SOIL MOISTURE 



61 



Sand held 25 pounds moisture 



Heavy clay held 50 pounds moisture 



Cultivated loam held 52 pounds moisture 



Black garden loam held 81 pounds moisture 



Humus held 190 pounds moisture 



Exercise. — Absorbing Rainfall. — ^Arrange an apparatus 

 as shown in Fig. 34. Use gravel, sand, loam, clay, and peat, 

 or other soils of the region. Pour water on all of these, 

 keeping the soil covered. With watch or clock note time 

 required in each case for the water to begin dripping through 



Fig. 34. — Apparatus to show the rate of taking in rain water by five different 

 soils. Cloth tied around the mouth of the bottles prevents the soil from washing 

 through. (Agricultural Education.) 



into the glass below. Which kind of soil will take in rainfall 

 most rapidly? Which has the closest texture? What 

 becomes of most of the rain water falling on a compact soil 

 during a heavy rain? 



Exercise. — To Illustrate Capillarity. — Place one end of 

 an old loose cloth in a cup of water and leave the other end 

 outside. In a short time the whole cloth may become wet 

 by capillarity. The water moves along in the fine meshes 

 of cloth. Oil is drawn up in a lamp through the wick by the 

 force of capillarity. 



