no abstract provided by author / Master of Science

The purpose of the project herein described was to determine the acceleration due to gravity for the locale of Blacksburg, Virginia., to five significant figures. As far as the author has been able to determine, there has never been a formal determination of “g” made for this area. Supporting this prime purpose was the fact that the equipment required for this experiment, i .e. a secondary standard of length, a recording system, and several portable photocell relay circuits, and the vacuum tank, would be useful to the department in the future. / Master of Science

In the past several years there have been several efforts in the area of State Plane Coordinate System uses which have generated a large amount of interest in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Many individuals are interested in the possible benefits which could be derived from the monumentation of the Virginia State Plane Coordinate System (VSPCS). However, the system has lain virtually dormant since its adoption in 1946. In the course of investigating the uses of a state plane coordinate system, a basis for its monumentation is chosen. There are at present four possibilities: The Universal Transverse Mercator Projection, the NGS 2° Transverse Mercator Projection, the Lambert Conformal Projection and Geodetic Coordinates. Their merits and possible inconsistencies are presented. When a coordinate system is chosen, then an analysis of the cost of monumenting the system is presented. During this discussion three possible methods of monumentation are evaluated: Conventional traverse, photogrammetric triangulation and inertial surveying. Several uses of the monument network are discussed as are some of the problems facing those who administer the system. In the discussion of the latter, the need for a Virginia Geodetic Survey is presented. / Master of Science

The purpose of this research was to obtain information on the requirements for successfully drying mechanically harvested Virginia peanuts by artificial means. The work was performed at the Tidewater Research Station, Holland, Virginia. It was performed in bulk-type bins which were seven feet deep. Two tests, which consisted of four treatments and four replications each, were conducted. One of the replication bins in each treatment was divided into one-foot depth sections. The drying tests were conducted using intermittent heat which was designed to give the prescribed temperature rise when the ambient relative humidity was above 75 percent. The drying potential ranged from 12 cfm/ft³ and a 10 F temperature rise to 9 cfm/ft³ and a 3 F temperature rise. Original moisture contents of the peanuts tested were 43 percent and 31 percent. Weights of the bins were taken during the tests, thereby permitting the calculation of the moisture contents at any time. Drying rate curves were obtained from this. Quality analyses of the peanuts after drying were performed in order to determine the best drying treatment. These included: Fat Acidity, Shelling Damage, and Damaged Kernels from Commercial Grade. The Shelling Damage Tests showed that the lowest drying potential was best. The Fat Acidity Test indicated that the drying potential in all of the treatments was satisfactory when drying Virginia peanuts with an original moisture of 31 percent in a seven-foot depth. However, it appeared that the potential was not adequate to dry peanuts with a 43 percent moisture content in a depth greater than five feet. No information was obtained from the damaged kernels in the commercial grade. The resistance to air flow and the analyses of quality of the end product gave no indication that the sectioning of the bins had any effect on drying as compared with the full depth bins. This can be important in later research from the standpoint of obtaining additional data on drying rates and progression of the drying layer through bulk type bins of Virginia peanuts. / Master of Science

Because Virginia has been long regarded as a leading exponent of light horse production, it is particularly fitting that this subject should be included in the course of study for classes of vocational agriculture in the State. Virginia has provided the genesis of selective breeding to produce superior horses; through the efforts of Virginia horsemen has been evolved a type of animal adapted to pleasure, to work, and to general-purpose functions. Although mechanical power is utilized on some farms, the motor has not usurped, and cannot usurp, the place of the light horse for purposes which he is peculiarly adapted. In spite of the fact that the successful feeding, care, and management of light horses comprises an important aspect of farm business, modern data in teachable form on the subject is not readily available to the teacher of vocational agriculture. Thus the problem of acquiring up-to-date teaching data on light horses for students enrolled in classes of vocational agriculture in the high school is encountered. The selection of Orange County, Virginia, for the subject of intensive study was motivated by its topography, central location in the State, well-conducted horse breeding farms, experienced horsemen, and by the writer's experience as a teacher of vocational agriculture in the County, in which he noted the predominance of horse power over mechanical power on the home farms of the boys in his classes. It is hoped that the results of this study, in which practice is correlated with theory, may prove valuable to the teachers of agriculture and others interested in this subject. / Master of Science

Master of Science

Soil water movement and desorption studies were conducted on two agriculturally important soil series. The soils selected were the Norfolk soil (a fine loamy, siliceous, thermic, Typic Paleudult) and the Cecil soil (a clayey, kaolinitic, thermic, Typic Hapludult). Water desorption properties were investigated in the laboratory and in situ. The soil water desorption curves developed in the laboratory for both soils were relatively uniform. This observation was also true for most horizons for the desorption curves developed from the field data. The results for the B horizons of the Cecil soil showed the greatest variability, with the field data being the most variable. Comparisons of the field and laboratory water contents at given tensions show the field values were lower than laboratory values for horizons with over 40 percent sand and less than 30 percent clay. Field values were higher than laboratory values in the B horizons of both soils. In all other horizons, the field values were close to those obtained in the laboratory. The Norfolk soil was found to contain more plant available water than the Cecil soil. The selection of an upper limit for plant available water estimation is critical, especially for the Norfolk soil. The Cecil soil yielded little water between -.05 and -.30 bars, whereas the Norfolk soil yielded a relatively large amount of water (more than 3 times greater) in this range. This would nearly double the predicted plant available water for the Norfolk soil. Results of this study show that the irrigation management of the Cecil soil would require smaller amounts of water applied frequently, whereas the Norfolk soil could hold larger amounts of plant available water applied less frequently. This would allow more time between irrigations. / Master of Science

Master of Science

no abstract provided by author / Master of Science

Master of Science