120 



method V. determinations of lime, potash, and phosphoric oxide were 

 made, in those obtained by method IV. lime and potash were determined, 

 and in the aqueous extract determinations of lime alone were performed: 

 the results thus arrived at are appended : 



(Method IV.) 



Percentage of Soil sifted through mm. Sieve. 

 No. Lime. Potash. 



21. -200 -492 



22. -312 -447 



23. '510 -677 



24. -072 '833 



(Method V.) 



Percentage of Soil sifted through 3 mm. Sieve. 

 No. Lime. Potash. Phosphoric oxide. 



21. -213 '025 '0028 



22. -310 "032 -0045 



23. '396 '040 '0069 



24. '072 -021 '0007 



(By extraction with water.) 



Percentage of Soil sifted through 



3 mm. Sieve. 

 No. Lime. 



24. -0444 



The soils of the Robertson Division show an improvement upon those 

 of Caledon, Bredasdorp, and Swellendam in respect of the proportion of 

 phospHatic material contained. The three divisions just mentioned ha-ve 

 in their soils an exceedingly meagre reserve of available phosphates: it is, 

 therefore, by no means surprising that farmers in some portions of the 

 Robertson Division complain that they have purchased and applied super- 

 phosphates with no marked results; for, in the areas referred to potash 

 was quit as essentially needed, especially in the cultivation of root crops, 

 and this need was in no way supplied by superphosphates alone an illus- 

 tration of the applicability of the law of the minimum. 



On the basis of the chemical analyses, the western part of the Achter 

 Cogmans Kloof Field-cornetcy is distinctly inferior to that further east, as 

 may easily be verified by comparing the analytical figures of Nos. 1 to 5 with 

 those of Nos. 6 to 11. Nos. 1 to 5 are all poor in lime, Nos. 3 and 4 being 

 also lacking in phosphates; in fact, No. 3 is deficient all round. In the 

 remaining soils of the Field Cornetcy a more satisfactory state of affairs 

 prevails: true, No. 8 is low in its proportion of lime, but this is quite a 

 solitary instance in that part of the district. In the Montagu Field Cor- 

 netcy the results of the analyses are lower; Nos. 14, 15, 16, and 17 are all 

 lacking in respect of lime, and No. 14 in phosphates as well, while No. 15 

 is poor in lime, potash, phosphates, and nitrogen. It is a matter of in- 

 terest worth noting that, beginning with the western part of Ladismith 

 Division, and travelling eastwards towards Oudtshoorn, there is a mani- 

 fest upward tendency in the potash content of the soil. Many of the soils 

 of this area would, nevertheless, be the better for a larger proportion of 

 available phosphates, and some, notably Nos. 8, 10, and 12 of the Ladi- 

 smith soils, are really poor with respect to lime. 



