soil texture, a granular condition not too fine nor too coarse, neither too 

 compact nor too loose. Let me illustrate this by a simple experiment. 

 Here are two brass tubes with sieve bottoms. . Equal weights of loam 

 were placed in them. In tube No. i the soil was packed to field condi- 

 tions ; in tube No. 2 it was left as loose and open as possible. Water was 

 poured carefully into each and allowed to soak through. When both 

 soils were just filled with water, the loose one contained 34 per cent, more 

 than the compact. In soil six inches deep this is equivalent to one inch 

 of rain, i.e., if a loam is loosened up for a depth of six inches it will 

 absorb one inch more than the compact soil before any of the water is 

 lost by surface run off. The tubes were then let drain, and when all 

 drainage had ceased, it was found that the loose had retained 28 per 

 cent, more water than the compact, which amounts to four-fifths of an 

 inch in six inches of soil. This is equivalent to a very heavy rain. A 

 further test was made with these two samples. We measured the rate 

 of drainage, and it was found that the loose soil allowed water to pass 

 through it more than twice as fast as the compact did. 



This illustration demonstrates one of the chief objects in fall-plow- 

 ing, viz., the absorption and retention of water; it also teaches that deep 

 plowing will achieve this object better than shallow plowing, and further 

 that subsoiling may be beneficial, provided, of course, that the subsoil 

 is left in the bottom of the furrow, as demanded by other conditions. 

 It should be said here, however, that there are some soils, e.g., light 

 sandy loam, which do not admit of loosening up to any great extent, for 

 being of coarse texture they dry out very rapidly when loosened up. We 

 may infer also that lands with open subsoils (not too open, of course,) 

 will have greater reserve of water for the plants in time of drouth than 

 will those with close subsoils. And we might hence inquire if there is 

 any means of improving the texture of subsoils of the latter class. In 

 this connection, we recall that it is a matter of common experience that 

 well drained soils will withstand a drouth better than similar soils not so 

 well drained, although the crops on both might look equally well at the 

 commencement of the drouth. This result, which, at first thought, might 

 not be expected, finds its explanation in the fact that drainage always im- 

 proves the texture of all he soil affected, subsoil as well as surface soil, 

 and with improved texture the water-retaining capacity is increased. 

 Thus, when the soil is in best condition for supplying water to the crops 

 in a dry season, it is likewise most capable of protecting them during a 



wet one. 



But there is another aspect of soil moisture that during seasons of 

 average or scant rainfall is equally as important as that already consid- 

 ered, viz., the conservation of the water after it has been stored in the 

 soil. The one great source of loss is evaporation. Few, I believe, have 

 any conception of how much water may be lost in this way. We have 

 had the good fortune to devise a reliable apparatus for measuring the 

 amount of evaporation from water surfaces, and have been making con- 

 tinuous tests since the middle of May, and I must confess that we have 

 been surprised at the results. The College reservoir, which you have all 

 seen, is approximately 100 feet by 60 feet and 12 feet deep. How much 



