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The effect of mechanical treatment on the drying rates of Italian and perennial ryegrasses
Author(s) -
Frost,
Binnie
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2494.1999.00162.x
Subject(s) - perennial plant , conditioning , lolium perenne , zoology , agronomy , chemistry , horticulture , mathematics , biology , statistics
On two occasions in 1995 the effects of severity of conditioning and pressing on the drying rate of Italian ( Lolium multiflorum Lam.; IR) and perennial ( Lolium perenne L.; PR) ryegrass were assessed. The cut herbage was either left unconditioned (0C) or conditioned by passing through a laboratory scale macerator three (3C) or six (6C) times after which the herbage was placed into wire mesh trays and either left unpressed (0P) or pressed (P). The twelve treatment combinations (two species × three conditioning levels × two pressings) were replicated three times on each of the two occasions. On each occasion the trays plus herbage were weighed at hourly intervals over an ≈6‐h period and dry matter (DM) of the herbage was estimated from the weight change. Pressing treatment gave, on average, a negative effect on the drying rate of the herbage. Conditioning significantly ( P < 0·001) increased the drying rate of the herbage. Compared with 0C herbage, the greatest increase in drying rate was obtained with the 3C treatment; the additional conditioning imposed by the 6C treatment produced only a small further increase in drying rate. Drying constants calculated for each treatment combination showed that IR dried 1·45 times faster than PR and that, compared with 0C, herbage drying rate was 2·18 and 2·38 times greater as a consequence of the 3C and 6C treatments respectively. Pressed (P) herbage dried at a rate of 0·90 of that of the unpressed herbage (0P).