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- Author or Editor: William V. Welker x
Abstract
Peach trees [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch cvs. Loring/Halford] were grown in boxes 100 × 60 × 36 cm (length × width × depth) to evaluate the effect of K-31 tall fescue sod (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) on peach root growth and development. The entire soil surface was kept bare in one treatment, while a fescue sod was established in one-third of the box for the second treatment. Trees were planted 17 cm from one edge of the box in bare soil in both treatments. Sod reduced tree growth. The length of roots ≥1 mm in diameter was unaffected by the sod at any position in the box. The length of roots <1 mm in diameter was reduced beneath the sod and in the area between the sod and tree compared to the bare soil treatment. The plant resistance to water flow/cm root (Rp) was unaffected by the presence of grass under both stressed and nonstressed conditions. Rp was relatively constant (9.4 × 109 s cm-1) over a range of transpiration flux levels until the flux dropped below 0.3 cm3 s-1. Below 0.3 cm3 s-1 Rp increased due to soil resistance to water flow.
Abstract
The relationship between fruit size and extractable anthocyanins was investigated in 6 cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) cultivars: Franklin, Ben Lear, Early Black, Crowley, Stevens, and Pilgrim. Extractable anthocyanins decreased linearly as fruit size, measured by fruit weight, of the sample increased. The relationship was especially apparent for dark-colored cultivars and the dark-colored berries within a cultivar. Results suggest that fruit size can contribute to the disparity between fruit color and extractable anthocyanins, and selection for larger-berried genotypes to increase yields may, concommitantly, reduce anthocyanin yield.
Abstract
Plants of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) were propagated from cuttings one to 5 nodes in length. Greater survival and growth were achieved with plants propagated from cuttings with 3 to 5 nodes than those from one or 2 nodes. Plants rooted vertically produced more growth than plants rooted horizontally.
Abstract
Peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] trees were planted in four soil management systems (cultivated, herbicide, mowed sod, and killed sod) in 1982 and grown through 1984. A companion study was established in 1984 with three systems (cultivated, herbicide, and killed sod). Tree growth and fruit yield were greatest when trees were planted and managed in a killed sod system. Establishing a living sod before planting the trees, and then killing the sod with herbicides, prevented the depletion of soil organic matter and increased water infiltration rates, aggregate stability, macroporosity, and microbial respiration rates compared to conventional systems. The changes in soil structure persisted for 2 to 3 years.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of four soil management systems: herbicide strip (H), cultivated strip (C), mowed sod (MS), and killed sod strip (KS) on rainfall infiltration in two young peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] orchards. Soil water content (0- to 0.90-m depth) was measured immediately before a rainfall event and then as soon as possible after the rain. During the first growing season, MS captured more rainfall than KS, H, or C in the spring and summer months. In the fall, when soil water levels were reduced, all of the soil management systems were equally effective in reducing rainfall runoff. During the second and third growing seasons, the KS system often captured as much rainfall as MS and more than H and C, when killed sod residue covered 50% or more of the surface. When < 10% soil cover remained in the KS treatment, it was no more effective in reducing runoff than the H or C treatments. Growth and yield parameters were lowest in the MS due to sod interference. KS generally provided greater growth and yield than the C and H.
Abstract
Percent fruit set, fruit size, total seeds/berry, developed seeds/berry, percent developed seeds/berry, and percent pollen stainability were examined in 4x × 5x and 5x × 4x progenies derived from Vaccinium ashei Reade/V. corymbosum L. pentaploid hybrids backcrossed to V. corymbosum. All fertility parameters indicated that the BC1 progenies were more fertile than the pentaploid hybrids. Pollen stainability indicated that the BC1 derivatives were less fertile than the parental species. All fertility parameters were significantly and negatively correlated with chromosome number, which ranged from the tetraploid (2n = 4x = 48) to pentaploid (2n = 5x = 60) levels within these progenies.