54 SOILS 



a greater or less degree. Then there are the loams, 

 which are combinations of sand, clay, and humus, 

 the sand predominating in sandy loams, and the 

 clay in clayey loams. These are the common 

 types of soils with which the farmer has to deal. 

 Their characteristics, and brief suggestions on how 

 they may be handled to best advantage, are given 

 in the following paragraphs. 



SANDY SOILS 



Soils containing 80 per cent, of sand and less 

 than 10 per cent, of clay are called sandy. 

 These soils are usually poor in plant food and are 

 leachy, especially if the sand grains are large. The 

 finer the sand the more valuable is the soil, as a 

 rule. In dry weather crops on sandy soils are 

 quickly parched. These soils absorb little if any 

 water from the air. On the other hand a sandy 

 soil dries out very soon after a rain, so that it can 

 be worked quickly. Moreover, a sandy soil is 

 warm, because the large quartz grains hold heat 

 well; they are miniature soapstones. If kept wet 

 and if enriched, sandy soils respond with large 

 crops, especially if the farmer fills them with 

 humus. Heavy dressings of barnyard manure 

 have a very beneficial effect upon sandy soils, not 

 merely because manure enriches them in plant food, 

 but more particularly because the humus in it clogs 

 the large spaces between the sand grains, making 

 the soil less porous. A green crop plowed under 

 has the same effect. Manures and fertilisers 

 should not be applied to sandy soils long before the 

 plants need them. 



Some of the most valuable early truck and fruit 

 lands, notably in Delaware and New Jersey and 



