32 



(Method I.) 



( Percentage of Soil sifted through Percentage of Soil sifted 



p Am j l e 1 mm. Sieve. through 4 mm. Sieve. 



ft Phos- 



No. Fine earth. Water. ; Chlorine. Nitrogen. Lime. Potash, phoric 



oxide. 



22. 90-6 1'75 5-35 -022 '147 '064 '017 '045 



Nearly all these soils contain satisfactory quantities of Nitrogen, but they 

 are almost uniformly lacking in phosphoric oxide. Those of the Bloem- 

 fontein Field-cornetcy are badly supplied with potash, bub the rest of the 

 Division is apparently better off in this respect. Most of the soils contain 

 a fair amount of lime, although less than those of Robertson and Swellen- 

 dam. 



BUTTERWORTH. 



(Officially collected,) 



No. Field Cornetcy. Farm or Place. Collector. 



1. 'Nhlambe. 'Nhlambe. St>. C. O. Sinclair. 



3. Butterworth. Butterworbh. 



4. 



5. 



6. 



7. 



Samples 1 and 2 of this Division were collected on the farm 'Nhlambe, 

 the former Residency, now the property of Mr. Burgersheim. They were 

 taken from lands lying along the Gcua River, and may be considered to 

 represent the soil derived from the sandstones of the Kentani beds belong- 

 ing to the Karroo system, which lie S.S.E. of Butterworth. Fruit trees 

 thrive here, and oats also do well. No. 3, a black soil, was collected about 

 six miles from Butterworth, in the same direction as the previous samples. 

 It represents a doleritic soil, but, contrary to what has been found else- 

 where, the chemical analysis (vide table below) shows it to be an all-round 

 poor soil, as far as mineral plant food goes. No. 4 is a sample of black 

 soil overlying sandstone, collected at a point about two miles E.S.E. of 

 Butterworth village. No. 5 was taken from a. spot two miles N.N.W. of 

 Butterworth, and is typical of the soil found on the hillocks studded with 

 doleritic boulders which are common in this part. The subsoil is a red, 

 somewhat coarse, gravel, which rises to within eighteen inches of the sur- 

 face. Samples 6 and 7 represent the Government plantation at Butter- 

 worth village. The former, a black, micaceous, somewhat clayey soil, typi- 

 fies the surface soil to a depth of about nine inches. No. 7 represents the 

 second nine inches of the soil. These soils appear to be the result of the 

 decomposition of the micaceous sandstone and black shales thab constitute 

 a portion of the sedimentary rocks to which the name of Idutywa beds haa 

 been assigned by the Geological Commission. On the plantation repre- 

 sented by the last named soils grains of all sorts thrive well; so also do 

 wattles, blackwoods, and sneezewoods, and varieties of cypress. Pines, on. 

 the other hand, do not seem to thrive. 



