Report on the trial of plows held at Utica, Sept. 8, 1867, with a supplement showing the results of a special trial at Brattleboro, to determine several disputed questions respecting the action of the plow.

Mode of access: Internet.

Grooved stripes for plow-resistant wet-night lane delineation : Phase II, Recessed reflector delineation /

Mode of access: Internet.

Irrigation regime affected SOC content rather than plow layer thickness of rice paddies : A county level survey from a river basin in lower Yangtze valley, China

Acknowledgements This work was funded by Natural Science Foundation of China under grant numbers of 41071337 and 40830528 and jointly by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, China.

Impacts of periodic tillage on soil C stocks : a synthesis

Long-term loss of soil C stocks under conventional tillage and accrual of soil C following adoption of no-tillage have been well documented. No-tillage use is spreading, but it is common to occasionally till within a no-till regime or to regularly alternate between till and no-till practices within a rotation of different crops. Short-term studies indicate that substantial amounts of C can be lost from the soil immediately following a tillage event, but there are few field studies that have investigated the impact of infrequent tillage on soil C stocks. How much of the C sequestered under no-tillage is likely to be lost if the soil is tilled? What are the longer-term impacts of continued infrequent no-tillage? If producers are to be compensated for sequestering C in soil following adoption of conservation tillage practices, the impacts of infrequent tillage need to be quantified. A few studies have examined the short-term impacts of tillage on soil C and several have investigated the impacts of adoption of continuous no-tillage. We present: (1) results from a modeling study carried out to address these questions more broadly than the published literature allows, (2) a review of the literature examining the short-term impacts of tillage on soil C, (3) a review of published studies on the physical impacts of tillage and (4) a synthesis of these components to assess how infrequent tillage impacts soil C stocks and how changes in tillage frequency could impact soil C stocks and C sequestration. Results indicate that soil C declines significantly following even one tillage event (1-11 % of soil C lost). Longer-term losses increase as frequency of tillage increases. Model analyses indicate that cultivating and ripping are less disruptive than moldboard plowing, and soil C for those treatments average just 6% less than continuous NT compared to 27% less for CT. Most (80%) of the soil C gains of NT can be realized with NT coupled with biannual cultivating or ripping. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Micro paddy lysimeter for monitoring solute transport in paddy environment

The micro paddy lysimeter (MPL) was developed and evaluated for its performance to simulate solute transport in paddy environment under laboratory conditions. MPLs were constructed using soil collected from Field Museum Honmachi of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan. For the physical characteristics of the hardpan layer, parameters such as thickness, and soil aggregate size, affecting the percolation rate were studied. For the plow layer, two types of plow soils, sieved and un-sieved soils were compared. The sieved soil plow layer was produced by mixing air-dried soils of different aggregate sizes of D > 9.50, 9.50 ≥ D > 4.75, 4.75 ≥ D > 2.0 mm and D ≤ 2.0 mm at 47.1, 19.5, 20.6, and 12.8%, respectively. The un-sieved plow layer soil was directly used after collecting from the field. Inert tracer was applied to ponding water with controlled boundary conditions to evaluate the reproducibility of the soil hydraulic characteristics. HYDRUS-1D was used to evaluate the movement of bromide tracer in the MPL. The proposed conditions of the MPL were that the hardpan layer can be made from soil aggregates smaller than 0.425 mm with 2 cm thickness and that the plow layer can be prepared with sieved or un-sieved soils. With these conditions, the obtained results proved that MPLs can be a useful tool to simulate solute transport in paddy environment.

Impacts of tillage and application methods on atrazine and alachlor losses from upland fields: Research paper

The effects of tillage practises and the methods of chemical application on atrazine and alachlor losses through run-off were evaluated for five treatments: conservation (untilled) and surface (US), disk and surface, plow and surface, disk and preplant-incorporated, and plow and preplant-incorporated treatments. A rainfall simulator was used to create 63.5 mm h^-1 of rainfall for 60 min and 127 mm h^-1 for 15 min. Rainfall simulation occurred 24-36 h after chemical application. There was no significant difference in the run-off volume among the treatments but the untilled treatment significantly reduced erosion loss. The untilled treatments had the highest herbicide concentration and the disk treatments were higher than the plow treatments. The surface treatments showed a higher concentration than the incorporated treatments. The concentration of herbicides in the water decreased with time. Among the experimental sites, the one with sandy loam soil produced the greatest losses, both in terms of the run-off volume and herbicide loss. The US treatments had the highest loss and the herbicide incorporation treatments had smaller losses through run-off as the residue cover was effective in preventing herbicide losses. Incorporation might be a favorable method of herbicide application to reduce the herbicide losses by run-off.

Experimental Studies on the Kinematics of Cutting in Granular Materials

Slow flow in granular materials is characterized by high solid fraction and sustained inter-particle interaction. The kinematics of trawling or cutting is encountered in processes such as locomotion of organisms in sand; trawl gear movement on a soil deposit; plow movement; movement of rovers, earth moving equipment etc. Additionally, this configuration is very akin to shallow drilling configuration encountered in the mining and petroleum industries. An experimental study has been made in order to understand velocity and deformation fields in cutting of a model rounded sand. Under nominal plane strain conditions, sand is subjected to orthogonal cutting at different tool-rake angles. High-resolution optical images of the region of cutting were obtained during the flow of the granular ensemble around the tool. Interesting kinematics underlying the formation of a chip and the evolution of the deformation field is seen in these experiments. These images are also analyzed using a PIV algorithm and detailed information of the deformation parameters such as velocity, strain rate and volume change is obtained.

水土保持耕作及施肥对盛花期大豆光合生理的影响

依据陕西安塞田间试验,采用LI-6400便携式光合仪,在自然条件下对黄土丘陵区旱作农田传统翻耕化肥(CF)、翻耕有机肥(CM)、翻耕无肥(CN)、免耕化肥(NF)、免耕有机肥(NM)、免耕无肥(NN)等处理下盛花期大豆叶片的净光合速率、气孔导度、水分利用效率及影响因子日变化进行了研究。结果表明:6种不同处理的大豆叶片净光合速率日变化均为双峰曲线,峰值分别在11:30、16:00出现。NM、NF处理对提高大豆净光合速率有明显的促进作用,其中以有机肥(NM)最为显著。气孔导度与蒸腾速率之间达极显著正相关(P<0.01,r=0.9994)。气孔导度日变化也为双峰,峰值分别出现在11:30、16:00。不同处理下,大豆的水分利用效率呈单峰曲线,峰值出现在10:00,低谷出现在13:00以后。其中,NF、NM处理能显著提高大豆盛花期的水分利用效率。相关分析表明:气孔导度、蒸腾速率、叶温、光合有效辐射及基于叶温的蒸汽压亏缺是大豆光合作用的促进因子,而胞间CO_2浓度、空气CO_2浓度、空气相对湿度则为主要的限制因子。CF、NF处理在8:30~10:20和13:00,CM、NN处理在8:30、11:30~13:00、17:...

黄土高原南部3种农田土壤剖面坚实度的变化规律

为了揭示黄土高原南部地区不同质地类型土壤剖面坚实度的变化及其与土壤含水率的定量关系,以黄墡土、土娄土、裸露在地表的粘化层耕作剖面为研究对象,定位观测其0~45 cm土壤坚实度与含水率的变化。结果表明,黄墡土、土娄土、裸露在地表粘化层耕作剖面的犁底层平均坚实度均大于耕层,犁底层平均坚实度较耕层分别高194.8%,87.3%,10.4%;剖面土壤质地越粘其平均坚实度越大;土壤坚实度与含水率呈负相关关系;土壤坚实度变化速率为0时,以上3种土壤剖面临界含水率分别为0.1712,0.1757,0.1835;质地不同的土壤剖面坚实度时空变化特征有差异,其中黄墡土剖面0~20 cm土层土壤坚实度为350~500 kPa,受土壤含水率变化的影响较小;20~30 cm土层土壤的坚实度为500~1400 kPa,不易受外界环境影响;30 cm以下土层土壤坚实度为700~1600 kPa,受土壤含水率变化影响较大。土娄土剖面0~40 cm土层土壤坚实度为600~1200 kPa,受含水率变化影响较大;40 cm以下土层土壤坚实度稳定在1 800 kPa左右。粘化层剖面0~15 cm土层土壤坚实度在2000 kPa左右,受环境影响较...

Distribution characteristics of (CS)-C-137 in wind-eroded soil profile and its use in estimating wind erosion modulus

Due to its inert reaction in soil system and distinctive vertical distribution in soil profile, caesium-137 (Cs-137) has been used as a tracer to assess wind erosion. In this study, 62 soil samples were collected from 4 sampling sites in Taipusi County, Inner Mongolia; Caesium-137 activities for those soil samples were measured using a gamma-ray spectrometry in Sichuan University, Chengdu. Distribution pattern of Cs-137 in vertical soil profile was different for different land use and land cover types. Caesium-137 was distributed homogeneously in plow layer of cropland, and negatively exponential in low to medium cover grassland. Distribution pattern in high covered grassland was represented by a peak at 2-4 cm soil depth followed by a negative exponential curve. Based on those findings, simplified mass balance model was chosen to estimate the rate of wind erosion for cropland, while profile distribution model was used for grassland. Estimated wind erosion rates were 7990, 4270 and 1808 Mg(.)km(-2.)a(-1) for cropland, low cover grassland and medium cover grassland, respectively. Wind erosion intensity correlated negatively with plant cover.

Effect of contact pressure on fretting fatigue behavior of Ti-1023

With a new test facility, we have investigated fretting fatigue properties of Ti-1023 titanium alloy at different contact pressure. Both fatigue fracture and fretting scar were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, the depth of crack initiation area in fatigue fracture has been analyzed quantitatively, to investigate the relationship between the depth of crack initiation area and the fretting fatigue strength. The changing trends of the depth of crack initiation area and fretting fatigue strength with the increase of contact pressure show obvious opposite correlations. The depth of crack initiation area increases rapidly with the increase of contact pressure at low contact pressure (smaller than 10 MPa), and the fretting fatigue strength drops rapidly. At the contact pressure of 10–45 MPa, both the depth of crack initiation area and the fretting fatigue strength do not vary significantly. Contact pressure influences fatigue strength through influencing the initiation of fatigue crack. The main damage patterns are fatigue flake and plow.

Tillage and herbicide treatments with inter-row cultivation influence weed densities and yield of three industrial crops

Field experiments were conducted in northern Greece in 2003 and 2004 to evaluate effects of tillage regimes (moldboard plowing, chisel plowing, and rotary tilling), cropping sequences(continuous cotton, cotton-sugar beet rotation,and continuous tobacco) and herbicide treatments with inter-row hand hoeing on weed population densities. Total weed densities were not affected by tillage treatment except that of barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli), which increased only in moldboard plowing treated plots during 2003. Redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus)and black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) densities were reduced in continuous cotton, while purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus), E. crus-galli, S. nigrum, and johnsongras(Sorghum halepense) densities were reduced in tobacco. A. retroflexus and S. nigrum were effectively controlled by all herbicide treatments with inter-row hand hoeing,whereas E. crus-galli was effectively reduced by herbicides applied to cotton and tobacco. S. halepense density reduction was a result of herbicide applied to tobacco with inter-row hand hoeing. Yield of all crops was higher under moldboard plowing and herbicide treatments. Pre-sowing and pre-emergence herbicide treatments in cotton and pre-transplant in tobacco integrated with inter-row cultivation resulted in efficient control of annual weed species and good crop yields. These observations are of practical relevance to crop selection by farmers in order to maintain weed populations at economically acceptable densities through the integration of various planting dates, sustainable herbicide use and inter-row cultivation; tools of great importance in integrated weed management systems. Keywords: cropping sequence, herbicide, integrated weed management, inter-row cultivation,tillage.