Italian rye-grass given ammonium sulphate or sodium nitrate at 56 or 112 lb. N/acre was analysed for total nitrogen, soluble nitrogen (non-protein-nitrogen) and soluble carbohydrates.

Ten days after applying fertilizer the differences in total-N between the grass receiving 56 and grass receiving 112 lb. N/acre were very small. Total-N in grass decreased with growth, but the effect of the rate of nitrogen on total-N increased. At first the grass given sodium nitrate contained more soluble nitrogen than grass given ammonium sulphate, the difference being greater at 56 lb. N/acre; soluble nitrogen decreased with increasing growth. Ten days after applying fertilizer, the nitrate-N content of grass was very high (ranging from 0·1 to 0·9% in the D.M.) and it gradually decreased. At both levels of nitrogen application, grass given sodium nitrate contained much more nitrate-N than grass given ammonium sulphate. Forty days after applying nitrogen the nitrate-N contents of grass which received 56 and 112 1b. N/acre as ammonium sulphate were 0·039 and 0·222% of the dry matter, respectively; the grass supplied with sodium nitrate gave values of 0·082 and 0·438%.

Total soluble carbohydrates in the grass were small early in growth and gradually increased. Nitrogen dressings had little effect on the content of soluble sugars (glucose + fructose + sucrose) but greatly decreased the fructosan. The pattern of changes in the total soluble carbohydrate content followed that in fructosan content. Early in growth, the total soluble carbohydrate/crude protein ratio was very small in grass from all treatments except the ‘control’. This ratio increased with growth and at the last sampling was 2·13 in grass receiving no nitrogen, and in grass supplied with 56 and 112 lb. N/acre as ammonium sulphate it was 1·44 and 0·72 respectively; the corresponding figures for grass receiving sodium nitrate were 1·13 and 0·66. The total soluble carbohydrate carbon/soluble nitrogen ratio in grass with no nitrogen was 18 at the first sampling and it increased gradually, reaching 70 at the last sampling. This ratio was considerably less with all nitrogen treatments than with ‘control’. The values obtained with 112 lb. N/acre were less than those obtained with 561b./acre, irrespective of the form of nitrogen used.

The relationship between the soluble carbohydrate carbon content and the soluble nitrogen in grass is illustrated graphically and discussed.

A flock of 320 Border-Leicester × Merino ewes was used to study the effects of pre-flushing and flushing treatments on subsequent lambing performances during the years 1958, 1959 and 1960. The flock was kept on non-irrigated perennial pastures in southern Victoria.

In 1958 groups of ewes that lost a mean of 17, 5 and 0 lb. during the 4 weeks immediately prior to flushing gave average lambing percentages of 94, 98 and 101, respectively.

In 1959 and 1960 flushing for a period of 3 weeks immediately prior to joining produced increased lambing percentages of 13 and 9, respectively. These increases were due almost entirely to increased twinning rates. The response to flushing was not related to the live-weight changes that occurred during flushing. However, the live-weights of the ewes at joining, and, to a lesser extent, before flushing, were related to subsequent lambing performances. The heavier ewes gave more twins than did the lightweight ewes.

An experiment using 528 day-old chicks was conducted to determine the nutritional effects of terephthalic acid, when added at the rate of 0·4% to a ration containing 100 g. oxytetracycline per ton, in the rearing of chicks to 30 days of age in East Africa.

No significant gains were produced in the growth rates or feed-conversion rates, of male and female chicks of four cross-breeds, over the periods 0–10, 0–20 and 0–30 days of age.

Three grass/legume pastures were evaluated under Northern Rhodesian conditions.

A plot trial measured the herbage yields of Stylosanthes gracilis, velvet beans (Stizolobium deeringianum) and giant Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) grown as pure stands, and in a mixed association with Rhodes grass. The herbage was harvested for 3 years, and the plots were then planted with a maize crop to test any residual effects.

After the establishment year, the D.M. yields, and especially the C.P. yields of the legume and grass/legume treatments, were markedly superior to grass alone. The increased yield of the grass/legume mixtures was due to the net gain contributed by legume herbage. There was no evidence of an underground transference of N from the legume to the associated grass.

Although there was no measurable treatment effect on soil N and C, the maize following the legume and grass/legume treatments had a higher leaf N level, and approximately double the yield, compared with the maize following the grass-alone treatments.

There were no significant differences in cattle weight gains when Rhodes grass alone, Rhodes grass/Stylosanthes, Rhodes grass/velvet beans, and Rhodes grass/pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan) were utilized as hay and foggage in the dry season.

Digestibility trials showed mature Rhodes grass hay to be a submaintenance feed, deficient in dietary protein. The addition of Stylosanthes raised the herbage digestible C.P. fourfold. The Rhodes grass/Stylosanthes hay was a maintenance feed.

The N yield of the grass/legume mixtures, although low by temperate standards, was 2½ times the N yield of grass alone. The potential value of a tropical grass/legume pasture will depend on the efficiency of the legume to fix N.

A regression for feed-to-faeces ratio on faecal nitrogen percentage was formulated from trials in which perennial irrigated pasture cut to ground level was fed to cattle and sheep at various times over several years.

Similar data derived from ‘top’ (mainly leaf) and ‘bottom’ (mainly stem) cuts of a spring and of an autumn stand of pasture from the same vicinity did not conform with the ‘whole’ cut relationship and the three regressions which were established were heterogeneous.

It is suggested that due to selectivity, the application to grazing animals of a regression derived from pasture cut to ground level may result in considerable error.

1. The behaviour of six grade and six zebu steers in a temperate environment was compared with their behaviour when moved to a tropical climate.

2. Reaction of both groups to the heat was demonstrated by seeking shade, increased water consumption and an alteration of grazing times. The similarity in their behaviour was, however, the most striking feature. The grades lay down slightly longer than the zebus, but showed no other differences and were not apparently distressed by heat.

3. The greatest difference found was in ruminating times and it is suggested that differences in food conversion may be more important than differences in heat tolerance, provided the animals are given the opportunity to adapt themselves fully to their environment.

The skeletons of most of a group of lame buffalo from an area around Pasir Puteh and of some of a group of similarly lame animals from an area S.W. of Pasir Mas were poorer than those of a control group from around Kota Bharu. Analyses of blood and liver indicated that the defective mineralization of the skeleton was caused by a shortage of phosphorus rather than of calcium or copper.

Evidence for a relationship between lameness and the quality of the skeleton was not strong and further study including a feeding experiment is needed to establish the validity of this.

1. A number of penned feeding and grazing experiments are described in which sheep and cattle, fed diets of low-quality roughage, were given supplements of urea and molasses, or urea and starch.

2. Starch was unsatisfactory as a source of supplementary carbohydrate, and it was concluded that this was mainly due to its low palatability. Molasses added without urea to a diet of straw for penned sheep increased intake and reduced the rate of live-weight loss in one experiment, but had no effect in another.

3. In general, supplementing low-quality rough-age with urea and molasses in both penned feeding and grazing experiments increased food intake and reduced the rate of live-weight loss. A supplement of urea alone increased food intake, but did not affect live-weight loss. The addition of ethanol or phosphoric acid to urea-molasses supplements had no additional beneficial effect. Supplementation with urea and molasses increased wool growth, but this increase was not always significant.

4. The general effect of urea on rumen contents was to increase pH, V.F.A. and ammonia N levels; the effect of molasses was to decrease pH and ammonia N levels, and increase V.F.A. levels.

5. Spraying of dry, standing herbage with urea and molasses increased the crude protein (N × 6·25) content, but this effect disappeared in 3–4 days. Sprayed herbage was markedly preferred by grazing animals, and generally one third of the sprayed herbage was removed within 24 hr. of spraying.

6. The advantages and disadvantages of the pasture-spraying technique, and the possibilities of other methods of feeding supplements containing urea to grazing animals, are discussed.

7. In no experiment where unsupplemented animals were losing weight did urea and molasses supplementation cause substantial increases in weight. It is concluded that the main value of supplementing low-quality roughage with urea and molasses would be for the survival, and possibly the maintenance, of animals.

1. Liver samples were taken from 95 mature zebu cattle and buffalo in Malaya for determinations of copper. A larger proportion were from Perak than from other States but whether the Perak samples were considered alone or with the remainder about 80% had liver copper values below 20 p.p.m.

2. Among Perak animals (all cattle) almost all those with low copper values were in moderate to poor condition but among the remainder about 50% of these with low copper values were in good condition.

3. In 12 Perak animals the numbers of parasites of the gastro-intestinal tract and of pancreatic and liver flukes were determined as well as the concentrations of liver copper. There were very few parasites other than pancreatic and liver flukes. Liver flukes may have caused low copper values in some animals but in general there was little evidence for a relationship between parasites and a low copper status. Anaemia did not accompany low liver copper values in these animals.

1. Two experiments are described in which the effects of grazing a lucerne/cocksfoot ley at various intervals throughout the season were examined, together with the effects of a June hay cut and an autumn rest period. The results are discussed.

2. In the year of treatment: (a) The wet year 1954 favoured the grass fraction and the dry year 1955 favoured the lucerne fraction but, in general, the proportion of lucerne in the sward decreased as frequency of defoliation increased. (b) The largest yields of lucerne dry matter were obtained from treatments that included a June hay cut and the largest yields of grass dry matter came from those treatments that included an autumn rest period, (c) Within the chosen programmes of defoliation, there was a tendency for greater yield of dry matter from those treatments defoliated four times when compared with one cut three times, but yields from treatments defoliated more frequently tended to be smaller, with a marked reduction from seven grazings.

3. In subsequent years: (a) Treatments in the wet year had a greater effect on subsequent lucerne vigour than treatments in the dry year, (b) Yields of lucerne dry matter from three hay cuts in the first residual year were reduced by all the grazing treatments, the greatest difference occurring at the first cut. Lucerne yield decreased with increasing frequency of treatment defoliation. There was a tendency for the autumn rest period to increase lucerne yield and for the June hay cut to reduce it. (c) Total grass dry matter yield was greatly increased by grazing treatments, the majority of this difference occurring at the first cut, and it also increased with increasing frequency of treatment defoliation. (d) The proportion of cocksfoot in the grass fraction of the sward was reduced by treatments that included defoliation during the period September–October, and it was further reduced by treatments that included a June hay cut. (e) In the second year following treatment the effect of grazing on the grass fraction had disappeared but reductions in lucerne vigour from too frequent defoliation were still evident, though reduced.

4. Grazing a lucerne/cocksfoot ley reduced the subsequent vigour of the lucerne more than would have been expected from cutting it a similar number of times. This reduction is attributed to increased competition from the grass arising from its response to nutrients in the excreta of the grazing animals. In a wet year four grazings caused a permanent reduction in lucerne vigour and more frequent grazing almost eliminated the lucerne, but in a dry year four grazings caused only a temporary reduction in lucerne vigour and had no lasting effect.

5. The interval between defoliation and the subsequent onset of flowering in the lucerne was very much less in the hot dry year than in the cooler wet year. There appeared to be a relationship between the onset of flowering and the ability of the lucerne to recover from defoliation.