154 Nebraska Agricultural Exp. Station, Research Bui. 6. 
Table 65.Summary showing the relative dry matter and water 
requirements of corn on the different soil types during two 
years — 1911 and 191 If.. 1 
Character of soil 
Dry matter per 
plant (grams) 
Total water tran- 
spired per plant. 1 
(kilograms) 
Water used per 
gram of dry matter 
(grams) 
Un- 
manured 
Manured 
Un- 
manured 
Manured 
Un- 
manured 
Manured 
(1) 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) 
(5) 
(6) 
YEAR 1911 
Infertile 
113 
376 
61.96 
131.65 
550 
350 
Intermediate. . . . 
184 
414 
88.31 
141.08 
479 
341 
Fertile 
270 
473 
105.84 
163.69 
392 
346 
YEAR 1914 
Infertile 
142 
364 
53.55 
107.60 
376 
295 
Intermediate .... 
330 
437 
95.42 
119.80 
290 
274 
Fertile 
417 
447 
109.19 
111.97 
262 
250 
AVERAGE FOR 1911 AND 1914 
Infertile 
128 
370 
57.76 
119.63 
463 
323 
Intermediate .... 
257 
426 
91.87 
130.44 
384 
308 
Fertile 
344 
460 
107.51 
137.83 
327 
298 
1 Compiled from Table 63. 
For a discussion of method used in compiling averages for two or more 
years, see page 42. 
It is very evident that an application of manure to the in- 
fertile soil reduced the water requirement per unit dry matter 
in a very marked manner. The effect upon a fertile soil was, how- 
ever, much less marked. These results would at first thought 
appear to confirm the prevalent belief that increasing the fertility 
of the soil reduces the amount of water transpired by the crop. 
But when we look at the column showing the total amount of 
water used per plant, we see that an actually much greater amount 
of water is used rather than a reduced amount of water. This is 
due to an increased development of the plant and greater tran- 
spiring surface. The reduction in the amount of water transpired 
per gram dry matter is due not to a reduction in the transpiration 
rate from the plant, but rather to a much more vigorous and 
constant growth of the plant. The situation may, in a general 
way, be stated as follows: 
In a fertile soil the plant continues to increase in dry matter 
in a thrifty manner all of the time that it is transpiring water. 
In an infertile soil, on the contrary, the plant continues to tran- 
spire water, but the increase in dry matter is greatly retarded 
because of malnutrition. 
