PRACTICE I 



DETEKMINATION OF CAPILLARY MOISTURE IN SOILS 



The moisture content in these exercises will always be ex- 

 pressed as per cent of the water-free soil. 



Use the soil collected according to method given on a previ- 

 ous page and make the determinations in duplicate for surface, 

 subsurface, and subsoil. 



Record all data on the opposite page. 



Weigh carefully six soil pans. Place in each pan 200 g. of 

 the soil and weigh quickly to avoid loss of moisture by evapo- 

 ration. Dry at room temperature for 72 hours, after which 

 .weigh at intervals of 24 hours until a practically constant 

 weight is obtained. The loss in weight is the capillary moisture. 

 Express results in grams, and after completing the next exercise 

 express results in per cent of water-free soil. 



Use these air-dry soils for Practice II. 



REFERENCES. 



" Soils," Lyon and Fippin, pp. 141-148. 

 "The Soil," Hall, A. D., pp. 27-28 and 71-75. 

 "Soils," Hilgard, E. W., p. 195. 



Bulletin No. 123, Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, pp. 

 193-195. 



