Interspecific crosses in the genus Lycopersicum

The use of a tetraploid tomato as a pistillate parent in the crosses with Lycopersicum peruvianum and Lycopersicum glandulosum, instead of a diploid tomato, increases about 80 times the set of hybrid seed and thus gives a broader basis for the breeding work. The results seem to indicate that in the crosses on a diploid level, only unreduced eggcells of the tomato fertilized by haploid pollen of the above wild species, develop into normal seeds, and give rise to sesquidiploid F₁ progeny.     

STUDIES ON OXALIS PES-CAPRAE L. IN AUSTRALIA

Summary. The widespread pentaploid variety of the important weed, Oxalis pes-caprae was harvested eight times throughout its life cycle. Dry weight and oxalate (acid-soluble and water-soluble analyses were made on all parts of the plant at each harvest.
From the dry weight data obtained, attention is drawn to three stages during the growth of the plant — namely, the stage of old bulb exhaustion, the time when flowers and new bulbs begin to appear and the onset of senescence. Corresponding with these stages marked changes in oxalate metabolism and/or transport are observed.
It is proposed that the stage of old bulb exhaustion would be the most promising at which lo attempt control of the weed by cultivation.
Recherches sur Oxalis pes-Caprae L. en Australie. I. Études quantitatives de l'acide oxalique durant le cycle vital de la variété pentaploide     

ZUR MORPHOLOGISCHEN DIFFERENZIERUNG VON KAMILLE-ARTEN (GATTUNGEN ANTHEMIS UND MATRICARIA) IM ROSETTENSTADIUM

Zusammenfassung. Für die in Deutschland als Ackerunkräuter vorkommenden Kamillearten der Gattungen Anthemis und Matricaria wird ein Bestimmungsschlüssel gebracht, der die Differenzierung dieser Arten im Rosettenstadium ermöglicht.
Morphological difference between species of the genera Anthémis ami Matricaria (mayiveeds) at the rosette stage     

THE HERBICIDAL EFFECT OF SOME SUBSTITUTED ANILIDES

Summary. The 3,4-dichloroanilides of four herbicidally active and of four inactive or weakly active phenoxyalkanecarboxylic acids were synthesized and tested for herbicidal activity, in order to study the effect of compounds comprising the two characteristic groupings within one molecule. 4-Chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid, 2,4-dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and a-[2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy] propionic acid were selected as representatives of active compounds; and phenoxyacetic acid, 2-methylphenoxyacetic acid, 3,5-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4,6-trichloro-phenoxyacetic acid as inactive or weakly active compounds.
The compounds were tested in the glasshouse on wheat and white mustard as pre-and post-emergence treatments. The synthesized 3,4-dichloroanilides had no or little herbicidal activity, as compared with the high activity of the known herbicides 3,4-dichloropropionanilide and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. The conclusion can be drawn that the introduction of phenoxy groupings into the acid moiety of the active fatty acid-3,4-dichloroanilides as well as the introduction of the 3,4-dichloroaniline group into the carboxylic group of the active phenoxyacetic acids decreases herbicidal activity. This last phenomenon is probably due to a decreased ability to be hydrolysed.
L'activité herbicide de quelques anilides substituées     

The effect of some pre-treatments on proteolysis during the ensiling of herbage

Two experiments were carried out to examine the nitrogenous changes occurring in herbage during harvesting and ensiling. In the first, ryegrass-clover was wilted rapidly in the laboratory (6 h) and in the field under good (48 h) and poor (48 h and 144 h) weather conditions. Protein breakdown and ammonia formation were negligible in herbage wilted rapidly and it was only when the crop was exposed to a prolonged wilt in humid conditions that appreciable proteolysis occurred. In the second experiment ryegrass-clover was ensiled in laboratory silos after treatment with varying levels of formic and sulphuric acids. An additional treatment included herbage inoculated with a mixture of lactic acid bacteria and glucose. The silos were opened after 4 and 50 d and samples were analysed for protein-N, ammonia-N, water-soluble carbohydrates and organic acids. There was a high negative correlation between level of addition of either acid and the degree of proteolysis and deamination. Even at the highest levels of formic acid (7·7 g per kg) and sulphuric acid (4·0 g per kg) additions, however, about 45% of the original herbage protein was degraded after 50 d in the silo. The inoculum treatment was also effective in reducing proteolysis, the effect after 50 d being comparable with formic acid applied at a rate of 4·1 g per kg.     

Variations in composition of pasture herbage

Changes in the chemical composition of pasture samples from five dairy farms were observed over a 2-year period. Many of the minerals were at their lowest concentration in samples taken in the spring and early summer. At these times the concentrations of P, Mg and Na were often less than sufficient to meet the calculated requirements of the dairy cow fed on pasture alone. Cu and Co concentrations in the herbage were also generally low relative to the needs of the dairy cow.     

The digestibility of diets containing processed dried lucerne by sheep and cows

A series of trials was conducted to compare the digestibility of organic matter in castrated male sheep and non-lactating and lactating cows given diets containing lucerne cobs. Similar digestibility coefficients were determined when sheep and non-lactating cows were given hay and lucerne cobs, but lactating cows digested diets of hay, lucerne cobs and concentrates less well than sheep. It is concluded that if sheep are used in digestibility trials with diets containing processed lucerne and concentrates intended for milking cows, appreciable errors of prediction of digestibility of organic matter may arise.