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Texture largely determines how fast water will run into or through a soil horizon, how much water the horizon will hold, and how easily the soil can be tilled.
Determining Soil Texture
Texture is estimated by manipulating a moist sample with your hands, and feeling it with your thumb and fingers. Often the soil is too dry for estimating texture and must be moistened.
To estimate texture: Take at least a heaping tablespoon of soil, and try to mold it with your hand. Refer to the descriptions and pictures below to determine the texture of the surface and subsoil.
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To estimate texture: Take at least a heaping tablespoon of soil, and try to mold it with your hand. The goal is to bring it to a moisture content so that it can be manipulated like modeling clay (Fig. 16).
Description of soil types
Sandy | Moderately Sandy | Medium |
Do not stick together enough to form a cast, (a) Cannot be formed into a ribbon, and are very grainy in appearance. They are not sticky. | Form a good cast (b) and a weak ribbon (c). Surface has a grainy appearance. They are not sticky. | Form a good cast and a moderately weak ribbon (d) Medium-textured soils are slightly sticky. |
Moderately clayey | Clayey | |
Form a fairly long ribbon (e). Appearance varies from very smooth to very grainy. They are relatively sticky. | Forms a long ribbon that can be squeezed very thinly and still support its weight (f) Appearance is very smooth and shiny. They are very sticky. | |
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Soil evaluation texture groups contain the following standard texture classes: 1. Sandy—sands and loamy sands. For surface texture, determine the dominant texture in the plow layer or the upper 8 inches of soil. Determine subsoil texture in the finest layer (the depth that contains the most clay) exposed below the surface horizon. Note: Official judges may designate on the site card depths at which to judge surface or subsoil texture, or put samples in a container outside the soil pit. |