Silage and milk production: a comparison between additives for silage of high digestibility

Three grass silages made in early June from S23 perennial ryegrass were compared in a 16-week feeding experiment with twelve Ayrshire cows. The silages were made from uniform herbage which received either formic acid (‘Add-F’) at the rate of 201 t^?1, or a formalin-sulphuric acid mixture (‘Syiade’) at rates of 2.0 and 4.4 1 t^?1. The silages were offered ad libitum either alone or supplemented with a cube containing 38% CP in the DM at the rate of 1.4 kg per 10 kg milk. The daily intakes of silage DM were not significantly different on the three silage treatments, and averaged 10.7, 11.0 and 11.0 kg per cow on the formic acid and the 2.0 and 44 1 t^?1 formalin-acid treatments respectively. The mean daily yields of milk were 15.1, 13.3 and 13.7 kg per cow in the unsupplemented treatments, and 18.2, 18.1 and 18.0 kg per cow in the supplemented treatments on the formic acid and the 2.0 and 44 1 t^?1 formalin-acid treatments respectively. On the basis of total animal production expressed in terms of metabolizable energy requirements, it was concluded that the differences between the three silages were small.     

Silage and milk production: a comparison between four rates of groundnut cake supplementation of silage of high digestibility

Grass silage made in late May from S24 perennial ryegrass was offered to twelve Ayrshire cows in a 16-week feeding experiment. The silage had a DM content of 25.3%, a pH of 3.91, and contained 16.8% CP and 68.4% digestible organic matter in the DM. The silage was fed ad libitum and was the sole feed in the control treatment. In the other three treatments the silage was supplemented with a cube offered at rates of 0.8, 1.4 and 2.0 kg per 10 kg milk. The cube contained 82.2% groundnut, plus molasses and minerals, and had 37.9% CP in the DM. The daily intake of silage DM was 11.4 kg per cow on average over the four treatments which did not differ significantly. The mean daily milk yields were 14.8 kg per cow in the control treatment, and 16.5, 18.2 and 18.4 kg in the 0.8, 1.4 and 2.0 kg supplement treatments respectively. The SNF, CP and lactose contents of the milk were Wghest on the 1.4 kg supplement treatment. It is concluded that with a high digestibility silage, there is little evidence to support the feeding of more than 1.4 kg of high-protein cubes per 10 kg milk in the declining phase of lactation.     

Effect of reforestation on turnover of 15N-labelled nitrate and ammonium in relation to changes in soil microflora

The effects of incubation time, vegetation type (represented by a pine plantation, a protected and a periodically burnt eucalypt forest), lime and finely ground pine needles on the transformation of (¹⁵NH₄)₂SO₄ and K¹⁵NO₃ were studied in incubation experiments with a sandy lateritic podzolic soil from south-east Queensland. Microorganisms were counted so as to relate N transformations to particular groups of microorganisms.The heterotrophic miroflora utilized NH⁺₄ as a source of N in preference to NO^?₃, and autotrophic nitrifiers seemed to be weak competitors for NH⁺₄. Lime caused a slight loss of NO^?₃ and this was accompanied by an increase in the population of denitrifying bacteria.Lime promoted immobilization of NH⁺₄ by heterotrophic bacteria and subsequent mineralization by nitrifying bacteria, but when pine needles were also added the nitrifiers were suppressed and immobilization by heterotrophic bacteria dominated. Pine needles alone stimulated fungi to immobilize NH⁺₄.While reforestation with exotic pines caused a loss of total-N there was evidence of increased turnover, i.e. more rapid immobilization and nitrification, in pine plantation soils. Prescribed burning also promoted nitrification while reducing total-N.     

Perforation and lysis of fungal spores in natural soils

Conidia of Cochliobolus sativus and five other pigmented fungi lysed when incubated in natural soil. Lysis followed perforation of the spore wall by holes of varying dia. Three possible causes of perforation were investigated, namely autolysis, mechanical puncture by soil animals and enzymatic erosion by soil micro-organisms. Results indicated that soil micro-organisms were the likely causal agents although no micro-organism able to perforate conidia has yet been isolated. Colonization of conidia by the soil microflora was studied by electron microscopy. On the basis of these direct observations, possible perforation mechanisms are suggested. Reports of perforation of fungal, plant and bacterial cell walls are briefly summarized and the perforation phenomenon discussed in relation to the biodegradation of pigmented fungal propagules in soils.     

Studies on soil fumigation—III: Effects on enzyme activities,bacterial numbers and extractable ninhydrin reactive compounds

Fumigation of a field soil with chloropicrin and methyl bromide, either singly or in combination, differentially decreased soil enzyme activities and viable bacterial numbers and increased the amounts of ninhydrin reactive compounds extractable with acidified Tris buffer. Chloropicrin treatment was more effective than methyl bromide.The rates of hydrolysis of both an amide and a peptide derivative were decreased by chloropicrin treatment and remained relatively low despite changes in activities over 325 days. By contrast, caseinase activity initially was decreased by both chloropicrin and methyl bromide fumigation, but activities of the fumigated soils recovered to exceed those of untreated soils. Thereafter, caseinase activities of fumigated and untreated soils exhibited relatively large fluctuations, which were partly associated with seasonal drying of the soils in the field.Chloropicrin but not methyl bromide fumigation markedly depressed the viable bacterial populations, which subsequently increased to be above those of the untreated soils. There was no consistent relationship between the release of ninhydrin reactive compounds following fumigation and changes in bacterial numbers or changes in enzyme activity. Autolytic reactions are probably important in the early stages of amino-nitrogen release in fumigated soils. Net gains in caseinase activity may be partly due to the production de novo of extracellular proteases by microorganisms or to the release of intracellular proteases from killed cells.     

Sodium bicarbonate as an extractant for soil phosphate III. Effects of the buffering capacity of a soil for phosphate

An index of the buffering capacity for phosphate of a group of soils was obtained by measuring adsorption of phosphate from dilute solutions of calcium chloride. The effect of buffering capacity on the amount of phosphate initially displaced by solutions of sodium bicarbonate and on the amount of secondary adsorption from bicarbonate was then studied. These two effects were separated using a regression procedure in which the soil: solution ratio was the independent variable.As buffering capacity increased the amount of phosphorus initially displaced decreased and the amount of secondary adsorption increased. Both these changes resulted in a decrease in the amount of phosphate in the extract. The effect of buffering capacity was greater with the Olsen method (soil : solution ratio 1 : 20; 30 min) than with the Colwell method (soil : solution ratio 1 : 100; 16 h). The relation between phosphorus extracted and buffering capacity was of a similar shape to that between effectiveness of fertilizer and buffering capacity. However, the first relation depends on the conditions of extraction and the second on the kind of plant grown and on the conditions of growth. Hence the two relations do not necessarily coincide.The effect of buffering capacity on the proportion of added phosphate initially displaced from the soil became more marked as the period of incubation prior to extraction was increased. Bicarbonate soil tests would therefore indicate that, on soils of low buffering capacity, the decrease with time in availability of applied phosphate would be smaller than on soils of high buffering capacity. This effect differs from that observed with plants.     

Gas-liquid chromatographic analysis of ethephon and fenoprop residues in apples and their decline before and after harvest.

Ethephon (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid) and fenoprop (2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy) propionic acid) may be determined in the same apple sample. After extraction with methanol, 2 separate methylation procedures were required to quantitatively convert each compound. Ethephon was esterified with diazomethane and analyzed by a flame photometric detector in the P-mode. Fenoprop was esterified with boron trifluoride/methanol and analyzed by electron capture gas chromatography. Average recoveries were about 95% at 0.05 ppm for both compounds. The limit of detection was 0.05 ppm for ethephon and 0.01 ppm for fenoprop in a 1 g sample. The persistence of both compounds before and after harvest was studied. Ethephon and fenoprop were applied simultaneously to apple trees at the recommended concentrations of 300 and 20 ppm, respectively. Ethephon residues averaged 1.6, 0.75, and 0.4 ppm at 2 hr, 10 days, and after washing at 13 days, respectively. The corresponding fenoprop residues were 0.70, 0.025, and 0.024 ppm.     

Effects of repeated use of an area of heather Calluna vulgaris (L.) hull moor at Kindrogan,Scotland, for teaching purposes

A triangular plot of heather moor at Kindrogan was used for teaching botanical analysis for eight years, using the same set of random coordinates to locate sample points. Because of the method of point location, there was a gradient of trampling pressure across the plot, and there were also parts of the plot that were never analysed. At the end of the eight-year period heather cover and mean height were found to have declined with increasing levels of trampling. Mean numbers of species/m² did not however decline, and were actually minimal on untrampled ground. With moderate levels of trampling, quadrats that had been analysed for eight years contained more heather litter than those that had not been analysed before. No decline in species frequencies was found in previously analysed quadrats. The value of the plot for teaching purposes does not seem to have declined, and may have actually increased over the period of use.     

Effect of surface-casting earthworms on the transport of phosphorus and nitrogen in surface runoff from pasture

Treatment of a soil under permanent pasture with carbaryl (a broad spectrum carbamate biocide) resulted in a 2-fold increase in the volume of surface runoff. This was attributed to a 3-fold reduction in infiltration rate as a result of litter accumulation at the soil surface in the absence of surface-casting earthworm activity. The amounts of dissolved inorganic P (DIP), NH⁺₄-N, and NO^?₃-N in surface runoff from pasture treated with carbaryl (1.18, 9.53 and 4.25 kg ha^?1 yr^?1, respectively) were appreciably greater than those from untreated pasture (0.31, 1.63 and 0.52 kg ha^?1 yr^?1). This was attributed to the large amounts of DIP, NH⁺₄-N, and NO^?1₃-N released from decomposing litter. Following incubation at 4°C for 18 days the release of DIP, NH⁺₄-N and NO^?₃-N from litter was 160, 1600 and 950 μg g^?1, respectively. Losses of particulate P and sediment in surface runoff were lower in the absence (0.31 and 290 kg ha^?1 yr^?1, respectively) than in the presence (0.56 and 1120 kg ha^? yr^?1) of surface casts, pointing to the importance of surface casts as a source of sediment. Surface casts accounted for 45 and 75%, respectively, of the annual loading of particulate P and sediment in surface runoff. Nevertheless, the total loss in surface runoff of P and N forms was increased substantially when the production of earthworm casts was eliminated     

Colonization by Rhizobia of the seed and roots of legumes in relation to exudation of phenolics

A study of the colonization pattern of Rhizobium inoculated either in the soil or on to the seeds of green gram (Phaseolus aureus Roxb.), black gram (P. mungo L.) and sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) revealed a significant reduction of Rhizobium in the spermosphere of sun hemp which was attributed to excretion of phenolic compounds by the seed. As the plants aged, the quantity of phenolics exuded by the roots was reduced and there was a parallel increase in the Rhizobium population in the rhizospheres of the three plant species.