Effects of clipping height on some basic characteristics of

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to study the reaction of timothy grass to different clipping heights. In the greenhouse of the Agronomy Department of Agricultural Faculty of Ankara University where the research was carried out, 20 pots planted young timothy grass were clipped in 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 cm heights for 86 days in the spring of 1997 as they reached 15 cm height. No fertiliser was applied but they watered when needed. The forage obtained from every cut was weighted and recorded. Experiment was terminated when the control plants had spikes. The soil in pots washed away and roots weighted and recorded. After dried at 70 0C for 24 h. According to the results obtained; plants cut in 2.5 cm gave the lowest usable forage, total forage, tiller number, dry root weight. Plants were cut 7-12 times during the experimental period depending on their clipping heights. The number of cutting was increased with the clipping height. Plants cut in 2.5 cm gave the lowest tiller number. The highest forage yield, tiller number and root weight were obtained from the plants cut in 7.5 and 10 cm as the example of moderate grazing. The strongest effect of heavy cutting or grazing was on the root development. Plants cut 2.5 cm produced 6 times less root weight than the control plants did. There were no significant differences among the plants cut in 7.5 and 10 cm. Forage yield, number of cutting, root weight, tiller number were increased with the clipping height. Heavy grazing and clipping reduced the development of timothy grass.