A South Austra.lian Vineyard Soil. 139 



After sifting off the stones and coarse gravel the residual soil, 

 upon mechanical analysis, was found to be composed as follows: — 



Per cent. 



Fine gravel (2-1 mm.) .60 



Coarse sand (1-.5 mm.) .75 



Medium sand (.5-.25 mm.) 25.97 



Fine sand (.25-. 1 mm.) 43.35 



Very fine sand (.1-.05 mm.) 15.58 



Silt (.05-. 01 mm.) 6.33 



Fine silt (01-. 005 mm.) 5.26 



Clay (below .005 mm.) 2.16 



The soil may be classed as a medium sand, light brown in colour. 

 It is very uniform in texture, about 85 per cent, consisting of particles 

 between one-half and one-twentieth of a naillimetre in diameter. 

 There is practically no coarse material and but little silt and clay in 

 its make up. The general appearance of the soil and also its character, 

 as shown by the mechanical analysis, is not unlike that derived from 

 Table Mountain sandstone, and, like the latter, it is made up very 

 largely of fragments of quartz from .1 to .5 mm. in diameter. 



As regards the chemical composition of the Angaston soil, it is 

 indicated in the following table : — 



In 1 ram. product — Per cent. 



Moisture .63 



Loss on ignition (organic matter)... 1.47 

 mtrogen 082 



hi I 7n7n. product — 



Lime .163 



Magnesia .040 



Potash ... ... 069 



Phosphoric oxide — 



soluble in cold hydrochloric acid .017 



soluble in strong boiling acids... .030 



Here, except for a somewhat larger proportion of lime, there is 

 a great similarity to the soils of the Table Mountain and Malmesbury 

 series in the neighbourhood of the Cape Peninsula. The moisture 

 content — as may be expected in so sandy a soil-^is low, and so is the 

 proportion of organic matter. The soil has consequently but little 

 nitrogen. It is not more than fairly provided with potash and is 

 decidedly poor in phosphates. The only plant food constituent 

 present in satisfactory amount is lime. 



By way of comparison the following tables of averages are 

 appended. The Malmesbury averages represent 14 soils from the 

 Paarl and Stellenbosch Divisions ; those of the Table Mountain series 

 represent 46 analyses of soils taken from 12 districts of the south- 

 west Cape Province. 



Malmesbury Table Mountain 



Series. Seiies. 



Nitrogen 087 .132 



Lime 039 .034 



Potash 039 .031 



Phosphoric oxide .039 .036 



