Studies were conducted to evaluate amounts of fatty acids in the oil as possible indicators of crop maturity in the groundnut, cultivar NC2, grown in St Vincent, Eastern Caribbean. Percentage fatty acids in oil of the composite samples of seeds collected between 99 and 141 days after planting for a period of 3 years (1985–87) was determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Results indicated variation in the amounts of individual fatty acids with crop maturity. There were definite trends, however, with respect to oleic and linoleic acids. As seeds matured, percentage oleic acid increased and percentage linoleic acid decreased, and consequently, the oleic:linoleic acid ratio in oil of the composite seeds increased significantly. The percentage oleic acid peaked significantly at a value of 55.8 ± 0.59 at optimum harvest dates. The results clearly suggested therefore that percentage oleic acid in oil could be used as a reliable reaping index for groundnut.

Blast, caused by Pyricularia oryzae Cav., one of the major foliar diseases of rice, appears sometimes in a devastating form in the seedling stage. The angles subtended by leaves may affect the establishment of the pathogen. Ono (1965) observed that leaf angles of rice plants, among many other factors, influenced deposition of spores. Gangopadhyay & Chattopadhyay (1974) found that brown spot disease (Helminthosporium oryzae) incidence in rice increased with increase in leaf angles. The present study is intended to find out the role of leaf angles in rice on the incidence of blast disease at the seedling stage.

Fibres of anomalous length or diameter are undesirable in the Merino, a breed noted for uniformity of fleece characters. Previous studies which have aimed at estimating adult fleece quality have been based on visual appraisal of the birthcoat. This study was undertaken to test the prediction of uniformity of fibre length at 10½ months and fibre diameter at 15 months from the objective measurement of birthcoat fleece and skin follicle characters.

The results indicated that fibre length uniformity at 10½ months cannot be predicted from measurement of fleece or skin characters at birth. It was found that fibre diameter uniformity at 15 months can be predicted from objective measurement of mean fibre diameter of the birthcoat but not by visual appraisal.

A method is described for the determination of the fluorine content of basic slag.

The fluorine content and the citric solubility of a number of basic slags are compared.

In order to compare the growth potential of buds of two contrasting cultivars of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) (cv. AberHerald and Grasslands Huia) during the winter–early spring period, we adapted a method to assess the potential for activity of shoot buds and root primordia. The growth potential was evaluated following the excision of individual stolon nodes sampled in the field, from experimental plots located in the eastern part of France. Two populations of nodes were sampled: (i) the youngest node emerged from the apical bud (node 1), (ii) the third node behind the apex (node 3). The excised nodes were placed in controlled conditions and the outgrowth of axillary buds and roots was recorded every day for a week. The study demonstrated a seasonal influence on the potential for activity of axillary buds and root primordia, particularly for buds at node 3. The proportion of potentially active shoot and root buds was less than 50% at the end of March, and then increased from end of March to reach 80% in April. The data indicated a genetic variation in potential for outgrowth during winter. AberHerald had a higher percentage of potentially active buds than Huia during winter, irrespective of the node position. Moreover AberHerald buds had faster rates of outgrowth than Huia buds. Differences between cultivars in winter survival and potential for growth in spring were linked to identified cultivars' differences in developmental characteristics of buds.

In our previous papers we have shown that the black pigment found in the mammary tissue of sows of various coloured breeds is related to the colour rather than to the sexual condition of the pig. We have also pointed out that this conclusion is contrary to the statements of bacon curers who rely on the presence of this pigment for an indication as to whether or not a sow is ‘on heat.’ Their method of testing the condition of the sow has been described by us in a former paper. It follows from the assumption made by the bacon curers that pigment should not be present in the ‘belly pieces’ of spayed sows (or to be strictly accurate, of sows spayed in early life, before the mammary ducts and glands have undergone development).

Soya beans grown on land planted the previous year with inoculated soya beans produced more nodules, lodging, seed yield, 1000 seed weight, and protein content and less seed oil concentration as compared to those grown on land that was planted with non-inoculated soya beans. Nitrogen fertilization (120kg N/ha) reduced the total number of nodules per plant. Increasing inoculation rates of the seed increased the dry weight of nodules per plant. Location, nitrogen fertilization, and inoculation increased or decreased the levels of certain amino acids but had no significant effect on the sulphur amino acids, cystine and methionine.

Diets with added fat at 25, 50 and 100 g/kg were formulated with four blends of beef tallow: soya oil, namely 100:0, 75:25, 50:50 and 0:100. An additional diet had no added fat (control diet) to give an experimental design of (3 × 4) + 1. A total of 96 individually penned pigs was used (mean initial and final live weights of 22·4 and 87·5 kg, respectively). The experiment was carried out during the period July 1985 to February 1986 at the Agricultural Research Institute, Hillsborough. Equal numbers of boar and gilt blocks were used and the pigs were fed individually to a scale to give equal amounts of digestible energy: live weight0·75 Neither concentration of fat nor blend of fat had any significant effect on the rates of live weight or carcass weight gain. Increasing concentration of fat significantly improved the carcass feed conversion ratio (P < 0·001), but the blend of fat had no significant effect. Neither killing-out yield nor the intake of digestible energy per unit of carcass gain was significantly affected by the concentration of added dietary fat nor the blend of fat. Fat treatments did not significantly affect the lean plus bone content of the ham joint, drip loss from or the depth of colour of the longissimus dorsi or the weight of flare fat. No evidence was found of synergistic effects between the fat and nonfat components of the diet nor between fats within the blends of fat on growth, digestible energy consumed per unit of carcass gain and carcass attributes. Boars had a more efficient conversion of feed to carcass gain than gilts (P < 0·01).

A study of cross-bred ewes sired by Cambridge, Border Leicester and Lleyn rams out of Welsh Mountain ewes, involving a total of 408 observations, was carried out partly under lowland and partly under upland conditions in North Wales. The results snowed that the Cambridge and Lleyn were more precocious than the Border Leicester (relative percentage of ewes put to the tup lambing at 1 year old was 51·9, 66·3 and 66·8 respectively for Border Leicester, Cambridge and Lleyn cross-breds). In terms of lambs born and lambs reared per ewe lambing the ranking of the breeds was (in descending order) Cambridge, Border Leicester and Lleyn respectively. The Cambridge was lower in terms of mean weight of lambs at birth and at 56 days and relative mean age at slaughter tended to be lower in the Border Leicester crosses. Taking into consideration the lower body weight, particularly of the Lleyn cross-breds, ranking on relative feed conversion efficiency was Cambridge, Border Leicester and Lleyn when ewe fertility and days to slaughter were excluded.

Experiments carried out at Ghizeh during 1905 and 1906 shew that the cotton plant follows Mendel's laws of gametic segregation in certain of its characters.

(1) Current literature has been cited to support the view that the country of origin of Red Clover has a very important bearing on the suitability of the seed for crop production in any particular locality; it is therefore a matter that should be considered of just as much and perhaps more importance, than germination and purity. There seems to be little doubt but that, generally speaking, locally grown seed or at least seed harvested in countries no warmer or but little warmer than the district where the seed is to be sown, is likely to produce plants which will “stand” the longest and in many instances produce the heaviest hay crops in the first year after sowing.

Botanical analyses of trials grazed at 3·6, 2·4, 1·2, 0·8 and 0·6 ha/300 kg animal for 4 years are detailed. The two heaviest grazing pressures encouraged Brachiaria decumbens, a high quality grass, at the expense of Themeda triandra and Hyparrhenia filipendula. Rotational grazing allowed the weed grass Cymbopogon afronardus to regenerate after clearing more rapidly than did continuous grazing.

Bullocks with oesophageal fistulas sampled pastures grazed at 2·4, 1·2 and 0·6 ha/animal at 4-weekly intervals for 12 months. The 0·6 ha/animal treatment was repeated on pasture cleared of the weed grass Cymbopogon afronardus. Cattle growth rates, both long term and at the time of sampling, were recorded.

Cattle growth rates were greatest at 2·4 ha/animal but fistula sampling demonstrated that the diet was significantly lower in CP and higher in CF than the more heavily stocked treatments, which is contrary to the normal pattern. It is concluded that the differences in cattle growth rates at the different stocking rates were due to differences in dry-matter intake rather than the recorded differences in diet quality. The higher CP in the diet at the heavier stocking rates is ascribed to the increase of B. decumbens in the diet.

An unexplained ceiling to cattle growth rates of ca. 0·5 kg/day, and a calculated drymatter intake of < 2·1% body weight/day, in the presence of unlimited forage of 10% CP and 55% apparent digestibility, makes it more economic to stock for maximum production per ha than per animal.

Growth rates were compared of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan), moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia), mung bean (Vigna radiata) and sorghum seedlings aged 2–5 weeks. The seedling growth rates were analysed in relation to leaf area development, net photosynthetic rate, nitrogen accumulation, nitrate reductase activity, and soluble protein content. Growth rates were highest in sorghum and lowest in C. cajan. Leaf area development was very fast in sorghum and very slow in C. cajan. Net photosynthetic rate of sorghum leaves was double that observed for the legume leaves. No significant difference was observed in nitrate reductase activity, nitrogen percentage or soluble protein content between sorghum and the legumes. In sorghum, early investment of assimilates into leaf development ensured a higher assimilation of carbon and nitrogen per plant. In the legumes, slow development of leaf area coupled with low photosynthetic rates probably resulted in slow growth of the seedlings. In the legume seedlings, vigour was related to the rates of leaf area expansion. Leaf area expansion rates were not related to the nitrogen status of the leaf in the species examined.

Blood samples were taken at 9, 10 and 11 weeks of age from 230 male Hereford × Friesian calves, the progeny of 12 Hereford bulls. Concentrations of blood glucose, serum albumin, inorganic phosphate and sodium were measured and correlated with body weights and growth rates until slaughter at 19½ months of age.

Correlations between growth rates and glucose concentrations (0·44) and between growth rates and albumin concentrations (0·38) were observed until 4 months of age. Similar correlations between body weights and blood glucose or albumin concentrations persisted until 6 months of age. By 10 months, however, the correlations had begun to decline, and by slaughter they had become insignificant.

Correlations between growth rates and inorganic phosphate or sodium concentrations were smaller, and also decreased with age.

The effect of hypoglycaemia on growth rate was compared with the effect of enzootic pneumonia. Although the 10% of calves with the lowest glucose concentrations were growing 24% more slowly than the other calves at the time of sampling, this growth depression was not related to pneumonia, and they subsequently made up for most of the early loss of growth.

Three blood samples were also taken from 22 Hereford bulls. No significant correlations were observed between the blood composition of the bulls and the body weights or weight gains of their progeny.

In earlier papers, it has been demonstrated that many features of the production system in the lowland tropics affect the growth and development of pigeon pea differentially depending on the prevailing conditions (Tayo 1982 a, b, c, 1983 a, b). It has also been noted that when plant size is reduced as a consequence of reduced soil moisture, slight variations in production input tend to have a more significant effect on crop performance (Tayo, 1983b).

It was aimed to simultaneously study standardized ileal digestible (SID) tryptophan (Trp) and lysine (Lys) for gilts. A digestibility assay was previously conducted to determine the SID amino acid in the basal diet (low levels of SID Trp and Lys). Sixty-four gilts (15.04 ± 1.44 kg) were allotted to 16 diets in a 4 × 4 factorial arrangement (1.55, 1.85, 2.15 and 2.45 g/kg SID Trp and 9.72, 11.12, 12.52 and 13.92 g/kg SID Lys) with four replicates per treatment. Performance, longissimus muscle (LM), backfat thickness (BF) and blood variables were evaluated. An interaction was observed for G:F, and by response surface model, the optimum Trp level was achieved at 2.15 g/kg (0.159 g/MJ of ME). A quadratic effect of Trp was observed on body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG); the daily feed intake increased linearly as Trp increased. The optimum Trp levels of 2.25 and 2.24 g/kg were estimated for BW and ADG, respectively. The BF increased with increasing levels of Trp. There was a quadratic and linear effect of Trp and Lys, respectively, on the LM, in which the optimum Trp level was determined as 2.05 g/kg in the diet. Plasma urea nitrogen decreased as Trp and Lys levels increased. Using estimates provided by response surface, maximized G:F ratio was obtained at 2.15 g SID Trp/kg of diet and at least 13.92 g SID Lys/kg of diet is necessary to optimize the G:F for 15–30 kg gilts, providing a Trp:Lys ratio of 15.4:100.

Urea can be an inefficient nitrogen source, compared with ammonium nitrate, on calcareous soils (Ernst & Massey, 1960) and under dry conditions (Murphy, 1978) as a result of ammonia volatilization. However, the interaction between factors which can affect the performance of urea is not clearly understood. The risk of ammonia volatilization would appear to be higher on light soils with a low cation exchange capacity than on heavier soils (Fenn & Hossner, 1985). Field trials in the Netherlands indicated that a minimum of 5 mm of rain must fall within 2 days of application to give good dry-matter yields with urea (Van Burg, Dilz & Prins, 1982). In addition ammonia volatilization has been affected by initial soil moisture content in some studies (Fenn & Escarzaga, 1977) but not in others (Gasser, 1964).

The present study found that a protein lysis buffer, used for the extraction of proteins from cells, showed efficacy in reducing the disease severity of cucumber anthracnose, which is caused by the anthracnose fungus. The lysis buffer and its individual components were examined for their function in reducing disease development of cucumber anthracnose on cucumber plants. Nonidet P-40, a nonionic detergent commonly used to isolate cell membrane complexes, was the most effective component of the lysis buffer for disease control. The treatment of cucumber plants with Nonidet P-40 at a concentration of 50 μl/l suppressed development of cucumber anthracnose, but it did not inhibit spore germination of the fungus. Cucumber plants were inoculated with the pathogen 30 min after treatment with Nonidet P-40, and a reduction in disease severity was observed. Expression of genes related to disease resistance (acidic class III chitinase, phenylalanine ammonialyase 1, peroxidase and pathogenesis-related protein 1-1a) were also examined after plants were treated with Nonidet P-40 and inoculated with the pathogen. The results indicate that Nonidet P-40 functions as a trigger for a stereotypic defence response in cucumber plants, including an increase in the expression levels of genes related to disease resistance.

Seed priming is a pre-sown treatment and it is often used to improve the performance of plants in any environment, especially germination. In the current study, various concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) were used to evaluate its role for the induction of physiological variations within seven different wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes. Two experiments were conducted during 2013 and 2014 and the data were statistically analysed for significance. All these genotypes after treatment with sodium nitroprusside (SNP) as NO donor at 10−4 and 10−5 M concentrations were sown following randomized complete block design with triplicates in the fields of District Muzaffarabad, Pakistan. The concentration of NO at 10−4 M showed promising results and most of the studied characters were found improved compared to control. Wheat varieties primed with 10−4 M SNP showed highest germination speed and germination percentage. NARC-2011 and Uqab-2002 showed much improvement in physiological attributes at both concentrations of NO priming. However, Uqab-2002 and Punjab-2011 showed a significant increase in chlorophyll contents and leaf moisture content with 10−4 and 10−5 M SNP priming compared to control. Highest relative water content was observed within unprimed Lasani, whereas the relative injury was found to be decreased at 10−4 M SNP primed Faisalabad-2008. Wheat varieties Punjab-2011 and Faisalabad-2008 showed the highest increase in grain yield and biological yield by 10−4 M SNP. Hence, it is concluded that sowing of crops after priming at 10−4 M NO concentration can improve the germination, biochemistry and physiology that ultimately lead to an increase in crop yield.

Low temperature is one of the critical factors for determining agricultural production. Therefore, the main objective was to develop the durum wheat lines, which are tolerant to cold particularly in Central Anatolia. The recombinant inbred lines (RILs) (141) derived from F6 progeny of durum wheat, developed from Kunduru-1149 (female parent) and Cham-1 (male parent) cross, were characterized in terms of their cold tolerance both in the field and under controlled (in growth chamber) conditions. A 0–9 scale was used for the visual evaluation of cold damage under field conditions, and a quantitative measure of photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm = variable fluorescence/maximum fluorescence) method was used for the evaluation of cold damage under controlled conditions. Seventeen RILs displayed the scores within the range of 1–2.5 in 0–9 scale evaluation, while 41 RILs showed the scores equal to or higher than 0.70 approaching to optimal (~0.83) in Fv/Fm evaluation. Some quality parameters tested and some gliadin fragments and random amplified polymorphic DNA loci showed meaningful correlations with the data of 0–9 scale and Fv/Fm ratios from lower to the medium level. The RILs considered as cold resistant; might have the potential to be used as parental lines to develop cold-resistant durum wheat varieties in the future durum wheat-breeding programmes.