We can no more manufacture a soil with a tank of chemicals than we can invent a rain forest or produce a single bird. We may enhance the soil by helping its processes along, but we can never recreate what we destroy. The soil is a resource for which there is no substitute. (Environmental historian Donald Worster reminds us that fertilizers are not a substitute for fertile soil). Soil is a thin covering over the land consisting of a mixture of minerals, organic material, living organisms, air and water that together support the growth of plant life.

Several factors contribute to the formation of soil from the parent material. This includes mechanical weathering of rocks due to temperature changes and abrasion, wind, moving water, glaciers, chemical weathering activities and lichens. Climate and time are also important in the development of soils. Extremely dry or cold climates develop soils very slowly while humid and warm climates develop them more rapidly.

Under ideal climatic conditions soft parent material may develop into a centimetre of soil within 15 years. Under poor climatic conditions a hard parent material may require hundreds of years to develop into soil. Mature soils are arranged in a series of zones called soil horizons. Each horizon has a distinct texture and composition that varies with different types of soils. A cross sectional view of the horizons in a soil is called a soil profile.

The top layer or the surface litter layer called the O horizon consists mostly of freshly fallen and partially decomposed leaves, twigs, animal waste, fungi and other organic materials. Normally it is brown or black. The uppermost layer of the soil called the A horizon consists of partially decomposed organic matter (humus) and some inorganic mineral particles. It is usually darker and looser than the deeper layers. The roots of most plants are found in these two upper layers.

As long as these layers are anchored by vegetation soil stores water and releases it in a trickle throughout the year instead of in a force like a flood. These two top layers also contain a large amount of bacteria, fungi, earthworms and other small insects that form complex food webs in the soil that help recycle soil nutrients and contribute to soil fertility.

The B horizon often called the subsoil contains less organic material and fewer organisms than the A horizon. The area below the subsoil is called the C horizon and consists of weathered parent material. This parent material does not contain any organic materials.

The chemical composition of the C horizon helps to determine the pH of the soil and also influences the soil’s rate of water absorption and retention. Soils vary in their content of clay (very fine particles), silt (fine particles), sand (medium size particles) and gravel (coarse to very coarse particles). The relative amounts of the different sizes and types of mineral particles determine soil texture. Soils with approximately equal mixtures of clay, sand, silt and humus are called loams.