 MJ/kg dry matter. Nitrogen and phosphorus status was improved in the supplemented animals but the balance of calcium was adversely affected. Voluntary feed intake was always higher in the buffaloes but the differences were reduced with increasing rice-bran supplementation.

Metabolizable energy requirements for maintenance and growth did not differ significantly between Ongole and buffaloes and were similar to values calculated for British animals.

Indonesian Ongole and swamp buffalo bulls that had previously been given 0, 1·2, 2·4, 3·6 or 4·8 kg/head/day rice bran plus ad libitum elephant grass were slaughtered after 161 days feeding. Abdominal depot fat, full and empty reticulo-rumen and cold carcass weights were recorded. Various carcass variables were measured and the 9–10–11 rib joints were dissected into bone, muscle and fat. Carcass gross energy was calculated from rib-fat content using previously determined regression equations. Feed efficiency was expressed in terms of the ratios of live-weight gain or carcass-energy accretion to metabolizable energy available for growth.

Increasing supplementation with rice bran resulted in larger abdominal fat depots, higher dressing percentages, increased carcass fatness (and hence carcass gross energy) and improved rib muscle to bone ratios. Carcass conformation was unaffected by dietary treatment. When feed efficiency was expressed per unit live-weight gain, there was a decrease with increasing rice-bran feeding. Feed efficiency, expressed per unit of carcass energy accretion, improved with rice-bran supplementation and was generally higher in buffalo than in Ongole bulls. Dietary and species differences in feed efficiency could be primarily explained by the differential energy cost of deposition of, and the availability of energy from, carcass protein and lipid.

The effects of some plant growth regulators on the growth and development of two cultivars of oil-seed sunflower (cvs Flambeau and Luciole) were examined in 1977 and 1978. Sunflower is a marginal crop for the United Kingdom, being late maturing and susceptible to infection by grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) during the seed-filling period.

An experiment in 1977 indicated that suitable growth regulators might improve sunflower husbandry principally by shortening the stem, allowing late applications of fungicide and insuring against lodging. A mixture of mepiquat chloride and ethephon (BAS 098 OOW) was the most effective stem shortener. Daminozide gave variable effects on yield depending on the rate and time of treatment. The number of seeds per m2 was the major determinant of yield; 1000-seed weights and oil contents were similar for all treatments. The proportion of linoleic acid in the oil was very high in all experiments.

In 1978 a second experiment involving daminozide and two sunflower cultivars revealed seasonal and varietal differences in response. The timing of growth regulator application seemed critical to affect seed yield. The third experiment, in 1978, investigated the results of applying BAS 098 OOW to four plant population densities varying from 40000 plants/ha to 160000 plants/ha. High plant population density advanced maturation by 2 weeks, but in these plots the crop lodged in the absence of growth regulator treatment.

Maize yield was increased by the application of organic mulch (6 t/ha). Mulched plots treated with any of the antitranspirants (kaolin or alachlor) and receiving two or four irrigations yielded as much as untreated plots receiving four or six irrigations. Cob length, number of grains and grain weight of maize were increased by mulching and by the transpiration suppressants. Irrigation water-use efficiency was improved by evapotranspiration control treatments.

Early investigations into the effects of the growth retardant chlormequat on wheat and barley showed that in the absence of lodging the number of ears was frequently increased following treatment at the beginning of stem elongation (Humphries, Welbank & Witts, 1965; Alcock, Morgan & Jessop, 1967; Barrett, Meens & Mees, 1967). More recently, earlier applications, at the three-leaf stage, to barley have been shown to be more effective in increasing the number of ears (Koranteng & Matthews, 1982). However, there appears to be little information on the effects on number of ears of early application of chlormequat to winter wheat. Therefore, in 1982 three field experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of early application of chlormequat on the numbers of tillers and ears and grain yield of winter wheat.

The ‘conventional’ method of measuring the area of a wool sample patch involves the direct in situ measurement of the patch dimensions while in the field using callipers (Turner et al. 1953). This procedure is time consuming and expensive in terms of labour required. In an attempt to reduce the cost and increase the speed of the procedure in the field a new method was devised and tested.

As part of their normal behaviour, buffaloes need to wallow in water or mud for a period of the day and, in general, show a greater affinity for water than other domestic ruminants. It has been reported (McFarlane, 1971) that buffaloes turn over more water than other domestic ruminants. This, in turn, should make them more susceptible to deprivation of water, even for short periods. Requirements for water are also known to change with the physiological state of animals. The experiment described in this paper was carried out to compare the effects on the daily turnover of body water in growing, pregnant and lactating buffaloes, under normal management, when denied wallowing and when drinking water was restricted.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the chemical growth regulator Terpal (a mixture of mepiquat chloride and ethephon or 2 chloroethyl phosphonic acid) on the pattern of branching, plant height and yield components of winter oil-seed rape (cv. Jet Neuf). Mepiquat chloride (a quaternary ammonium compound with similar antigibberellin properties to cycocel) was developed as a morphoregulator for cotton where it has been shown to reduce plant height, shorten internodes and increase boll retention (Willard et al. 1977). The activity of ethephon has been attributed to its release of ethylene which influences a wide range of developmental processes, for example fruit abscission and ripening (Chatterjee, 1977; Gvozdenovic, Dulic & Slavic, 1978), growth retardation (Van Andel & Verkerke, 1978) and also the extent of lodging in cereals (Hill, Joice & Squires, 1982).

Supermarkets in the U.K. want uniform heads of crisp lettuce weighing at least 450 g and preferably 600 g but it is difficult to meet these requirements consistently throughout the season because there can be considerable variation in head weight both between and within sowings. In the butterhead lettuce crop the synchronization of seedling emergence, which was responsible for a large proportion of the variation in head weight at maturity (Gray, 1976), was improved by fluid sowing pre-germinated seed (Gray, 1978a, 6). Finch-Savage & Cox (1983) have also shown with butterhead lettuce that pre-germinated seed emerged earlier and produced earlier-maturing, heavier heads than dry seed and that the addition of sodium phosphate to the gel further advanced maturity and increased head weight. Therefore, fluid sowing pre-germinated seed of crisp lettuce in a gel containing phosphate might be expected to reduce variation in seedling emergence and to improve head weight and the uniformity of head weight at maturity.