THE \\"1I1-:A'1 soils OI' ALEXAXDRIA DlAlSloN, 

 CAPE i'ROX'INCE. 



By CuAKLKs Eredkkick JuKiTZ, M.A., D.Sc, F.I.C. 



{llltli One Text fiyitrc) 



During the early part of 1914 it was reported to the 

 Department of Agriculture that for some time previously the 

 cereal crops in the Division of Alexandria had been observed to 

 be deteriorating. The deterioration, according to local agricul- 

 tural opinion, was apparently due to exhaustion of the soil, and 

 the Under-Secretary for Agriculture, who had visited the area 

 in question, thereupon re(|uested the writer to undertake a 

 physical and chemical examination of representative soils from 

 the alTected district. 



Arrangements were made through the Magistrate of Alex- 

 andria to have twenty typical samj^les of soil collected for 

 r.nalvsis from farms situated in the Field Cornetcy of Alexan- 

 dria, i.e., within a radius of about eight miles from Alexandria 

 town commonage. The intention was to have in each case a 

 cultivated soil and the corresponding virgin soil examined, but 

 this course was not found invariably possible. The sample^ 

 were collected during the latter half of 1914. 



Description of the Samples. 



The following details of the soil samples taken were 

 gathered from the occupants of the farms : — 



No. I was collected on Mr. Charles Gardner's farm, " Klein 

 Tagers Drift,'' at a distance of about 12 miles from the coast, 

 and 15 to 20 feet above sea-level. The annual rainfall is about 

 2=, inches, and the land is level, but surrounded by bush-covered 

 mountains. The upper layers of soil, to a depth of 10 to 

 15 feet, are grey in colour, and rather sandy above with under- 

 lying hardpan. The surface soil is reputed good for a depth 

 of 3 to 5 feet, below which it becomes more sandy. The natural 

 herbage is red grass (rooi gras) with a mixture of sweet grasses, 

 Manures are not generally used, but for years all classes of 

 cereals and rape had been successfully grown. Of late wheat 

 I'.as proved a total failure, and other crops rarely come to per- 

 fection. The soil represented by the sample formed part of a 

 valley which had been well ploughed and cultivated during the 

 last five years, but never manured, although under cultivation 

 for 30 years. 



No. 2 was a virgin soil taken from ground adjacent to the 

 cultivated soil represented by No. i. 



No. 3 was taken from Mr. Charles Gardner's farm, 

 " Spadona," nine miles from the coast and 250 to 300 feet above 

 sea-level. The lands from which the sample was collected form 

 part of a level plateau, with a fall of about 300 feet to the Bush- 

 man's River, and then a-rise of 200 feet to the next plateau. 

 The soil is deep red in colour, and is known locally as rooi grond; 



