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Soil aggregate analysis

The wet-sieving method as a measure of the size distribution of water-stable aggregates, is presented. Two types of soils are studied. Twenty five grs of a sub-sample of the total mass of soil was taken. The aggregate analysis reported in this paper were made on soil samples that were dry-sieved to pass through a 7 mm sieve and be retained on a 4 mm sieve. The pretreatment of the sample showed an increase in water-stable aggregates. The samples were moisted by a fine spray with an atomizer. The results of aggregation ore presented by the selection of one single size class for comparative studies. Procedures which utilize all size fractions to express aggregation are the best method to express the results. The fraction greater than 2.000 mm of the soil studied in this paper showed a very high aggregation when in grassland or woodland, and low aggregation when the soil was intensively plowed.


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