Root re-growth, following aluminium (Al) stress, has been used as an indicator of Al stress tolerance. Genetic variation in root re-growth characteristics among eight triticale genotypes was investigated by a diallel analysis. Highly significant variation due to both general combining ability (GCA) effects and specific combining ability (SCA) effects indicated that both additive effects and non-additive effects were important in explaining the genetic variation for Al tolerance. The high estimates of heritability and the predictability ratio for root re-growth revealed the preponderance of additive genetic variance in the inheritance of Al tolerance. Differences in patterns of GCA effects and SCA effects among the parents provided strong evidence that the genetic control of variation for Al tolerance as assessed by root re-growth was a complex polygenic system. Three Al-tolerant genotypes, Tahara, Abacus, and 19th ITSN 70–4, were found to be the best general combiners for larger root re-growth, and they could be used in hybridization programmes to improve Al stress tolerance by following a simple pedigree method of selective breeding.

1. A condition that appears to be identical with ‘green yolks’ as observed in natural cases has been reproduced by the oral administration in gelatin capsule of from 250 to 1000 mg. sodium copper chlorophyllin 100% daily for 4 days upwards to Light Sussex hens in second lay.

2. Following suitable extraction procedures the presence of a chlorophyll derivative has been determined spectrophotometrically in the affected yolks.

3. Quantities of sodium copper chlorophyllin of the order of 1 mg. have been recovered from affected yolks.

4. It is considered that the passage of chlorophyll to the yolk indicates that intestinal absorption has occurred.

Two chickpea pure lines, one being short and wide in stature and the other tall and narrow, were crossed. Parents, F1 and F2 generations were grown in the field to study the inheritance of plant dimensions, as well as their correlation with seed yield. Heritability, in broad sense, for plant height and width was 36 and 20% respectively. Estimated minimum number of genes for plant height was two and for plant width was three pairs of genes. Plant height showed correlation values of 0·43 and -0·67 with yield of seed and 1000 seed weight respectively. There were no significant correlations between plant width and the same two yield components.

Seeds from individual heads of wild safflower (Carihamus oxyacantha Bieb.) plants collected from five locations were used in this study. Locations were situated on a roughly east-west transect passing through Shiraz, Iran. The western locations were cooler with higher annual rainfall than the eastern sites. Wild safflower plants of different locations produced about an average of 150 heads per plant, but only 60% of them contained seeds. Frequency distributions constructed for number of seeds per head, germination percentage, and seedling length showed trends of change in the skewness of the distribution for the latter two characteristics parallel to the environmental selective pressure, i.e. the skewness was towards the left for eastern locations but it gradually moved to the right for western ones. Striking amounts of polymorphism were also observed for these characters. A very high proportion of total variance was concerned with differences between heads of the same plant for number of seeds, germination ercentage, and seedling length. Very little variability was found among plants of the same ecotype.

This study sought to compare the efficiency of different nitrogen (N) fertilizer forms applied to perennial ryegrass swards that were rotationally grazed by dairy cows or sheep under Irish conditions for two or three years. A 3 × 2 factorial random complete block design plot arrangement was used to compare calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), urea and urea + N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (urea + NBPT) at 150 and 250 kg N/ha per year. Zero nitrogen plots were also added to allow for N efficiency to be calculated. The study was conducted at four sites, giving three years of data collection at two sites and two years at the other two sites. All four sites observed similar responses to N fertilizer type and N fertilizer rate. Significant differences were observed between the 150 kg N/ha and 250 kg N/ha treatments for pre-grazing herbage yield (1346 and 1588 kg DM/ha, respectively; P < 0.001) and total herbage production (12 290 and 14 448 kg DM/ha, respectively; P < 0.001). There was no difference but a tendency for pre-grazing herbage yield to be higher for CAN and urea + NBPT than urea (1485, 1480 and 1436 kg DM/ha, for CAN, urea + NBPT and urea, respectively; P = 0.091). Total herbage production was significantly higher for CAN and urea + NBPT than urea (13 478, 13 542 and 13 087 kg DM/ha, respectively; P = 0.004). In conclusion, there was an overall benefit detected over the 10 site-years from using urea protected with NBPT v. using urea.

Applying coffee pulp biochar (BC) can be a complementary practice to the application of chemical fertilizers (CF) of crops; however, little evidence of its combined effects on coffee cultivation has been reported. A field trial was carried out during two evaluation years (2019 and 2020) to analyse the effect of the application of different BC doses (0, 4, 8 and 16 t/ha) in combination with four levels of fertilization (0, 33, 66 and 100% of the nutritional requirements) on physiological responses of 3-year-old coffee (Coffea arabica L. var. Castillo) trees. The results indicated that trees with 0 t/ha BC and 0% CF showed the lowest values in all the physiological variables studied (gs = 269.9 and 126.8 mmol/m2/s; Chl = 61.7 and 54.7 At-leaf readings; yield = 0.21 and 0.22 kg of dry parchment coffee (DPC)/tree for 2019 and 2020, respectively). Coffee trees treated with 8 t/ha BC and CF levels of 100% registered the highest results in gs (424.9 and 366.9 mmol/m2/s), Chl (71.1 and 69.8 At-leaf readings), yield (0.41 and 0.57 kg of DPC/tree) in 2019 and 2020, respectively. In conclusion, the application of BC from coffee pulp, especially at a dose of 8 t/ha, generates a positive effect on yield, gs, leaf nutrient concentration and Chl of coffee trees. The use of BC can be an alternative to complement the mineral nutrition of commercial coffee crops to help reduce the application of CF.

The objective of the present study was to calculate an optimal harvest period for both fresh and ensiled samples of forage maize and to calculate a set of harvest dates (called a harvest window), for which the variety ranking of the fresh forage corresponds with the variety ranking at the optimal harvest period calculated from the ensiled forage. Forage maize is fed almost exclusively as silage, but official variety trials with silage maize determine quality parameters in fresh (i.e. non-preserved) forage. Eight silage maize varieties were monitored at six harvest dates (from 25 to 40% dry matter content) in Merelbeke (Belgium) in 2013–15. At each harvest date, fresh samples were taken and half of the sampled material was ensiled in micro silos for 20 weeks. An optimal harvest period was calculated based on frequently measuring starch concentration and organic matter digestibility for both fresh and ensiled forage. Eventually, harvesting the silage maize at a dry matter content of 32–35% guaranteed an optimal harvest period. Based on the results of eight varieties, reporting variety ranks without going through the ensiling process continues to be a scientifically justified practice in Belgian official variety trials. Varieties with a superior fresh quality keep their leading position after ensiling, but variety differences become smaller after ensiling.

Lemongrass essential oil (LEO) has been evaluated as a silage additive to improve silage fermentation and reduce fermentative losses. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of LEO on whole-plant sorghum silage (WPSS) fermentation profile, fermentation losses, chemical composition, dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) in vitro degradation and aerobic stability. Five cultivars and fifty experimental silos were used to evaluate the following LEO levels: 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 ml kg−1 DM of WPSS. The material was compacted (650 kg m−2) and the silos were sealed, weighed and stored at room temperature for 167 days. The addition of LEO linearly decreased butyric acid content and the ratio between lactic and acetic acids. Intermediate levels of LEO increased NH3-N and reduced lactic and acetic acids content. LEO linearly decreased silage gas losses. However, LEO did not affect total silage losses and DM recovery. Intermediate levels of LEO addition decreased organic matter and crude protein in the WPSS. The addition of LEO did not affect other chemical composition parameters, DM and NDF in vitro degradation, and pH and temperature of the silage after aerobic exposure. Thus, LEO supply in WPSS reduces gas losses, butyric acid concentration, and the ratio between lactic and acetic acids. However, LEO does not improve the chemical composition, in vitro degradation, and aerobic stability of WPSS.

1. Digestibility determinations of broad bran, straight-run middlings and fine middlings are here reported.

2. On the basis of these determinations bran would appear to be a relatively dear feeding stuff for use with poultry, as compared with the finer grades of milling offals.

3. In the case of chick feeding mixtures, the finer milling offals suffer from the disadvantage of causing pasting in the mouth, this disadvantage militating against their too extensive inclusion in chick feeding mixtures. From the evidence obtained in these experiments it would appear that this disadvantage would come into play when more than 40 per cent of the total mixture consists of the finer offals.

4. From the point of view of economy and efficiency of utilization, a mixture of bran and middlings would appear to be of more value than either of these foods fed separately.

5. The inclusion of bran in chick feeding mixtures would appear to be justified on dietetic grounds, in spite of its relatively poor value measured by digestibility trials.

6. From a biological standpoint, bran and bran-weatings mixtures appear to be definitely superior to wheat itself when used exclusively as a source of food and supplemented with 1·5 per cent cod-liver oil and 2 per cent oyster shell.

The table of results given in the last section shows that for all experiments for which the Resistance Formula has been fitted the values of the constants are consistent, bearing in mind the standard errors to which these values are subject. The constants for nitrogen may be held to have been determined with some approach to precision, but those for potash are not so well determined. We find at Rothamsted, for example, that the crop responds to a moderate dressing of potash, but higher dressings do not usually improve the yields any further. This fact limits the precision of the formula. The reader is asked to refer at this point to the full descriptions as to the meaning to be attached to the constants of the formula given by Bh. Balmukand in the earlier paper(1). The constants an and ak, called the importance factors, are interpreted as determining the capacity of the crop to recover the particular nutrient out of the soil. The chemical analysis of the tubers grown under nitrogen and potash starvation conditions should, therefore, furnish us with values which should be of the same order of magnitude as obtained by the formula. The minimum nitrogen percentage figure is 0·204, which when reduced to our units is equivalent to 4·57 lb. of nitrogen per ton of potato. The values obtained from the Resistance Formula are as close as the standard errors allow us to expect, and are also of the same order of magnitude as the chemical composition of the tubers demands.

Plant cyclophilin (CYP) is related to chloroplast photoprotection, redox and other growth and developmental regulatory processes and responds to stress and improves tolerance to saline–alkali stress. Besides, it exerts peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase activity to participate in protein synthesis and folding. In this study, Northern blot was used to analyse the CsCYP1A gene (a CYP gene isolated from a Chlorella species) (accession number: KY207381) of tolerant Chlorella vulgaris in soda saline–alkali soil. The result showed that the expression of the CsCYP1A gene was induced by NaHCO3, NaCl and sorbitol. Additionally, Agrobacterium tumefaciens was used to infect the callus of rice (Oryza sativa var. Longjing11) for genetic transformation. Molecular detection confirmed that transgenic seedlings overexpressing CsCYP1A were obtained by hygromycin selection. Treatment with NaCl and NaHCO3 at the five-leaf stage was performed in the seedlings, and the results showed that there were significant differences between the CsCYP1A overexpressed rice lines and non-transgenic (NT) Longjing11 in terms of plant height, fresh weight, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde content and ascorbate peroxidase activity. The CsCYP1A overexpression rice lines had higher tolerance to NaCl and NaHCO3 than NT. The current findings indicate that CsCYP1A can enhance the tolerance of rice to saline–alkali stress possibly through its involvement in reactive oxygen scavenging pathways.

An account is given of the relationship between the decrease in pH on incubation of bull semen and fertility. It is shown that, in general, a high pH change tends to be associated with a good conception rate and vice versa. There are, however, exceptions to this general correlation, and it is believed that the pH change test, while giving an indirect measure of sperm metabolism, does not provide the clue to the problem of fertilization.

1. A balanced factorial experiment was carried out with 48 Merino ewes. There were two levels of each of the four factors: environmental temperature, thyroxine status, vitamin A intake and progesterone status. Each ewe was killed at 25 days' pregnancy. The ovaries were removed, weighed and examined histologically.

2. There were no significant treatment effects on ovarian weight, corpus luteum diameter, lutein cell frequency, lutein cell nuclear diameter, the number of Graafian follicles exceeding 0·9 or 1·9 mm. diameter, or mean follicle diameter. The results suggest that with more animals heat might prove to depress ovarian weight and vitamin A to increase ovarian weight, corpus luteum diameter and the number of large follicles.

3. There were no significant differences between the mean values for those ewes with live embryos and those with dead ones with respect to any of the above indices.

4. The results support the conclusion that variations in embryonic viability due to the experimental treatments were not mediated primarily through variations in ovarian hormone secretion.

Gas liquid chromatography was used to investigate the influence of several T, S and unclassified cytoplasms on the fatty acid composition of oil from A632 and CrS4HLA maize seeds. The fatty acid compositions of the A632 and CrS4HLA seeds differed markedly from each other with respect to oleic and linoleic acids but were stable within each seed line with respect to all sixteen of the cytoplasms tested.

Twenty experiments between 1970 and 1974 tested the effect of five amounts of triple superphosphate (0–110 kg P/ha) on sugar-beet yield in fields where soil contained little sodium bicarbonate-soluble phosphorus. The average yield without phosphorus fertilizer was 6·69 t/ha sugar and the increase from the optimum dressing 0·46 t/ha; the average soil concentration was 12 mg P/l. The fertilizer increased yield by 0·77 t/ha sugar on fields with 0–9 mg/l soil phosphorus, by 0·31 t/ha when soil phosphorus was 10–15 mg/l and had little effect on soils containing larger amounts.

The concentration of phosphorus in plants harvested in mid-summer contained on average 0·29% P in dried tops and 0·13% in roots when given no phosphorus fertilizer, representing a total of 19·3 kg/ha P uptake. Giving superphosphate increased the phosphorus in both dried tops and roots by up to 0·03% and there was 3·7 and 1·7 kg/ha more phosphorus in tops and roots respectively. On the most responsive fields (0–9 mg/l soil P), the fertilizer increased the phosphorus in tops and roots by 0·05% and total uptake by 7 kg P/ha. The increase in uptake (or recovery) of fertilizer varied from 15% when 14 kg P/ha was given to less than 5% when 110 kg P/ha was used.

A dressing of 27 kg P/ha was adequate for maximum yield on 19 of the 20 fields. When fields were grouped, 0–9, 10–15, 16–25 and > 26 mg/l NaHCO3-soluble soil phosphorus, and taking into account the value of the increased sugar yield, the cost of the fertilizer and its residual value, 60, 30, 20 and 10 kg P/ha respectively were the most profitable dressings. These experiments provide evidence, however, that the fertilizer would be used more efficiently if fields containing 0–9 mg soil phosphorus were subdivided into those with 0–4·5 and those with 4·6–9·0 mg/l and the groups given 80 and 40 kg P/ha respectively. These recommendations are substantially less than those used at present; they are adequate for sugar beet but other crops in the rotation would need similar close examination to ensure maximum yield and maintain adequate soil reserves of phosphorus.

A descriptive background is given to a group of beef farms in Jamaica on which a series of grass and animal production studies were carried out using technical and economical data derived from those farms over a 5-year period. During this time the farms co-operated in keeping standardized costaccounts and recording detailed outputs from farms and from improved and unimproved lands within those farms. Studies were made of the economics of pasture improvement and also of improvement in husbandry and breeding programmes. The possible value of the results to the small farms in the area is discussed.

Standard English and American texts teach that liming effects a liberation of soil potash through ionic interchange. As examples we have the statement of Hall(8): “The action of lime upon potash compounds in the soil is equally marked: as the soil water carries down the dissolved calcium bicarbonate it attacks the zeolitic double silicates in the clay and some of their soluble bases, potash among them, change place with the lime and come into solution.” Similar statements, “One of the most important effects of calcium compounds is the conversion of insoluble into soluble forms of potassium…” by Van Slyke(25) and “but it also has some power to increase the solubility of phosphorus and potassium…” by Hopkins(9), have been accepted as authoritative.

The effect of sulphate of ammonia in tending to make soil acid when it is applied as a manure has been well known ever since about 1891 when Wheeler (1) first observed the phenomenon at the Rhode Island Experiment Station. Similar results to those observed by Wheeler have been found all over the world where this manure has been applied for many years on soils containing very little calcium carbonate. One of these cases has occurred at the Woburn Experimental Station, where acidity has developed which has been fatal to continued cultivation of both wheat and barley. Seeing that the soil in the continuous barley experiments at this station has been treated with sulphate of ammonia for fifty years, with or without other mineral manures, the conditions have given an excellent opportunity to study the effect of soils made acid in this way on the growth and composition of the barley plant.