56 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. IX, No. s 
basins, as well as scattered blow-outs, are characteristic features of this 
region. The last are almost bare of vegetation, and, hence, present con¬ 
ditions favorable to the subsoil carrying the maximum amount of water. 
The hilltops have a more scanty stand of plants than the basins; and, as 
a consequence, we should expect a smaller loss of water through transpi¬ 
ration and less likelihood of a low moisture content in the subsoil. All 
samples were composites from three borings, io to 30 feet apart. 
The hygroscopic coefficient in all cases is low, 0.3 to 1.1. The moisture 
content, while low, was from 3 to 12 times the hygroscopic coefficient, the 
ratio in most cases lying between 4 and 8. 
Table XX .—Ratio of water content of Nebraska dune sands under natural conditions 
to the hygroscopic coefficient 
PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL WATER 
Depth. 
Near Valentine, 
Aug. si, 1911. 
Near Thedford, 
Dec. 2, 19x2. 
Halsey Forest Reserve, Dec. 3,1912. 
Hill¬ 
top. 
Ba¬ 
sin. 
Blow¬ 
out. 
Blow¬ 
out 
X. 
Blow¬ 
out 
2. 
Blow¬ 
out 
3 * 
Blow¬ 
out 
4 * 
Blow-out 1. 
Blow-out 2. 
Hill¬ 
top. 
Ba¬ 
sin. 
Side. 
Bot¬ 
tom. 
Side. 
Bot¬ 
tom. 
Feet . 
a -3 . 
4-5 . 
} 4 -6 
} 4S 
4.4 
2.7 
6.5 
6.1 
/ 4-7 
l 4-6 
/ 6.0 
l 6.5 
5-3 
7*5 
10.0 
8.5 
4.0 
3*2 
6.6 
6.6 
4.1 
4*3 
6.0 
8.0 
3*1 
2.9 
3*3 
2.9 
3*1 
3*7 
4*1 
4*1 
3.7 
2.9 
2.9 
3*1 
2.4 
3*4 
3*2 
2-7 
2.9 
2.9 
2.6 
1*7 
3*3 
4*0 
4*1 
3*7 
HYGROSCOPIC COEFFICIENT 
| 0.8 
0.8 
0.8 
/ 0.8 
1 .8 
x.o 
x.o 
0.9 
1.0 
01.0 
1.0 
0.5 
.8 
0.3 
•4 
0.4 
•4 
0-5 
*5 
0.5 
*5 
0.6 
.6 
.8 
/ .8 
.8 
•9 
x. I 
•4 
*4 
•4 
.6 
•5 
•7 
* 9 
\ 1.0 
.8 
X. X 
x. I 
•4 
•4 
•4 
.6 
•4 
•7 
RATIO OF TOTAL WATER TO HYGROSCOPIC COEFFICIENT 
1 , * 
8.x 
/ 5*9 
5*3 
4.4 
4*1 
6.2 
10.3 
6-7 
4*8 
5*8 
5*5 
>5*7 
5*5 
\ 5*7 
7*5 
3*3 
4*3 
3*6 
9.2 
7*2 
6.8 
5*8 
6.7 
}s*6 
3*o 
7*6 
/ 7*5 
12.5 
7*3 
5*5 
8.2 
I0< 2 
7*2 
5*3 
5*2 
6.9 
l 6.5 
10-6 
6.0 
7*3 
7.2 
10.2 
7*8 
4*5 
4*2 
5*3 
A study in the abandoned Pope olive orchard, described by Mason 
(18, p. 17), 5 miles south of Palm Springs station, at the southern end of 
the Colorado Desert in California, furnished the data reported in Table 
XXI. After four months of hot, rainless weather, a rain, amounting, at 
the nearest United States Weather Bureau station, 5 miles north, to 1.90 
inches, had fallen six days before the sampling. Pits adjacent to old 
trees were dug, exposing the subsoil below the lowest point to which the 
moisture from the recent rain had penetrated, and samples were taken 
from the walls of these pits. 
The data show that the water had traveled downward only after raising 
the ratio to from 5 to 10. 
It thus appears that, in the case of coarse sands, we may in general 
expect to find the water content as high as from 5 to 10 times the hygro- 
