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This paper provides an overview of traditional hay-making structures and the related agricultural landscapes in Europe. The information was collected using a standardised questionnaire that was completed by experts from different countries. What all countries had in common was that hay production with its corresponding structures was widespread. However, the scope and importance differed among the countries today. We found differences in type and extent, in degree of awareness, and in the cultural meaning of hay-making structures. The differences were connected with built structures, as well as with other tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage. The distribution of the broad variety of hay-making-related structures, especially semipermanent ones, has changed throughout history, as well as the hay-making techniques, as a result of agrarian specialisation, land reclamation, and consolidation. Today, in some countries, the relevance of hay-making was mainly connected to horse keeping and landscape management (like in Germany and Hungary), while in others (like Slovakia and Slovenia), it was still predominantly used for cattle and sheep.

The aim of the current study was to test the viability of including chicory in cows' diet. A total of 2250 data were recorded from 150 Romanian Spotted cows related to 6 forage structures: alfalfa (αα), chicory (C), mixed alfalfa and chicory (αC), mixed gramineous (G), mixed gramineous and alfalfa (Gα), mixed gramineous and chicory (GC). Data aimed total daily duration of forage consumption (TDD), daily round frequency (DRF) and average consumption round (ACR) according to forage structures. The effects of chicory were assessed based on ANOVA protocol with categorical factor "chicory". Chicory significantly influenced (p≤0.05) TDD and ACR. No significant influence (p>0.05) was recorded related to DRF. Chicory significantly increased TDD and DRF compared to G (294 vs. 190.8 min./day, 12.1 vs. 9.37 rounds/day, p≤0.001), being superior compared to αα (264 min./day, 11.3 rounds/day, p≤0.05). Also, chicory improved the forage consumption in mixed GC compared to Gα (243.6 vs. 224.4 min./day, 10.1 vs. 9.8 rounds/day, p≤0.01). In mixed αC, chicory increased TDD and DRF compared to αα (283.8 vs. 264 min./day, 12.6 vs. 11.3 rounds/day, p≤0.05). In conclusion, the use of chicory in cows' diet could improve the feeding behavioural traits with economically benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity is an factor which has a critical influence on seed germination and plant establishment. During the present study the effect of salinity on seeds germination, seedling growth and chlorophyll content of Trifolium repens was studied. Experiments were conducted in laboratory condition. The salinity was induced using three concentration of NaCl (0 mM NaCl, 40 mM and 80 mM). Determinations were recorded in three periods, after (3, 10 and 17 days) and were analysed percentage of germination, MDG and DGS, seedling growth and chlorophyll content. In normal condition Trifolium repens showed highest percentage of germination 79.33%, while in stress salt condition percentage of germination was reduced in proportion to the increase in saline concentration. In salt stress condition we observed that the mean daily germination (MDG) decreased, while daily germination speed (DGS) increased. The effect of the NaCl concentration on the growth in the clover seedlings they showed values between 2.372 cm on the V3 variant and 3.603 cm on the Vo variant. The application of treatments that induced saline stress led to a significant decrease in growth in proportion to the level of differences between treatments. Referring to the effect of the environment on the accumulation of chlorophyll, it was observed that the chlorophyll content decreased under conditions of saline stress (24.15 SPAD). Salt tolerance data may be used to select clover with the highest potential for agronomic production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]