I02 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF CHEMICAL INVESTIGATION. 



more systematic ; but that there had been a far more than merely 

 appreciable amount of investigation everyone who takes the 

 trouble to read these records will, I think, readily concede. Some 

 of the ibroad results of the investigation relating to our soils 

 were lightly touched upon in the closing pages of the 8vo volume 

 above mentioned ; here, therefore, my touch will have to be 

 even lighter. The results there recorded amply show the solid 

 reason for initiating the undertaking. If they do not trace out 

 fully the connection between the ravages of bone disease in 

 stock and the composition of the soil, they at all events call 

 attention to the remarkable fact that these diseases find greatest 

 foothold in just those areas where the soil lacks lime and phos- 

 phates, and that the latter are lacking in many places is made 

 quite clear. The general poverty of the sandstone of the Table 

 Mountain and allied series is also evident, and if, basing the 

 question on that fact, it be asked why, then, " lamziekte " does 

 not make its appearance in the south-western districts as well 

 as in the east, one answer starts up at once: In the more easterly 

 districts the rocks in which the plant food constituents are de- 

 ficient stretch uninterruptedly over vast extents of country, while 

 in the west they are sufficiently diversified by granite and the 

 rocks of the Bokkeveld series. Not the least interesting feature 

 of the soil investigations has been the confirmatory testimony, 

 given in many cases by the practical experience of farmers, ci 

 the correctness of the theoretical deductions as to the probable 

 fertility or otherwise of certain soils, made, upon the presump- 

 tion of certain data, from the chemical results. In my book on 

 the Cape Colony soils specific cases of this agreement are men- 

 tioned with respect to farms in the Districts of Beaufort We^t, 

 Cathcart, Elliot. George, Kimberley, Komigha, Malmesbury, 

 Paarl, Robertson, Steynsburg, Swellendam, Tulbagh, Victoria 

 East and Worcester. Of course, discrepancies do sometimes 

 occur, ibut in the present state of enquiry one must needs meet 

 with seeming anomalies ; there is therefore a plain necessity for 

 pushing investigations further. The best means of determining 

 the proportions of plant food constituents in the soil have, to 

 a certain extent, been locally studied, with the result that methods 

 have been finally adopted which appear suited to the country's 

 circumstances. 



It has also been shown, in connection with the irrigation pro- 

 jects that must continue to take up a large place in the 

 future development of agriculture in this country, how essential 

 it is first of all to enquire into the condition of the soil, and 

 here not only the alkali deposits themselves need investigation, 

 but equally so the physical condition of the soil. The value of 

 inve?tigations of this class was very definitely established in 

 connection with the abortive Thebus irrigation project, where 

 they were the direct means of saving the Cape Government from 

 entering into an expenditure of £150,000, that had been voted 

 for the purpose by Parliament.* How frequently barrenness 



* I'idc Senior Analyst's Report, January-June, 1904, pp- 22-30- 



