An Examination of Hydrometer and Other Methods for Particle-Size Determination in Different Soils

Three methods of particle-size analysis viz., Bouyoucos hydrometer method Day's hydrometer method and International pipette method, were examined. Day's hydrometer method compared well with the pipette method in respect of finer fractions. But Bouyoucos hydrometer method over-estimated these fractions. This discrepancy was attributed to the wrong recording times presently employed for analysis in Bouyouces hydometer method. The recording times of 4 minutes and 2 hours used for determining stlt plus clay and clay fractions, respectively, should not be constant but vary with the soil texture. Day's hydrometer method provides an added advantage of representing particle-size distribution in the form of summation curves.