EXERCISE A-12. TO SHOW THAT SOME SOILS CAN 

 HOLD MORE WATER THAN OTHERS. 



Equipment: Four funnels; muslin or cheese cloth; 

 scissors; well rotted manure; four graduated cylinders or 

 bottles; funnel holder; sand; loam, and clay soil. 



Method: Plug each funnel lightly on the inside with a 

 piece of cotton or cloth. Fill the funnels as follows: (1) 

 sand, (2) loam, (3) clay, (4) one-half sand and one-half 

 manure. Arrange the funnels in the rack with their stems 

 in the mouths of the bottles. Very slowly pour over each 

 funnel exactly eight ounces (one-half pint) of water. Allow 

 to stand till the drip ceases and read the amount of water 

 in each bottle. Record these readings and subtract them 

 from the amount poured into each funnel. What do 

 these differences represent? 



Mixture number. 



Amount poured in. 



Amount in bottle. 



Amount held in soil. 



12 3 



Discussion : The capacity of soils to hold water depends 

 upon the size of the particles and the amount of organic 

 matter. In clay soils it is increased by granulation. Clay 



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