Aug. 20, 191 7 



Relation of Soil Water Movement 



425 



appears to be no definite dependence of the rise upon the initial moistness 

 of the soils (fig. 2). 



DISTRIBUTION OF MOISTURE) IN THE COLUMNS 



The moisture content of the upper 2-inch section of the moistened 

 portion of the soil column, the height of which is shown in Table XVIII, 

 is reported in Table XX. 



The eight finest textured soils showed the highest percentage of moisture 

 at the head of the advancing moist layer when used in the driest condition. 

 The coarser textured members, K, I^, and M, showed no regularity. 



In the soils other than the sands, N, O, P, and Q, the moisture con- 

 dition of this moist layer shows a close relation to the moisture retentive- 

 ness (2). From this we may conclude that the advancing moist layer 

 in such soils carries a moisture content approximately equal to the mois- 

 ture equivalent, or from 1.7 to 2.5 times the hygroscopic coefficient. 



Table XX. — Moisture content of the uppermost 2-inch section of the moistened portion 

 of the soil column after the base of the column had been in contact with water for 8 to 10 



days 



RELATION OF PENETRATION TO CAPILLARY RISE 



When the soils are arranged in the order of the distance of penetration 

 or of the rate at the end of any interval and also of the distance and 

 rate of capillary rise, the relative positions of the various soils show no 

 similarity. This is well illustrated by the curves for soils H and M in 

 figures I and 2. In these two soils the downward movement was very 

 similar (Table XVI) , while in capillary rise they showed little similarity. 

 The same lack of similarity was shown by the data of Von Liebenberg 

 obtained from investigations with dry soils (11, tables 3 and 15). 



