Rural School Leaflet. 927 



COMPOSITION OF SOIL 

 By E. 0. Fippix 



Perhaps the person who idly rakes his fingers through the clean sand 

 on the beach in the summer does not think of it as soil. But for all the 

 absence of plants as well as, perhaps, its more enjoyable associations 

 with vacation and comfort it is potential soil exhibiting all the properties 

 of a rich garden soil, although not in the same degree. The first impres- 

 sion of this beach sand is of a mass of smooth glossy particles, not all of 

 the same size but composed of coarse and fine ones mixed together. 

 If this sand were compared with the samples of soil, collected on the 

 last field trip it, too, will be found composed of rock particles, prob- 

 ably also mixed with a considerable amount of the partially decayed 

 remains of plants and animals. From these two substances, rock par- 

 ticles and decayed organic matter (humus), result many other prop- 

 erties which may be either beneficial or deleterious to growing plants 

 according to their proportion and interrelation. These are the units of 

 which the soil is fundamentally composed. True, it may contain other 

 things besides simply rock particles and humus; it must contain water, 

 air and food, but the rock particles and humus form the structure of 

 the soil. Let us examine these units. 



First, look closely at some of each of the samples. Note their color 

 and feel them between the fingers. Decide which is most coarse and 

 which most fine. Are the particles all of one size or of different sizes? 

 Are the particles round and smooth, or sharp and angular? Are the 

 particles all of the same color and shape? 



Place two tablespoonfuls of each soil in a catsup bottle or other 

 tall narrow glass vessel filled with clean water. Shake the mixture 

 together thoroughly by repeating at intervals until all of the lumps of 

 soil are broken. If the lumps are very hard, they should be broken up 

 with a rolling pin. Label each bottle with the kind of soil it contains 

 and set them away on a shelf to stand until the next day. On the follow- 

 ing day without disturbing the soil, carefully examine each bottle. Note 

 the layers of soil in the bottom of each and note also how muddy the 

 water is in each case. Which is the most cloudy? Why is it cloudy? 

 Is it the finest or the coarsest sample which is most cloudy? In the 

 bottom which layer is the finest, the upper or lower one? Now carefully 

 pour off the muddy liquid at the top into another deep glass vessel where 

 it can be kept. Give it the same name as the sample and number it 2, 

 Fill the first bottle with more clean water and thoroughly shake up the 



