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Corn grown on plasticcovered monolith lysimeters at Coshocton showed that a very good crop was produced using only the water stored in the soil. A yield of 125 bush els per acre was obtained by using only 8.5 inches of

This paper presents a summary of data on percolation of soil water through monolith lysimeters with an 8‐foot profile covering the period 1938 to 1953. The effects of soil type and land use on percolation are stressed. Soil type influences amounts and rates of percolation. The Muskingum soils, because of their lighter texture, provide greater opportunity for more rapid soil water movement which is reflected in greater amounts and more rapid rates of percolation than on the heavier Keene soils except under the circumstances noted. When all the lysimeters were in grass, the average annual percolation amounted to 16.0 inches on Muskingum silt loam (sandstone); 9.85 inches on Muskingum silt loam (shale); and 8.26 inches on the Keene silt loam. From 83% to 92% of the total annual percolation is obtained during the first 6 months of the year. The expression of annual percolation in terms of percent of annual precipitation minus runoff affords a better comparison of land use effects on percolation. In general, percolation is lowest under corn and wheat and highest under first‐year meadow. Soil conservation practices involving greater crop production have resulted in an appreciable decrease in percolation. This is due largely to the better vegetative cover and growth which removes more water by transpiration thereby leaving a lesser amount of soil water available for percolation.

E 3IMETER investigations have been in progress for a number of years at the Coshocton, Ohio, Soil Conservation Service project. Although these lysimeters were established primarily for a study of the hydrologic balance of the soil, a study of some of the nutrient losses in the drainage water has also been made. These lysimeters were built around blocks of soil in situ, as nearly as possible undisturbed, to ensure natural conditions of percolation (g). 8 Because a knowledge of plant nutrient losses in gravitational water is so important in soil and water conservation studies and in response to the widespread interest in the results obtained from this elaborate installation of modern design, a brief report of data obtained during the years 1940-45, inclusive, is presented.