SOIL 



in different parts of the country, according to 

 the nature of the rock in the district, and this 

 of itself is sufficient to tell us that it has been 

 formed out of the substances around it. In 

 chalk or limestone neighbourhoods, where the 

 rocks are white and let water run through them 

 easily, the soil is light in colour and dries up 

 readily; where there is iron to be found the 

 soil is red, as though coloured by rust ; in river 

 meadows where there is a great quantity of 

 moist decaying matter, we get a rich dark warm 

 soil, full of humus. Clay is a kind of soil which 

 is found to be cold and heavy to cultivate ; for 

 the mineral substances in it are very finely 

 divided, and stick so closely together that water 

 cannot easily run through and the heat of the 

 sun does not get far in. The size of the 

 particles in the soil makes a great difference 

 in its properties. If we crumble a piece of clay 

 into a basin of water, the particles are so small 

 that for a long time they are held up by the 

 water and make it look muddy, just as in a fog 

 we found that the small particles of water 

 scarcely moved through the air. If we put 

 sand into water it quickly falls to the bottom, 

 leaving the water clear again, like a shower of 

 rain which passes through the air. 



The amount of moisture in the soil is one 

 of the most important points that a farmer or 

 gardener has to consider, since the crops that 

 we grow both for ourselves and our animals 



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