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appropriately expressed by the word " patchy," which applies more 

 or less to the whole of the territory figured on the map published 

 for the clearer understanding of the localities reviewed in these 

 pages. Most conspicuous amongst the soils of the South-West 

 Division of this State are the following : 



IRONSTONE G-RAVEL. 



With which the Darling Ranges are mostly covered, and which 

 shows on the surface. The soil consists of ferruginous claystones, 

 showing as coarse pea gravel, varying in size from that of shot to 

 that of marbles. In colour it varies from a light yellow to a dark 

 red, according to the amount of oxide of iron it contains. It is 

 generally mixed with a fertile ,loam, the result of its own disinte- 

 gration, and at places consolidates into a hard conglomerate which 

 would have to be rent asunder by the pick, or better still with the 

 use of cartridges of dynamite, before planting either trees or vines. 



The soil when mixed with a fair proportion of loam is par 

 excellence the best suited for the production of a high-class wine ; 

 clean to the taste, rich in colour, and of pleasant bouquet. Fruit 

 trees generally do well on it. So far, owing to its gravelly appear- 

 ance, it has been condemned as poverty-stricken land ; while the 

 cost of clearing it of the timber which grows on it has caused the 

 more timid-hearted settlers to disregard it in preference to more 

 fertile looking soil carrying a class of timber which is more easily 

 burned. 



This soil is healthy, warm, and well-drained, and the looseness 

 of the material it is made of favours the far-reaching propensities of 

 the roots of fruit trees in quest of food. The application of 

 phosphates and of potassic fertilisers are desirable on such soils, 

 if not at the outset and soon after breaking up and planting, yet 

 after regular crops of fruit have been taken away. 



In gullies and in favoured spots, a rich deposit of brown and 

 red loam, varying in depth from 6 to 24 inches, covers up this soil, 

 and wherever land of that description occurs, fruit trees or vines 

 will bear abundantly and thrive luxuriantly. 



Underlying the ironstone gravel a white pipe-clay occurs, which, 

 according to locations, is found at a shallow depth underneath the 

 surface or at some considerable distance underground. The best 

 criterion of the proximity or predominence of these various soils is 

 offered by the indigenous trees which cover the stretch of country 

 where the soils just described show up more prominently, and that 

 country extends the whole length of the Darling Ranges, from the 

 latitude of Geraldton right down to the Blackwood. The gravelly 

 ironstone is generally identified with the name of " jarrah " country 

 (Eucalyptus marginata, Smith). Wherever there is a certain depth 

 of brown loam on the surface, the jarrah is associated with the 

 native grass-tree or "blackboy" (Xanthorrhcea}, of which there 

 exists two distinct varieties. Pockets of deep loam amongst the 

 ironstone gravel are indicated by the presence of the red gum 



