The objective of this article is to extend the reported period in which flood-distributed knotweed propagules may be successfully managed using only manual labor. During a second round of early detection and rapid response (EDRR) management along the Green River in Guilford, VT, we collected and measured all Japanese knotweed propagules that had been distributed by flooding approximately 21 mo earlier, in August 2011, at a single site. Our data suggest that knotweed s.l. prioritizes the growth of new stems over new rhizomes at the start of a growing season. Because the limiting factor for successful removal of new knotweed s.l. plants by hand is the size of the rhizome system, our findings support extending the time frame for EDRR management of flood-distributed knotweed s.l. into the second spring after its initial dispersal. Additionally, in November 2013, surveys of our work sites found no new knotweed s.l. plants in locations accessible to work crews. In addition to validating our EDRR management techniques, this implies that knotweed s.l. fragment viability does not extend past the second spring following its dispersal.

The objective of this article is to identify growth patterns of Japanese knotweed propagules distributed by high-water events. Along four river systems, we collected and measured Japanese knotweed propagules that had been distributed by flooding approximately 1 yr earlier. Results indicate that the size of the emergent shoot may be determined by the extent of underground growth late in the growing season, although initially it is linked to the size of the propagule. Our results show that 70% of new plants originated from rhizome fragments, and 30% from stems. This proportion is similar to regeneration rates shown in laboratory studies. We suggest that the best way to prevent the spread of Japanese knotweed along rivers is to focus control efforts on those stands most susceptible to erosion and propagule dispersal. We also suggest that an early detection and rapid response management approach can be effectively utilized to eradicate these propagules, and effectively suppress the spread of Japanese knotweed. Our data-collection method also provides evidence that control of newly distributed propagules can be effectively accomplished without the use of herbicides or heavy mechanical tools.

1. There were 90 patients at the Eastern Hospital, who, during the years 1897, 1898, 1899, 1904, 1905 and 1906, were injected with horseserum for a second attack or relapse of diphtheria, who had been treated with horse-serum at the first attack.

2. Of these 9 had an “immediate reaction,” 22 an “accelerated reaction,” and 8 had both, 39 in all, or 43·4 per cent.

3. The “immediate reaction” showed itself a few minutes to six hours after the first injection for the second attack.

4. The shortest interval between the first injection at the primary attack and the occurrence of an “immediate reaction” after a reinjection for a second attack was 35 days; the longest was 363 days.

5. The ”accelerated reaction” showed itself 19 hours to five days after the first injection for the second attack.

6. The shortest interval between the first injection at the primary attack and the occurrence of an “accelerated reaction” after a reinjection for a second attack was 25 days; the longest was 1511 days. In each of these cases the reaction occurred the day after the reinjection.

7. In seven of the cases of “immediate reaction” the symptoms were severe. In all save one of those of “accelerated reaction” they were mild or moderate.

8. In 24 of the cases there was a normal serum-reaction after the reinjection for the second attack; but even this occurred in most cases slightly earlier than is usual after injection at a primary attack.

9. So far as the figures go they show:

(a) that when a patient has had a serum-reaction at the primary attack, he is more likely to have an abnormal reaction after injection at the second attack;

(b) that the greater the volume of serum given in the primary attack, the more likely is an abnormal reaction to occur after serum at the second attack;

(c) and that consequently an abnormal reaction is most likely to occur after serum at a second attack when the patient has had a large volume of serum followed by a reaction at the first attack.

There are, however, indications that the volume of serum given at the primary attack may have different effects as regards the determination of an “immediate” or an “accelerated reaction,” according to its amount.

The digestion and retention times of milled hay diets were first studied in three sheep fitted with rumen and abomasal cannulae. The hay was milled through 5, 20 or 40 mm screens. Solubility of dry matter (D.M.) in water and rate of loss of D.M. from hay in nylon bags suspended in the rumen increased with fineness of grinding. Apparent digestibility of D.M. within the gut tended to fall with fineness of grinding, as did mean retention time (MRT) of a particulate marker, [103Ru]phenanthroline ([103Ru]phen), within the gut and of [103Ru]phen and a liquid marker, [51Cr]EDTA, within the rumen. Dry-sieved abomasal particles were much smaller than particles of any of the hay preparations, most passing through a 0·6 mm screen.

A second experiment was made on four other sheep, fitted with rumen cannulae and given a similar hay, chopped to 50 mm or milled through 2, 5 or 20 mm screens. Apparent digestibility of D.M. within the gut fell significantly with fineness of grinding, from 55% with the chopped hay to 46% with the 2 mm hay, as did MRT, from 45 to 40 h respectively. Rumen pH at 1 h after feeding decreased with fineness of grinding.

In a third experiment, using the four sheep given chopped or 2 mm hay, retention times of particulate matter and of fluid in the reticulo-rumen and in the caecum-colon were measured. [103Ru]phen and [51Cr]EDTA were dosed together into either the rumen or the terminal ileum, and the rates of decline of marker concentration in rumen samples or faeces respectively were used to calculate the appropriate half times(t½). In the rumen particulate and fluid markers showed significantly shorter t½ values with the 2 mm hay (20·8 and 12·4 h, respectively) than with the chopped hay (25·9 and 15·6 h, respectively) without a significant difference in rumen outflow (0·437 and 0·492 l/h, respectively). In the caecum-colon the corresponding t½ values were 6·4 and 6·3 h, and 7·1 and 6·6 h, there being no significant difference either between markers or between diets.

Samples of chopped hay and of 20, 5 and 2 mm hays were suspended in bags in the rumen of sheep given either chopped or 2 mm hay to eat. The fine hays lost D.M. more rapidly than the coarse hays but D.M. loss was slower when the sheep's diet was 2 mm hay that when it was chopped hay.

It is concluded that three factors accounted for the effect of milling on digestibility: retention time in the reticulo-rumen, D.M. degradation rate in the rumen, and the potential digestibility of the hay preparation (asymptotic D.M. loss as measured in the rumen bag studies). It appeared that fine grinding reduced the digestibility of the hay because the effects of shortened MRT in reducing duration of digestion and of lowered rumen pH in depressing cellulolysis outweighed the effects of grinding in accelerating digestion and increasing potential digestibility within the rumen.

Carcass characteristics were studied in young red deer raised on a Scottish hill farm with heather·dominant pasture. Stags slaughtered in September when 15 or 27 months old were very lean, and entire and castrate animals were similar in weight. At 15 months they were barely a half of their expected mature weight. With no pre-slaughter fasting, dressed carcass weight was 49–51% of live weight. A more detailed analysis of carcass conformation was made in a study of entire stags, castrate stags and hinds slaughtered when 15 months old after being held overnight without food or water. The three groups were similar in that their dressed carcasses weighed about 52% of live weight and the content of first class lean meat amounted to 32% of live weight. There was only 4·5% of chemical fat in the empty carcass.

The pH of the meat 36 h post mortem often remained high in the stag groups, relative to a mean value of pH 5·7 found in shot wild stags. This high-pH character was little affected by the severity of stress immediately before slaughter, nor by the availability of food. It seemed to be caused by holding the animals in unfamiliar surroundings for some 16 h before slaughter.

In an experiment, carried out over 3 years, two groups of dairy cows offered ad libitum access to grass silage received 8 kg/day concentrate differing only in phosphorus content (low P concentrate: 4·0–4·5 g/kg dry matter (D.M.); high P concentrate: 6·0–6·5 g/kg D.M.) during the winter feeding period of approximately 6 months. During the summer period all animals were grazed together on perennial ryegrass pastures. There were no consistent significant effects of P content on any of the variables measured. The mean calving indices were 371 (S.E. = 3·71, n = 122) and 379 (S.E. = 4·28, n = 95) days and overall conception rates were 0·70 and 0·68 for the low and high P treatments, respectively. Mean plasma P concentrations during the winter period were significantly reduced (P > 0·01 or greater) in years 2 and 3 of the study on the low P treatment. In 1 year milk yield was significantly higher (P > 0·01) on the low P treatment although the fat content was significantly reduced (P > 0·05) but these effects were not recorded in the other 2 years.