The Storage and Use of Soil Moisture 
47 
of tests have been made along this line, all of which have «iven 
practically the same results, and have shown that an artificial 
mulch of hay or straw several inches thick, if kept intact, is more 
efficient than a soil mulch in retaining water. It is obvious that 
water would find less resistance in entering the hay mulch than 
it would in a soil mulch. The hay mulch is also more efficient as 
shown by Table 18 in checking loss from evaporation. 
Table 18. — Effect of mulching on soil moisture, 1912. 
PER CENT MOISTURE IN THE SOIL. 
Depth 
AUgUSt 
September 5 
November 15 
Hay mulch 
Feet 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
Average .... 
25.7 
22.9 
20.5 
14.4 
14.1 
14.9 
18.4 
16.9 
16.7 
15.9 
lo.U 
15.3 
16.5 
25.0 
15.9 
14.5 
1 A 1 
14. { 
15.5 
18.8 
16.4 
17.0 
No mulch 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
Average .... 
25.0 
22.3 
19.8 
15.2 
13.7 
13.6 
14.8 
15.5 
15.3 
15.3 
14.5 
14.3 
11.1 
9.4 
10.1 
13.3 
13.5 
12.8 
18.3 
15.0 
11.7 
Soil mulch 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
Average .... 
24.8 
22.3 
19.5 
15.5 
12.6 
13.5 
16.1 
16.1 
16.0 
16.8 
16.5 
15.5 
14.3 
14.5 
13.8 
14.0 
14.4 
14.6 
18 0 
16.2 
14.3 
The data given in Table 18 were obtained from a small tract 
of land which was watered August 27, 1912. It was intended 
that enough water would be added to saturate the soil to a depth 
of six feet. The sampling August 28 showed that the upper three 
feet of soil contained more water than could be retained against 
gravity, while the second three feet were low in their water con- 
tent. A second sampling was made September 5 which showed a 
quite normal or equal distribution of the water. Immediately 
