Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-04-08
COmDOSjtiOn of Soils

A correspondent asks to publish an arti-
Gle on soils, giving the distinguishing charac-
teristics of the different kinds, 20 that a be-
ginner can tell mari from loan, muck from
peat, &C.
An exact classification of soils is not easy
matter, inasmuch as in nature distinct lines
of separation cannot generally be traced, yet
such an arrangement is of great practical
utility, and if standard could be defnitively
settled and generally understood, it would
render clearer much of the writing on agri-
cultural topics. The ingredient most common
in soil are clay, lime, silica sand and gray
ell, and humus or animal and vegetable re-
mains. Soil is rarely composed of only one
or even two of these substances, and it is the
prepOnderance and mixture of one more
which give it character and name.
| We should denominate sandy SOILS those
composed almost entirely oil silicious sand or
gravel the nearer they approach to being
pure sand the more worthless they are for all
agricultural purposes. They absorb large
amounts of manure without corresponding
benefit to the crops, and are very difficult to
bring to state Of fertility. Their greatest
capability for improvement consists in the
admixture of other soil elements which may
lie in the subsoil or near at hand. But a
perfect sand soil is the most hopeless of any
to convert to profitable husbandry.
CLAY souls are those in which clay greatly
predominates, and their qualities are directly
opposite those of sand, They have great
power of absorbing and retaining moisture
and gases from the air ; they are adhesive.
stiff and impenetrable they are cold, late,
and difficult to cultivate, III dry and wet sea-
sons. Yet they are in general, highly fertile,
and their faults, which arise from mechanical
and not from their chemical structure, may
be amended by drainage and fermentive
manures.
soil of nearly pure mould or hunus is
usually termed peat, mnck or bog. 1t is val
liable for special purposes is usually wet,
and not adapted to general farming. Cal
cdre0us soils are those which contain distin-
gushing quantities of lime.
From the combination of these several soils
arises great variety to which the general
name af loans may be appropriately given,
with a specific term which indicates what prop
erty appears most prominently in their COM
position. Thus we have sandy loan in which
there may be clay, lime and vegetable mould,
but the sand predominates and stamps it's
characteristic on the soil. Clay loan may be
similarly described, except that clay takes the
place of the sand in quantity; then there are
nlarfy loans which contain a good deal OF
lime and clay, and vegetable mouIds or loans
in which the humus exists most largely.
These different loans are the most valuable
Soils and have the widest adaptability to
various products. Their mechanical and
chemical conditions are the most perfect;
thew are mast readily renovated when worn
by over cropping and are also the most easily
cultivated. They retain moisture best IN
drought, and pass it off in seasons of unusual
wet, and the highest perfection in agriculture
is attainable on this description OF SOIL