1. Ten manurial treatments were applied annually to cattle cabbage grown in a six-course rotation for 7 years. Samples were taken in the early winter each year, and from five harvests taken at fortnightly intervals in the last year.

2. The dry-matter yields each year closely followed the weather conditions during the growing season. There was no significant fall in the dry-matter yield during the last season. The treatments supplying phosphorus or phosphorus and potassium substantially increased yield, but the application of nitrogen did not.

3. The application of nitrogen, potassium or phosphorus increased the levels of these constituents in the crop in practically all cases. The application of phosphorus produced hearted plants which contained significantly less dry matter than the openleavod plants produced in its absence. The levels of ether extract, crude fibre, ash, silica and magnesium wore not significantly affected by the manorial treatments.

4. There was little variation in composition as the season advanced except for significant increases in the crude-fibre levels and decreases in the nitrogen-free extractives levels.

5. The distribution of the chemical components was investigated in the outer leaves, heart leaves and stem of the plant. This was compared with that in the marrow-stem kales.

6. The chemical composition of the cattle cabbage compares fairly closely with that found for the marrow-stem kales grown under similar conditions. It is, however, lower in dry matter, crude fibre, magnesium and chlorine. It may be considered as a replacement for marrow-stem kale as a source of crude protein and all the major minerals except chlorine and possibly magnesium.

The data collected under the Agricultural Meteorological Scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture have provided information for a number of years in a number of places on the dates of sowing and appearance above ground of wheat, winter oats, spring oats, spring barley, turnips and swedes.

It has long been known that the size and shape of sampling units used to assess crop yield may have significant effects upon the precision of the estimates (Smith, 1938; Hudson, 1939) but little is known about the effects when estimating incidence of disease. Gilligan (1980) showed that estimates of the incidence (i.e. presence or absence of disease) of stem canker (Phomx, lingam, perfect state Lepto sphaeria maculans)of oil-seed rape were more precise when large square sampling units rather than long rectangular units of similar area or small square sampling units were used. Moreover, estimates derived from the frequently used method of sampling by removal of 25 stems, supposedly at random from each plot, were shown to be biased.

1. Since the pigmentation of the skin cannot be assessed by visual examination of the hair or hide, a simple and convenient method of grading the cutaneous pigmentation of cattle based on the microscopic examination of skin sections has been described.

2. The degree of cutaneous pigmentation of the skin of twenty body regions of three Ayrshire cows, two Ayrshire bull calves, two Sudanese Zebu bulls, one Sudanese Zebu cow and one Jamaican Zebu cow have been assessed by this method.

3. The skin of the Zebu cattle was found to be much more heavily pigmented than that of the Ayrshire cattle.

4. The dorsal and lateral regions of both the Zebu and the Ayrshire cattle were more pigmented than the ventral and leg regions.

In previous studies of the reactions of groundnut varieties to infection with Cercospora arachidicola Hori and Cercosporidium personatum (Berk. & Curt.) Deighton, the existence of disease resistance has been demonstrated. However, these investigations have not resulted in the production of high yielding, disease resistant, varieties and it has been suggested that disease resistance is physiologically linked to low seed yield. In the present study, two aspects of the host–pathogen interaction were investigated: these were varietal response to chemical disease control, and the effect of plant sterility on host and pathogen development. It was found that a general score of resistance to leaf spot did not always relate to the varietal response to disease control and reasons for this were proposed. The prevention of pod production did not affect pathogen development, but vegetative growth of the treated plants was increased. It was concluded that host and pathogen development could be confounded during the assessment of disease resistance. In future varietal screening trials, the use of single branch comparisons should prevent this confusion.

Urea is not efficiently utilized by ruminants mainly because of its more rapid (about 4 times) rate of hydrolysis than the corresponding uptake of ammonia by the rumen microbes (Bloomfield, Garner & Muhrer, 1960). A number of attempts have been made to slow down the release of ammonia either through the production of urease immunity (Sidhu, Jones & Tillman, 1968) or by complexing urea with starch (Deyoe et al. 1968) or with molasses (Chopra et al. 1974). The present communication reports the method of preparation and in vitro breakdown of urea-hemicellulose complex.

Silage, 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.

1. The form of the dispersion curve obtained by single dispersion treatment below μ/x varies greatly with different soils and with the same soil saturated with different bases. There is no connection between the proportion of very fine material (e.g. below 0·5μ) and other important soil properties. The proportion of the very fine material determined in this way would not, therefore, afford any indication of the “colloid” properties of the soil. If the proportion of fine material were estimated by a decantation method the results might be substantially modified.

2. Under the same conditions of dispersion sodium soil is better dispersed than ammonium. Sodium carbonate should therefore be the best medium for mechanical analysis.

3. No case has been met with where the proportion of clay found is affected to an important degree by the use of hydrogen peroxide.

4. With no soil tried was the number of decantations reduced by the use of acid pre-treatment; those examined gave the same clay content i f sufficient puddlings with sodium carbonate were used with or without acid.

5. No method has been found whereby certain soils can be dispersed i n a single operation as is required in the pipette method. In some cases this is due to gypsum, but there are others in which the cause of the difficulty of dispersion is not yet known.

6. In the cases examined sodium carbonate gives a higher result than ammonia when using the International pipette method.

7. For Sudan soils decantation methods appear essential, hydrogen peroxide unnecessary, acid pre-treatment not essential, and sodium carbonate better than ammonia. We are of opinion that the same holds good for many other soils.

1. A detailed mineralogical analysis was carried out on soils, specially selected by members of the Soil Survey.

2. The heavy liquid separation showed a higher percentage of ferromagnesian minerals in soils from the Northern than the Southern Drift area.

3. The minerals identified in the soils may be referred to fairly local origins, but no close relationship with subjacent rock has been established.

4. The mineral assemblage was characteristically fresh and angular.

5. Hypersthene, sphalerite and hornblende are characteristic of the Southern Drift, while barkevikite is more pronounced in the Northern Drift.

6. Comparisons are made with results obtained by investigators in other areas.

The solitary larval parasite Microplitis rufiventris Kok was recorded for the first time in Egypt by El-Minshawy (1963), parasitizing the lesser cotton leafworm, Spodoptera exigua Hbn. Since it could be an effective summer parasite of the cotton leaf-worm, Spodoptera littoralis Boisd., studies on aspects of its biology by Hegazi (1976), and Hegazi, Hammad & El-Minshawy (1977) have been extended to include the effect of temperature on its development.

One of the previous papers by Coutts(1) in this series has directed attention to the value of the data obtained from what is now generally referred to as the perforated box experiment devised by the present writer and Raczkowski(3). In a further paper Coutts(2) has described an improved and simplified technique, which gives results that are either identical with the old method (pore space) or else related to them by simple linear expressions (water retention; volume expansion or “swelling”). As Coutts’ procedure is now being followed at Rothamsted, and is likely to be taken up by other workers, it appears desirable to record some hitherto unpublished data bearing on the technique of the method, obtained at Rothamsted some years ago by Prof. Ohga (S.M. Educational Institute, Mukden, Manchuria) and dealing with the effect on the results of the degree of packing to which the soil is subjected. The original method, followed by Coutts in its essential details, is to add the soil in small quantities, tapping the box on the bench after each addition, until the box is nearly full, at which stage the filling is completed in the manner described in the original communication.

Dry matter and Kjeldahl nitrogen estimations were made on the roots and shoots of the barley varieties Riso 1508, Hiproly and Maris Mink from the seedling stage to maturity under three nitrogen treatments. After heading, the shoots were further separated into ears and stems plus leaves. Total plant nitrogen uptake was greatest in the high lysine variety Riso 1508 and was associated with a greater production of dry matter. However, the proportion of total plant nitrogen and dry matter in the grain was highest in the variety Maris Mink and this effect increased with increasing nitrogen supply. The comparative efficiency of dry-matter production and nitrogen translocation of these varieties is discussed in relation to breeding barley of improved protein yield and quality.

1. There exist in Trinidad large areas of deteriorated soils which have been under cultivation with a single short-term crop for generations. It has previously been established that these soils differ but little from those which still retain their fertility in their content of organic matter. By comparison with the latter, however, they are markedly acidic and so deficient in exchangeable calcium that a material improvement in their lime status appears to be a necessary preliminary to their amelioration. An examination has therefore been made of the means by which this may most successfully be accomplished.

2. Determinations of the contents of exchangeable calcium and the pH values of a series of liming experimental plots indicate that:

(a) Contrary to experience in England, finely ground limestone has proved a more efficient soil ameliorant than slaked lime.

(b) Single relatively large applications of lime fertilisers have given more immediate beneficial results than small annual dressings.

(c) The effect of liming appears to have been almost entirely restricted to the depth to which the soil is worked. This is doubtless due to the impermeability and lack of aeration which characterises heavy deteriorated soils.

3. A significant increase in crop yield was obtained only on those plots which were later shown to have been rendered neutral in reaction by liming, and on which the degree of saturation of the top 6 in. of soil has been raised to 80 per cent. This value is comparable with that of the fertile soils of Trinidad.

4. The experience of liming methods gained in Trinidad may be applicable to other areas of alluvial soils under cultivation in the tropics.

The effects of planting pattern and irrigation on the soil water content, stomatal conductance, leaf relative water content, leaf water potential and leaf water use efficiency of winter wheat were investigated in North China during the 2008/09 and 2009/10 growing seasons. A field experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design that consisted of three planting patterns: (i) a uniform row spacing of 25 cm, and alternating wide–narrow row spacing of 40 and 20 cm tested as (ii) flat and (iii) furrow–ridge seedbeds. In addition, irrigation treatments of 90, 135 and 180 mm were used. The planting pattern, irrigation treatments and interactions between them significantly affected soil water content, stomatal conductance, leaf relative water content, leaf water potential and leaf water use efficiency. The soil water content, stomatal conductance, leaf relative water content, leaf water potential, grains/spike, thousand grain weight, leaf water use efficiency and yield were highest in the furrow–ridge seedbed planting pattern and increased with increasing irrigation (except for the leaf water use efficiency). The leaf water use efficiency in the 135 mm irrigation treatment was significantly greater than in the other treatments. In addition, soil water content, stomatal conductance, leaf relative water content, leaf water potential, grains/spike and thousand grain weight were positively correlated with leaf water use efficiency and yield of winter wheat. The interaction between the furrow–ridge seedbed planting pattern and 135 mm irrigation increased soil water content, leaf water indices, grains/spike, thousand grain weight, leaf water use efficiency and yield. These results indicated that a beneficial response occurred for wheat yield. The furrow–ridge seedbed planting pattern combined with 135 mm of irrigation improved the soil and leaf water status and could increase wheat yield while using less water.

Experiments have been conducted on heavy gault clay and on a gravelly loam to determine the effects of rolling and harrowing autumn-sown wheat in spring. It is concluded that rolling has no effect on yield on such soil types. In general, harrowing also had little effect on yield, although on three occasions it significantly increased the weight of grain per ear in excess of the increment to be expected from its effect on ear number.

1. Lambs' tails at about a month old have been collected from two or three flocks of several different British breeds and crosses of sheep, and have been classified into ten grades according to the relative amounts of wool or hair extending from base to tip of the tail.

2. In general the relative amounts of wool and hair found on the tail of the lamb in the different breeds correspond with the quality of the wool of the adult fleeces of the breeds.

3. Considerable variability in tail grade was found between different individuals in the same flock, so that there is scope for selection in this respect to improve the quality of the wool especially on the britch.

4. It is suggested that as differences are more obvious on the tail at birth than in the adult fleece, selection for uniformity of fleece might be made at this time.

1. The available information as to the yields and composition of hay from the Palace Leas plots at Cockle Park has been summarised.

2. The use of basic slag alone, or in conjunction with other artificial fertilisers, is shown to have been the most effective treatment for the production of high quality as measured by analysis. Manurial dressings from which the phosphatic component has been omitted have had a depressing effect.

3. The results of feeding trials are not wholly in agreement with those of analysis, but confirm the effectiveness of phosphatic fertilisers.

Forage is the primary feed source for livestock in tropical regions and energy is one of the most important nutrients for ruminant nutrition. The effects of harvest management of Marandu palisade grass (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu Syn. Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu) on non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) concentrations were evaluated. A plot (Experiment 1) and a greenhouse study (Experiment 2) were conducted in 2013–14. In Experiment 1, treatments were the factorial arrangement of two harvest times and two vertical canopy layers (upper and intermediate), distributed in a completely randomized design with five replicates. In Experiment 2, treatments were the factorial arrangement of six harvest times and two morphological fractions (leaf blade and pseudostem). In both experiments, NSC concentration increased during the day. Upper and intermediate canopy layers had greater NSC concentration at 15.00 than 06.00 h during spring and summer. In addition, the magnitude of NSC increase was greater in the upper than intermediate canopy layer and in spring than summer. Marandu palisade grass shows greater digestibility in the afternoon than morning, representing an opportunity to optimize energy concentration through harvest management.

Dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a traditional crop of north-western Macedonia, Greece, where two landraces (plaki Prespas and Chrisoupoli) in particular are grown. The aim of this study was to test whether the grain carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) and ash content (ASH) are related to grain yield (GY), protein content (PC) and mean grain weight (MGW) in dry bean. As a part of a honeycomb selection programme, 21 genotypes (19 lines derived via intra-landrace honeycomb selection for single plant yield at low density plus the two original populations) were grown at two densities, 1·2 and 4·8 plants/m2 under non-limiting water conditions in a glasshouse and in the field. Genotypes differed significantly for Δ, ASH and PC under the low density. In the dense stand, genotypes differed significantly only for ASH and PC. The environment (glasshouse or field conditions) affected all the traits significantly. Neither Δ nor ASH showed strong or consistent relationships with GY and thus, they cannot serve as reliable, indirect selection criteria for GY. Strong, negative relationships between Δ and PC were found especially in the dense stand, confirming analogous results in C3 cereals. Inconsistent genotypic ranking for grain physiological traits under the different densities and environments was indicative of large genotype×environment interaction. Genotypes performed consistently for GY and MGW under both densities, showing the strong stability of these traits.

This paper assesses the influence of heat and drought stress on the economic performance of the European dairy sector. Climatic data from the Gridded Agro-Meteorological data in Europe were combined with dairy enterprise data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network, resulting in a data set of 4412 farms in 22 European Union (EU) countries over the period 2007–2013. Since the performance of dairy farms is influenced by the context in which they operate, farms were grouped into areas representing similar climatic conditions through the use of a latent class analysis. Technical efficiency (TE) and economic downside risk were used as performance indicators against which the effect of climatic stress factors was evaluated. TE was estimated using a ‘true-fixed’ effect stochastic frontier model. Economic downside risk was based on gross margin deviations. Regression analysis suggests a significant negative effect of drought and heat stress on both TE and the downside gross margin difference in most climatic classes, with few exceptions. Results imply that both drought and heat stress-related issues need to be considered when designing adaptation strategies to address threats to the economic performance of the EU dairy sector.