488 Transactions. 



Recapitulation. 



The writer submits the following proposals regarding the proposed soil 

 survey of the Dominion :■ — 



(1.) A combined system of classification is best suited to New Zealand 

 conditions. 



(2.) The Dominion should first be divided into soil districts, the critical 

 differences being climatic ; and districts may be subdivided into sub- 

 districts if important differences in agriculture due to geological structure 

 so demand. 



(3.) Within the soil districts the limits of individual soil formations 

 must be determined by study in field and laboratory, the critical differences 

 being (a) mode of origin, (b) texture, (c) situation with reference to water- 

 supply, (d) profile, (e) composition. 



(4.) Formations alike as regards chief agricultural properties and 

 potentialities should be grouped into series, so that full use may be 

 made of the results of field experiments. 



Finally, we may represent our scheme of classification diagramatically 

 as shown below : — 



Soils of New Zealand 



Unproductive. Capable of being Pasture Suitable for 



made productive. only. cultivation. 



Soil districts. 



I 

 Soil formations 

 (grouped into 

 soil series). 



III. Application of Principles. 



In this section an attempt is made to apply some of the principles 

 advocated above by a consideration of the soils of the South Island. 



Following is a provisional list of the soil districts. It is open to re- 

 vision or even to complete recasting, because it has been shown that 

 the proper demarcation of district boundaries involves a knowledge of the 

 meteorology, the geology, the botany, and the topography of the Dominion' — 

 in fact, it is the work of a committee rather than of an individual. In 

 practice a knowledge of the distribution of the native flora should be of 

 first-class importance ; when the ecologist has shown us the boundaries 

 of the plant provinces it will probably be found that the same boundaries 

 will serve for the soil districts. 



Soil Districts of the South Island, New Zealand. 



1. South Marlborough District : Bounded on the north by the Wairau 

 Valley (included), on the west by the average limit of the western rainfall, 

 and on the south by the Waipara Valley (excluded). Mean annual rain- 

 fall, 25-40 in. 



2. Canterbury Plains District : Bounded on the north by the Waipara 

 Valley (included), on the west by the average limit of the western rainfall, 

 and on the south by the Waitaki Valley (included). Mean annual rainfall, 

 18-26 in. on the coastal margin, 25-40 in. inland. 



3. Banks Peninsula District : Banks Peninsula. Mean annual rainfall, 

 30-50 in. 



