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THE INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS ROTATIONS ON COARSE‐TEXTURED SOILS AT CHAPMAN AND WONGAN HILLS RESEARCH STATIONS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Author(s) -
NEWTON K.,
DROVER D. P.
Publication year - 1956
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1956.tb00879.x
Subject(s) - soil water , penetrometer , porosity , soil structure , soil science , total organic carbon , environmental science , water content , agronomy , geology , geotechnical engineering , chemistry , environmental chemistry , biology
Summary The effect of four wheat rotations on the water stability of the aggregates, organic carbon, porosity relations, and depth of penetration of a penetrometer at Chapman and Wongan Hills Research Stations is discussed. These rotations compare continuous wheat, fallow‐wheat, fallow‐wheat‐pasture, and fallow wheat‐z years lupins. The soils are coarse‐textured. Significant correlations were obtained between several measurements of structure. These include organic carbon and aggregation, organic carbon, and capillary porosity. Non‐capillary porosity is correlated with penetrometer readings. No such relation was found with total porosity. Wetting and drying of the soil and the action of growing plant roots are considered the two main factors contributing to the physical condition of the soil, and fallowing is considered to be the principal agent causing loss of structure. Water‐stable aggregates were demonstrated in the lateritic sandplain soils from Wongan Hills. These soils have been usually regarded as structureless. Variations in the content of coarse sand considerably obscured the results from this locality.