Travis wrote:
Your friend Janet Baraclough gave these defanitions:

" Humus is (relatively recently) decayed living material such as
plant/bacterial/animal material, the stuff you get out of a compost heap
or find on the floor surface of woodland, made of decayed leaves,
decayed animal corpses and faeces etc.

Loam is a variable combination of humus plus particles of geological
elements. Geological elements are stuff like sands, chalk, clay, grits;
their origin is far more ancient than humus. "

How precise is that? About as precise as the definition of "topsoil" given
here in this group.

If you're looking for some government standard, like how much fruit juice has to
be in a liquid for it to be marketed as "juice", or the maximum amount of fat
that can be in "lean ground beef", there is none.

However, those are more precise than the definition of "topsoil".

"Topsoil" is literally the soil from the top. Not the top soil for your needs,
as in "you're the top", or the best. Nor do we know what the topsoil was on top
of. However many people are likely to misunderstand "top" to mean best, and
others may assume that the topsoil in their area is the natural soil that is on
top of otherwise undisturbed land.

Despite those unrealistic expectations, there are some realistic expectations
that we should have for topsoil. For example, it should be free of rocks, and it
should be relatively loamy. It shouldn't have things like perlite or
vermiculite, and it isn't fortified with any synthetic fertilizer. It should be
a medium that we could grow common plants in, though not necessarily the best
medium for it.

The buyer, however, should exercise due diligence in inspecting the "topsoil"
before accepting it. If it's in branded bags, the buyer has the right to expect
some consistency. And if it's being bought by the truckload, a representative
sample should be provided.

I don't even know if the suppliers I've dealt with even have something called
"topsoil". They have a number of different mixes, readily available descriptions
of what's in those mixes, and are fairly consistent when they put together the
mixes. If someone wants "topsoil", I'm sure there's something they might be
directed to based on their intended use, and their budget.

I know that there are plenty of suppliers out there that will deliver just about
anything to someone who specifies nothing more than "topsoil". And I would hope
that anyone who's hung-out in any gardening forum would know enough to ask for
something more specific than "topsoil", no matter what they do or don't expect
from "topsoil".

And the same goes for "Potting Soil", "Garden Soil", "Lawn Soil", or any other
soil available. Unless you already know the supplier, and know what to expect
from that particular mix, ask. Check it out. Don't assume that "Potting Soil" is
interchangeable between suppliers, either.

You don't go to a paint store, and just ask for red paint. Don't go to a soil
supplier and just ask for "topsoil" (unless you're willing to accept just about
anything.) Descriptive terms have meaning. They may or may not be regulated
standards, and usually aren't.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Your Guide to the Care and Feeding of a Suburban Lawn:
http://www.holzemville.com/community...are/index.html