This book provides an excellent illustration of the interrelationship between progress in scientific methodology and conceptual advances, and its publica tion should contribute to further advances. It is well known that major advances in understanding often follow the development of new methods. The development of the acetylene reduction assay for nitrogenase activity provides a good example of this interrelationship between theory and methods. Theoretical knowledge led to a search for substrates for nitro genase that could be assayed for more easily than ammonium, the normal product of the...

This volume contains the Proceedings of the International Conference on Effects of Crop Rotation on Potato Production in the Temperate Zones. This conference was held in the International Agricultural Centre at Wageningen, The Netherlands, August 14 - 19, 1988, under the auspices of the European Association for Potato Research (EAPR), the Potato Association of America (PAA) and the Dutch National Council for Agricultural Research (NRLO). The length of rotations affect the performance of potato crops and yields are often reduced if rotations are too short. The kinds of crops within a rotation...

Sixty years ago at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, G. Samuel, a plant pathologist, and C. S. Piper, a chemist, published their conclusion that the cause of roadside take-all, a disease of oats, was manganese deficiency. This report, together with the concurrent and independent studies of W. M. Carne in Western Australia were the first records of manganese deficiency in Australia and came only six years after McHargue's paper which is generally accepted as the final proof of the essentiality of this element. There must have been a few doubts for some people at the time, however, as...

Forty years ago, when PLANT AND SOIL first appeared, Europe was still recovering from the devastating effects of World War II. During the war years, work in many centres of agricultural research had come to a virtual standstill. Buildings and equipment were destroyed, scientists were often forced to terminate their research and teaching activities and funds allocated to such work were diverted to other, at that time, more pressing needs. During the first post-war years reconstruction was undertaken with great zeal and in that light the founding of the new journal PLANT AND SOIL must be...

On the occasion of its twenty-fifth anniversary, in 1985, the Netherlands Society for Grassland and Fodder Crops (NVWV) agreed to organize an International Symposium on a topic related to intensive grass and fodder production systems. The theme selected was "Animal manure on grassland and fodder crops: Fertilizer or waste?" This Symposium was organized under the auspices of the European Grassland Federation and held at the International Agricultural Centre in Wageningen from 31 August to 3 September 1987. The problems connected with the disposal of animal waste have received much attention in...

Rinie Hofstra has been a member of the Department of Plant Physiology, University of Groningen, the Netherlands, for 24 years. The nearer we came to 31 March 1985, her 65th birthday, the more we all realized how we would miss her - not only scientifically, but also socially. She left her mark on both research and teaching, always with an open mind and willing to change. After her PhD Thesis on 'Nitrogen Metabolism in Tomato Plants' she first continued working in that field, but soon started a joint project with the Department of Plant Ecology on hemiparasites. She then became involved in...

The contentsof this volume representthe proceedings of the First International Symposium on Foliar Fertilization which was organizedby Schering AG Agro- chemical Division's Special Fertilizer Group on 12-14 March 1985. The conference was attended by 130 participants from 35 countries . As a leadingcompany in the field offoliarfertilizers , ScheringAG organizedthis conferenceto gathercurrentknowledgeon foliarfertilization under various crop and environmental conditions.We believe thatthese Proceedings form a basis for a more relevantapproach to foliarfertilization in agriculture and...

Food security, one of the basic human rights, seems to be ever eluding the people of sub-Saharan Africa. With each occurrence of crop failure, agriculturalists around the world reawaken to the challenge of ensuring sta ble, adequate food production in the tropical African environments. The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), with its mandate of alleviating food shortages through judicial use of fertilizers, formulated a program to study fertilizer use strategies for sub-Saharan Africa. With gener ous financial assistance from the International Fund for Agricultural Devel...

The fifth meeting of scientists working with Frankia and actinorhizal plants was held at Montmorency Forest of Laval University in Quebec from August 6-8, 1984. Results of research presented at the meeting are included in this special volume of Plant and Soil. The understanding of actinorhizal systems continue to increase, though work- and use shops and discussions at this and similar meetings make it evident that this important subject remains open for fruitful investigation at all levels. Some important 'firsts' were reported at this meeting. The first extensive survey of Frankiae and their...