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<br />subsoil gave a correlation coefficient of 0.54; surface <br />organic matter, 0.50; clay content of the subsoil, <br />OA2; and organic matter in the subsoil, OAO, When <br />the factors were combined in multiple correlations, <br />the highest multiple coefficlent of 0,71 was obtained <br />with noncapillary porosity, organic matter of both <br />surface and subsoil, and clay content of the subsoil. <br /> <br />Effect of frost <br /> <br />Frozen ground affects infiltration. If frozen <br />when very dry, some soils are fluffed up and frost is <br />discontinuous, as in the honeycomb and stalactite <br />types. A soil under this condition may be permeable <br />as, or even more permeable than, frost-free soil. On <br />the other hand, if the soil is frozen while saturated, <br />concrete frost in the form of a very dense, nearly <br />impermeable layer often results, Trimble et a1. (1958) <br />found that in the Northeast, infiltration was zero on <br />concrete frost in the open and forest area, but was <br />not affected where soil was traversed by large holes in <br />which water had not frozen, Infiltration tests on <br />concrete frost in northern Minnesota forest and <br />grassland gave 0.09 in./hr of infiltration rate in <br />silt.]oam soils and OA7 in./hr in sands (Stoeckeler and <br />Weitzman, ] 960), <br /> <br />Effect of plant cover <br /> <br />Musgrave and Holtan (1964) have stated that <br />vegetation is one of the most significant factors <br />affecting surface entry of water. Vegetation or mulch <br />protects the soil surface from rainfall impact. Massive <br />plant root systems such as grass in sods perforate the <br />soil, keeping it unconsolidated and porous, The <br />organic matter from crops promotes a crumb struc. <br />ture and improves permeability, On the other hand, <br />vegetation such as a row crop gives less protection <br />from raindrop impact, depending upon the stage of <br />growth, and the root system perforates only small <br />portions of the soil profile and the normal <br />accompanying tillage may further reduce perme. <br />ability, Forest litter, crop residues, and other humus <br />materials protect the soil surface, High biotic activity <br />in and beneath surface l,ayers opens up the soil, <br />resulting in high entrance capacities. <br /> <br />Hays (1949) showed the general trend ofresults <br />obtained at three latitudes in the central U.S, by <br />comparing runoff amounts from continuous row <br />crops, crops in 3-year rotations, and continuous grass, <br />At the Upper Mississippi Valley Conservation Experi. <br />ment Station, La Crosse, Wisconsin, for instance, it <br />was found that average annual runoff on Fayette silt <br />loam with a slope of 16 percent was 27,7 percent of <br />rain fail for continuous corn (row crop); 20,6 percent <br />for corn in rotation of corn-barley-red clover; 18.9 <br />percent for barley in the rotation; 11.5 percent for <br />red clover in the rotation; and 5.5 percent for <br />protected bluegrass, Similar comparisons for the Red <br /> <br />Plains Conservation Experiment Station, Guthrie, <br />Oklahoma, and the Missouri Valley Loess Conserva- <br />tion Experiment Station, Clarinda, Iowa, were re- <br />ported (G]ymph and Holtan, 1969), It is evident that <br />runoff from these plots is inversely related to the <br />density of vegetation and the frequency of cultiva- <br />tion, <br /> <br />The density of herbaceous vegetation is closely <br />related to infiltration, as has been attested by several <br />studies on the western range, Packer (195]), for <br />instance, found that the percent of the soil covered <br />by living or dead plant parts was closely related to <br />runoff, and therefore to infiltration. As cover density <br />increased to about 70 percent on wheatgrass and <br />cheatg~ass areas, overland flow decreased. At densities <br />above 70 percent, there was little further decrease. <br />Fibrous-rooted vegetation such as wheatgrass has <br />been found to be much more effective in controlling <br />runoff than taprooted annual weeds (Lull, 1964). <br /> <br />The great influence of vegetated cover on <br />infiltration is further evidenced by the fact that <br />bare.soil infiltration capacity can be increased 3 to <br />7.5 times with good permanent forest or grass cover, <br />but little or no increase results with poor row crops <br />(Jens and McPherson, ] 964). <br /> <br />Duley and Kelley (1939) considered that there <br />might be far greater variations between the infiltra- <br />tion rates obtained under different surface conditions <br />on a single soil type than on different soil types <br />having the same surface condition, This consideration <br />may make it necessary to study the infiltration rate <br />characteristic of surface conditions rather than that <br />of a specific soil type, <br /> <br />Although plant cover is like all other factors <br />that affect inf1ltration and runoff, it is not an <br />independent factor. Rauzi and Fly (1968) found that <br />in general water intake rate increased with vegetal <br />cover, and that this increase was about 1 inch per <br />hour per 2,000 Ibs per acre vegetal cover with good <br />soil structure, and I inch per hour per 3,200 lbs per <br />acre with poor soil structure. A large number of tests <br />on the silty range site enabled the separation of rates <br />of water intake of three major soil structure classes, <br />The amount of vegetal cover required to increase the <br />rate of water intake I inch per hour for the silty <br />range site was between 1,000 and 5,000 Ibs per acre, <br />At the 3,000 lbs per acre level of vegetal cover, the <br />mean water intake rates were for excellent structure, <br />2AO inches per hour; for fair to good structure, 1.65 <br />inches per hour; and for poor structure, 1.10 inches <br />per hour. The clayey range site included soil textures <br />of sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and clay. Water <br />intake increased rapidly when the vegetal cover <br />increased to between 500 and 3,000 lbs per acre, No <br />increase in water intake and even a slight decrease was <br />noted with more than 4,000 lbs per acre of total <br /> <br />6 <br />