The Lois Weedoii Plan of Groioing Wheat. 



611 



exposed for 24 hours in the open warm room at 60° to 70°. In 

 this condition the specimens were put into closed bottles ; from 

 each of which one portion was taken for the determination of the 

 moisture separable at 212^, and separate portions for that of the 

 nitrog-en, the duplicate beinj^ in each case made by a second 

 experimenter. The following are the results : — 



Table VI. — licsults of further Experiments on the comparative Absorptive Power, for Water 

 and Ammonia, of difi'erent Soils. 



The soils being throughout this experiment in a m.oister state, 

 it seems thev did not become so dry by exposure in the warm 

 room ; nor were the differences in the retentive power under these 

 circumstances so great as in the former instance. JN evert heless, 

 conformably Avith the former results, the Lois Weedon heavy 

 land retained more water than the light land, and more also than 

 either of the Rothamsted soils. Ihe Rothamsted subsoil, too, 

 retains more tlian eitlier of the Rothamsted surface soils, though 

 tho surface soil that had been trenched does not bear the same 

 relation to the one which had not, in regard to retention of water, 

 as might be expected, tliough we shall find it does so in regard to 

 that of ammonia. 



With regard to the absorption and retention of ammonia, the 

 results of this second series of experiments are entirely consistent 

 with those of the first. They may indeed be considered to 

 lie the more so, from th.c variation in the actual ju-r cent, of 

 absorjition, since the circumstances of the two sets of exj)eri- 

 ments equally varied. We find, as before, that the Lois ^^ eedon 

 heavy land absori)ed and retained more ammonia than the Rot- 

 hamsted soils, and the latter more than the Lois Weedon liglit 

 lan<l. And, as was the case with the Lois ^^'eedon soils and 



