26 



The soil depth is about 30 inches, and the sub-stratum consists of water- 

 worn gravel. The only crops grown here are mealies and Kafir corn: 

 these crops are raised continuously for three or four years, after which 

 the land is allowed to lie fallow for a similar period of time. On the 

 lands represented by both samples 1 and 2 the Vaalbos, i.e., Atriplex, or 

 Salt bush, is to be seen. 



No. 4 was taken from rising ground to the south of Patryskraalvlei,. 

 and is typical of a light fine-grained brown loam of an average depth of 

 fifteen inches : the subsoil consists largely of dolerite, and boulders fre- 

 quently show on the surface. No. 3 was also collected on the farm Patrys- 

 kraal, to the south-east of the proposed reservoir. The sample represents a 

 stiff red clay -loam, very level and undrained, and generally shallow, al- 

 though varying in depth from place to place, and resting upon a stiff blue 

 clay, which in turn lies upon limestone. Here too the Vaalbos grows 

 Further up the slopes towards Grecian Kopje, the clay subsoil disappears, 

 and a red sandy loam surface soil rests directly on the limestone. 



The western slopes of the low hills to the east of Patryskraal posses* 

 a soil, apparently very much the same all along, rising from the flats 

 where sample No. 3 was collected, and running up to rocky summits. This 

 soil, represented by No. 9, is a very characteristic fine-grained rich-red 

 loamy sand, free from stones, and uniform to a depth of over thirty inches. 

 Due west of the place where that sample was collected, but on the wide 

 flat below the site of the suggested dam walls sample No. 5 was taken. 

 This represents a shallow, fine-grained, red sand, on which Mimosas grow, 

 It rests upon limestone, which every now and again appears on the sur- 

 face. The sample is typical of a wide stretch of land. No. 

 6 resembles No. 1 from Salisbury (see Vryburg list), and proves 

 the uniformity of this wide tract of country, which extends from the low 

 ridges lying some 2,000 yards to the east of the railway up to Ganzepan, 

 and from the boundary of the farms Zwartputs and H.V. 75 to Iddesleigh, 

 These sandy flats appear to continue down to quite near the Harts River : 

 the soil is a very even-grained brown sand, free from stones, and of con- 

 siderable depth. The red colour is characteristic of weathered surfaces, 

 for, when the ground is turned over with a spade, the brown always shows. 



At Zwartputs a limited area of different type is met with, represented 

 by sample No .8. The soil is a deep humus, brown in colour, and sandy at 

 the surface, but it becomes very dense at a depth of about twelve inches. 



Sample No. 7 shows a difference in physical character. As distinct 

 from the poor red sand found elsewhere, the soil of the upper portion of 

 the lower levels between Ganzepan and Putsfontein or Blauwboschputs, 

 is a brown loam about one foot deep, with a yellow clay-loam subsoil. This 

 type of soil may possibly extend over some five hundred acres, according 

 to Dr. Nobbs, from whose report on the tour the greater part of the above 

 description has been compiled. 



(Privately collected.) 



No. Field Cometcy. Farm or place. Collector. 



10. Hebron. J. E. Fitt. 



11. H.V. 67. 



H.V. 63. H. C. Litchfield. 



13. Daniel's Kuil. Koopmansfontein. J. Spreull. 



Nos. 10, 11, and 12 were also collected from the area proposed to be 

 irrigated by the Harts River; Nos. 10 and 12 represent surface soils. 

 No. 10 was collected from Government land in the Harts River valley, and 

 NOB. 11 and 12 from two farms in the Burg Pits valley. 



