2012. Comparisons among cultivars of wheat, hulled and hulless oats: Effects of N fertilization on growth and yield. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92: 1213Á1222. There is limited comparative research on the responses of crop growth and yield to N fertilization in hulless (Avena nuda) and hulled (Avena sativa) oats. A field study was conducted for 3 yr at Ottawa, ON, to assess the growth and grain yield of current wheat (Triticum aestivum), hulled and hulless oat cultivars with three N fertility levels. Averaged across the 3 yr, both the mid and high (75 and 150 kg N ha (1 ) N treatments demonstrated statistically similar, but higher, leaf area index (LAI) and total dry matter (TDM) than the 0 N treatment, regardless of crop types. At final harvest, with increasing N supply, both hulled oat Gosling and wheat cultivar AC Brio had similar and higher TDM than the hulless oat VAO-2 in 2006, whereas both oat cultivars produced much lower (PB0.01) grain yield than wheat in 2008, primarily due to early lodging of the oat cultivars. Overall, the wheat cultivar AC Brio produced the greatest grain yield with the highest harvest index (HI), followed by hulled Gosling; the hulless oat had the lowest grain yield and the lowest HI. Compared with the wheat cultivar, the lower grain yield of both hulled and hulless oats was attributed to a lower (PB0.05) HI and more severe crop lodging (especially when lodging occurred early), coupled with a higher LAI at flowering. Our results suggest that enhancing HI and resistance to crop lodging are the primary targets for both the hulled and hulless oat cultivar improvement in eastern Canada. et Ren, C. Z. 2012. Comparaison des cultivars de ble´, d'avoine et d'avoine a`grains nus : incidence des engrais azote´s sur la croissance et le rendement. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92: 1213Á1222. Peu de recherches comparent la manie`re dont la croissance et le rendement de l'avoine a`grains nus (Avena nusa) et de l'avoine (Avena sativa) re´agissent aux amendements azote´s. Pendant trois ans, les auteurs ont proce´de´a`des essais sur le terrain, a`Ottawa (Ontario), en vue d'e´valuer la re´action de la croissance et du rendement grainier de cultivars courants de ble´(Triticum aestivum), d'avoine et d'avoine a`grains nus a`trois taux de fertilisation. Quand on calcule la moyenne de ces trois anne´es, on constate qu'un taux de fertilisation moyen ou e´leve´(75 et 150 kg de N par hectare) donne un indice de la superficie foliaire (ISF) et une quantitet otale de matie`re se`che (QTMS) statistiquement similaires, supe´rieurs a`ceux obtenus sans amendement azote´, peu importe la culture. À la re´colte, en 2006, quand les re´serves de N e´taient plus importantes, l'avoine Gosling et le ble´AC Brio se sont caracte´rise´s par une QTMS similaire, supe´rieure a`celle de l'avoine a`grains nus VAO-2, tandis qu'en 2008, les deux cultivars d'avoine ont donne´un rendement grainier nettement infe´rieur (PB0,01) a`celui du ble´, principalement a`cause de la verse haˆtive de l'avoine. Dans l'ensemble, le ble´AC Brio a donne´le meilleur ren...

Ma, B. L. and Dwyer, L. M. 2012. Changes in kernel characteristics during grain filling in silage-specific and dual-purpose corn hybrids. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92: 427–439. Silage-specific corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids have been gaining in popularity in recent years, but there is a lack of information about the difference in kernel characterization between Leafy silage-specific and dual-purpose hybrids. A field study was conducted for 4 yr to determine the changes in kernel moisture content, kernel dry weight, kernel nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations over the period of grain filling for Leafy silage-specific and dual-purpose hybrids at two plant population densities. In both types of hybrids, kernel dry weight content increased rapidly from approximately 2 wk after silking and reached a maximum at about 50 to 68 d after silking. While some differences among hybrids in kernel maximum dry weight were noted (P<0.05), there was no distinction between hybrid types. The coefficients of kernel moisture change differed greatly between the two types with lower rates of decline of kernel moisture in some of the Leafy silage-specific hybrids (down-hill slope b<0.0136±0.00044 g kg−1d−1) than the dual-purpose or silage hybrids without the Leafy characteristic (b≥0.0164±0.00039 g kg−1d−1). Higher plant population density had a negligible effect on kernel moisture decline and N and P concentrations, but reduced kernel dry weight by up to 7% in one year. Kernel P was linearly positively correlated with N content (r>0.79, P<0.01), and there was a linear relationship between kernel moisture and the whole-plant silage moisture content (R2≥0.70). Our data also showed that one of the Leafy silage-specific hybrids had higher rates of kernel dry weight accumulation and softer kernel hardness (P<0.05) than the dual-purpose or non-Leafy silage hybrids. Our findings on the distinct characteristics of hybrid types are important considerations for corn producers to choose suitable hybrids and make decisions on silage harvest dates.