Physical Compoisition ok Capk Colony Soils. 



05 



Tlie division of G«^orge is naturally divided into a nortliein and a 

 southern jiortion by the jijreat range of the Outenicjuas : the northern 

 part continues into the Uniondale <livision, and of the s<jutlit'rn the 

 Knysna division is the natural eontinuation. In eaeh ease tlien^ is a 

 corresponding similarity in the texture of tlie soil, as the f<»llo\ving 

 shows : — 



Area. 



t . 



N£ o I Average 



o. of Samples ^ i. a 



j^ . \ Percentage of 

 Ji,xainnied. j^,. j~, *,, 



I'nie Earth. 



George, northern part 

 Uniondale ... . . ; 



George, southern part 

 Knysna 



While fairly complete mechanical analyses have been comparatively 

 few, a number of soils have been graded in greater detail than those 

 referred to above ; some of these are tabulated on p. 96. 



In three orchard soils collected in the Worcester division the pr<j- 

 portions of silt and clay were found to be respectively 17"3, 142 and 

 10"0. Soils of this description, containing over 75 per cent, of fine 

 earth, whereof less than 20 per cent, is composed of silt and clay, and 

 containing hence at least 55 per cent, of more or less fine sand, may 

 \ery well be classified as medium sands. 



Partial mechanical anal^'ses of fourteen soils, representing the 

 Paarl division, were made, with the results stated in the table given 

 on p. 97. 



No. 20 is a type of hillside soil from the farm of Mi-. Stucki at 

 Blaauw Vallei in the Wellington field-cornetcy. No. 21, taken from 

 the same farm, resembles in colour the black soil known in the district 

 as "turf"' ; it is, however, a coarser soil, and is designated "vet heuvel- 

 grond." No. 22 represents what is known locally as "tui-f," or "zwart 

 grond," from the farm Welbedacht. It was somewhat mixed with 

 sand. No. 23 was a sample of what is called "doode turf" from the 

 same farm. This "doode turf" exists in patches and appears less 

 fertile than the surrounding soil, a fact evidently due rather to physical 

 causes than differences of chemical composition. The soil is stiff and 

 compact, and more clayey than No. 22. It would naturally, therefore, 

 hold more Avater and so become cold in spite of its warm black colour. 

 As a matter of fact this soil was found to contain more than three 

 times as much water as No. 22. No. 24 was a stiff black soil from the 

 edge of a plot of ground, which, with suitable manipulation (such as an 

 admixture of gravel from the hillsides. Sic.) had borne sweet-potatoes 

 for upwards of forty years. Its local appellation is "blaauw pot clay."' 

 No. 25 was a clayey soil from Hexenberg, and No. 26 a stiff black soil 

 from the same farm. No. 28 is a hillside soil typifying the N N E 



