The Response of Malling Jewel And Malling Exploit Raspberries to Different Soil Moisture Conditions and Straw Mulching

The raspberry varieties Mailing Jewel and Mailing Exploit were used to study growth and crop responses to mulching and irrigation from 1957 to 1962 inclusive.

Treatment A consisted of a wheat straw mulch applied deeply enough to form a complete surface cover; treatments B and C of water applications on unmulched cultivated soil at soil moisture tensions of 20 cm. and 50 cm. of mercury respectively, measured at 1 ft. depth. Treatment B was changed after i960 to a single 2-in. water application given when the raspberry fruits began to ripen. Plots under treatment D were cultivated, unwatered and unmulched.

Irrigation greatly increased the rate of cane growth but this was found to be a disadvantage in raspberries grown as continuous rows because the new cane tended to chafe and obscure ripe berries. Restricting irrigation to the pre-picking period reduced height growth but did not appear to reduce cane numbers or crop yield. Crop yield was increased by irrigation to about 30% more than was produced on the unwatered and unmulched plots, mainly as a result of increased berry size, but the full effect of irrigation on yield was not realized because cane numbers and height were restricted. Under the conditions of this experiment, in which the canes were thinned to a given density and tipped to a given height, a single 2-in. application of water at the commencement of ripening, i.e. when the berries showed the first tinge of pink, was a very economic irrigation treatment. Irrigation slightly delayed ripening, probably because of the harder tipping required by the irrigated canes.

The mulch conserved the equivalent of 2 in. of moisture and was intermediate in effect between the irrigation treatments B and C and treatment D in height growth, crop yield and berry size, but had a depressing effect on the production of new canes by the weaker-growing variety Mailing Jewel.     

Absence of three known benzimidazole resistance mutations in Trichostrongylus tenuis, a nematode parasite of avian hosts

Benzimidazole (BZ) resistance is widespread in nematode parasites of livestock, but very little is known about the levels of BZ resistance in parasites with avian hosts. We investigated BZ resistance in Trichostrongylus tenuis, a nematode parasite of red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scotica. BZ anthelmintics had been in use in this system for up to 15 years, yet existing phenotypic evidence for resistance was inconclusive. We screened 1530 individuals from 14 populations at the principal β-tubulin locus for BZ resistance (isotype 1, residue 200) and 940 of these at two further resistance sites (isotype 1, residue 167; isotype 2, residue 200). No BZ resistant genotypes were found. Alternative mechanisms may be responsible for BZ resistance in this system, or the method and timing of treatments may reduce selection pressure for BZ resistance by creating substantial refugia for susceptible genotypes.     

Use of a flexed dorsoplantar radiographic view of the talocrural joint to evaluate lameness in two dogs.

A flexed dorsoplantar radiographic view of the talocrural joint was a useful additional view to diagnose abnormalities of the lateral trochlear ridge of the talus of 2 dogs. This view outlined the subchondral bone of both trochlear ridges of the talus and the apposing cochlea tibiae of the distal portion of the tibia. The tarsus was flexed at the level of the talocrural joint, and an x-ray beam was centered on the joint. With this additional view, fractures of the lateral trochlear ridge were readily diagnosed. This view would help to demonstrate osteochondral lesions of the lateral trochlear ridge.