Many kinds of hydrologic research can be facilitated by the use of direct-reading, electrical soil-moisture meters. These meters can be used to measure accretions and losses of soil moisture and the direction and rate of soil-water movement; they can provide a means of controlling the time and amount of irrigation on crop land; and they can discern freezing and melting conditions of water in soil and snow. These uses require that the soil unit of the meter be small, rigid, and resistant to corrosion and deterioration. The moisture-absorbing dielectric through which the measurement is made must be thin enough and completely enough exposed to the soil to eliminate any significant time lag in moisture indication. The measuring unit must be rugged, portable, and self-contained, for field use. A meter has been developed by the United States Forest Service to meet these specifications.