Soils and Soil- formers.] SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 759 



Suttonia divaricata, ferns, and mosses. The sample was collected in a canvas bag, 

 hence the water lost on air drying cannot be considered accurate. The sample 

 bears a close similarity in composition to J 797. 



J 794 was sampled on the 17th November, 1907, to a depth of 9 in., on a hill 

 about 500 ft. above Camp Cove boat-depot, Auckland Islands, above the rata-bush 

 line. The flora was Danthonia hromoides, Dracophyllum longijolium, moss, Hymeno- 

 phyllum multifdum, Myrsine divaricata, Ranunculus pinguis — mostly the first named. 

 Aspect southerly. 



K 2641 was taken on the Port Ross Track, on bush-line, at 300 ft. elevation, 

 on the 7th January, 1909. Sampled to a depth of 1 ft. The flora was Danthonia 

 hromoides, DracophylluTn longifolium, Panax simplex, Metrosideros lucida, Oreobolus 

 pectinatus, and lichens. This should be classed at a " lowland humus " soil. 



K 3044 is the subsoil taken below K 2641. 



Rich Humus Soils (37-17 per cent, inorganic). {Pleurophyllum Meadow.) 



J 811-4, 824. — J 811 is the first 18 in. layer of soil, collected near sea-level, 

 at Fairchild's Garden, west end of Adams Island, on the 25th November, 1907, in 

 a Pleurophyllum meadow,* the flora being entirely herbaceous, and consisting of 

 Ligusticum latifolium, Stilbocarpa polaris, Pleurophyllum criniferum, P. speciosum. 

 Car ex trifida, Aspidium aculeatum var. vestitum, and a very few Danthonia hromoides 

 plants. 



J 812 is the subsoil or 18 in. layer of soil below J 811. 



J 813 is the 18 in. top layer of soil taken about 100 ft. altitude above J 811, 

 on the same hill, and on same date. The flora was as follows : Pleurophyllum crini- 

 ferum, P. speciosum, Ligusticum latifolium, Poa foliosa, Carex appressa, C. trifida, 

 and scattered tussocks of Danthonia hromoides. This soil contained a few rounded 

 stones. 



J 814 is the 18 in. layer of subsoil below J 813. 



The aspect of these soils is north-east — that is, facing in opposite direction to 

 the prevailing gales, and protected from them by a high ridge, on the windward 

 side of which, and about half a mile away, J 815 was taken. 



J 824 was collected to a depth of 9 in., on the 28th November, 1907, at Disap- 

 pointment Island, a few feet above sea-level, on a hillside facing north-east. Being 

 collected in a canvas bag, it may have lost a little water. The flora was very similar 

 to that of Fairchild's Garden — entirely herbaceous plants — as follows : Ligusticum 

 latifolium, Stilhocarpa polaris, Pleurophyllum criniferum, P. speciosum, and Poa 

 foliosa. Fig. 18, p. 574, shows this type of soil, and fig. 13, p. xxxiii, shows the 

 upland soil of the same island. 



K 2645. — Collected at Adams Island to a depth of 2 ft. 6 in., at a situation a few 

 feet above sea-level, and above the boat-depot, having a north-west aspect, on the 

 10th January, 1909. This soil is adjacent to what is known as " Fairchild's Garden," 

 but supports a shrubby growth of Veronica elliptica and Dracophyllum longifolium. 



* Fig. 15, p. 223, shows a Pleurophyllum meadow growing on a raised gravel beach near sea-level, 

 Adams Island, opposite Camp Cove ; but the soil of this cannot be compared to a Fairchild's Garden 

 or a Disappointment Island soil. 



