II.] TYPICAL SOILS 57 



capillarity, and similar soils containing less coarse sand 

 and rather more fine sand and silt are often among the 

 most valuable, because they combine free working 

 with a capacity to resist drought through capillary action. 

 This soil is more suited to market gardening than to 

 mixed farming, makes poor pastures, grows good barley 

 and turnips, but is too light for wheat and mangolds. 



Soil No. 3 is a light sandy loam from one of the 

 most valued of the " red land " potato soils, near Dunbar. 

 In the cool climate, with a fair rainfall here prevailing, 

 this forms an excellent arable soil for all crops, specially 

 prized as yielding potatoes which retain their colour 

 and are mealy after boiling. 



Soil No. 4 is a typical free working loam from the 

 Thanet sand formation, but rather lighter than usuaL 

 It is easy to work, warm and early, stands drought well, 

 and is grateful and fairly retentive of manure. This is 

 a highly valued soil for all ordinary arable cultivation, 

 but is rather too light for wheat and pasture in the 

 south or east of England. No particular fraction of 

 the soil is predominant, but the soil is a fairly uniform 

 mixture of particles of all grades. 



It should be noticed that in these first four soils of 

 a sandy type soil and subsoil are of very similar 

 structure, whereas as soon as the smaller particles 

 predominate on the heavy lands, then the soil is coarser 

 grained than the subsoil. 



Soil No. 5 comes from the Hastings Sand in Sussex, 

 and represents a light example of a type of soil which, 

 with a certain amount of variation in the relative 

 proportions of fine sand and silt, covers a considerable 

 area in the high Weald country. 



Generally it forms a sticky, heavy working soil, 

 commonly described as a clay, though the sand and silt 

 fractions predominate and no excessive proportion of 



