EFFECT OF PARAQUAT ON MICROBIAL ACTIVITIES IN SOILS*

Summary. When paraquat was added to four different soils, nitrification was not appreciably affected but ammonification of soil organic-matter nitrogen was slightly retarded. Carbon dioxide evolution as well as oxygen consumption was used as an index of metabolic activity of soil micro-organisms and paraquat had a stimulatory effect at higher concentrations. Oxidation of added sulphur was slightly depressed. Paraquat decreased both the total mould and bacterial populations in Chehalis silt loam. After 30 days incubation the percentages of Streptomyces and Penicillia were markedly increased by most treatments but were little affected in Chehalis silt clay and Woodburn soils. Except for the temporary suppression of nitrification, paraquat had no significant influence on general microbial activities of importance to soil fertility. Some bimodal effects or toxicity inversions were observed with intermediate concentrations. Effet du paraquat sur les activités microbiennes dans les sols     

THE YIELD AND QUAEITY OF RED BEET SEED AS AFFECTED BY DESICCANT SPRAYS AND HARVEST DATE

Summary. Diquat and sodium monochloroacetate (SMA) were used to desiccate seed crops of red beet in experiments from 1963 to 1965. The seed plants became brown and dry about 7 days after spraying and were then judged suitable for combine harvesting, although this was not done in these experiments. Yields of seed 7 days after spraying were as good as those from the control plants, but were lower than the control yields when harvested 14 days after spraying. In laboratory tests in moist sand at 20° C the percentage of the embryos which germinated was not markedly affected by diquat or SMA treatment. The emergence of seedlings in the field, however, was affected adversely by treatment of the seed crop with 11 and 22 oz/ac of diquat ion in 1963 and by SMA at 20 lb/ac in 1964 and 1965. Diquat at 6·6 oz/ac in 120 gal/ac water in 1964 and 1965 had no serious adverse effects on embryo emergence. Residues of diquat ion in seed varied from 2 to 4 ppm, but the impairment of embryo emergence by diquat was believed to be due to the premature arrest of growth of the seed on the desiccated plants.
It is concluded that when harvesting conditions are poor, desiccants could be valuable.
Influence des traitements dessicants et de la date de récolte sur le rendement et la qualité de la sentence de betterave rouge     

Cardioaccelerator release in Periplaneta americana (L)

Focal electrical stimulation of the brain of Periplaneta americana evokes the release of a factor with high cardioaccelerator activity. Results of extirpation of components of the retrocerebral complex from an isolated head preparation imply that the corpus cardiacum is the critical component of this system. The cardioaccelerator is a heat-stable proteinaceous compound.     

COMPETITION OF WILD OATS (AVENA FATUA L.) IN WHEAT AND FLAX*

Summary. This project was designed to study various aspects of wild oat competition in spring wheat and flax. From ten to forty wild oat plants/yd² were sufficient to cause significant yield reductions in wheat when grown on summerfallow land or when ammonium phosphate fertilizer was added to stubble land. However, when wheat was grown on stubble land without the benefit of a fertilizer treatment, seventy to one hundred wild oat plants/yd² were needed to suppress wheat yields significantly. This would suggest that on stubble land, soil fertility was a more important factor than moderate densities of wild oats in determining eventual crop yields. In these experiments, wild oats reduced the number of tillers per plant, but did not significantly affect the protein content of the harvested grain. Only ten wild oat plants/yd² were sufficient to reduce flax yields significantly on both summerfallow and stubble land. The only exception was in 1966, when flax grown on summerfallow land was not significantly affected until the density of wild oats reached forty plants/yd2. This confirms the general observation that flax is a poor competitor with wild oats. The results suggest that wild oat competition had already commenced prior to emergence of wheat, particularly with the higher densities of wild oats. In general, competitive effects increased with time and with wild oat density. In flax, severe competition had already taken place prior to the 2–3-Ieaf stage of the weed in 1964, but did not become severe until after the 2–3-leaf stage of wild oat growth in 1965 and 1966. Again, competitive effects increased with time and with wild oat density. Results of a final series of experiments, suggested that the optimum seeding date for flax in Manitoba is the latter part of May or the first week of June. Yield reductions due to wild oat competition became very severe as seeding dates were delayed. La compétition de la folle avoine (A vena fatua L.) avec le blé et le lin