School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Theses
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSelected papers(University of Melbourne, 1972)These selected papers are submitted for examination for the degree of Doctor of Agricultural Science bearing in mind the need to demonstrate that they should constitute - (i) "Substantial published contributions to science applied to some branch of agriculture"; (ii) "Evidence of research and ability satisfactory to the examiners". To this end the papers have been grouped in the following manner. Group I - Papers which collectively provide evidence of the evolution and development of principles and methods for studying land to provide the ecological information needed to determine its capability for various kinds of land-use and so enable better decisions to achieve conservation of natural resources. 1. Soil, land-use and erosion survey around Dookie, Victoria. CSIRO Bull. No. 243, 1949. 2. Soils of the Macquarie Region N.:. . CSIRO Soil Publication No. 4, 1955. 3. Principles and methods of ecological surveys for land-use purposes. Papers for Australian Soils Conference, 1957. 4. Reconnaissance survey of the ecology and land-use in the catchment of the Glenmaggie Reservoir. Soil Conservation Authority Tech. Pubn. No. 1, 1960. 5. A study of the land in north-western Victoria. Soil. Cons. Auth. Tech. Pubn. No. 2, 1963. 6. A study of the land in south-western Victoria. Soil Cons. Auth. Tech. Pubn. No. 3, 1964. 7. The role of humans in land evaluation. CSIRO-UNESCO Symposium on Land Evaluation, Canberra, 1968. Group II - Papers that report results of original research as evidence of contributions to scientific knowledge and its significance as the basis for work by others. 8. The use of the hydrometer for the mechanical analysis of soils. Journ. CSIR Vol. 17, 1944. 9. Tunnelling erosion in north-eastern Victoria. Journ. CSIR Vol. 19, 1946. 10. Studies in the variation of soil reaction - I Field variations at Barooga N.S.W Aust. Journ. Agric. Res. Vol. 2, 1951. 11. Cyclic salt as a dominant factor in the genesis of soils in south-eastern Australia. Aust. Journ. Agric. Res. Vol. 5, 19514. 12. The effect of subterranean clover an Wimmera rye grass in controlling surface run-off from four-acre catchments near Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Aust. Journ. Exp. Agric. & An. Husb. Vol. 2, 1962. Group III - Papers which indicate the application of a conceptual philosophy of conservation based on ecological principles to tae solution of problems of land-use, soil conservation and agriculture. 13. The Westgate Planning Project. Soil Cons. Auth. Pubn. 1953. 14. Conservation problems on solodic soils in Victoria. Journ. Soil & Water Cons. (USA), Vol. 11, 1956. 15. Land management problems following disturbance of the hydrologic balance of environments in Victoria. Proc. 7th Tech. Meeting IUCN, Athens. 1958. 16. Soil salinity in non-irrigated arable and pastoral land as the result of unbalance of the hydrologic cycle. Proc. UNESCO-Arid hone Symposium on Salinity Problems, Teheran, 1958. 17. The ecology and prevention of soil erosion. Chapter XXX - Biogeography and ecology in Australia. Publishers Junk - The Hague, 1959. 18. The water balance and land-use. Proc. Aust. Acad. Sci. Nat. Symposium on Water Resources, Use & Management. Melb. Univ. Press, 1963. 19. The rehabilitation of degraded land for agricultural and pastoral production. ANZAAS, Canberra, 1964. 20. The correlation of failure of earthen dams with environmental features - Colloquium on Failure of Small Earth. Dams - CSIRO, , 1964. 21. Agrometeorology in relation to the control of soil erosion - United Nations .O. Regional Seminar on Agrorneteorology. Melb., 1966. 22. Dryland farming - principles of applying conservation methods in Australia. T roc. Int. Lech. Dryland Farmg. Conf. - Deere Co. and. F.A.C., oline USA, 1969. Group IV - Papers which collectively demonstrate the extension of the conceptual philosophy of conservation as applied to soil conservation and agricultural problems to those related to tie conservation of all natural resources and its application as a basis for influencing social, political, legal and administrative activities in relation to them. 23. The Victorian High plains - The environment and its use. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vict. Vol. 75, 1962. 24. Soil conservation - ho is responsible? - from Coil conservation in the Pacific - Tenth Pacific Science Congress Series, University of Hawaii Press, 1963. 25. Conservation and the community. Journ. Soil & Water Cons. (USA) Vol. 20, 1965, 26. Nature reserves and National larks in relation to the conservation of man's environment. Aust. Journ. Sci. Vol. 30 196', 27. The conflict between conservation and exploitation of natural resources - Paper to ANZAAS Regional Symposium on The planning and management of Australia's natural resources. Univ. New England, 1967. 28. Soil conservation in Iran - Consultant report to F.A.O., 1967. 29. Resources of East Gippsland - Summary of Symposium - Proc. Roy. Soc. Vict. Vol. 82, 1969. 30. Soil Conservation Law in Australia - Soil. Cons. Authority Pubn., 1970. 31. Criteria for resolving conflict about land-use - Aust. Cons. Found. Seminar on Conservation & Wining, Syd. 1971. 32. Management of conservation reserves - ANZAAS Symposium, Brisbane, 1971.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSoil-plant relationships : with particular reference to soil physical properties and root growth(University of Melbourne, 1974)The candidate was admitted to the degrees of Bachelor of Agricultural Science (1948) and Master of Agricultural Science (1952) in the University of Melbourne. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (1958) by the University of Adelaide. The candidate is eligible, subject to approval of the Faculty of Agriculture, for candidature for the degree of Doctor of Agricultural Science. This thesis is submitted to the University of Melbourne towards the requirements for that degree. The experiments described in the thesis were conducted chiefly at the C.S.I.R.O Regional Pastoral Laboratory, Deniliquin, New South Wales (l950-54), and at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, University of Adelaide (1955 onwards). During these periods, one year, 1952, was spent at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, and another, 1961, at the Department of Soils and Plant Nutrition, University of California, Berkeley. Part of 1968 was spent at the Department of Botany, University of Edinburgh. The papers presented in the thesis deal with processes operating in soil-plant systems of agronomic interest. Although the work has not, for the most part, been immediately applied to agriculture by the candidate, it is hoped that it may lead to a better understanding of principles that affect soil management. The work is viewed as a contribution to the scientific study of the soil as a medium for the growth of crops. A short account of the general development of the work is followed by sections dealing with particular subjects. The following sequence is adopted for each subject: Firstly the relevant papers of the candidate are listed in chronological order. Secondly, the papers are discussed in relation to other published work. Finally, the candidate's papers are assembled, also in chronological order. References to papers mentioned in discussion are given at the end of the thesis.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableStudies in animal production(University of Melbourne, 1964)The papers presented in this thesis have been classified under four headings. Many of those in the Animal Behaviour group report work which was carried out while the applicant was a Scientific Officer at the Rowett Research Institute. All of these were planned and largely carried out by the applicant although in some cases authorship was shared with J.G. Gordan who was the applicant's experimental officer. The remaining rapers report work which was carried out while the applicant was on the academic staffs of either the University of Bristol or the University of Melbourne. Many of the pieces of work reported formed part of a post-graduate training programme and authorship is thus shared with post-graduate students. However in all cases the design of each experiment was the responsibility of the applicant and the work formed a continuing programme of study devised by the applicant. In all cases the applicant made a substantial contribution to the execution of the work and bore a major responsibility for the preparation of results for publication. The following list of papers includes those pieces of work which were carried out by post-graduate students under the supervision of the applicant but in which the applicant did not share the authorship.
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ItemCycling of nitrogen in the biosphere and atmosphere( 2013)Selected publications are presented to illustrate Freney’s research on the development of new techniques for assessing the transfer of gaseous nitrogen from fertilizer and animal excreta to the atmosphere, determining the fate of fertilizer nitrogen in different agricultural systems in Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Philippines, establishing the factors controlling emission of gaseous nitrogen compounds from plants, soils and waters, and developing practices to improve efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen and reduce its deleterious effects on the environment
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ItemStudies of the natural and chemically-enhanced resistance of wood to decay( 1977)The researches described in the attached papers followed a prolonged period of change and development. The initial purpose was to evaluate in the laboratory the probable durability of Australian timbers in service as poles, posts, sleepers and so on. (Papers A1, A2, A3, A4). These papers were at the time of publication more rigorous and comprehensive than any published tests. (In this connection, it should be noted that the “Progress Report” series of the Division of Forest Products were distributed to all known major research workers in the field, abstracted in major abstracting journals, and freely cited in publications. Divisional policy was at that time opposed to publication of results in scientific journals, rather than specialized reports with “targeted” distribution). They were especially notable in the variety of test fungi used; in the development of testing techniques which would allow decay in dense timbers (based on extensive so far unpublished experiments on varying technique parameters); in the use of statistical analyses; and in recognition that no single value can be assigned to “natural durability”, a theme developed in A14, my final definitive paper on natural durability, which should be a seminal paper for future work in this field. A major contribution has been the clear understanding that weight losses in decay tests cannot have any absolute value and that tests are essentially comparative. Classification of natural durability is therefore best obtained, not by arbitrary classification on weight losses, but by close comparison with “yardstick” timbers whose durability is thoroughly familiar. (A11, A12, A14). These papers, and several unpublished experiments of the same nature, contributed largely to the lists of natural durability of timbers published by the Division of Forest Products and used in Australian Standards (e.g. As 1604 – 1974, on preservation of sawn timber). Similar inter-species comparisons were later made of Papua New Guinea timbers (A11) where information on natural durability, vital to effective utilization of mixed hardwood rain forests, was virtually absent. From this work on inter-species variation in durability, there came an interest in the causes of this variation and this was investigated for several years in collaboration with Dr. P. Rudman (A3, A4, A7, A9, A10). The initial and critical paper in this series (A3) was a seminal paper in being the first paper to adopt a “toxicity balance” approach, in which the decay resistance of untreated wood, of extracted wood, and of susceptible wood containing these extractives was measured. This was important because previous workers had concentrated on the toxicity of specific extractives as the explanation of durability, neglecting the possibility that the wood might still be durable after complete removal of these extractives, due to other extractives or to physical factors. My approach also took account of the detoxification of extractives during removal and of the effect of their original distribution in the wood. The paper also contained the first description of a reliable and precise technique for determining decay resistance of wood meal of a variety of species. Since adequate extraction required conversion of wood to a finely-divided form, this technique was essential and was unexpectedly difficult to develop. The general design of the work the decay technique, the decay tests and interpretation of the results were the work of the senior author. This line of work on chemical reasons for decay resistance was gradually transferred to Dr. Rudman. Because of the reputation acquired from earlier work on natural durability, work on natural durability of teak (Tectona grandee) was requested by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. This was concerned with relative durability of plantation-grown and natural teak and with possible detrimental effects of high growth rates on durability. The resultant work (A5, A6, A7, A8) showed that the widely held belief that fast frown timber was less durable was, at best, only partially true. The papers were important in describing some of the few attempts to test this experimentally and in pioneering multiple regression analyses to assess the relative importance of silvicultural, factors in durability of teak and the potential importance of decay resistance testing in selection and breeding of teak and other timbers. The early stages of my research in wood pathology were confined to natural durability, but with the establishment and rapid growth of a pressure-impregnation wood preservation industry in Australia, and the world-wide need for more sophisticated treatments, my research activities changed to study of chemically enhanced decay resistance. After some preliminary investigations to solve urgent problems (B1, B2, B3), they took the form of an intensive study of water-borne preservatives (especially copper-chrome-arsenic preservatives or “CCA”) and factors affecting their efficiency (B4, B5, B6, B7, B16, B19); and also a study of factors affecting the performance of Australian [?] (B8, B10, B11, B12, B18, B20). CCA studies were important as being the most comprehensive studies to that date of fixed water-borne preservatives (B6) and as the first to discuss the effect of wood substrate on preservative performance (B7), a topic of international recognition in the 1970’s. My demonstration of the enormous variation in CCA tolerance of basidiomycete wood-destroying fungi (C1) led to a fundamental study of fungal tolerance (c4, C5, C6). This included the original discovery that basidiomycete cultures could be dedikaryotized by toxic agents (C2, C3) a discovery of considerable importance to general biology and experimental fungal taxonomy, as well as to wood pathology (C5). My later discovery that the toxic effects of arsenic could be antidote by phosphate (B16, C7, C8, B19, B21) is also one of fundamental importance to general biology, as well as to wood pathology, especially to techniques of standard testing of wood preservatives (C7, C8). The research on creosote established conclusively that removal of phenols from low temperature creosotes lowered their efficiency and led directly to a revision of the Standards Association of Australia specification for creosote (despite considerable opposition from manufacturers). The work on use of propylene oxide for sterilization (B10, B11) had important implications in view of its widespread use in laboratory tearing (e.g. in British Standard 338; 1961). I was probably the first worker to use propylene oxide as a sterilant for wood specimens (B3, C1) and have much unpublished data on its use, as well as the best statement to date (B11) of its limitations. Apart from work on CCA and on creosotes, I studied various organic solvent preservatives (B9, B13< B14) and also studied the use of special techniques for preservation of plywood (B15, B17). In general, these papers are regarded as making a substantial contribution to the science of wood pathology and of biodeterioration as well as having had some influence in the application of wood preservation technology in Australia and overseas. Many of the papers (e.g. A1, A3, A8, A10, A11, A14, B6, B9, B17, B20, C1, C2, C5, C6, C7) introduced novel concepts and techniques.