The increasing input costs for traditional agriculture has led land owners and producers in search of alternative opportunities to increase on-farm income. Replacing agricultural crops with short rotation woody species such as hybrid poplar trees is a form of agroforestry. The objectives of this project were to evaluate: 1) a suitable planting stock for hybrid poplar, 2) the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilizer application and pruning on hybrid poplar growth and, 3) the response of four hybrid poplar clones to fertilizer application and their suitability in the boreal transition ecoregion of Saskatchewan. <p>Two trials were established near Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan where three stock types (cuttings, root cuttings and rooted plugs) of Walker poplar were planted into former alfalfa and pasture fields. Trees were pruned each spring to remove multiple leaders and fertilized in year 2 with 100 kg N ha-1. The presence of roots on rooted cutting and plug stock types was beneficial in terms of hybrid poplar growth and survival. Trees grown from planting stock without roots had survival rates between 32-37% whereas, the survival of trees with roots at the time of planting ranged from 62-81% after two years of growth. Trees that were planted as a rooted stock were 3.5 to 4.2 times greater in height and 4.0 to 5.6 times greater in root collar diameter than trees planted as an un-rooted stock type. The application of fertilizer N decreased tree volumes by 31% at the Alfalfa site and had no effect on tree growth at the Pasture site. The total amount of fertilizer N recovered by the hybrid poplar trees ranged from 1-3% at the Alfalfa site and 3-5% at the Pasture site. <p>The second study involved planting four clones of hybrid poplar (Hill, Katepwa, Walker and WP-69) at the same two sites and applying fertilizer at rates of 0, 150 and 300 kg N ha-1 the first two years. Following the second growing season, Katepwa and WP-69 clones had the highest tree volumes of 750 and 1147 cm3 of the four clones evaluated. The Walker clone had the poorest survival rates (52-56%) compared to the other three clones (> 90% survival). Foliar N levels were not correlated with tree height at the Alfalfa (p=0.1326) or the Pasture (p=0.1063) sites. The relationship between foliar P concentration and tree height was more pronounced during July at the Alfalfa site with an r2 value of 0.7102. The N:P ratios for foliar tissue decreased with increasing fertilizer N application during August at the Alfalfa site. Foliar N:P ratios were the same among fertilizer and clone treatments at the Pasture site in August. <p>Results from this study suggest that rooted stock types increase the successful establishment of hybrid poplar plantations. However, application of N fertilizer may not increase growth of trees if soil N is adequate. Other soil nutrients need to be measured prior to fertilization to determine what nutrients may be limiting plant growth.

The increasing input costs for traditional agriculture has led land owners and producers in search of alternative opportunities to increase on-farm income. Replacing agricultural crops with short rotation woody species such as hybrid poplar trees is a form of agroforestry. The objectives of this project were to evaluate: 1) a suitable planting stock for hybrid poplar, 2) the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilizer application and pruning on hybrid poplar growth and, 3) the response of four hybrid poplar clones to fertilizer application and their suitability in the boreal transition ecoregion of Saskatchewan. <p>Two trials were established near Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan where three stock types (cuttings, root cuttings and rooted plugs) of Walker poplar were planted into former alfalfa and pasture fields. Trees were pruned each spring to remove multiple leaders and fertilized in year 2 with 100 kg N ha-1. The presence of roots on rooted cutting and plug stock types was beneficial in terms of hybrid poplar growth and survival. Trees grown from planting stock without roots had survival rates between 32-37% whereas, the survival of trees with roots at the time of planting ranged from 62-81% after two years of growth. Trees that were planted as a rooted stock were 3.5 to 4.2 times greater in height and 4.0 to 5.6 times greater in root collar diameter than trees planted as an un-rooted stock type. The application of fertilizer N decreased tree volumes by 31% at the Alfalfa site and had no effect on tree growth at the Pasture site. The total amount of fertilizer N recovered by the hybrid poplar trees ranged from 1-3% at the Alfalfa site and 3-5% at the Pasture site. <p>The second study involved planting four clones of hybrid poplar (Hill, Katepwa, Walker and WP-69) at the same two sites and applying fertilizer at rates of 0, 150 and 300 kg N ha-1 the first two years. Following the second growing season, Katepwa and WP-69 clones had the highest tree volumes of 750 and 1147 cm3 of the four clones evaluated. The Walker clone had the poorest survival rates (52-56%) compared to the other three clones (> 90% survival). Foliar N levels were not correlated with tree height at the Alfalfa (p=0.1326) or the Pasture (p=0.1063) sites. The relationship between foliar P concentration and tree height was more pronounced during July at the Alfalfa site with an r2 value of 0.7102. The N:P ratios for foliar tissue decreased with increasing fertilizer N application during August at the Alfalfa site. Foliar N:P ratios were the same among fertilizer and clone treatments at the Pasture site in August. <p>Results from this study suggest that rooted stock types increase the successful establishment of hybrid poplar plantations. However, application of N fertilizer may not increase growth of trees if soil N is adequate. Other soil nutrients need to be measured prior to fertilization to determine what nutrients may be limiting plant growth.

本研究以民國86年至90年之54檔投資台灣開放式一般股票型之共同基金為研究對象，探討財務資訊與股票型基金持股間之關聯。主要實證議題包括：（一）在不同的產業之下，共同基金經理人從事持股決策所重視的財務屬性是否有差異及（二）公司之財務表現與共同基金對該公司平均持股比例之關聯性。 本研究分別針對建築、食品、塑化、紡織、電機、資訊電子及服務銷售類等七個產業，首先利用因素分析將16項財務比率萃取出數個具代表性之財務屬性，並加入股票週轉率、淨值市價比、本益比與每股股價等控制變數進行迴歸分析，以探討財務屬性與共同基金平均持股比例之關聯性。 實證結果發現，償債能力、經營能力、投資報酬、經營績效、固定資產資金之安全與效率和現金支應能力六個財務屬性最能代表建築產業之財務表現；償債能力、經營能力、應收帳款週轉率和獲利能力四個財務屬性最能代表食品產業之財務表現；償債能力、利息保障倍數、經營能力、和獲利能力四個財務屬性最能代表塑化產業之財務表現;償債能力、利息保障倍數、經營能力、獲利能力和財務結構五個財務屬性最能代表紡織產業之財務表現;償債能力、資金適足率、經營能力、獲利能力和財務結構五個財務屬性最能代表電機產業之財務表現；償債能力、經營能力和獲利能力三個財務屬性最能代表資訊電子產業之財務表現；而償債能力、經營能力、獲利能力、負債比率和固定資產資金之安全與效率五個財務屬性最能代表服務銷售產業之財務表現。各個產業所萃取出之財務屬性因素不盡相同，顯示彙總公司財務狀況及經營績效的財務屬性確有產業別之差異存在。在所探討的財務屬性構面中，償債能力、經營能力、獲利能力為各產業共同強調之財務屬性。 就基金經理人所做的持股策略來看，不論針對何種產業，償債能力、經營能力及獲利能力均是基金經理人最為重視的財務屬性指標。研究結果另外也顯示，除了服務銷售業、食品業與建築業外，其他產業之償債能力屬性表現越好，基金持股比例愈高。塑化業、紡織業、電機業、資訊電子業和服務銷售業之經營能力屬性表現愈好，基金持股比例也相對愈高。至於獲利能力屬性則在紡織業、電機業、資訊電子業和服務銷售業顯著地對基金持股比例有正面的影響。 本研究之發現顯示，不同的產業在不同的經營環境下，反映公司狀況的財務資訊會因產業別而有所不同，即使在相同的財務比率下，彙總公司財務狀況及經營結果之財務因素屬性仍有所差異，並進而影響基金經理人的持股決策，尤其是償債能力、經營能力和獲利能力，更是投資各產業時廣泛參考的基本財務屬性指標。 關鍵字：股票型基金、財務屬性、基金持股比例 / The primary object of this research is to exam the relationship between financial information of a firm and its share held by mutual funds, based on 54 mutual funds of general stock investments in Taiwan over the period of 1997 to 2001. Two major research issues are investigated in this thesis. The study first explores whether the managers of mutual funds emphasize on the same attributes abstracted from financial statements across different industries for their share-holding decisions. The study then examines the relationship between financial performance of a company and its average invested percentage by mutual funds. This thesis focuses on architecture, foods, plastic, textile, electrical machinery, information electronics, as well as service and sales industries. Based on a factor analysis approach, the thesis is able to obtain several representative dimensions of financial attributes out of 16 financial ratios. Then, the use of multiple regression models enables the study to investigate the relationship between financial attributes and average shareholding percentage of the mutual funds across industries. The empirical results indicate that financial attributes extracted are not exactly the same across industries. It implies that industry differences do exist in financial attributes that summarize the financial conditions and operating performances of companies. Among others, attributes that characterize the performance of liquidity, operating efficiency, and profitability of a firm are found important for share-holding percentage across all industries examined. The research findings show that with exceptions in the service and sales, foods, and architecture industries, liquidity has found to have a significant and positive relation with the share-holding percentage of mutual funds in all industries examined. Operating efficiency has also found to be significantly and positively associated with the share-holding percentage in the plastic, textile, electrical machinery, information electronics, as well as service and sales industries. In addition, a significant and positive relation is found between profitability and the share-holding percentage in the electrical machinery, information electronics, textile, as well as service and sales industries. The finding of this study implies that difference in financial conditions of firms may result in difference in financial attributes across industries; even the analysis is based on the same financial ratios. Further, the liquidity, operating efficiency and profitability are the most essential indicators shared by mutual funds managers in making investment decisions. Keywords: stock-type mutual fund, financial attribute, share-holding ratio