In Japan, it is difficult to reduce the moisture of grasses down to 40-50% within one day by wilting on field because of high air humidity. The obtainable minimum level of the moisture may be 60% or so. The present experiments were carried out in order to clarify the possibility to make low-moisture silage using grasses with higher water content than the usual level of haylage. Grasses were harvested with a mower in autumn of 1963 from the sward established in the preceding autumn. They were composed of clovers, grasses and weeds in a ratio of 62:29:9 (%). They were wilted to three levels of moisture, about 75, 60 and 40%, chopped to 1.0-1.5cm in length and stored in two types of small plastic silo (1: large and s: small). Actually measured contents of water were 76.5, 59.0 and 36.4% respectively. One half of silos were sealed with vinyl sheets (S) and the other half were non-sealed (NS). In case of NS silo, air was excluded by pressing the silage surface with the weight of 45kg. In such non-sealing, weighting method is common in ensiling process in Japan, though the weight in the experiments was heavier than usual. After about 45 days of storage, the silages were measured of their several chemical and other characteristics. The results were statistically analyzed by the method of hierarchal classification (cf. Table 2). There were no visible spoilage and molding in the sealed silages even though the moisture was high. In the non-sealed silages, however, some spoilage was observed in the upper 2-5cm layers of 75% moisture silage, and molding was noticed in the lower moisture silages, especially remarkable in 40% one. Loss of dry matter, including those from spoilage and molding, was markedly less in the sealed silage than in the non-sealed one at 1% significant level of difference, and the loss increased in proportion to water content of silages with 5% significance of difference (Tables 5, 6 and 8). Although the lowest loss was 0.1% in the sealed silage with 40% moisture, the loss of sealed 60% moisture silage was nearly the same to it. Lactic acid value was significantly different between the moisture levels, showing higher formation in 40 and 60% moisture silage than in 75% one. The sealed silage tended to contain more lactic acid than the non-sealed, though the difference was not significant (Tables 7 and 8). The shift of volatile organic acids seemed to be reverse to lactic acid. As for the ratio of lactic acid to volatile acids, the values of 40 and 60% moisture silages in sealed silos were signiffcantly the highest. Reflecting these shifts of organic acids, pH value was significantly affected, giving higher pH in cases of sealing and of low-moisture (Tables 7 and 8). The ratio of NH_3-N to total N showed the reverse trend comparing with the ratio in organic acids (Table 7). Color was greenish in 40% silage, brownish in 75% and intermediate in 60%. The odor of 40% silage was alike to hay, while those of 60 and 75% were similar to usual silage. Sealed silage was milder than the non-sealed one in odor. All silages were well accepted by dairy cows in a cafeteria trial except molded silage. It is concluded from these results that 60% moisture silage stored in sealed silo has nearly the same quality as haylage. It may therefore be possible to make good low-moisture silage by one-day-wilting in Japan.

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1) To know the changes of physical properties of the soil and those of productivities of fodder crops on upland field after it has been transposed from paddy field, more than ten kinds of summer annual fodder crops were tested in the field of Niigata Agricultural Experiment Station in 1961-1963, because such knowledges seemed to be indispensable foundations of introducing those crops to the field. 2) Taking adjacent ordinary upland field with similar soil properties as control, the crops were cultivated under the same cultivation methods, and growth and yield of the crops were measured, together with several physical properties of the soil and level of underground water. 3) Productivity of the transposed field compared with the ordinary one was shown in percentage of both yields of each crop. In general, the rate was lower in the first year of transposition, higher in the second year and again lower in the third. The reasons for these facts were attributed rather to the amount of rainfall during growing period of the crops, instead of the changes of poysical properties of the soil. That is, precipitation amounts of April-October in 1961 and 1963 were high but that in 1962 was very low. The transposed field used to have 30-40cm higher water head than usual field and gas phase of the former soil at -20〜-25cm from surface was very small showing mere 40%. Accordingly in a year with small rainfall and therefore not humid, high production was expected. 4) Exceptional cases were those root crops suchas fodder beet, Irish potato and sweet potato, which showed increasing production as years proceded after the transposition, suggesting the effects of changes of physical properties of the soil on these crops. 5) In ordinary paddy field, too high soil humidity by higher water head is inevitable. Particularly in heavy clay paddy, lower soil stratum was difficult to be improved, in short time, in its soil structure suitable to upland conditions. Therefore it is a fundamental necessity to make field dry postively by drainage in upheaving productivity of introduced fodder crop.

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1. Seed yields of a California strain of Ladino white clover were tested for two years, 1962-63, with the same method of culture at thirteen experiment stations distributed over the country. 2. Climatic conditions of the test years were not favourable for seed production; especially in 1963, when heavy snowfall resulted winterkilling of the clover in the North and much rain checked seed setting in the South. 3. The stations where the yield of seed was 500 grams or more per are were located at Kitami (Hokkaido) and Yatsugatake (Nagano Pref.) in 1962, and Sapporo, Aomori and Yatsugatake in 1963. 4. High correlation was found between seed yields and number of flower head in a unit area, and the latter highly correlated with the latitude of the location of seed production except several stations in high altitudes. 5. In Japan, promising districts for the seed production of Ladino clover are Hokkaido, Tohoku and highland in Central Honshu; therefore suitable locations for obtaining good yield of seeds will be found in these districts with the number of flower head as indicator of seed productivity.

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There are two kimds of grasses, which are northern grasses (Festucoidea) and southern grasses (Panicoidea or Eragrostoidea). Any kind of grasses which has been cultivated in south-western part of Japan belongs unexpectedly to the northern grass instead of southern type. So that grasses wither in summer owing to high temperature and low precipitation. Dallisgrass belongs to the southern grass but Russian comfrey is not influenced by the climatic condition. The former is recognized to be a suitable grass for grazing land and the latter is a useful crop to soiling. As the nature and properties of both plants have been previously reported, the effects of trace elements on them were studied in this paper. Both plants were cultivated in pot or earthern pipe which were filled with granite residual soil. Ammonium sulfate (or sodium nitrate), calcium superphosphate and potassium sulfate were applied 1.2kg per one are as N, P_2O_5 and K_2O respectively. Trace elements were applied in the following doses; 4kg of CuSO_4, 2kg of CoCl_2, 6kg of MnCl_2, 2kg of Na_2MoO_4, 2kg of ZnCl_2 and 6kg of H_2BO_3 per hectare each. Dallisgrass increased 10-20% in length and 10-30% in yield by Mo, Co and B, but decreased about 10% in both properties by Cu, Mn and Zn. The growth of Russian comfrey was higher by the application of ammonium sulfate than of sodium nitrate, and increased 30% by Co, Mo and B but decreased by Mn. Trace element contents of dallisgrass were different by seasonal variation and the part of plant. Dallisgrass which came from U.S.A. contained much more amount of Mn but less of Mo and Zn than that home grown one. Trace element contents of Russian comfrey were much higher by the application of sodium nitrate than of ammonium sulfate except B. Especially Co contet by the application of the former fertilizer was five times more than by the latter. Application of trace elements increased the content of them in plants, especially Co and Mo. The content of crude fiber, N free extract and ash of dallisgrass increased by all of the trace elements, and the content of moisture, crude protein, crude fiber, N free extract and crude fat of Russian comfrey increased by any kind of trace elements. Though trace elements promoted the growth and increased the yield of plants, the influences of them were different by the kind of plant, soil and the application method of trace element. The contents of trace elements in plant were different by the kind of nitrogenous fertilizer, plant, soil and the climatic conditions. The contents of moisture, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat, N free extract and ash were effected by the kinds of plants and trace elements.

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