Introduction:

Around 45% of soil is composed of mineral matter, 25% is air, 25% is made of water, and the remaining 5% is organic matter. The difference between soil and dirt is that soil is alive and dirt is dead. Soil is formed through five factors:
1- Parent Material: mineral and organic matter
2- Climate: weathering breaks down the parent material
3- Living Organisms: plants and animals decompose adding nutrients to the soil
4- Topography: whether or not the landscape is flat or sloped
5- Time: creating soil takes many, many years
When examining texture, you look at how much sand, clay and/or silt is in the soil. You also check to see if the soil is loamy or not. The color of the texture tells you all about the soil's history, richness, and composition. pH will tell you whether or not the soil is too acidic or too alkaline. This is important to know because certain plants/crops can only grow in certain pH levels. For example, blueberries can only grow in very acidic soil. The structure of the soil is the arrangement of solid clumps and porous space located between them.

Most soil in Illinois is called Drummer soil. It is a thick silty clay loam. This means it is composed of 0-30% sand, 40-60% silt, and 30-40% clay. In Hawaii, the soil is called Hilo and is a silty clay loam composed of relatively the same percentages as Illinois. The difference though is in color. Illinois is a grayish brown whereas Hawaii's soil is a dark brown. In Georgia, the soil is called Tifton. Tifton is a loamy sand composed of 10-15% clay, 0-30% sand or silt. Arizona soil is called Casa Grande. It is a  saline-sodic fine sandy loam. This means it is composed of 50-70% sand, 0-30% silt, and 0-20% clay. 
There are many reasons for farmers to want to analyze the soil. Economic benefits from soil analysis include being able to grow the crops themselves. Crops can only be produced in certain soils suited to them, and without planting them in the right plants, farmers would not make good tasting foods. If their crops did not taste good, no one would buy them and then they would not make a profit. A second benefit of soil analysis is the crop rotation or cover crop usage. If the soil is good for the main crop grown, then it must also be good for the crops used in the crop rotation or the cover crop. If the soil cannot support all the crops necessary, then the nutrients in the soil will be depleted in a short period of time and the farmer cannot grow any more crops. This then causes him to lose profit. A social benefit of soil analysis is being able to sustain for the population. Without farmers being able to produce food, humans would have no way of staying alive. This is especially important due to the increasing population in many countries. For example, Mexico's population is rapidly increasing and without farming techniques and determining what crops can be grown where, they will not be able to provide food for all of the inhabitants. Another social benefit is the ability to provide jobs. If a farmer did not test the soil, he or she could attempt to grow crops in an area not suited for farming. If this occurred, the farmer would realize shortly after that they cannot grow crops and must fire all of their employees. However, if a farmer tested the soil, he or she would know the soil is good for farming and be able to provide jobs for people in the long run. This is ties in with the growing populations and more people needing jobs. This is also an economic benefit because the more one makes, the more one is likely to spend.