a clean plate. Cover the soil with a wet cloth (wrung out by hand) and leave standing for 2 hours.
5. Remould the soil by hand, making sure that it is plastic but not sloppy. It should have the consistency of putty and have little tendency to stick to the hands. It should also readily mould into a ball without forming cracks.
6. Roll into a sausage shape approximately 12.5mm (half an inch) in diameter and cut into sections 25mm (1 inch) long.
compatible. This is a relatively simple, inexpensive method of establishing how strong a loam may be and how compatible one loam may be with another. Pondering the benefits of the motty test, as described above, it strikes me that a further modification could be made, with all due deference to Dr. Bill Adams! When we try to incorporate a new loam at the base of a square or pitch construction, the new loam is incorporated into the indigenous soil to ensure a gradual change from native soil to pure loam. The different soils are blended to avoid an extreme change. In the same way, would it not be a good idea to do a similar thing with motties? Even if we only roughed up the edges of each half motty to create a ‘key’ between loams, more complex but possibly a way forward. Clearly, good techniques are required to knit one loam in with another, including the creation of a strong key and integration of the two layers to lessen the possibility of creating layering which is
7. Carefully mould each section into a ball and then roll between the palms of the hands.
8. Place the motty balls onto clean plates and allow to air dry in a cupboard for 7-10 days.
9. Place each dried ball in turn on a bathroom scale and slowly exert pressure (with a piece of wood) until the ball breaks. Make a note of the reading when the ball breaks. This is ideally where you have an assistant that can make the reading just as the ball shatters!
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10. Discount the lowest value in each set and obtain the mean (average) value of the rest.
11. Readings between 45kg and 90kg have been shown to be optimum for British soils.
A simple modification to the motty test was proposed and endorsed by Professor W A Adams who recognised the potential to assess loam compatibility, particularly when top dressing.
The modification involves joining two half motties of different loams together along the flattened face of each hemisphere. It is important not to trap any air along the joining surfaces, as this may affect results.
If there is excessive differential shrinkage between the two halves on drying the motty will duly separate, thus the soils are not compatible. If both loam types remain strongly bonded and only break after pressure, these two loams are likely to be
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damaging to the performance of your square.
Good practice by experienced
groundsmen helps retain the ‘touch and feel’ aspect of cricket groundsmanship in particular, as we all know working with clay loam is not an exact science! Much more can be made of the
different types of clay available to source a loam as occasionally local soil can be ideal for purpose, but preparation of the raw material is not always possible in situ to provide a sufficiently consistent material with which to work effectively.
Debates over the superiority of smectite, illite or kaolinite clays can rage on, but that is probably for a future article! So, let’s hope some of the myth and mystique around Kettering Loam has been dispelled, at least for a little while. Otherwise I’m going to have to start taking pictures of lawns and hoping the topic of conversation moves on quickly next time!
David Goodjohn, GSB Loams
www.gsbloams.co.uk
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