TOG sows Report OF THE HORTICULTURIST OF THE 
It probably.does not do this unless it be in the case of the sand. 
In the garden soil and clay, the angular particles of the air-dry 
material are probably in contact only at their corners, while in the 
muck the expansion of the material due to the absorption of water 
is so great that the particles are doubtless so closely pressed 
together as to materially retard the passage of water eG and 
between them. 
THe INFLUENCE oF Marrers IN SOLUTION UPON THE RATE OF 
CAPILLARY F'Low. 
In an experiment reported in 1887,* it was shown that weak 
solutions of sodium chloride promoted the rate of capillary flow in 
horizontal tubes filled with sifted garden soil, while stronger’solu- 
tions retarded it. This experiment was repeated with sodium 
nitrate with the same result, 7. e., a five per cent solution promoted 
the rate, while a ten per cent solution retarded it. The attempt — 
was made to repeat the experiment with solutions of muriate of 
potash, but the apparatus becoming broken, it had to be abandoned, 
Von Klenze,t who made experiments with weak solutions of 
various soluble salts in vertical tubes, found that all the solutions 
rose slower than distilled water, and that the retardation increased 
with the strength of the solution. The results secured in my 
experiments strongly suggest that a somewhat different law applies 
in horizontal tubes. 
THE CONDENSATION OF WATER AT THE SURFACE OF THE Soil DURING 
Cotp Nicuts mn SPRING. 
Every gardener knows that his partially dry surface soil is ren- 
dered temporarily wetter by freezing and thawing. It often hap- 
pens in early spring that the soil is in excellent condition for 
planting at night, when on the following morning, after a clear 
cold night, in which the surface freezes somewhat, it is so 
wet and sticky on thawing out that work upon it has to 
be deferred. In order to ascertain if the amount of this con- 
densation is as great as it appears to be, two samples of soil 
were taken from the surface of a garden bed at 6 Pp. mM. on April 
23, and two others on the following morning. These were 
*Report New York Agricultural Experiment Station, 1887, pp. 109-10. 
+ Landwirthschafliche Jahrbticher, Band VI, Heft 1, pp. 109-10. 
