103 



No. 25 was a sample of clayey soil, taken from the farm Hexenberg, 

 in the Wagenmakers Vallei Field Cornetcy; a small portion of the sur- 

 rounding land was at the time being used as a brickfield, but it was the 

 intention to put it all under cultivation. The sample was stated to be 

 similar to soil found on the contiguous portion of the adjoining farm of 

 Mr. G. J. Hugo. No. 26 represents a stiff black soil a short distance in 

 front of the homestead on the same farm. 



Going northwards from Wellington, No, 27 was taken from the farm 

 Drie Fontein. This soil, which is described as a cool soil, overlies a clay 

 subsoil. Vines do well on it, and do not appear to languish as when grown 

 on black " turf " (alluvial) soil. No'. 28 was a sample of hillside soil, 

 planted with an apricot orchard of 2,000 trees, on the farm Vruehtbaar, 

 owned by Mr. C. P. Gillie. This sample was reported to be typical of 

 the soil in the N.N.E. portion of the Wagenmakers Vallei Field Cornetcy. 

 No. 29 was taken from the edge of the orchard near the homestead of 

 Vruehtbaar. It consists of the fine clay washed out of the soil represented 

 by No. 31. From a chemical point of view, it is, on the whole, the best 

 of the soils collected in this district. It consists almost entirely of clay, 

 the orgai :. in alter present being due to incidental dropping of leaves, 

 etc. As a set off against the chemical qualities of this soil, it must be 

 mentioned that, owing to its clayey nature, it is apt to retain large quan- 

 tities of water, which tend to render the soil cold ; and the light colour 

 will have a similar tendency. 



No. 30 was a sample of soil prevailing on the farm Groenberg, also 

 belonging to Mr. Cillie; the sample was taken from the side of a water- 

 course on the hill slope. No. 31 was taken from the bottom of the same 

 water course. The soil represented, when treated with stable manure, 

 was said to answer for vines, but not for fruit trees. This fact is pro- 

 bably accounted for by the deficiency of lime, shown by the chemical 

 analysis, not being corrected by the manure applied. Soil similar to the 

 sample was said to occur in fairly large quantities throughout the district. 

 No. 32, also a sample of the soil found on the farm Groenberg, was 

 taken from the vineyard some distance above the spot where the preceding 

 sample was collected. No. 33 was taken from one of the little hillocks 

 locally called " heuveltjes," occurring in the same vineyard as No. 32. 

 These hillocks, of which many are to be found in the Wellington district, 

 have, as has already been stated, the local reputation of being more fertile 

 than the surrounding ground. On comparing the results of the analyses 

 of these two samples, it will be seen that No. 33 is considerably the 

 richer hi lime and potash, whilst the amount of phosphoric oxide i& prac- 

 tically the same in both cases. The amount of nitrogen and of organic 

 matter in No. 33 is also greater than in No. 32. The texture of the two 

 samples, as far as shown by the mechanical analyses, is, for all practical 

 purposes, the same, No. 33 being very slightly coarser. 



Proceeding from the Krornme Rivier towards Blauwvallei, the soil 

 is said to become more and more clayey ; this is borne out by the mechani- 

 cal analyses. 



No. 34 was a sample from a part of the farm Openhorst that had 

 been last sown with oats. No, 35 represents a somewhat similar soil 

 on the farm Groenfontein ; in this case too the portion of the farm whence 

 the sample was taken had been sown with oats. 



The soil of Burgers Drift in the Groene Berg Field Cornetcy was 

 sampled in No. 36, taken from a portion of the farm occupied by Mr. 

 Malan. In dry seasons the plants on this soil are parched. No. 37 was 

 taken from Mr. J. Gillie's farm Dryvers Vallei, and represents his corn 

 lands. No. 38 was a sample of what is locally known as " klippertjes 

 grond," taken on the farm Lang Hoogte. The sample is a type of the 



