15 



in Gozo and covers the heights of the western part of 

 Malta. This rock is called in Maltese Zonkor tas-seconda, 

 or Zonkor tal fraglu or Zonkor gulglieni. 



The next layer consists of the greensand (Maltese = 

 ramel hadrani} , so called from its greenish colour, and is 

 made up of glauconite gravel and sand mixed up with 

 lime. It varies in thickness from 5 to 30 c.m., and is 

 often absent altogether. It is of no importance to the 

 cultivator. Underneath this layer there is the clay or 

 marl formation, more or less coloured yellow with iron 

 oxides, or coloured bluish brown with manganese oxides, 

 and is met with along the slopes of hills in the western 

 part of Malta and Gozo, where it forms considerable 

 tracts of cultivated land. This layer owing to the 

 retentive nature of the clay (Maltese tafal] acts as a 

 natural reservoir of subsoil water, and to its presence are 

 due the few natural high level springs which exist in both 

 Islands. The soil resulting from the weathering of this 

 layer has a greyish white or bluish brown appearance, is 

 more or less stiff and retentive, and if it happens to be 

 only slightly inclined, easily becomes water-logged in 

 winter, requiring the construction of ditches to ensure a 

 satisfactory drainage. These lands when properly tilled 

 will retain a fair amount of subsoil moisture throughout 

 the summer, and therefore give good results for dry 

 farming. However, lands on the clay formation are 

 little suitable for the cultivation of trees, unless special 

 attention is givejn to deep trenching and drainage before 

 proceeding to plant. The fruit usually is too watery and 

 lacking in flavour, often with an increase of acidity. This 

 formation varies in thickness from two or three metres to 

 twenty or thirty, but extends for long distances along the 

 slopes of hills, covering the surface of the underlying 

 formation of Globigerina beds. 



The Globigerina formation is exposed all over the 

 eastern part of the Island of Malta, for about two thirds 

 of the total area of the Island, and is also exposed in 



