VARIABILITY OF IN VITRO DIGESTIBILITY AMONG CLONES OF BROMEGRASS AND ORCHARDGRASS

Abstract

Individual clones of bromegrass (Bromus inermis) and orchard-grass (Dactylis glomerata) were harvested at corresponding stages of maturity within each species. The orchardgrass clones were harvested in 1962, and the in vitro digestibility (IVD) was based on the whole plant. Bromegrass clones, harvested in 1965 and 1966, were separated into leaves and stems. The IVD of each component was determined, and from these, the IVD for the whole plant was estimated. Among 444 orchard-grass clones, IVD values ranged from 49 to 68%. Most of the variation was attributed to genotypic effects. For approximately 250 clones of bromegrass, IVD values ranged from 66 to 75%, 58 to 73%, and 62 to 74%, for leaves, stems, and whole plants respectively. Over the 2-year period, differences among stems and whole plants were significant. Correlations between leaf and stem digestibilities were significant but of low magnitude. Ten clones of bromegrass had stems and leaves of equal digestibility. In bromegrass, IVD values showed no relationship to several phenotypic characteristics.