Silt feels soft and silky, just like flour used for baking. Once the amount of sand, silt, and clay is known, you can give the soil a texture class name. These names change depending on how much of each size particle is in the soil. There are people who are really good at sensing just how much sand, silt, and clay a soil contains. They spend a lot of time studying the way different soils feel.
Soil scientists use the texture method as a standard part of their field soil analysis.
These people are called soil judgers . Soil judgers compete in contests where they are asked to describe many properties of the soil profile in a specific amount of time. Soil Judging contests usually are between students at Colleges or Universities. But, anyone can learn to describe the soil in the same way that soil jusgers do. If you'd like to give some of those soil judgers out there a run for their money, here are two different ways to help you figure out how much sand, silt, and clay are in your soil sample.