II. The method of investigation *). 



In every experimental 'nvestigat^on, method is the deciding factor; 

 and the incontestability of the facts gained hereby, depend entirely upon 

 the directness and the nearest approach to truth, of the method adopted. 

 It is therefore necessary first of all, to consider the adaptatibility of the 

 method, to the work before us. 



In studying the humidity of the soil, investigations kept to the 

 method of average quant'ties, in the first period of their treatment, of 

 this question during the lact two decades of the past century; (A. A. 

 Ismailsky and H. I. Bliznin amongst others. 



By this method, evidence as to the state of soil - humidity may be 

 obtained if a sample from a layer of soil of a certain thickness, be 

 obtained in such a manner, that it shall contain a similar quantity of 

 soil from all parts of the layer; which means, that a column should 

 be taken from the soil, of a length equal to the thickness of the layer — 

 from the surface to a depht of 10 cm., from 10 to 90, from 20 to 30, 

 and so on, or from the surface to 35, from 35 to 50 cm. e. t. c; and 

 as the weight-should not particularly heavy — from 20 to 30 gram — the 

 thickness of the column should not exceed 1 or 2 m.m. 



If the experimenters in this method, had made use of samples, 

 taken from the vertical walls of open pits, they coold have taken an 

 equal proportion from each layer at all levels and the samples would 

 then, have held a similar quantity of soil from each horizontal depth. 



But pit-digging comes expensive and takes up a great deal of time. 

 So that instead of th's inconvenient method of selecting samples, a 

 soil-borer is used. Those investigators who adopt the method of average 

 quantities use, for significant thickness of soil-layer borers, wilh a long 

 spoon or trongh, split down its entire lengtn of from 10 to 15 cm. The 



^■") Here, thismatter is treated as briefly, as possible, but it i may be 

 found, worked out in detail in my treatise. ,,The circulation of water in the 

 soil of the Odessa experimental field", published in 1904 (the Journal of expe- 

 rimental Agronomy. Book VI), to which I refer all those, who are interested 

 in this branch of my work. 



