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Show KEEP WATER IN SOIL Excellent Method Given to Ascertain Ascer-tain Capacity. Long-Necked Bottles Arranged With Bottoms Off and Cheese Cloth Over Mouth Will Tell How Much Moisture Is Retained. (By R. J. CROSBY.) To ascertain the capacity of soils to take in rainfall, break the bottoms off five long-necked bottles, tie a piece of cheesecloth or thin muslin over the mouth of each and arrange them in a rack with a glass tumbler under each one. Fill the bottles to about the same height with different kinds of soil and firm the soils by lifting the rack and Jarring it down moderately three or four times. To break the bottom off of a bottle file a groove In the bottle parallel with the bottom. Heat a poker red-hot and lay it In the groove. As soon as a small crack starts from the groove draw the poker around the bottle and the crack will follow. When all Is in readiness, take watch or clock in hand, and with a EeS ja 3 iSi Apparatus to Test Capacity of Soils to Take In Rainfall. glass of water held as near as possible possi-ble to the soil pour water into one of the bottles just rapidly enough to keep the surface of the soil covered and note how long before It begins dropping into the tumbler below. Make a record of the time. Do likewise like-wise with each of the other bottles' and compare results. Note which soil takes in water most rapidly. We all know what happens to nonporous soils when a heavy shower of rain comes. To ascertain which soil would store up the greatest amount of moisture, weigh each bottle before and after filling it with dry soil, and again after the water has entirely ceased dripping drip-ping from it. The difference between the weight of the dry soil and that of the wet soil is the weight of water stored. During the time that the bottles bot-tles are dripping, they should be covered cov-ered to prevent evaporation of water from the surface of the soils. |