EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS 



185 



The final table In the series shows the average moisture in each foot in depth of 

 the several plots on each strip from June 4th to September 7th, inclusive. It is 

 as follows: . 



AVERAGE PER CENT OF MOISTURE FOR THE SEASON. 



East strip. 



Plot 1, no cultivation 



Plot 2, frequent cultivation, 3 in 

 Plot 3, frequent cultivation, 5 in 

 Plot 4. ordinary cultivation 



Av. for 

 three feet. 



Per cent. 



5.84 

 7.03 

 7.09 

 6.79 



West strip. 



It is evident from the table giving the average moisture during the growth of 

 the corn that Plot 3 in the east strip has the largest amount of moisture of any in 

 that series. Plot 2 is next with but a slight decrease; Plot 4 is next and Plot 1 has 

 the smallest amount of any. The same table shows us that in the west strip the 

 relative amounts of moisture stand in exactly the same order. The variation in 

 moisture is nearly the same in both series. The evidence in favor of frequent 

 cultivation for preserving moisture is very strong, inasmuch as the duplicate trials 

 agree perfectly and the results are in exact accord with those secured in the experi- 

 ments of 1897. 



The difference in moisture between plots cultivated 5 inches deep and those culti- 

 vated shallow is small, but the results on one strip confirm those on the other, both 

 as to the total amount of water present during the season as a whole and as to the 

 variation in water content from period to period. The table shows that the average 

 moisture for the first and second foot of Plot 3 is invariably lai'g-er than for similar 

 depths in Plot 2. It also shows that in the third foot of plot 3 there is less moisture 

 than in the corresponding foot of Plot 2. Throughout the dryest part of the season, 

 after July 5th, there was continuously more moisture in Plot 3, in both strips than 

 in any other plot. The moisture in the upper foot of the soil is manifestly larger on 

 every date when a sample was taken. In Plot 3, than in the other plots. There are 

 single exceptions, but as a rule the statement is true. In the second foot after July 

 5th there is again more moisture in Plot 3, cultivated five inches deep, than in 

 the other plots. The results vary as to the amount of moisture in the third foot. On 

 the east strip the third foot in depth seems to be more wet in Plot 2, cultivated three 

 inches deep, than in Plot 3, where the cultivation was five inches deep. On the west 

 strip the third foot in depth contains more moisture in Plot 3, cultivated five inches 

 deep, than in Plot 2, except on the dates July 5th and August 23rd. The relative 

 moisture content of Plots 2 and 3 is not materially different. 



Prof. King has secured results similar to these in plots cultivated one and one- 

 half and three inches deep. On pages 279 and 280 of the Wisconsin Report for 1894, 

 the results of twelve determinations to a depth of four feet are given. In the third 

 plot five determinations out of twelve show more moisture in the shallow than in 

 the deep cultivated plot and in the fourth foot six out of the twelve show the same 

 thing. In only one instance in the first foot in depth is there more moisture in th*^ 

 plot cultivated shallow than in the one deeply tilled. In the second foot there is 

 not a single case of this kind. The total evidence in these experiments is largely in 

 favor of the deep cultivation. It must not be concluded that, because cultivation to 

 a depth of five inches secures more moisture, that five inches is the depth to be pre 

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