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AN EXAMINATION OF THE METHOD OF AGGREGATE ANALYSIS BY WET SIEVING IN RELATION TO THE INFLUENCE OF DIVERSE LEYS ON ARABLE SOILS
Author(s) -
CLEMENT C. R.,
WILLIAMS T. E.
Publication year - 1958
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.1365-2389.1958.tb01915.x
Subject(s) - loam , agronomy , soil water , perennial plant , arable land , pasture , grassland , environmental science , soil structure , grazing , soil science , biology , ecology , agriculture
Summary Wet sieving as a measure of the effect of leys on crumb stability is discussed, briefly nothing the significant details of sampling and analysis. The increase in water‐stable aggregation following several ryegrass/white clover leys of four years duration was of the same magnitude for both clay and sandy loam soils. The lighter soil, having the lower initial stability, showed the greater proportionate increase. Perennial rycgrass/white clover swards were consistent in giving higher values for water‐stable aggregation than other commonly sown grasses. It would seem that a large proportion of clover in a sward would not impair the stabilizing effect of a ley. There was no evidence of any significant variation resulting from different methods of grassland utilization. Data from Hurley soil suggest that intensive grazing did not reduce the effect of the grass ley on soil stability as long as a plant cover was maintained. Cocksfoot sown in drills for seed production had less effect on the soil than did swards of this grass sown with white clover. The application of nitro‐chalk to grass leys over a three year period at annual rates up to 16 cwt. per acre had no significant effect on either of the soils examined. Profiles to 1 ft. depth showed that, whereas the high stability found under permanent pasture extended throughout this profile, the increase in water‐stable aggregation under a three‐year ley was largely confined to the top few centimetres.