The American flower garden directory : containing practical directions for the culture of plants in the flower garden, hot-house, garden-house, rooms, or parlour windows, for every month in the year ... Instructions for erecting a hot-house, green-house, and laying out a flower garden. Also, table of soils most congenial to the plants contained in the work. The whole adapted to either large or small gardens, with instructions for preparing the soil, propagating, planting, pruning, training, and fruiting the grape vine. With descriptions of the best sorts for cultivating in the open air /

Includes index.

The American flower garden directory: containing practical directions for the culture of plants in the flower garden, hot-house, green-house, rooms, or parlour windows, for every month in the year. With a description of the plants most desirable in each, the nature of the soil, and situation best adapted to their growth, the proper season for transplanting, &c. Instructions for erecting a hot-house, green-house, and laying out a flower garden. Also, table of soils most congenial to the plants contained in the work. The whole adapted to either large or small gardens, with instructions for preparing the soil, propagating, planting, pruning, training, and fruiting the grape vine. With descriptions of the best sorts for cultivating in the open air.

Mode of access: Internet.

Soil management and planting methods effects on tangolagrass and forage peanut establishment.

This study aimed to compare four establishment methods of mixed swards of Tangolagrass and forage peanut (Arachis pintoi).

Effect of silicate fertilization on soil and on palisade grass plants under grazing intensities

Application of calcium silicate (SiCa) as soil acidity corrective was evaluated in a Rhodic Hapludox soil with palisade grass conducted under pasture rotation system with different grazing intensities. Experimental design was complete randomized blocks with four grazing intensities - grazing intensities were imposed by forage supply (50, 100, 150 and 200 kg t-1 of DM per LW) - in experimental plots with four replicates and, in the subplots, with seven doses of calcium silicate combined with lime: 0+0, 2+0, 4+0, 6+0, 2+4, 4+2 and 0+6 t ha-1, respectively. In the soil, it was evaluated the effect of four levels of calcium silicate (0, 2, 4 and 6 t ha-1) at 45, 90, and 365 days at three depths (0-10, 10-20 and 20-40 cm) and at 365 days, it was included one level of lime (6 t ha-1). For determination of leaf chemical composition and silicate content in the soil, four levels of calcium silicate (0, 2, 4 and 6 t ha-1) were evaluated at 45 and 365 days and at 45 days only for leaf silicate, whereas for dry matter production, all corrective treatments applied were evaluated in evaluation seasons. Application of calcium silicate was positive for soil chemical traits related to acidity correction (pH(CaCl2), Ca, Mg, K, H+Al and V), but the limestone promoted better results at 365 days. Leaf mineral contents were not influenced by application of calcium silicate, but there was an increase on silicate contents in leaves and in the soil. Dry matter yield and chemical composition of palisade grass improved with the application of correctives.

Role of healthy nursery plants in orange yield during eight years of Citrus Variegated Chlorosis epidemics

The production and commercialization of citrus seedlings inspected and produced in protected screen-houses has become mandatory in Sao Paulo State, Brazil since January 2003. This law was intended to avoid the dispersion of Citrus Variegated Chlorosis (CVC), disease caused by Xylella fastidiosa. Our objective was to compare the yield over 8 years of `Natal` sweet orange trees grafted onto Rangpur lime obtained from healthy nursery plants and from plants artificially inoculated with X. fastidiosa. Yield was evaluated in an orchard planted in February 1999 with two treatments: (i) trees from healthy nursery plant, and (ii) trees from plants artificially inoculated with X. fastidiosa. The mean yield was 21% higher in trees from healthy nursery plants, as compared to trees from inoculated nursery plants. This difference represents a gain of approximately 203 boxes of 40.8 kg each, considering a planting density of 550 plants per hectare. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Distribution of Sugarcane mosaic virus in sugarcane plants

Variation in the concentration of virus in different parts of the plant has implications for virus-indexing programs. To allow more reliable detection of Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), the distribution of the virus in sugarcane plants after artificial inoculation was studied using a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Leaves of susceptible and moderately resistant sugarcane were mechanically inoculated with SCMV 6 weeks after planting. Weekly for 8 weeks after inoculation, plants were examined for mosaic symptoms and samples of leaves, roots and tillers were tested by RT-PCR to detect virus. SCMV moved from the point of inoculation to younger leaves, roots and tillers and eventually to leaves that emerged prior to inoculation. The pattern of SCMV distribution in moderately resistant and susceptible cultivars was not substantially different. However, the virus moved more slowly in the moderately resistant than in the susceptible cultivar. Young leaves proved to be the most suitable tissue for testing.

Soybean growth and yield after single tillage and species mixture of cover plants

The use of cover crops is important for the agricultural crop and soil management in order to improve the system and, consequently, to increase yield. Therefore, the present study analyzed the effect of crop residues of black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb.) (BO) and a cocktail (CO) of BO, forage turnip (Raphanus sativus L.) (FT) and common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) (V) on the emergence speed index (ESI), seedling emergence speed (SES) plant height and soybean yield in different intervals between cover crop desiccation with glyphosate 480 (3 L ha-1) and BRS 232 cultivar sowing. Plots of 5 x 2.5 m with 1 m of border received four treatments with BO cover crops and four with CO as well as a control for each cover crop, at random, with five replications. The plots were desiccated in intervals of 1, 10, 20 and 30 days before soybean seeding. The harvest was manual while yield was adjusted to 13% of moisture content. The experimental design was completely randomized with splitplots and means compared by the Scott and Knott test at 5% of significance. The results showed that CO of cover crops can be recommended for soybean to obtain a more vigorous seedling emergence, from 10 days after cover crop desiccation.

Effects of planting density on flower production in carnation crop

The influence of density of planting on flower production of carnation plants grown in vinil houses, was studied. Planting densities of 233,333; 175,000 and 116,667 plants per hectare were obtained by using planting spacings of 0.20 m between rows and 0.15 m, 0,20 m and 0.30 m between plants. Data were taken on total number of flowers per plant and per hectare. As far as planting densities are concerned, there was an increase of total flower production per hectare and a decrease of slower production per plant.

High elevation Plantago lanceolata plants are less resistant to herbivory than their low elevation conspecifics: is it just temperature?

Traits that mediate species interactions are evolutionarily shaped by biotic and abiotic drivers, yet we know relatively little about the relative importance of these factors. Herbivore pressure, along with resource availability and third-party' mutualists, are hypothesized to play a major role in the evolution of plant defence traits. Here, we used the model system Plantago lanceolata, which grows along steep elevation gradients in the Swiss Alps, to investigate the effect of elevation, herbivore pressure, mycorrhizal inoculation and temperature on plant resistance. Over a 1200 m elevation gradient, the levels of herbivory and iridoid glycosides (IGs) declined with increasing elevation. By planting seedlings at three different elevations, we further showed that both low-elevation growing conditions and mycorrhizal inoculation resulted in increased plant resistance to herbivores. Finally, using a temperature-controlled experiment comparing high- and low-elevation ecotypes, we showed that high-elevation ecotypes are less resistant to herbivory, and that lower temperatures impair IGs deployment after herbivore attack. We thus propose that both lower herbivore pressure, and colder temperatures relax the defense syndrome of high elevation plants.

Growth and metabolic activity of the extramatrical mycelium of endomycorrhizal maize plants

The objective of this experiment was to quantify the extramatrical mycelium of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Glomus etunicatum (Becker & Gerdemann) grown on maize (Zea mays L. var. Piranão) provided with various levels of phosphate fertilizer and harvested at 30, 60 and 90 days after planting (DAP). Total extramatrical mycelium (TEM) was extracted from soil using a modified membrane filtration method, followed by quantification using a grid intersection technique. Active extramatrical mycelium (AEM) proportion was determined using an enzymatic method which measured dehydrogenase activity by following iodonitrotetrazolium reduction. At low levels of added P, there was relatively less TEM than at high levels of added P, but the AEM proportion at low soil P availability was significantly greater than at high soil P.

Does the generalist parasitic plant Cuscuta campestris selectively forage in heterogeneous plant communities?

Cuscuta spp. are holoparasitic plants that can simultaneously parasitise several host plants. It has been suggested that Cuscuta has evolved a foraging strategy based on a positive relationship between preuptake investment and subsequent reward on different host species. Here we establish reliable parasite size measures and show that parasitism on individuals of different host species alters the biomass of C. campestris but that within host species size and age also contributes to the heterogeneous resource landscape. We then performed two additional experiments to test whether C. campestris achieves greater resource acquisition by parasitising two host species rather than one and whether C. campestris forages in communities of hosts offering different rewards (a choice experiment). There was no evidence in either experiment for direct benefits of a mixed host diet. Cuscuta campestris foraged by parasitising the most rewarding hosts the fastest and then investing the most on them. We conclude that our data present strong evidence for foraging in the parasitic plant C. campestris.

Forage yield and quality of a dense thorny and thornless "jurema-preta" stand

The objective of this work was to compare forage production and quality of thorny and thornless "jurema-preta" (Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poiret) in a dense planted stand, subjected to annual pruning of fine branches, in Patos, PB, Brazil. The experiment consisted of two treatments (thornless and thorny "jurema-preta") in a complete randomized block design, with ten replicates of two linear plots subdivided in time. Forage mass and chemical composition of fine branches and the basal diameter of plants were measured during five years. Pruning decreased (p<0.05) increments in basal diameter and forage production. Annual dry matter yields reached 4,108 and 5,833 kg ha-1, respectively, for thornless and thorny plants, and forage quality was similar (p>0.05) for both genotypes. This roughage fodder (minimum NDF and ADF averages were 56±1.1% and 43±1.0%, respectively) had low P and K concentrations. Its average crude protein content was greater than 9.9±0.5%, which exceeds the minimum necessary for animal maintenance. Both "jurema-preta" genotypes tolerated pruning of fine branches and contributed with a significant amount of roughage fodder for animal maintenance in the dry season.

Development and fruit yield of strawberry plants as affected by crown diameter and plantlet growing period

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of crown diameter and growing period of runner tips in 128 cell-trays on growth and yield of strawberry in the field. Treatments consisted of three classes of runner tip crown diameters, between 2.0 to 3.9 mm; 4.0 to 5.5 mm and 5.6 to 7.0 mm, respectively, and four growing periods in trays, 24; 39; 54 and 69 days, respectively. Higher shoot dry mass of transplants at planting and earlier yield of plants in the field were obtained in transplants grown for 69 days in trays. Larger runner tips lead to more vigorous transplants at planting and plants with higher vegetative growth in the field, with minor impact on yield. Increasing the growing time of runner tips in trays improved early fruit yield and decreased plant vegetative growth in the field.

'Tommy Atkins' mango trees subjected to high density planting in subhumid tropical climate in northeastern Brazil

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of high density planting on 'Tommy Atkins' mango trees cultivated in subhumid warm tropical climate in northeastern Brazil. Treatments consisted of five spacial arrangements of plants (8x5 m, 7x4 m, 6x3 m, 5x2 m and 4x2 m), which resulted in the following plant densities: 250 (control), 357, 555, 1,000 and 1,250 plants per hectare. Plant vegetative and reproductive variables, besides fruit quality parameters, were evaluated at seven and eight years after transplantation to the field. In general, high density planting caused reduction in vegetative and reproductive variables of individual mango trees, but had little influence on fruit quality. Above 555 plants per hectare, a significant decrease was observed in mango tree growth. Furthermore, there were decreases in the percentage of flowering, fruit yield per plant and per area. However, planting density up to 357 plants per hectare, in spite of decreasing plant growth and fruit yield per tree, increases fruit yield per area in 30% in comparison to the control.

Leaf-cutting ant attack in initial pine plantations and growth of defoliated plants

The objective of this work was to evaluate the natural attack by Acromyrmex crassispinus in initial Pinus taeda plantations without control measures against ants, as well as the effect of defoliation in seedlings of P. taeda. Evaluations of the attack of leaf-cutting ants on P. taeda plantations were done monthly in the first six months, then 9 and 12 months after planting. The percentages of plants that were naturally attacked by ants were registered. The effect of defoliation was evaluated by artificial defoliation, simulating the natural patterns of attack by A. crassispinus on P. taeda seedlings. The natural attack of A. crassispinus was greater during the first months after planting, being more intense in the first 30 days. Artificial defoliation indicated that there were no significant losses in diameter and height in plants with less than 75% defoliation. However, there were significant losses in diameter and height in plants with 100% defoliation, independently of the cut of the apical meristem, and also plant death. The control of leaf-cutting ants in P. taeda plantings, in which A. crassispinus is the most frequent leaf-cutting ant, should be intense only at the beginning of planting, since the most severe attacks occur during this time.