The most important factor when beginning to cultivate your garden is to know your soils texture -- whether it's sand, silt, clay, or something else. Testing the texture is something that every gardener can do at home. To get a general idea of your soil texture, the test you need to perform is quite simple. Take a handful of moist soil and roll it between your palms until it forms a sausage shape. If it feels gritty and breaks apart immediately, the soil is predominately sand. If the soil feels smooth, and holds its shape for a short time before breaking apart, it's mostly silt. However, if it feels sticky and holds together, then it's clay. Even without knowing the soil's exact texture, it's a safe bet that adding organic matter will help.

Soil Types

Sands are not necessarily all sand, nor are clays necessarily all clay. In between these two extremes there are a number of different textural classes.

Sandy Soil

Coarse-textured soils, which include sands, loamy sands and sandy loams, are valuable not just because they are easy to cultivate but also for the fact that they are able to warm up quickly in spring. They drain well so the plants do not stand with their roots in water for too long. However, as they drain quickly so plants need to be regularly watered and fed if they are to thrive. Sandy soil feels rough and gritty when handled. They are usually a reddish brown colour and easy to dig. One advantage is that they very quickly warm up in the spring, so sowing and planting can be done earlier in the year than it can in clay soils. However they may lack nutrients because much of it is washed through the soil in wet weather.

Silty Soil

This soil type is richer in nutrients than sandy soil; it is also heavier because it can retain moisture and has a tendency to become compacted. It does however tend to drain well and much easier to cultivate than clay.

Clay Soils

Clay soils are generally termed heavy soils, being weighty to lift and difficult to work. Drainage is usually bad and they are acid, clinging to the feet in wet weather. Clay particles provide the smallest soil fragments, so they naturally pack down very closely. A sponge-like substance called a Colloid surrounds each separate particle. During wet weather these absorb moisture and become sticky, pressing the particles still more tightly together. In dry weather they lose moisture and shrink; we must all have seen at some time or other, clay soil that has severely cracked after several weeks of dry weather. To combat these conditions we should add lime, gypsum and work in plenty of compost, which will help to separate the soil and give it texture. Work in materials such as straw, manure and rough compost. If lime is required a top-dressing every third year should work wonders.

When preparing the beds for vegetables in clay soil, the organic fertilizer should be added at a rate of two bucketfuls to the sq. yd. If the soil is heavy clay and needs drainage, then it might be advisable to seriously consider having land drain s, pipes laid below the soil. The pipes are obtained in fixed lengths and may be earthenware, tile, plastic or concrete. Alternatively, drainage trenches can be dug. The trenches should be 2 ft. (60cm) deep, the main trench being 1 ft. (30cm) wide and running to the lowest part of the garden. The side trenches should be narrower and should run diagonally into the main trench. The bottom can be filled with large stones, clinkers, rubble and other similar material through which the water can percolate.

Though trenches are not as effective on land with excessive drainage problems, if pipes are out of the question for financial or structural seasons, it will never the less help to elevate some of the problem. If on the other hand these too are not an option, then raised beds could be the answer.

Loamy Soil

In the medium -textured soil group are loams, which contain sand, silt and clay, in such well-balanced proportions that none produces a dominating influence. These are amongst the most fertile soils. With pro per management almost any crop can be grown in them. They warm up quickly in spring and rarely dry out in summer. Loamy soil is brown and wonderful crumbly, the perfect medium, one that is suitable for most plants. Its texture is similar to that found on well worked allotments, it is easy to dig and naturally high in nutrients, if you have this then you are extremely lucky!

Chalk Soils

Chalk soils are very variable, for their fertility depends largely on the depth of soil overlaying the chalk bed formation. If the topsoil is thin the ground will be poor and hungry. It will be bone dry in summer and the plants will need far more watering and feeding than on any other soil. If however, it is fairly deep, good growing conditions are possible. Chalky soils are often sticky and soft in wet weather; you can help this situation by building up a good layer of topsoil by working in plenty of manure and compost. In these conditions, green manures are particularly beneficial. In chalky soils potash is often deficient so use sulphate of potash 1/2 - 1 oz. per sq. yd. the alternative is wood ashes 8 oz. per sq. yd. as a spring top dressing.

Peaty Soil

Though peaty soils are uncommon they do occur in fen or boggy areas. Peat is composed of excessive quantities of humus and is associated with water- logging. The soil is usually very acid, dark brown in colour, fibrous and spongy in texture and contains few nutrients. It does have one advantage in that it warms up quickly in spring. The best way to work it is to add drainage, add lime occasionally to correct acidity. It is excellent for plant growth if fertiliser is added.

Soil Fertility

One simple way of checking if your soil has good fertility is to wait until spring while soil is moist and warm (at least 55 F), find an area of the garden where the ground is o covered by mulch or green manure, and dig up a clod 1 ft. (30cm) square by 6-inch (15cm) deep. Place the soil on a piece of wood or cardboard, and count the earthworms in the mass of soil. If you find 10 or more earthworms, your soil has good fertility.