ISSN:
1365-2494
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
The effects of cutting on the root, stubble and herbage growth of perennial ryegrass during establishment was studied under sward conditions.Although a few weeks after a cutting treatment there was a smaller root weight on the cut than on the uncut swards, this difference eventually disappeared.By the autumn the frequently cut swards had considerably more plants and tillers per unit area than the uncut plots. As a result of these changes in plant density the root weight per unit area of the sward was not decreased by increasing the cutting frequency during establishment. However, the root weight per plant (and per tiller) was decreased by increases in the cutting frequency.The root and stubble weights increased during the spring, summer and early autumn of the first year and decreased during the winter. In the second season the root weight increased to a maximum in December whilst the stubble weight rose during the spring and summer and decreased after September.Although the percentage of total soluble carbohydrate was consistently higher in the stubble than the roots or herbage the quantity was similar in both roots and stubble, and in these organs the major soluble carbohydrate was fructosan.During the winter both the percentage and the total quantify of soluble carbohydrate in the stubble and roots decreased considerably.Herbage growth in February and March was not correlated with the root weight per unit area in the previous autumn but was positively correlated with the root weight per plant. The highest herbage yield in the early spring came from plots which were leniently treated in the previous autumn: these plots had a low plant and tiller density but the root weight per plant or per tiller was relatively high.In April the rate of herbage growth tended to be positively correlated with the sward density. In May and June the highest herbage yields came from the open swards. It was suggested that during this latter period moisture, and/or nitrogen, may have been the limiting factor, so that the open sward benefited from less interplant competition.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2494.1957.tb00972.x
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