SOILS 2 7 



Fine sand i/ioo to 1/250 of an inch. 

 Very fine sand 1/250 to 1/500 of an inch. 



These grades of sand correspond very nearly with 

 the grains of granulated and soft sugar and fine 

 table salt. 



Silt. Fine soil particles ranging from 1/500 to 

 1/5000 of an inch in diameter. It feels very fine 

 and smooth when rubbed between the fingers, es- 

 pecially when moist. A good illustration of silt is 

 the silicon used for cleaning knives, a small amount 

 of which can be obtained at most any grocery store. 

 By rubbing some of this between the fingers, both 

 dry and wet, one can get a fair idea of how a silty 

 soil should feel. Silt when wet is sticky like clay. 



Clay. The finest of rock particles, 1/5000 to 

 1/250000 of an inch in diameter, too small to im- 

 agine. Clay when wet is very soft, slippery and 

 very sticky. Yellow ochre and whiting from the 

 paint shop are good illustrations of clay. 



Humus, or decaying vegetable and animal mat- 

 ter. This is dark brown or almost black in color 

 decaying leaves and woods soil are examples. 



Soils composed of the above materials : 



Sands or Sandy Soils. These soils are mixtures 

 of the different grades of sand and small amounts 

 of silt, clay and organic matter. They are light, 

 loose and easy to work. They produce early crops, 

 and are particularly adapted to early truck, fruit 

 and bright tobacco, but are too light for general 

 farm crops. To this class belongs the so-called 



