Huddersfield Soils
By John Grainger

FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE SOIL CONDITIONS

Though all soils are derived from rock, their present condition is due to several factors, and in the district under survey it is primarily necessary to consider the kind of rock from which the soil was weathered, and the geological history of the district.

MILLSTONE GRIT AND COAL MEASURE SOILS
An outstanding difference in fertility is found between the soils formed from the millstone grit rocks and those derived from the coal measures. Fig. 2 shows the bare facts of a distribution whose agricultural results have impressed many visitors, and must be even more obvious to the native. The caustic comment of one libelous incomer that it took two beasts from a Millstone Grit farm to cast a shadow can, of course, be repudiated with vigour. There is, nevertheless, a lower level of agricultural and horticultural production on the Millstone Grits, which cannot be entirely explained by its more mountainous setting.

ALTERNATING BANDS OF HEAVY AND LIGHT SOIL
The second difference in soil conditions is one of fatigue in working rather than of fertility. The whole district, both Millstone Grits and Coal Measures, owes its scenery to the modification of alternating layers of hard sandstone rock and softer shale by the intersection of the valleys. Sandstone rocks weather to a light, sandy soil, whilst shales break down to a heavier clay. The layers are exposed on the valley sides where the weathering of previous ages has left a series of flats or terraces, where the hard sandstones are exposed, and steeper places, where the softer shales have been more strongly eroded. Sandy soil formed at the edge of a terrace, however, falls down the slope below, and the heavy soil formed on the shaly slope accumulates at the bottom.

Figure 3
A diagram to illustrate the distribution of local soils

Fig 3 shows how this would appear in a section of the huge multi-layered sandwich which forms this district. The flat terraces and the upper parts of a slope have sandy soil, and the lower parts of a slope have clay soil. Sandy soils fatigue the digger, and clay land fatigues him more.

Figure 4
Diagram to show the principles of soil distribution on the edge of a terrace, with the naturally-growing plants typical of each kind of soil. The letters A, B, C, and D refer to drainage conditions

Fig. 4 shows the matter in somewhat greater detail, and introduces another indication of the type of soil, namely the natural vegetation. Wavy Hair-grass, Aira flexuosa, favours the sandy soil whilst Creeping Soft-grass, Holcus mollis, or Yorkshire Fog, H. lanatus, grow upon the clay soils. The junction between sandy soil and clay soil is often marked by a line of springs, or may be badly drained. It is usually shown in the field by the growth of Rushes, Juncus conglomeratus, Tussock grass, Aira caespitosa, and Sedges, though this feature depends upon the dip of the layers of sandstone and shale at right angles to the valley. If they dip towards the valley, the junction will be moist or springs may appear; if the dip is away from the valley, it leaves the side dry.

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