74: ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



they are made up. Different kinds of rocks when they 

 decay make different kinds of soil. For convenience 

 the various kinds of soils have been given different 

 names to indicate how they are made up. For instance, 

 we have sandy soils, clay soils, muck, etc. 



1. Sandy soils include all soils that contain large 

 amounts of sand. Such soils aTe no doubt familiar to 

 most of us. • ' 



2. Clay Soils" include all those containing large 

 amounts of clay. They may be easily recognized by 

 their sticky character. Soils that are made up some- 

 what equally of sand and clay are called loams. 



3. Sandy loams are soils made up principally of ^and 

 and clay, but containing considerably more sand than 

 clay. 



1. (lay loams are also soils made up principally of 

 sand and day, but containing more clay than sand. 



5. Soils that contain much decaying organic matter 

 are variously called humus soils, woods mold, or 

 garden soil. If this variety of soil also contains 

 much moisture it is called peaty soil, swamp muck, 

 etc. 



These five classes include all the soils commonly cul- 

 tivated on the farm. There are other kinds of soil dif- 

 ferent from any of these, but they are not the ordinary 

 farm soils. 



76. Light and Heavy Soils. — Soils are often spoken of 

 as light or heavy, but these words have no reference 

 to the actual weight of the soil ; they refer simply to the 

 way these soils behave when cultivated. A light soil is 

 one that is easy to cultivate; such soils are porous, and 



