332 Journal of Agriculture. Victoria. [lo June, 1912. 



amount conserved and carried over is considerable when the land has been 

 early fallowed, and the surface mulch maintained through the summer. 



Some idea of the amount conserved may be gained from some pre- 

 liminary observations at Rutherglen and Longerenong this season. In 

 both instances the land was not fallowed till late in the season September, 

 so that the moisture contents are not nearly as high as what might have 

 been expected had fallowing been commenced, say, in June. 



Table II. — Percentage of Moisture (in terms of dry soil) on Fallowed and 

 Non-fallowed land prior to seeding, ist May, 191 2 (Rutherglen 

 Viticultural College), Victoria. 



Depth of Sample. 



to 12 inches 

 12 inche.s to 24 inches 

 24 inches to 36 inches 

 36 inches to 48 inches 



Average content of first 4 feet 



Fallowed. 



/o 

 7 •02 



1(1-37 

 1(5-68 

 21-26 



15-48 



Thus the fallowed land had 4.08 per cent, more moisture in the first 4 feet 

 than the non-fallowed land. 



Assuming the weight of i acre foot of dry soil to be approximately 

 3,500,000 lbs., it follows that in the first 4 feet of the Rutherglen fallow 

 there were 571,200 lbs. more water per acre in the fallowed than in the 

 non-fallowed portion, i.e., an amount equal to approximately 2| inches 

 of rain. 



Table III. summarizes the moisture content of fallowed and non- 

 fallowed land at Longerenong Agricultural College at various depths dur- 

 ing the summer and autumn of 191 2. 



Table III. — Moisture content of Fallowed and Non-fallowed land at 



Longerenong, 191 2. 



Depth of Sampling 



5th January, 1912. 



1. to 12 inches 



2. 12 inches to 24 inches 



3. 24 inches to 36 inches 



4. 36 inclies to 48 inches 



5. 48 inches to 60 inches 



Averae;e first 5 feet 



Fallowed. 



31-49 

 33-46 

 31 -46 

 31-34 

 33-14 



32-18 



Non-fal- 

 lowed. 



/o 

 16-66 

 23-31 

 26-79 

 29-47 

 30-31 



•25-31 



25th March, 1912. 



Fallowed. 



/o 

 ■25-84 

 34-41 

 33-69 

 33-18 

 35-67 



32-56 



1st May, 1912. 



It will be noted from the tables that, while there are considerable varia- 

 tions at corresponding levels at different periods, the average moisture con- 

 tent of the fallowed portions was considerably in e.vcess of that of the 

 non-fallowed portions. The difference in favour of the fallowed portion 

 immediately before seeding amounted to 3.33 per cent. ; this means that 

 in the first 5 feet the fallowed portion has moisture equal to 2.6 inches of 

 rain more than the non-fallowed portion. 



