Humus Soil

Humus is dark, organic material that forms in soil when plant and animal matter decays.

When plants drop leaves, twigs, and other material to the ground, it piles up. This
material is called leaf litter. When animals die, their remains add to the litter. Over time,
all this litter decomposes. This means it decays, or breaks down, into its most basic
chemical elements. Many of these chemicals are important nutrients for the soil and
organisms that depend on soil for life, such as plants.

Humus contains many useful nutrients for healthy soil. One of the most important
is nitrogen. Nitrogen is a key nutrient for most plants. Agriculture depends on nitrogen
and other nutrients found in humus.

Humus can be produced naturally or through a process called composting. When

people compost, they collect decaying organic material, such as food and garden
scraps, that will be turned into soil.

Clay Soil
Clay soil is soil that is comprised of very fine mineral particles and not much
organic material. The resulting soil is quite sticky since there is not much space
between the mineral particles, and it does not drain well at all.
Clay is the oldest known ceramic material. Prehistoric humans discovered the
useful properties of clay and used it for making pottery.
Clay is used in many modern industrial processes, such as paper making, cement
production, and chemical filtering. Between one-half and two-thirds of the
world's population live or work in buildings made with clay, often baked into
brick, as an essential part of its load-bearing structure.

Sand Soil
Sand soil consists of small particles of weathered rock. Sandy soils are one of the
poorest types of soil for growing plants because it has very low nutrients and poor
water holding capacity, which makes it hard for the plant’s roots to absorb water.
Sandy soil is usually formed by the breakdown or fragmentation of rocks like
granite, limestone and quartz.
These soils have quick water drainage and are easy to work with. They are quicker
to warm up in spring than clay soils but tend to dry out in summer and suffer from
low nutrients that are washed away by rain.