Volumeter test—A valuable auxiliary for the determination of the stability of soil aggregates

Two methods for the determination of aggregate stability, wet-sieving and the volumeter test (based on forced consolidation of an aggregate sample), were compared. The aim of this work was to find out whether results obtained with both methods were comparable and, if so, which one was less time-consuming for the same degree of accuracy.Optimum levels of soil moisture for obtaining reliable results were determined during preliminary tests. At these levels, results obtained with both methods showed close agreement. The results of wet-sieving were mainly correlated with the proportion of aggregates between 2 and 5 mm and organic matter content, whereas the results of the volumeter tests correlated with the clay-, silt-, organic matter- and calcium-content of the soil. The time necessary for the accomplishment of the volumeter test was about half that of the wet-sieving method.