CHAPTEE II 



THE SOILS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 



The geological structure of tlie British Isles and par- 

 ticularly of England, is extremely varied, practically all 

 the great geological formations being represented. The 

 soils derived from these rocks are of course likewise very 

 various, but for practical purposes, so far as they deter- 

 mine vegetation, they may be divided into comparatively 

 few categories7 accorjjing to their outstanding physical 

 and chemical chart V ^■^'^tics. Thus geological formations 

 of widely difEerenj <",?', and often differing also in litho- 

 logical constitution"^ weather to form soils of the same 

 essential physical and chemical type, bearing the same 

 kind of vegetation. 



The main types of soil and their general characters 

 are well known, but a short summary may 

 be given here. 



1. Sand. The typical sand is composed of relatively 

 coarse particles of silica more or less mixed with other 

 constituents. It is derived either from a recently formed 

 loose sandy deposit that has never been consolidated, of 

 which an extreme case is the blown sand of the sea-coast 

 and of some inland regions, or from a coarse-grained 

 sandstone, or from a crystalline rock, such as granite, 

 containing much quartz. Sand forms an open light soil, 

 little retentive of water. It is typically poor in lime. 



