Compressibility curves as a quantitative measure of soil tilth, II

Abstract

1. The method described in an earlier paper for measuring the compressibility of soils in situ has been used to study the gradual consolidation of soil following digging with a fork, and a new method in which the rate of flow of water through rubber tubes buried in the soil gives a measure of compression, is described.2. By means of this latter method some measure can be obtained of the changes that take place in the soil after it has been loaded and trampled.3. The results of the experiments confirm and amplify the earlier conclusions. Without further data it is hard to distinguish quantitatively the effects of moisture and time, but it is of interest that whereas the compressibility of newly dug soils is hardly affected by differences in moisture for the range of stress used, that of soils which have rested for some time since cultivation is much increased by an increase in moisture content.4. Experiments on a wider scale should be undertaken in order that a more complete analysis may be effected.