Kid mortality on two major government farms in Ceylon

Summary International standards for measuring mortality rates in livestock have not yet been developed. Hence comparison of mortality rates of livestock in different countries is difficult. Some standards for measuring mortality rates in kids are suggested. Two thousand five hundred and thirty pregnancies of goats over a five year period on two government goat farms in Ceylon were analyzed. The overall kid mortality was 28·42 per cent. Deaths of kids under one month of age and 2–4 months of age were high. The causes of these deaths are discussed.

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Sumario Aún no se han desarrollado patrones internacionales para medir los porcentajes de mortalidad en el ganado. De aquí que la comparación de los porcentajes de mortalidad del ganado en países distintos es difícil. Se sugieren algunos patrones para medir los porcentajes de mortalidad en caprinos jóvenes. Durante un periodo de cinco a?os se han analizado dos mil quinientas treinta pre?eces de cabras de dos haciendas de cabras de Ceylón. La mortalidad general de los cabritos fué del 28.42%. Las muertes de cabritos menores de un mes de edad y entre 2–4 meses fueron altas. Las causas de estas muertes son discutidas.

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Résumé Il n'existe pas encore de méthodes normalisées à l'échelon international pour évaluer les taux de mortalité chez le bétail. Il s'ensuit que les comparaisons sont difficiles à faire entre pays différents. Quelques normes pour apprécier ces taux de mortalité sont ici suggérés. Dans deux fermes d'Etat à Ceylan, on a suivi pendant cinq ans la gestation chez 2.530 chèvres. La mortalité globale des chevreaux atteignait 28,42 p. 100. Son taux était particulièrement élevé chez les animaux agés de moins d'un an et de deux à quatre mois. Les causes de ces accidents sont discutées.

     

A partial diallel study of powdery mildew resistance in six apple cultivars under three growing conditions with different disease pressures

Summary The suitability of large-fruited apple cultivars as alternative donors of powdery mildew resistance to the crabapples carrying major gene resistances was assessed. Five accessions with varying levels of mildew resistance (‘Dülmener Rosen', ‘Liberty', ‘Sciros', ‘Prima' and ‘Red Delicious') and one susceptible cultivar (‘Cox's Orange Pippin') were mated in a partial diallel design, and sub-sets of each seedling family were evaluated for three years at three New Zealand sites (Havelock North, Riwaka and Clyde) with different climatic conditions. There was a high correlation among the powdery mildew susceptibility scores of the individual seedlings over the three years, but disease levels varied among sites, with those at Clyde being the highest. All accessions with some resistance were found to confer additive resistance to their progenies to varying degrees depending on the climatic conditions of the sites, but findings suggest that progeny selection at Clyde will be sufficient for breeding purposes. The performance of the cultivar itself was not necessarily a good predictor of the level of resistance conferred to its progenies. The mostly negative genetic correlations between powdery mildew scores and fruit quality attributes suggest that selecting for powdery mildew resistance and desirable fruit quality traits may not be difficult. However, a larger number of families may be needed for more precise estimates of the genetic correlations to strengthen confidence in this conclusion.     

Genotypic variation in biochemical compounds of the Sri Lankan tea (Camellia sinensis L.) accessions and their relationships to quality and biotic stresses

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is well known for its biochemical constituents that define the product quality and confer pest and disease resistance. Seven major metabolites – epicatechin (EC), epicatechin gallate (ECg), epigallocatechin (EGC), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), caffeine, theobromine, and gallic acid – of 87 beverage type and six non-beverage type tea accessions from Sri Lankan tea germplasm were profiled using HPLC and LC-MS/MS. All seven metabolites varied widely in the beverage type accessions. The non-beverage types only contained gallic acid and epicatechin. Results prove the presence of high EC and ECg contents in green leaves to be a reliable marker for identifying high-quality black tea-producing accessions. High EC and low EGCg contents in green tea leaves appear to enhance traits of resistance to blister blight disease. Significant variations detected in theobromine, caffeine, and total polyphenol content define the affinity of germplasm to the main three tea taxa, and we conclude that C. sinensis ssp. lasiocalyx predominates the Sri Lankan germplasm collection.     

Effects of harvest management practices on forest biomass and soil carbon in eucalypt forests in New South Wales,Australia: Simulations with the forest succession model LINKAGES

Understanding long-term changes in forest ecosystem carbon stocks under forest management practices such as timber harvesting is important for assessing the contribution of forests to the global carbon cycle. Harvesting effects are complicated by the amount, type, and condition of residue left on-site, the decomposition rate of this residue, the incorporation of residue into soil organic matter and the rate of new detritus input to the forest floor from regrowing vegetation. In an attempt to address these complexities, the forest succession model LINKAGES was used to assess the production of aboveground biomass, detritus, and soil carbon stocks in native Eucalyptus forests as influenced by five harvest management practices in New South Wales, Australia. The original decomposition sub-routines of LINKAGES were modified by adding components of the Rothamsted (RothC) soil organic matter turnover model. Simulation results using the new model were compared to data from long-term forest inventory plots. Good agreement was observed between simulated and measured above-ground biomass, but mixed results were obtained for basal area. Harvesting operations examined included removing trees for quota sawlogs (QSL, DBH >80 cm), integrated sawlogs (ISL, DBH >20 cm) and whole-tree harvesting in integrated sawlogs (WTH). We also examined the impact of different cutting cycles (20, 50 or 80 years) and intensities (removing 20, 50 or 80 m³). Generally medium and high intensities of shorter cutting cycles in sawlog harvesting systems produced considerably higher soil carbon values compared to no harvesting. On average, soil carbon was 2–9% lower in whole-tree harvest simulations whereas in sawlog harvest simulations soil carbon was 5–17% higher than in no harvesting.