Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 March 1876 — Classification of Soils. [ARTICLE]

Classification of Soils.

A farmer who conducts his business—his farming operations—intelligently, knows something more about the nature of his soil than that it is day, sand or loam. He acquaints himself with its characteristics, notices results and obtains much usetul and valuable knowledge from his experience every year in regard to itssequireoMCts. A fewprimary facts in connection with differentkinds of soils are worth fixing in the mud. The basis of soils are the rocks, and they are classified by Prof. JohnsAn, according to their clayey, or sandy proportions, as follows: 1. Pore clay, from which no mud can be washed.. 2. Strong clay or brick clay, which contains from five to twenty per cent, of sand. 8. Clay loam, which contains from twenty to forty per cent, of sand. 4. Loam, which has from forty to seventy per cent, of sand5. Sandy loam, which has from seventy to ninety per cent, of sand. 6. Light sand, which has less, than ten per cent, of clay. Sandy soft,, then, arc those which consist mainly of grains of sand, or silica,, or flint, and is called a silicious soil- Nature never bestowed upon man a soil of greater capability of being made lastingly fertile than the sandy, light soil of New Gravelly soils need no description, though there are rich gravels and poor gravels depending upon the rocks of which they are composed and the enhances which aremlxedamonathem. * Clay soils consists largely of alumina, that is, having such an abidance of clay that it is called the “clay metal.” day itself is a compound of allies (sand) acid, alumina and water. It *l*n contains potash, soda, and lime. It forms a compact, fatty earth, soft to the touch, sticky in a moist state, and very bard when Chalky soils have been formed from rocks in which lime was abundant. Peaty soils need no description, although they differ ray widely • Alluvial soils are formed by deposits ot tend, loam and gravel, brought down by rivers. They are often vety rich, bdag composed of a multitude of thin layers of mud, in which all sorts of fertilizing material is mixed. Loamy soils contain a huge portion of decayed matter, humus or muck, as we call it. Woody fiber in a state of decay acquires a dark color, and ultimately becomes mold. Loam contains a varietyof •erfpticm eHfaoib easy* of c^BiStow^and as to texture is a moat desiraldedescription of land for all foe purposes of tfi-