DIRECTIONS FOR FARMING. 

 ELEMENTS 



OF 



PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 



SOILS. 



EXTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



The Soil is the upper portion of the ground in which 

 plants are produced-. It forms a stratum of from a few 

 inches to a foot or more in depth. It is usually some- 

 what dark in color, arising from the mixing with it of 

 the decomposed stems, leaves, and other parts of plants 

 \*rhich had grown upon it, and in part often from the pre- 

 sence of animal substances. The decomposed organic 

 portion of the soil may be termed mould ; mould distin- 

 guishes the soil from the subsoil. 



Soils are termed rich or poor : with relation to their 

 texture, they may be termed stiff,— and free or light. — 

 The stiff soils are those which are tenacious and cohe- 

 sive in their parts ; the light or free soils are those which 

 are of a looser texture, and whose parts are easily sep- 

 arated. 



All soils which possess this cohesive property in a con- 



