Sept. 9 ,1918 
Variations in Moisture Content of a Loess Soil 
459 
The absence of precipitation after January, together with the abnor¬ 
mally high temperatures of March, caused an unusually early drying of 
the surface soil. At the end of the first week in April evidences of drouth 
had become very marked, and on the 9th we sampled three fields to a 
3* 
2>n 
I* 
Fig. a.—Diagram showing daily precipitation at Lincoln, Nebr., during the latter part of the record, 
breaking drouth of the spring of 1910. The dates of sampling are indicated by asterisks. 
JAN. 
FEB. 
MAR. 
APRIL 
MAY. 
Ws 
1 
9 10 15 20 25 I 5 10 15 20 25 I 5 IO 15 20 29 13 IQ 
depth of 6 inches: a fall-plowed cornfield, a bluegrass pasture, and an 
alfalfa field that had been seeded in 1907. These fields were sampled 
weekly until the drouth was ended in May by 2 inches of rain, and 
once immediately after this fall, as shown in figure 2. 
Table V .—Moisture conditions in the surface 6 inches of soil during the spring of 1QI0 
moisture content 
Depth. 
Bluegrass pasture. 
Alfalfa field. 
Ball-plowed field. 
Apr. 
9 - 
Apr. 
16. 
Apr. 
30. 
May 
7. 
Apr. 
9 * 
'Apr. 
16. 
Apr. 
30. 
May 
7 * 
Apr. 
9 * 
Apr. 
x6. 
Apr. 
38 
May 
7* 
Inches. 
Pci. 
P. ct. 
P.ct. 
P. ct. 
P. ct. 
P. ct. 
P.ct. 
P. ct. 
P.ct. 
P.cf. 
P. ct. 
P. ct. 
1. 
9.9 
7*3 
8.0 
38.1 
9*4 
9.0 
4*7 
35*8 
4*2 
6.9 
5*8 
39*6 
3. 
14.4 
10.3 
9.8 
30.8 
16.3 
12.9 
9.0 
3i*7 
30.0 
25*4 
31.4 
33*1 
1 , 4 „ . * 
* 12- 5 
11. 5 
xo. 8 
31.3 
16.6 
X2. X 
xo. 3 
32.5 
36.6 
36.3 
31.6 
37* S 
4. 
12. 7 
11.8 
xo- 9 
30.9 
16.9 
15*5 
14-5 
3i*3 
25-8 
39*0 
33.1 
34*7 
5 . 
13-0 
12.8 
xo. 9 
31-0 
17*3 
16.1 
14.6 
30* 3 
31*6 
31-3 
34*5 
34*5 
6. 
13.5 
*3*4 
XI. 0 
30-5 
17*5 
16.3 
20. 7 
30*7 
3i*5 
30*3 
26.0 
34*4 
HYGROSCOPIC COEFFICIENT 
1-6 . 
9*5 
9- S 
9- S 
9* 5 
9.2 
9*2 
9*2 
9.2 
10.9 
xo .9 
X 0.9 
X 0.9 
RATIO OF MOISTURE CONTENT TO HYGROSCOPIC COEFFICIENT 
1. 
x.o 
0.8 
0.8 
4*0 
x.o 
1.0 
0*5 
3*9 
0.4 
0.6 
0*5 
3*6 
3 . 
1*5 
x. 1 
X*o 
#3*2 
x-8 
1*4 
x.o 
3*4 
x-8 
3-3 
3.0 
3*0 
3. 
1*3 
x. 2 
X.I 
3*3 
1.8 
1*3 
X. I 
3*5 
2.4 
3.4 
3.0 
3*4 
4. 
1*3 
x. 2 
1.1 
3*3 
x*8 
1*7 
x.6 
3*4 
3.4 
3*7 
3. X 
3*3 
5. 
1*4 
i*3 
X-I 
3*3 
1.9 
1.8 
1.6 
3*3 
3.9 
3.9 
2* 2 
3*a 
6. 
1.4 
i*4 
x.2 
3*2 
1.9 
J.8 
2.3 
3*3 
3*9 
3.8 
3*4 
3*3 
MOISTURE CONDITIONS 
The moisture conditions in the three fields are reported in Table V. 
The hygroscopic coefficients of the various inch sections of the different 
sets were determined, but in calculating the ratios, etc., we have used a 
