Under consideration of the high production cost for milk in Japan (around \5,000 per koku) and the present producer price (\5,000 or less per koku) it appears necessary to find out possibilities to lower the production cost of milk in order to secure an adequate profit for the milk producing farmer. Over 2/3 of the production cost are occupied by the expenses for fodder, of which more than 60% have to be spent for purchased fodder, while the share of expenses for self supplied fodder is less than 40%. It would be desirable to lower the fodder cost by decreasing the expenses for purchased fodder through incleased production of self-supplied fodder. According to Matsuoka and Saito the necessary annual fodder for 1 milk cow could be produced on a fodder crop area of 1.5-2 tan. Under consideration of German standards for animal nutrition and of the climatic conditions of West and Japan it should be possible to keep 1 milk cow with 25 koku milk production per year on a fodder croparea of 1.5-2 tan, provided proper management and adequate supply of fertilizer elements to the fodder plants, the requirements of available plant nutrients for 3 crops per year amounting to about 10 kan N, 4.5 kan P205 and 15 kan K20 per tan.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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In order to improve the vegetation of Sasa stage grassland growing on the Diluvium in the warm districts in Japan, the auther tried an artificial reseeding method, sowing alternately two-grouped seeds, both of them composed of three kinds of pastural and wild grasses. The sowing bed was sprayed with Sodium Chlorate in A plot and cut down in B plot on July, 1954, to control the native vegetation there; and it was plowed roughly in a stripe furrow along the contour line on September, 1954. The green yield and topdressing after mowing were applied four times annually in the growing season from 1955 to 1957. 1) The labor needed to reseed A plot was about 40% less than B, plot, and the total weight of soilings in A was about 20% more than B, spliting the yield difference between two plots year by year. The growing cost was 3.6 Yen per 3.75Kg in A plot and 4.2 Yen in B. During three years investigated, the growth in the 2nd year was best and that in the 3rd year the next. 2) The growth condition of reseeding grasses in A plot was normal, and then, among these grasses, Ladino clover, Red clover, Orchard grass, and Italian rye grass were more in the weight of soilings and better in the vegetation. On the contrary, the revegeation ability of Sasa became gradually more vigorous year by year, but the rate of soilings of Sasa amounts to only 0.4-1.0% against the total weight of solings in A plot, and to about 3% in B. 3) It seems apparently then that Sasa grassland vegetation can be improved effectively and economically by means of the application of Sodium Chlorate.

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The author's experiments were carried out to study the ecology of tick, Haeynaphysalis bispinosa NEUMANN which is widely distributed throughout Japan. The experiments were to the relation between the ticks and their habitat in pasture. The larvae prefer moist shady places, and they die in relatively short time when exposed to dry conditions. The larvae climb up to the tip of some low-growing vegetation and remain there awaiting a host animal. In some cases the larvae showed selective behaviour to some plants in pasture, and often an aggregation of unfed larvae were found at the tips of the same vegetation. These habits are shown not only in larval stage but also in other stages. The research on the spacial distribution of unfed ticks in pasture have been carried on by employing the "indicator plants plucking method" devised by the author. The method obtained good results for the studies of relationship between habitate of unfed ticks and wild plants in pasture.

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We studied easy and quick method for determining the tonnage of stacked hay in Hokkaido. The results obtained may be summarized as follows: (1) The volume, weight and height of stacks change in accordance with the elapsed days of stacking. The volume of stacks decreases with elapsing. On an average the rate of shrinkage was found 15 per cent for 20 days after stacking and 26 per cent for 65 days after stacking. The height of stacks was 18 and 26 per cent respectively. On the other hand the weight per cubic shaku (1 shaku=331/3cm) was 121 and 131 per cent respectively. (2) The weight per cubic shaku of the conical type stacks was 490±57 monme (1 monme=3.75gr.), that of round topped type stacks 380±63 monme and that of half sphere type stacks 366 monme. (3) The weight per cubic shaku of the stacks less than 150 kan (1 kan=3.75 kg.) was 470±65 monme and that of more 250 kan was 520±46 monme.

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