Improvement of the field drying rate of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) using potassium carbonate and mechanical conditioning

The use of roll‐conditioning and potassium carbonate (K2CO3) to increase the drying rate of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.)

“…Although the combination of these treat-single, well-ventilated layer, with plant factors ments provided only a slight acceleration of drying being the only limitations to drying and therefore relative to KjCOj alone, the uniformity of drying benefits from KjCOj alone were probably close to the optimum. In a field situation mechanical conditioning would probably be more important in combination with K^COj, setting up a swath with good ventilation necessary for the expression of chemical effects at the plant level; poor results with KjCOj in the field relative to laboratory studies were previously linked with inadequate swath structure (Meredith and Warboys 1989;1993). As observed by Jones (1984), some redistribution of chemical would be another potential gain from the combined treatment under field conditions, where spray application would not give the cotnplete cover achieved by the immersion technique of laboratory studies.…”

“…In combination, K^COj and mechanical treatments have given mutual improvements in effectiveness during field tests in the USA (Rotz et al 1982(Rotz et al , 1984 and in the UK (Meredith and Warboys, 1989), Thomas et al (1983) found that the use of K^COj would eliminate the difference in drying rates between lightly and heavily crimped luceme hay, promoting faster drying without the higher 'clipping losses' associated with severe mechanical conditioning. This study was carried out under laboratory conditions to more closely examine the effects on drying when these different types of treatment were combined.…”

“…Roll-conditioners have been widely used to accelerate the field drying of luceme cut for hay (Miller and Wedin, 1972;Rotz and Sprott, 1984) and aqueous potassium carbonate (K^COj) has also proven a useful desiccant in laboratory (Tullberg and Angus, 1978) and field studies (Tullberg and Minson, 1978). In combination, K^COj and mechanical treatments have given mutual improvements in effectiveness during field tests in the USA (Rotz et al 1982(Rotz et al , 1984 and in the UK (Meredith and Warboys, 1989), Thomas et al (1983) found that the use of K^COj would eliminate the difference in drying rates between lightly and heavily crimped luceme hay, promoting faster drying without the higher 'clipping losses' associated with severe mechanical conditioning. This study was carried out under laboratory conditions to more closely examine the effects on drying when these different types of treatment were combined.…”

Chemical and mechanical conditioning for field drying of Trifolium pratense L.

“…Significantinteractions in MC were observed among treatments and time in trials 4 and 5 (Table 2) Other workers have demonstrated that chemical and mechanical conditioning applied together were superior in hastening the field drying of alfalfa (Rotz et al 1984;Meredith and Warboys 1989) and red clover (Clark et al 1989) (Rotz et al 1984;Clark et al 1989;Meredith and Warboys 1989), and were effective in reducing MC to an acceptable level in 52 h of field drying. Possingham (1972) For personal use only.…”