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An investigation of the method of Page and Williams for the determination of the saturation capacity of soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

P. E. Turner
P. E. Turner
Affiliation:
(The Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad, British West Indies.)
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Extract

1. The value of the knowledge of the saturation capacity of a soil as an aid in its characterisation and classification is briefly stated.

2. A short account is given of the more important methods in use for determination of saturation capacity.

3. The theory underlying the method of Page and Williams, and the possible defects of the method are discussed.

4. The results of an investigation of this method lead to the following conclusions:

(a) Leaching the mixture of soil and calcium carbonate to 2 litres is in sufficient to displace from the soil all its exchangeable bases.

(b) In view of this, it is recommended that 3 litres or more of filtrate be obtained, or preferably, the amount of soil employed be reduced to 10 grm.

(c) The leaching solution remains in contact with the soil mixture for a period adequate for the normal sodium chloride solution to be saturated with calcium carbonate.

(d) The difference in the amount of calcium, derived by solution from the carbonate, in the first and second litres of filtrate, is sufficiently small to be neglected.

(e) The tardiness with which the reaction proceeds to completion is probably due to the difficulty experienced in displacing the final amounts of adsorbed ions, rather than to the presence of calcium ions in the leaching solution.

(f) The incompleteness of the reaction renders the method of Hissink inaccurate for the calculation of the saturation capacity.

(g) The variation in the character of the colloidal material of soils i s to some extent reflected in the value of the ratio of the calcium passing into solution through exchange reactions in the second litre, to that dissolved in this manner by the total volume of filtrate.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , April 1928 , pp. 257 - 265
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1928

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References

REFERENCES

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