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any portion; for all the separate parts should bear a 

 relative proportion to each other, and this will be best 

 observed by affixing the prices at a time when all the 

 circumstances of the property are fully known and con- 

 sidered together. 



If the general position of the district be too elevated 

 for the growth of wheat, or so mountainous as to attract 

 an undue proportion of rain, or if it be remote from mar- 

 ket, or inconveniently situated as to roads, it may be ne- 

 cessary, under these circumstances, to deduct from os. to 

 3s. 4d, in the pound from the scale of prices, regulating 

 lands of the same quality in ordinary circumstances. 



It frequently happens that changes have occurred in 

 the lands and tenancies of the occupiers since the map was 

 made. The valuator should accurately note these, and 

 show matters as they really are. Subtenancies or cottier 

 holdings need not, however, be noticed. 



The quality marks should only be fixed to valuation 

 areas, after an attentive examination of the soil and sub- 

 soil, which is made by causing the earth to be dug in 

 various places. 



The points to which attention should be directed are 



1. The mineral character of the soil; or, whether it be 

 siliceous, clayey, calcareous, or peaty. 



2. Its depth ; i. e., of the active soil, which, in medium 

 lands, will average ten inches, in prime lands more, and in 

 inferior is frequently less. 



3. Its colour ; which, except in some calcareous and 

 peaty soils, is generally rich in proportion as it is dark, 

 and vice versa. 



4. Its texture: whether it be loose, and without ade- 

 quate firmness for the support of vigorous vegetable life ; 

 or tenacious, from excessive water, or an undue proportion 

 of argillaceous matter ; or friable, easy to labour, loamy, 

 and rich in vegetable matter. 



5. Its condition : whether exhausted from over crop- 

 ping, or luxuriant from high farming. 



The soil, examined in this way, furnishes what may be 



