70 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



increases as we pass inland to th^ heavier soils, as would 

 naturally follow. The smallest percentage is shown by the 

 soils from Cape Cod, where there is a considerable amount 

 of coarse material and small amounts of fine material ; while 

 the largest percentage is given by the Amherst soil, which 

 contains a larger amount of fine material and a less amount 

 of coarse material than the coast soils. The Amherst soils 

 show 68.45 per cent, water-retaining capacity, against 35.28 

 per cent, for the Orleans ; or, in other words, the Amherst 

 soil possesses nearly twice the water-retaining capacity of the 

 Orleans soil. Only two determinations were made of the 

 water-retaining properties of the soil west of Worcester, one 

 being at Montague, where the summer stage of the rust is 

 present, and the other at Amherst, where it has never oc- 

 curred. These two determinations are, however, sufficient 

 for our purpose ; inasmuch as the preceding table shows that 

 the water-retaining properties of the soil decrease in loose, 

 sandy soil, and increase in fine, compact soil ; and, as the 

 mechanical constituents of such soils as the Worcester, Spen- 

 cer and Pittsfield are larger in fine material and more closely 

 resemble the Amherst soil than those of the coast, we would 

 therefore find similar water-retaining properties. 



The cans containing the soils were left in a room of even 

 temperature, and after five days had elapsed they were 

 weighed asain, with the folio wins: result : — 



Table VI. — Percentage of Water lost hy the Following Soils after 



Five Days. 



These results follow in a general way those shown in Table 

 V. The Bridgewater, however, lost sJightly more than the 

 Orleans. As most of these soils were gathered w^ithin a few 

 days of each other, it may be of some interest to note 

 the amount of water found in each at the time the samples 

 reached the laboratory. Amherst gave 33.60 per cent, of 



