82 Research Bulletin No. 3 
Table 19. — Hygroscopic coefficients of soils used in the experi- 
ment of 1911. 
Depth, 
foot 
HO 
Wauneta 
McCook 
Holdrege 
Hastings 
Lincoln 
Surface 
soil 
1 
10.0 
9.2 
9.4 
10.1 
10.7 
12.1 
11.3 
2 
5.6 
9.5 
11.0 
11.7 
13.2 
15.3 
11.3 
3 
5.6 
9.9 
9.6 
12.0 
11.7 
14.6 
11.3 
4 
5.6 
10.1 
9.0 
10.6 
11.5 
13.2 
11.3 
5 
5.6 
9.5 
8.8 
9.7 
10.8 
13.2 
11.3 
6 
5.6 
8.6 
8.4 
9.6 
10.5 
13.5 
11.3 
Average . 
6.3 
9.5 
9.4 
10.6 
11.4 
13.6 
11.3 
The 23 metal cylinders, 6 feet long and similar in all re- 
spects to those employed in the preceding two years, were filled 
with dry soil as in the earlier experiments, then saturated with 
water and drained as described above (page 32). The loess soils, 
especially those from the more easterly portions of Nebraska, con- 
tain so much clay and fine silt and, accordingly, are so easily pud- 
dled when worked in a wet condition that it was not considered 
advisable to attempt to add the water to the different foot sec- 
lions of soil before introducing these into the cylinders. Seven 
cylinders were planted to Bed Fife wheat, 7 to Milo, 6 to Mexican 
pink beans, and 2 to maize. Into one cylinder young mesquites 
were transplanted. After planting the seeds, a one-inch layer of 
dry soil was added to the surface and the cylinders sunken in a 
pit in the greenhouse as in the preceding year. The general ar- 
rangement of the cylinders is shown in figure 21. 
The records of the daily maximum and mean temperatures as 
well as of the humidity and the evaporation from a free water 
surface are given in Tables 2 to 5. No whitewash was used on 
the windows of the greenhouse. Altho much better ventilation 
Avas provided the temperature was very high, the daily maximum 
being below 100° F. on only 7 days between May 15 and July 24. 
the date when the last plant died. On July 5 the maximum tem- 
perature out of doors was 110° F.. while inside the greenhouse it 
was 130° F. These high temperatures hastened the death of many 
of tho plants. 
The same precautions were observed as in the preceding two 
years regarding the formation of crevices between soil column 
and cylinder wall. 
As soon as the plants died they were removed from the cylin- 
ders and the weight of dry matter determined. In most cases the 
cylinders were at once opened and the soil moisture determined. 
The roots were separated from the surface foot as well as from 
the subsoil, photographed, dried, and weighed. 
