No. 



1. 



o 



3* 



4. 



ST. MARK'S. 



(Officially collected.) 



Field Cornetcy. Farm or place. 



Cofimvaba. Government Plantation. 



Collector. 

 St. C. O. Sinclair. 



Of these samples, collected from the Government Plantation at Cofim- 

 vaba, the first, a black valley soil, was taken from No. III. compartment, 

 Block A. It rests on a reddish subsoil, inclined to be gravelly, and con- 

 taining a small quantity of ironstone pebbles. The second sample also 

 represents a black valley soil which lies on the same level as the preceding 

 sample, and was taken from Compartment II. of the same block. No. 3, 

 representing the subsoil of No. 2, consists largely of potclay with a, small 

 amount of ironstone pebbles. No. 4 is a red soil from Compartment VI., 

 Block B, resting on red micaceous sandstone. The soils of this area are 

 apparently derived from the Burghersdorp beds (Beaufort series) of the 

 Karroo system, and may possibly be influenced as to their composition by 

 the presence of dolerite in some localities: the soils represented by the 

 above samples, however, are not as well supplied with plant food as those, 

 for instance, of the Albert Division. 



The analyses resulted as follows : 



(Method I.) 



Percent, of Percentage of Soil sifted through 1 rnm. 

 Field Sieve. 



Sample. 



No. Fine earth. Water. Organic Chlorine. Nitrogen, 

 matter. 



Percentage of Soil sifted 

 through mm. Sieve. 



Phos- 

 Lime. Potash, phoric 



oxide. 



1. 



2. 

 3. 

 4. 



90-1 

 87-9 

 90-1 

 57-9 



1-52 

 1-61 

 5-38 

 1-39 



3-08 

 2-91 

 4-95 



2-69 



0276 

 0361 

 0439 



0'248 



056 

 119 

 119 

 091 



020 

 060 

 141 

 032 



070 

 051 

 155 

 061 



022 

 022 

 033 

 020 



The greatest need of these soils seems to be phosphatic material. 

 The three surface soils are likewise deficient in lime, nor are they parti- 

 cularly well supplied with potash. From a chemical point of view the 

 soil represented by sample No. 2 would be considerably improved by 

 bringing its subsoil (of which No. 3 is a specimen) to the surface, and no 

 doubt such a course may be found profitable in many other localities, but 

 to indicate such spots chemical investigation is needed. 



No. 

 1. 

 2. 

 3. 



Field Cornetcy. 

 Somerset. 



> 

 Vogel Rivier. 



SOMERSET EAST. 



(Officially collected.} 

 Farm or place. 

 Sterkwater. 



j? 

 Cranmere. 



Collector. 

 E. A. Nobbs. 



A. C. "MacDonald. 



Nos. 1 and 2 were collected on the Cape Government Railway farm 

 Sterkwater : one was taken from newly broken land in the cultivated area, 

 and the second from a very characteristic stretch of " rooi gras " veld. 

 The former of these two had been very frequently cropped, and the result 

 is seen in the chemical analysis which shows it to be somewhat inferior to 



