62 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. IX, No. a 
inches. On June 26 and 27 we made an exhaustive study of the mois¬ 
ture conditions in a level field about 3 miles from the W. B. station. 
It had been plowed the previous autumn and had since been kept free 
of weeds, being planted to com about June 1. At the time of our sam¬ 
pling, the com plants, 8 to 10 inches high, in hills 3 feet 8 inches apart, 
were still too small to have made any considerable draft upon the soil 
moisture. Selecting a level portion of the field, one which would not be 
affected by run-off from higher land, or itself lose much water by run¬ 
off, we marked 25 sites for sampling, 10 yards apart from north to 
south and the same from east to west (fig. 3). Sites 1,5,21, and 2 5 were 
at the four comers and 13 at the center. These five were sampled to a 
depth of 6 feet with an auger. All the others were sampled to a depth 
of 4 feet, a tube being 
used on part of them. 
The moisture content 
and the hygroscopic 
coefficient were deter¬ 
mined in the case of 
each member of the 
2 5 sets. The moisture 
conditions were very 
similar in all. The 
moisture content of the 
second foot had been 
distinctly affected at 
each place, while in five 
(including Borings I 
and V in Table XXVI) 
that of more or less of 
the third foot also had 
3-—Diagram showing the relative location of sets of soil samples been affected * but in 
taken from field near McCook, Nebr. „ „ 
none had that of the 
fourth foot been appreciably influenced. The data on the five 6-foot 
borings are given in Table XXVI. The ratio in the first two lies between 
2.0 and 2.9, while in the fourth and fifth feet it is approximately i.i. 
From a comparison of this table with the preceding it will be seen that 
in the seven weeks following the earlier sampling the moistened eone in 
the fields in clean cultivation appears to have extended downward about 
1 foot. 
To secure information as to how abrupt was the change in moisture 
content within a foot section in the case of seven borings, we separated 
into two parts the foot section that included the transition from moist 
to very dry soil. The upper section was the more or less moist portion, 
