17 



tree (E. calophylla, R. Brown). Wherever jarrah, red gum, and 

 blackboys grow together and attain large proportions, there the soil 

 is certain to be deep, well-drained, fertile, and suitable in every way 

 for the purpose of fruit and vine-growing. The " blackbutt " 

 (E. patens, Bentham) is at intervals met with on the moist slopes 

 of the Darling Ranges amongst these trees, and is indicative of one 

 of our most fertile class of soils, a free-working, gravelly loam. It 

 does not burn readily, hence the patches it covers having so long 

 been left in its virgin state. The occurrence of pipe-clay, either on 

 the surface or at a shallow depth, is, on the other hand, revealed by 

 the presence of white gum tree (JE. redunca, Schauer). White 

 gum alone is an indication of predominance of pipe-clay, or of a 

 cold, retentive porridge made up of pipe-clay and gritty sand, soft and 

 slushy in the winter months and hard in the dry summer season. 

 Small blackboys growing amongst white gums are an evidence of 

 the presence of this stratum of loam on the surface, and similarly 

 jarrah and white gum are indicative of a mixture of ironstone gravel 

 and pipe-clay. Lime and phosphates, associated with drainage, are 

 necessary for the raising of good crops on such soil. 



Over the same area frequent outbursts of trap rock and vol- 

 canic dykes run through the country or occur in patches, and are 

 easily recognised by the occurrence of boulders of blue metal em- 

 bedded in a rich red loam of volcanic origin. Where such dykes 

 occur, or appear as if churned up with the ironstone gravel, trees 

 and all sorts of crops grow to great perfection, and oranges thrive 

 splendidly. 



In the gullies alongside the brooks and around the springs, as 

 well as on low alluvial soil bordering water-courses, the Flooded 

 gums, often associated with blackboys, mark out fertile strips of 

 land, rich in potash, but which after a few years cropping require 

 the application of phosphates. In the South- West the Yate tree 

 (E. cornuta, La Billardiere) grows on such land. 



Fresh water can be obtained almost anywhere on this forma- 

 tion at a depth of 12 35ft. on reaching the pipe-clay bottom, 

 whilst springs often break out on their own accord after ring-barking 

 the forest trees or clearing the land for cultivation. 



CHOCOLATE SOIL. 



Known locally as the " jam " or " wattle " country. This kind 

 of soil is very widely distributed, and extends from the Murchison 

 and the Irwin over the Victoria Plains, up the Avon Valley to Wagin 

 and Katanning. It is overgrown at the north by the " wattle," 

 and southwards by the " raspberry jam tree," a kind of Myall 

 (Acacia acuminata, Bentham). On the whole, this belt of country 

 is drier than the preceding one, but much easier to clear and to 

 cultivate, and eminently suitable for the cultivation of fruit-trees 

 and vines, as well as of cereal crops. 



The soil consists of a chocolate loam, sometimes of great depth, 

 varying in texture from a heavy loam, characterised by a greater 



