Red soil can be sandy or made of clay. When texturing soil samples by hand students should follow this criteria. Sand feels gritty. Silt feels smooth, soft, somewhat slick, like the smooth silkiness of baby powder. Clay feels sticky, and often stains the fingers.
Clay soils stick together.
Most of us have worked with potters clay. Potters clay is not quite as sticky, but a truly clay soil will hold together is a similar fashion. You cannot determine soil texture by color or where it is found in the soil profile. The touch method and hydrology tests determine soil texture. Utah Agriculture in the Classroom Utah Agriculture in the Classroom Dirt Shake organic suspended clay silt sand Particle Size Relative particle sizes of sand, silt, and clay.