Grain of sand

“ Many experiments have shown that the power of absorption of sand decreases with the fineness of the grain, and that sand when thoroughly wet will contain water equal to about one-third to two-fifths of its bulk, and that almost all this can be drained ”

“ Our thoughts and wills and emotions are contagious. An exceptional sort of sand grain, a sand grain, for example, that is exceptionally big and heavy, exerts no influence worth considering upon any other of the sand grains in the load. ”

“ But in deserts, by the long wear of grain on grain as they are blown hither and thither by the wind, all soft minerals are ground to powder and the sand comes to consist almost wholly of smooth round grams of hard quartz. ”

“ Each grain, having a power of resistance different from the other, yields or remains under the influence of the air and rains, so that alongside of massive rocks, eroded, hollowed out, perforated, or protruding in knots and elbows, are heaps of sand formed by the decomposition of the cement that held the grains in place. ”

“ True happiness will be theirs when mind, heart, and hand shall work in concert in the sight of Heaven, and there shall be a sacred harmony between God's goodness and the joys of his creatures. Then, instead of the pitiable and frightful figure of Death stalking, whip in hand, across the fields, the painter of allegories may place beside the peasant a radiant angel, sowing the blessed grain broadcast in the smoking furrow. ”

“ But in truth these tender shades show where the sand is weathered, for if we walk upon it and break the thin crust created by the last rain, the dream tints depart, and a brighter corn colour breaks through. Coarse mat-grass binds the dunes and helps to hold them together against the forces of wind and water; but their tendency is [24] to decrease. Perhaps observation would prove that their masses shift and vanish more quickly than we guess, for the sand is the sea's toy, and she makes and unmakes her castles at will. ”

“ We may remark that almost all land proper for cultivation is reddish, and more or less mixed with these different matters; the particles of sand or stone found there are of two kinds, the one coarse and heavy, the other fine and sometimes impalpable. The largest comes from the lower strata loosened in cultivating the earth, or rather the upper mould, by penetrating into the lower, which is of sand and other divided matters, and forms those earths we call fat and fertile. The finer sort proceeds from the air, and falls with dew and rain, and mixes intimately with the soil. ”

“ This represents one of the great divisions of soil—sandy soil. The sea shores are great masses of pure sand. If soil were nothing but broken rock masses then indeed it would be very poor and unproductive. But the early forms of animal and vegetable life decaying became a part of the rock mass and a better soil resulted. So the soils we speak of as sandy soils have mixed with the sand other matter, sometimes clay, sometimes vegetable matter or humus, and often animal waste. ”

“ In sandy Grounds they need not strive so much for early Planting, the Looseness of the Earth, and the kind natur'd Soil, yielding all that it can, easily and speedily, and Sand retaining the Heat, makes the Plants grow faster. ”

“ In the Old World and in the humid region generally, sandstone and sandy soils are usually spoken of as being poor, because there the sand almost always consists of quartz grains only, and hence the fine portions alone can be looked to for plant nutrition. ”

“ Only coarse sandy soil remains light and open without organic matter. Few soils are formed only of coarse sand, most are mixtures of sand, silt and clay. Sands are sharp-sided, relatively large rock particles similar to table salt or refined white sugar. Irregular edges keep sand particles separated, and allow the free movement of air and moisture. ”

“ These properties are partly mechanical and partly chemical, and in both ways exercise an important influence on the fertility of the soil.
Sand and clay, the most important of the mechanical constituents, confer on the soil diametrically opposite properties; the former, when present in large quantity, producing what are designated as light, the latter stiff or heavy soils. The hard indestructible siliceous grains, of which sand is composed, form a soil of an open texture, through which water readily permeates ”

“ So far as general examination has yet gone, and in order to offer some leading hints to the scientific inquirer, it may be observed, that sandy soils, such as are frequent in England, are seldom seen except in maritime situations; but there are many inland beds of a red substance, too soft to be called stone, yet too compact to be called sand, though perfectly reducible to that state by the action of the sun or artificial heat. ”

“ A great part of the surface of the globe is covered by sand. In fertile regions the soil is very often of a sandy nature; though most soils are mixtures of sand with clay or stones, and may be described as loams rather than as sands. Pure sandy soils are found principally near sea-coasts where the sand has been blown inwards from the shore, or on formations of soft and friable sandstone like the Greensand. ”

“ It is of no use to plow deeper than the soil is, unless you mean to follow up that mode of cultivation persistently, manuring highly and carting in muck, at each plowing making a soil, in short. Yet many a man likes to tackle weighty themes like immortality, but in his discourse he turns up nothing but yellow sand, under which what little fertile and available surface soil he may have is quite buried and lost. ”

“ Though dry at the surface, the sand is moist below, having absorbed all the water furnished by the snows of winter, and the cloudless sun warms the soil so that the grains germinate even at that depth. ”

“ It is one prodigious expanse of red sand, and sandstone rock, of the granulations of which the red sand consists. It is, in truth, an empire of sand which seems to defy every exertion of human power or industry, although it is interspersed with various islands, and fertile and cultivated spots of different sizes, where water collects in springs or pools, around which vegetation springs up. These places, which present a delightful contrast to the surrounding sterility, and cheer the eye of the weary traveler, are called oases. ”

“ It has the peculiar property of flourishing best in the loosest soil, and a sand-shower seems to refresh it as the rain revives the thirsty plants of the common earth. Its roots bind together the dunes, and its leaves protect their surface. When the sand ceases to drift, the arundo dies, its decaying roots fertilizing the sand, and the decomposition of its leaves forming a layer of vegetable earth over it. Then follows a succession of other plants which gradually fit the sand-hills by growth and decay, for forest planting, for pasturage, and sometimes for ordinary agricultural use. ”

“ On ledges where the rock is exposed to view its surface is more or less discolored and the grains are loose and may be rubbed off with the finger. On gentle slopes the rock is covered with a soil composed of sand, which evidently is crumbled sandstone, and dark carbonaceous matter derived from the decay of vegetation. ”

“ The lead was kept going, every half hour or so, all night. And, towards sunrise, they got twenty fathoms, and the lead brought up grains of black sand and grains of yellow sand, and they put away the lead line. ”

“ The grains of sand, however, will still remain of an appreciable average size, and where both sand and clay are being transported to the sea in one and the same stream, the clay will be transported to long distances, whilst the sand, being heavier, bulk for bulk, and also consisting of grains larger in size than grains of clay, will be rapidly deposited, and form beds of sand. Of course, if the current be a violent one, the sand is transported, not by being held in suspension, but rather by being pushed along the bed of the river ”

“ If there is a sand pit near you, or a field of sandy soil, you should get a supply for these experiments; if not, some builder's sand can be used. When the sand is dry you will see that the grains are large and hard. Further, they are all separate and do not stick together; if you make a hole in a heap of the sand, the sides fall in, there is nothing solid about it, and you can easily see the mistake of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. When the sand is wet it sticks better and can be made into a good many things; at the seaside you can make a really fine castle with wet sand. ”

“ Much good can be done to a heavy soil by adding to it sharp, coarse sand, old mortar—anything that will have a tendency to counteract the heaviness resulting from undue retention of water or a naturally too close character of soil. If sand is obtainable, and your garden is one in which clay predominates, use it in generous quantities. You will find it as beneficial as manure. ”

“ The effect of different rocks upon the preservation and diminution of the moisture of fertile soil, influences vegetation in various degrees. The retentive power of the surface of rocks is of the greatest importance, where the soil consists chiefly of sand, through which the water percolates, and passes off entirely, unless it meets with a stratum of such a nature, as to obstruct its passage, or comes upon a surface of solid rock. The cause of the sterility of sandy plains is not merely their sandy nature, but also the great depth of the mass or rock capable of retaining the water. ”

“ While the physical character is of secondary importance, as generous crops are grown in sandy soil as well as in heavy loams, still the ideal soil is a sandy loam, i. e., a mixture of organic matter, clay and sand. A subsoil of gravel, or the presence of hard-pan, is not desirable, as cultivation to a depth of from twelve to fifteen inches is necessary to produce the best results. ”

“ The black sand always lies uppermost, consists of very fine grains, which, when examined by a microscope, appear to have a dark blue colour, like that of a smooth iron, not attacked by rust. Some grains are roundish, but most of them angular, with shining surfaces; and they sparkle when the sun shines. All the grains of this sand without exception are attracted by the magnet. Amongst these black or deep blue grains, they meet with a few grains of a red or garnet coloured sand, which is the same with the red sand which lies immediately under it, and which I shall now describe. ”

“ Innumerable are the grains of sand on the shore of the sea. The multitude of grains form indeed a uniform mass, so uniform that its very uniformity wearies and pains the eye, if it is looked at for long. ”

“ The sandy tract here alluded to is merely formed by deposites from the beach, and extends scarcely half a mile inland; the country beyond it, all the way to the mountains, is a mixture of rock and excellent soil, with no sand whatever, and is for the most part, as we have mentioned, well wooded and covered with vegetation. ”

“ The soil should be a rich, light sandy mould, with a little peat, if convenient, and should be finely pulverized. The seeds should now be closely watched, and the moment they are seen pushing up the sand, in order to obtain light, they should be taken out singly with the point of a knife, taking a small portion of the sand with them. ”

“ Sand consists of grains of quartz or flint, the individual particles of which are large enough to be seen with the unaided eye or readily felt as gritty grains when rubbed between the finger and thumb. When a little soil is shaken up with water in a tumbler the sand particles rapidly fall to the bottom and form a layer which resembles ordinary sand of the seashore or river banks. ”

“ The soil is commonly a dense tenacious brown or red brown loam, often free from stone for large areas, and composed of the detritus of the calcareous and argillaceous rocks. That combining the sand of the cretaceous rocks, and the clay of the marl beds, is of high fertility. ”

“ The upper sand forms a very productive arable soil, and the clay impervious, wet [Pg 94] and cold lands chiefly in pasture. The lower sand is generally unproductive.
It is an important agricultural remark, that where the clay (plastic clay) comes in contact with the top of the chalk, an improved soil is produced, and that where the chalk and the green sand mix, extremely fertile patches of country present themselves. (See pages 86 and 87.)
4. The Wealden formation, nearly 1000 feet thick, consists of 400 feet of sand, covered by 300 of clay, and resting upon 250 of marls and limestones. ”

“ This kind of observation will enable us to find proofs everywhere that the surface of the land has not always been what it is to-day. In some districts, for example, when the dark layer of soil in which vegetables grow is turned up, there may be found beneath it sand and gravel full of smooth, well-rounded stones. Such materials are to be seen in course of formation where water keeps them moving to and fro, as on the beds of rivers, the margins of lakes, or the shallow shores of the sea. ”

“ The great expanse of irregular surface soil, with its innumerable obstacles and undulations, was, of course, bound to give curious results in the sand accumulations south of it, where the sand could deposit itself in a more undisturbed fashion and was affected by purely natural causes. Of course, sand hills do not accumulate in the flat desert unless some obstacle—a mere pebble, a tamarisk shrub, a ridge, or a stone, is the primary cause of the accumulation. ”

“ Here are gathered all the asters that either love or will tolerate dry soil, a certain bid for their favour having been made by mixing several barrels of stiff loam with the top sand, as an encouragement until the roots find the hospitable mixture below. ”

“ A light, sandy soil should be given only a small application, as otherwise physical condition may be injured. The lime, used in excess, has an undue binding effect upon the sand. An application of 1000 pounds of stone-lime per acre can be made with safety. ”