Abstract. The present paper describes shrinkage determination method and results obtained in the conditions of modelled compaction (density, porosity). The investigations were carried out on 1.0 and 50.0 cm³ modelled cylindrical aggregates. Ten soils of different texture (from sand to clay) and different amount of organic matter were selected for the investigations. The device used to measure the shrinkage makes it possible to achieve simple, safe and fairly accurate deter­mination of shrinkage-limit and moisture at shrinkage-limit. The value of shrinkage is mainly affected by soil texture, particularly clay content, amount of organic mat­ter and initial soil moisture. The correlation between shrinkage value and clay content in the soil was determined in the paper. Moreover, the relationship between moisture at shrinkage-limit and hygroscopic capacity (//), particularly maximal hygroscopic capacity (MH), was established.