Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Rajan Bhatt
Assistant Professor (Soil Scinece)
Krishi Vigyan Kendra,Kapurthala
rajanbhatt79@rediffmail.com
(98159-63858)
Soil comprises of the three important primary partners, viz. sand (2-0.02 mm), silt
(0.02-0.002 mm) and clay (<0.002 mm). These primary particles are generally clustered
together to form secondary particles or aggregates which further binds together with
organic matter and some other materials in different proportions to form different types
of the soils viz. loamy soil has 40% sand , 40% silt and around 20% clay. Sand feels
gritty between fingers and the particles are generally visible to the naked eye. As sand
particles are relatively large, the bigger pores in between them promote easy drainage of
water into and out of soil profile and exchange of gases with the atmosphere. Silt
particles are smooth, silky like flour. The pores between them are smaller and many,
thereby retaining water for a longer period of time. The clay particles have a very large
specific surface area and have a tremendous capacity to adsorb water and other
substances and make the soil sticky or plastic.
Importance
• The mechanism of water infiltration, retention in soil and drainage out of the root
zone are a phenomenon associated with soil texture. The coarseness of fineness of
soil determines the rates of these processes and hence water availability to the
plants.
• The structure of soil, an important parameter determining the physical fertility of
soil is a function of soil texture. The fine textured soils have a more stable
structure but a plenty of micropores, which help retain more water and less air in
the soil, but coarse-textured soils have more macropores, which conduct water
very fast.
• Soils with finer particles get waterlogged during excessive rains or irrigation and
result in aeration stress to plants with the result that they are not able to take up
water and nutrients, which are present in the soil in sufficient quantities.
• The fine-textured soils help in retaining more nutrients on their surfaces through
adsorption and hence lesser losses through leaching etc. The cation exchange
capacity of soils, which is very important in determining the availability of
nutrients to plants, is a function of soil texture.
• The workability of the soils is a direct function of soil texture. In fact, the heavy
or light texture means the force required at drawbar during cultivation.
• The erodibilty of soil-resistance of soil towards the erosion process is also a
function of soil texture.
• In fact most of the soil physical and chemical properties are a function of soil
texture either directly or indirectly.
The feel method is a crude method by which we are able to judge broadly the classes of
soil texture viz. sandy loam, loamy sand, silty loam, clay loam etc. The experience of the
person matters in accurately judging the texture.
The pipette method involves the dispersion of soil sample into ultimate particles and then
separating the coarse sand particle through sieving and fine through sedimentation, which
is based on Stoke’s law. The differential settling of particles is a function of their size.
The bigger particles settle first, followed by smaller particles. The sample of soil-water
suspension taken after a certain pre-calculated time corresponding to a particular size
group of particles, may contain those particles and after drying the sample at 105oC, the
percentage of that group of particles can be found out.
The hydrometer method also involves dispersion of soil into primary particles, sieving
coarse sand particles and subsequently the differential settling of particles. But instead of
actually taking a sample for different fractions, this method is based on the measurement
of density of soil-water suspension at different times and relates it with the particle size
groups. A hydrometer reading at 4 minutes means measuring density for silt and clay
particles and that at 2 hours means density for clay particles at a temperature of 68oF. At
temperatures above and below this value needs temperature correction in the hydrometer
readings.
For determining the texture of a soil, the relative proportion of different primary particles
(sand, silt and clay) needs to be found out and procedure is called Particle size analysis. It
is an index of physical and chemical properties of soils. The methods used for this
analysis are Pipette method and Hydeometer method. Both these methods are based on
Stoke’s law for the fractionation of finer particles but differ in the mode of recording.
Pipette method is laborious and time consuming whereas hydrometer method is simple
and rapid.
Procedure
The particle size analysis by Hydrometer method involves two important steps:
dispersion and fractionation of soil particles.
Dispersion
• Take 50 g of 2-mm sieved oven-dry soil in a 500 ml beaker.
• Add 20 ml of H2O2 solution into it and swirl the contents well and place it on a
hot plate. Continue digestion, stirring the contents all the time with a glass rod to
minimize frothing, till the reaction completely subsides. Cool the beaker.
• Detach the soil particles from the inner sides of the beaker by rubbing with a
policeman and with a jet of distilled water.
• Add 25 ml of 2N HCl solution and allow the contents to react for an hour. Filter
the contents through a Whatman No. 50 filter paper and discard the filtrate. Wash
the soil with distilled water till the filtrate is free from chlorides.
• Transfer the soil from filter paper to a 500 ml beaker with a jet of distilled water.
• Make the volume to 300-350 ml with distilled water and add a few drops of
phenolphthalein indicator. Add N/10 NaOH solution till the whole suspension
shows a pink colour and stir the contents of the beaker with an electric stirrer for
5-10 minutes.
Fractionation
• Transfer the contents of the beaker to a 1-litre cylinder of standard dimensions
and make the volume to 1 liter. Place the cylinders in a controlled temperature
room at 68oF (otherwise note down the temperature of the suspension and correct
the subsequent hydrometer readings for this temperature).
• Shake the suspension with a plunger for 20-25 times or till all the soil particles
come into suspension. Take the hydrometer readings at 4 minutes and 2 hours for
silt + clay and clay, respectively as shown below.
• Carefully put the hydrometer in the suspension 30 seconds before the actual
timing and let it become stable. Note down the hydrometer reading at 4 minutes
after the plunger was taken out of the suspension. Take the hydrometer out of
• suspension and wash it with distilled water and take reading at 2 hours after the
plunger was taken out of the suspension.
• In case the temperature of the suspension could not be maintained at 68 oF, add 0.2
to the reading for each degree above 68oF and subtract 0.2 for each degree below
68oF within 60 to 75oF.
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