Put these samples together, mix them thoroughly, and of this 

 mixture take about one pint for the test. 



(a) Spread this sample out in a shallow pan and place it where 

 it will be quite hot, but not sufficiently so to bum. If con- 

 venient it may be set on top of a covered boiling kettle of water, 

 as there would then be no possibility of overheating. The sample 

 should first be weighed. It should then be heated until it is 

 believed that all the water has been driven ofif, but it should be 

 re-heated after the first weighing and if it is found that it has 

 continued to lose in weight it should be heated again. The heat- 

 ing process should be continued until two successive weights are 

 practically the same. 



(b) The pan of thoroughly dried soil should be placed over a 

 a live fire, brought to a red heat, and held there until no smoke 

 or active combustion can be seen. The material should then be 

 removed and when it is cool weighed. After this weight is recorded 

 it should be subjected to intense heat again and re- weighed. This 

 alternate heating and weighing should be continued until no 

 further loss of weight takes place. 



(c) The difference in weight between the dried soil and the soil 

 after it has been intensely heated will represent with substantial 

 accuracy the amount of organic matter. It is desirable that 

 the soil should contain at least four or five per cent of such mat- 

 ter, and seven or eight will be yet better. 



2. The Level of the Water Table and the Conditions 

 Affecting Drainage. 



The term water table designates the level of the standing water 

 in the soil. It can be determined by opening holes to sufficient 

 depth in different representative parts of the field. If the water 

 table is comparatively near the surface holes opened with a crow- 

 bar will answer the purpose, but if it lies too low to be reached in 

 this way they may be opened by the use of a post-hole digger or 

 spade, or if it can be obtained a soil auger may in some cases be 

 most convenient. The important point in connection with exami- 

 nation for the water table is to ascertain whether it lies too near 

 the surface to permit good root development. Foi most crops 

 conditions will be, in general, satisfactory if the water table at the 

 time when seeds are put in is not nearer than some five or six feet 

 below the surface. It may lie considerably lower than this during 

 the hottest and dryest part of the year without disadvantage and, 

 of course, very early in the spring or in seasons of excessive rain- 

 fall it may lie nearer thesuiface. Thoroughly satisfactory results 

 with most crops cannot, however, be expected if the water table 

 during any part of the growing season for a crop stands for any 

 considerable length of time nearer than some five feet below the 



