104 SOILS: PROPERTIES AND MANAGEMENT 



Loam, from the technical standpoint, refers to a soil 

 possessing in about equal amounts the properties im- 

 parted by the various separates. If, however, we have 

 practically the same condition but with one size of particle 

 predominating, the name of that particular separate is 

 prefixed, giving still more data regarding the soil in 

 question. Thus a loam in which clay is dominant will 

 be classified as a clay loam. In the same way we may 

 have a sandy loam, a sandy clay loam, a gravelly sandy 

 clayey loam, and so on. The number of soil classes that 

 may occur is therefore rather large, ranging from coarse 

 gravel, through the various grades of sands, to silts and 

 clays. 



A few of the common classes, with their mechanical 

 analyses, are listed below : — 



Mechanical Composition of Various Soil Classes x 



1 Whitney, M. The Use of Soils East of the Great Plains 

 Region. U. S. D. A., Bur. Soils, Bui. 78, p. 12. 1911. 



