108 
IOWA ACADEMY OP SCIENCE 
taken from the Wisconsin drift. In the first experiment a test was made of 
the effect of manure and peat on capillarity. The soil was placed in 5 ft. glass 
tubes, 1 inch in diameter, which w^ere held upright in a frame. The lower 
end of the tubes w^ere placed in shallow pans of water. The following table 
shows the height in inches to which the water rose at the different periods. 
The manure and the peat were added on the dry basis. 
EFFECT OF MANURE AND PEAT ON CAPILLARITY. 
Soil 
14 hrs. 
38 hrs. 
4 da, 
5 da. 
8 da. 
11 da. 
Poor soil - - 
11.2 
14.5 
17.7 
18.7 
20.5 
22.1 
Poor soil plus 1% manure 
12. 
15.2' 
18.2 
19. 
20.7 
22.3 
Poor soil plus 2% manure 
11. 
13.5 
16. 
16.7 
18. 
20. 
Poor soil plus 1% peat _ _ _ ___ 
14.2 
18.5 
22. 
23. 
24.5 
26.1 
Poor soil plus 2% peat 
15.2 
19. 
21.7 
22.7 
24.2 
26.2 
This data shows that manure had practically no effect on the capillarity of 
the soil. The heavier application retarded it slightly. Peat, however, in- 
creased the capillarity quite markedly, but there was practically no difference 
whether the amount of peat added was 1 per cent or 2 per cent. This experi- 
ment is defective on account of the lack of duplicates. Each tube should have 
had at least two duplicates, and four would have been better. 
The rate of evaporation of water from the surface of the soil both manured 
and unmanured, was tested by the following method which was the result of 
the experience gained in a number of similar experiments. Soil tubes 4 inches 
in diameter and 30 inches tall, constructed as shown in the accompanying 
illustration, were used. These had a feed tube 2 inches in diameter near the 
bottom. Emptying into this feed tube was the inverted E. fiask filled with 
distilled water. This provided an automatic self-feed and kept the water in 
Evaporation Tube 
