108 



This soil apparently contains a good quantity of lime and a satisfac- 

 tory proportion of potash and phosphates. 



No. Field Cornetcy. 

 1. Stuurman. 

 2. 

 3. 

 4. 



PRIESKA. 



(Officially collected.) 



Farm or place. 

 Zeekoebaard. 

 Stof kraal. 

 Keuken Draai. 



Collector. 

 J. G. Hose. 



No. 1 was a sample of the silt carried down by the Orange River 

 while in flood, and deposited by the river when receding within normal 

 limits after overflowing its banks. The sample was collected from the 

 river bed, near the Buchuberg Irrigation works, at the western boundary 

 of the Government farm Zeekoebaard. The river was very low at the 

 time, and the silt was only slightly moist. It subsequently dried as hard 

 as a brick, without being exposed either to solar or artificial heat. 

 Wherever the flow of the river is sufficiently slow, this mud is deposited, 

 sometimes to the depth of many feet. Local farmers consider it to be 

 extremely fertile, but, owing to its hard compact condition when dry, it ia 

 capable of employment for agricultural purposes only when mixed with sand 

 or loose soil. If a water-furrow be made of stones closely packed, and the 

 interstices of the latter be filled with this silt, the furrow is said to become 

 perfectly watertight, so that the adhesive properties of the silt are 

 considerable. 



Large tracts of country are covered by the blown sands of the Kala- 

 hari, and along the river banks a continual intermingling of the alter- 

 nating blown sands and river silts is in progress. Of these mixtures Nos. 

 2, 3, and 4 are samples; they were taken from the centre of each of the 

 large tracts of irrigable land, No. 2 from the farm Stofkraal, 11 J miles 

 down the river from the irrigation works, Nos. 3 and 4 from the farm 

 Keuken Draai, at distances respectively 14 and 16 miles from the works. 



The results of the chemical analyses* of these samples are as follows: 



Mechanical analyses of these and other samples from the same localities will be dealt 

 with under the head of " Physical composition of soils." 



