FOREST AREAS AND SOIL WATER 
149 
affected to a minimum degree the drying out of the soil and the 
normal water content. 
Results of Soil Moisture Studies 
The most direct comparison of the soil moisture content can be 
made by reference to the accompanying tables and charts. It be- 
comes at once apparent that, on the whole, the curves which repre- 
sent the timber soils, plotted on the charts with solid lines, are high- 
er throughout the season than those for the respective soils in the 
open. The exact difference between these curves is shown in 
the following comparison of the averages for the period of the 
tests. 
Location 
Soil 
Average 
Average 
ON Slope 
IN Timber 
IN Open 
Surface 
15.25 
5.96 
Top of slope 
Subsurface 
16.23 
10.66 
Subsoil 
14.65 
21.80 
Surface 
13.39 
7.03 
Middle of slope 
Subsurface 
15.13 
8.13 
Subsoil 
13.20 
17.38 
Surface 
15.88 
8.10 
Foot of slope 
Subsurface 
18.00 
6.16 
Subsoil 
17.12 
18.86 
It will be noted that an exception to the generally higher aver- 
age of the timber soils occurs in the subsoil layers. Here the 
subsoil of the open slope is 7.15 per cent above that of the timber 
at the top, but only 4.18 and 1.74 per cent higher at the middle 
and foot respectively. The reason for this becomes clear in con- 
sidering the physical composition of the soil as shown in table A. 
Witli similar composition in all soils there would be every reason 
to expect a uniformly high average for all the timber soils. It 
is interesting, however, to note in this connection, how very little 
higher are the averages for the subsoils of the open, especially at 
the middle and foot, in spite of their greater clay content. 
As shown in table E the maximum moisture contents with the 
exception of the subsoils, range from 19.45 to 28.3 per cent for 
the timber as against 14.75 to 27.85 per cent for the open. The 
minima range from 6.4 to 11 per cent as against 1.55 to 5.05 per 
cent, respectively. Here again exceptions must be made of the 
subsoils for reasons already stated. An important consideration, 
however, with respect to the minima in these latter is that, not- 
withstanding the uniformly higher content of these soils, the 
