Voluntary intake of hay by steers was measured when supplements of barley were given: (1) whole unprocessed, (2) NaOH treated, (3) torrified (infra-red heat treatment), (4) crimped, (5) rolled, (6) ground and (7) ground and pelleted. The cereal supplements were given at 50 g/kg live weight0·75/day. The voluntary intakes of hay dry matter were 42·1, 43·0, 38·1, 35·1, 34·9, 34·4 and 30·5 g/kg W0·75/day respectively.

Dry-matter digestibilities of barley given without hay were (g/kg): whole, 672; NaOH treated, 807; torrified, 813 and rolled, 834.

Incubation of feed samples in the rumen in polyester bags showed that rolled barley disappeared much more rapidly than NaOH treated and torrified barley.

It is concluded that the deleterious effect of a cereal based supplement on rate of digestion of cellulose and consequently voluntary intake can be largely overcome by use of processing methods which reduce the rate of release of starch and yet ensure complete digestion. Treatment with NaOH looks promising in this respect.

The amino acid, mineral and collagen composition of certain different components of the bodies of preruminant calves was determined. The amino acid composition (g/kg crude protein) of the empty bodies of preruminant calves was: hydroxyproline, 40; aspartic acid, 81; threonine, 40; serine, 44; glutamic acid, 129; proline, 81; glycine, 113; alanine, 71; cystine, 13; valine, 39; methionine, 17; isoleucine, 28; leucine, 69; tyrosine, 25; phenylalanine, 36; lysine, 64; histidine, 25; arginine, 70; tryptophan, 8. The hydroxyproline, proline and glycine contents were much higher than in bovine muscle because about one-third of the total protein of the calves was collagen, a protein particularly rich in these amino acids. The collagen content of the individual body components varied considerably as did their amino acid contents. There were also some marked differences in the contents of some of the major constituents and minerals in the individual components. In particular the internal organs and blood (component (6)) contained significantly lower concentrations of crude protein, ash, Ca, Mg and P but significantly higher concentrations of Cu and Fe.

When coffee trees have a good supply of nitrogen they are less affected by drought. Explanation and evidence are presented. Trees treated with extra nitrogen contained more adenosine triphosphate, aqueous protein and ‘bound water’.

Such N-rich trees exhibited lower transpiration rates than trees relatively poor in N when water supply was limiting. They had lower stomatal density and water saturation deficit values. Leaves maintained higher chlorophyll and turgidity. The conclusion is that nitrogen increases the drought-resisting capacity of coffee trees. This aspect was clearly reflected in yield, as nitrogen-rich trees produced more coffee beans.

In a previous experiment we investigated the effects of a restricted intake of dietary energy, protein or both on carcass anatomy in pigs (Carden & Goenaga, 1977). Contrary to results of Elsley, McDonald & Fowler (1964) and of Richmond & Berg (1971) we found several changes in muscle distribution, which gave rise to differences in the proportion of the commercially valuable muscles in the carcasses. The treatments had no effect on an important trait, the muscle: bone ratio.

The cattle of the Sudan are broadly classified into two main types, i.e. North Sudan Zebu cattle and Nilotic cattle. Of the former typo Western Sudan Baggara cattle are numerically important amounting in number to about six million head (Food and Agriculture Organization, 1972). Western Sudan Baggara cattle provide the bulk of beef consumed in northern Sudan and contribute considerably to the country's export trade in live cattle. The study herein reported was undertaken as a continuing research project directed at ascertaining carcass composition of the indigenous cattle in support of improved feeding and marketing procedures necessary as a base for developing the meat animal industry.

In experiments comparing the effects of different crop rotations it sometimes happens that blocks of reasonably small size can only be achieved by not letting all sequences of each rotation occur in each block. If one of the rotations carries the test crop more than once such a restriction usually leads to the confounding of some phase contrasts. Stevens (1956) and Patterson (1964) provided two classes of phase-confounded designs. The two designs, however, lack the desirable property that if, in a particular block, some of the rotations carry the test crop in a given year, other rotations also do. Furthermore, the designs do not involve equal block sizes in the sense that, in any year, in any block, the number of plots carrying the test crop is the same.

Yellowing of wool as a function of physiological stress caused by nutritional deficiency in the feed of sheep (Das, 1965) though not confirmed by subsequent studies (Singh et al. 1977) evoked interest in the role of physiological stress in causing canary staining of wool. Restricted water intake as is generally the case with sheep in arid or even semiarid regions during summer, imposes considerable physiological stress. Furthermore, canary coloration is thought to be a sequel to an adaptive mechanism to hot and humid conditions in Indian sheep which have a greater reliance on cutaneous evaporation for dissipating body heat (Acharaya & Singh, 1976). It was, therefore, decided to study the influence, if any, of restricting access to water on the canary coloration of wool (non-scourable yellow coloration of the autumn clip) in the stain-susceptible Chokla sheep

The authors regret the following error: On p. 53, equation (11) is incorrect and should read: