Loam is a very indefinite term: almost every cultivator of the soil associates with it a different explanation. In some parts of England clay is so called, and in others it is employed to designate brick-earth ! As usually employed, it really is only synonymous with the word soil; for it has to be qualified by the terms turfy, sandy, clayey, and chalky, just as turf, sand, clay, or chalk predominate. Then, what is hazel loam 1 Why, no other than a rich friable soil, having a dark brown or hazel colour, owing to the predominance of decaying vegetable matters. Before long, we hope to see determined how much silica is to be understood as existing in a loam termed sandy, and how mnch alumina in that which is correctly termed clayey.

The following is the analysis of a hazel loam: -

Such a loam is useful to render light soils more retentive, and heavy soils more porous; but, for this purpose, must be applied at the rate of 100 tons per acre.

Maiden loam is soil taken from the surface of a pasture.