“Single value” soil properties: a study of the significance of certain Soil constants. VII. The moisture equivalent and some related quantities (With two text-figure.)

Abstract

The moisture equivalent has been measured (by a technique requiring only small quantities of soil) for a number of samples comprising Natal and Sind soils. It is concluded that while with the latter (alkaline and saline) soils the moisture equivalent gives valuable information, it adds little to the data obtained by other methods for the Natal soils. The xylene equivalent of the Natal soils has also been measured; from the moisture equivalent and the xylene equivalent, the imbibitional water can be calculated if the specific gravity of the soil is known.Equations expressing the moisture equivalent and the xylene equivalent of the Natal soils in terms of their loss on ignition and mechanical composition are obtained, and the significance of the relative values of the numerical coefficients in these equations is discussed.