Soils and Their Properties

by William Fream

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904 edition. Excerpt: ... a light or sandy soil has the beneficial effect of promoting its consolidation and of rendering it less readily permeable by water. But there is another effect of natural manures upon the Boil, and one about which very little is known. This is the influence of the manure upon the temperature of the soil. That ... Read More

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904 edition. Excerpt: ... a light or sandy soil has the beneficial effect of promoting its consolidation and of rendering it less readily permeable by water. But there is another effect of natural manures upon the Boil, and one about which very little is known. This is the influence of the manure upon the temperature of the soil. That such an influence is actually exerted is shown by Georgeson's experiments at Tokio, Japan. The soil, in this case, is light and porous, and consists of a volcanic ash mixed with 7 or 8 per cent. of humus. For the purposes of the experiment four equal-sized frames, each one foot deep, and without top or bottom, were sunk in the ground so as to bring the rim level with the surface. These were filled with soil, which was then thoroughly mixed with manure, this latter having previously been rendered as uniform in character as possible. Different quantities per acre were applied to each plot, and in a fifth frame no manure was added to the soil. The manure was partly decayed, but still rather long. A Fahrenheit thermometer was plunged to the depth of five inches in each box, and was read during each period of five days in the twenty-five days from October 27th to November 22nd, the observations being conducted as in the open field. The results, as tabulated ic "Agricultural Science," are given in Table XXV., on the next page. These gradations exhibit a sufficient regularity to suggest the conclusion that, provided all other conditions were similar, the quantity of heat developed in the soil, in consequence of oxidation, would be in direct proportion to the amount of manure applied. It is seen that the manured soil loses heat more rapidly than the unmanured. The fact that the averages for the last period in the case of the soils receiving twenty... Read Less