Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 18, Number 6, DeMotte, Jasper County, 2 January 1948 — TEST WEIGHT OF SOIL [ARTICLE]

TEST WEIGHT OF SOIL

The best quality corn and oats has the heaviest weight per measured bushel, but that is not true for soil itself, according to G. M; Browning of the soil conservation ' service. He said that a cubic foot of typical corn belt soil which had been cultivated for 60 to 70 vears weighs 85 pounds a cubic foot, compared with a weight of Go pounds for virgin soil of the same type. His studies show that cultivated soil has lost organic matter and has become compacted and has much less of the desirable air and water space than does the virgin soil.