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With the rising costs and the declining availabilit y of peat, it is necessary to look for alternative materials to be used as growth media. Clay soil and composted rice straw are cheap and readily available candidates once there pH is adjusted. In the current study, growth of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis was compared in different growth substrates (peat moss, clay and composted rice straw) treated with ferrous sulfate (200 ml/pot) at various time intervals (0, 10, 20 and 30 days). Peat moss produced the best vegetative and flowering growth characteristics along with the highest leaf content of chlorophylls a & b, N, K and Mn in both seasons. Rice straw-grown plant s showed moderate growth proving superior to clay-g rown ones in terms of plant height, branch number, internode number and length, shoot fresh and dry weights, flower diameter, leaf content of arotenoids, P and Cu. Using of ferrous sulfate enhanced the performance of both rice straw and clay. This effect was clear as the frequency of the application was increased and the most frequent application (10-day interval) produced generally the best results. Composted rice straw and clay soil treated with ferrous sulphate at 10-day interval were comparable to peat moss regarding their effect on growth and flowering of gardenia plants.

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Abstract Two field experiments were conducted during 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 seasons at Agronomy Dept. Farm., Agric. Fac., Assiut Univ., to study the response of lentil to foliar application of mixture phosphorus and potassium under different irrigation treatment. The results showed that: Irrigation treatments had a highly significant influence on the all studied traits except harvest index in both seasons. So, plants which received one irrigation (I1) at pre-flowering (45 days after sowing) produced the highest values of all studied traits. While, plants which received highest values of foliar application of mixture phosphorus and potassium produced the highest mean values of all studied traits except harvest index and protein% in both seasons. The interaction between irrigation management and foliar application of mixture phosphorus and potassium had a significant effect on all studied traits except harvest index and protein% in both seasons. Plants which received the mixture phosphorus and potassium with I1 irrigation produced the highest values of plant height (47.34 and 45.36 cm), number of branches plant-1 (4.52 and 4.25), number of pods plant-1 (46.25 and 44.35), seed yield (1.46 and 1.42 g plant-1), seed yield (1.42 and 1.41 kg plot-1), seed index (26.57 and 27.05), straw yield (6.43 and 6.65 kg plot-1), and seed yield (568.0 and 560.0 kg fed.-1) in the first and second season respectively, comparing with plants control.

The experiment examined the effect of body weight, season of birth and GnRH injection i.v. (5 ug/kg body weight/animal 2-h intervals for 24 hours) on age at puberty and p4 concentration in 10 Rhamni ewe lambs six months of age with mean body weight 19.88 ± 0.78 kg. This study started on June 20, 2001 and continued until the expected time of puberty in the Farm of Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar university, Assiut. The ewe lambs were divided at random into two equal groups. The first group included three lambs born in autumn and two ewe lambs born in winter and this group was considered as control (Ctrl). The second group also involved three ewe lambs born in autumn and two ewe lambs born in winter and this group was treated by GnRH i.v. injection and considered as treated ewe lambs (Tr.). After GnRH injection , two fertile rams were allowed to remain with each group for half an hour/day for estrous detection. All ewe lambs were fed the same ration with 11 % crude protein and 12 % ash. Each animal was given 750 g dry matter/daily of the ration which consisted of yellow corn , wheat straw, wheat bran and decorticated cotton seed meal. Green fodder, water and mineral blocks were freely available throughout the experiment. Blood samples were collected from the ewe lambs starting from June 20,2002 and the expected time of puberty . Blood (5 ml) was drawn from the jugular vein twice a week. Blood serum was separated and stored at -20 oC until assayed for P4. When the P4 concentration reached the peak for the first time over 1.0 ng/ml blood serum, this was taken as the occurrence of puberty. Results indicated that the difference between body weight of ewe lambs treated with GnRH and the Ctrl. Lacked significance. The overall mean of Rahmani body weight at puberty represented 38-42 % of the adult body weight . There was no significant difference between the two groups in age at puberty. Most treated lambs displayed higher P4 concentration than control lambs. Season of birth had also a highly significant effect (P0.01) on P4 concentration. The first peak of serum P4 (over 1.0 ng/ml) concentrations occurred 99 days after the beginning of GnRH treatment, while the second peak of over 1.0 ng/ml) concentration occurred 90 days after the first peak of P4. Treated lambs born in winter achieved the first peak of P4 concentration much earlier than control lambs born in autumn. So, GnRH was more effective in lambs born in winter than those born in autumn in accelerating the time of puberty in Rahmani ewe lambs

Abstract Adult Damascus does (n=18) were used in this experiment to investigate the relationship of Damascus’s does estrous activity (EA) to body weight (BW), body measurements (BM) and progesterone profile (P4) across seasons. Results indicated that season had significant effects on estrous activity, P4 level, BW and BM. Estrous percentage, estrous duration (ED), normal estrous cycle (EC), and P4 concentration decreased significantly with decreasing BW and some BM. ED increased with increasing normal EC. Short and long EC increased respectively in autumn and summer. P4 levels varied significantly among the three EC types and was influenced significantly by season during pro-estrus and di-estrus phases. Positive correlations occurred between (P4 level, ED and EC) and (BW and some BM). Conclusion, BW and some BM may be used as good criteria in raising the reproductive performance of farm animals, further, Damascus does displayed their maximal hormonal and estrus activity in autumn and winter.