Fertility of some Colonial Soils. 



19 



Stow'^^ distinguished between the rocks of this series and the oHve 

 shales, as he termed them, deposited unconformably over the ancient 

 schistose rocks underlying the crystalline limestones of the Camp- 

 bell Eand. The analyses given in the next table are those of soils 

 which may be taken as representing this deposit of shales : — 



VI. QUARTZITES AND SHALES EAST OP CAMPBELL RAND. 

 (Stow's Olive Shales.) 



Serial 

 No. 



Division. 



Hopetown ... 

 Barkly West 



Taungs 



Farm. 



Vluitjes Kraal 

 Brady's 



Patrys Kraal . 



Gaanzepan .... 



H.V. 73 '.'.'.'. 



Zwartputs .... 



H.V. 67 '.'.".'. 



H.V. 63 



Salisbury 



Luxmore 



Middle Park . 



Mogogong .... 



Fine 

 Earth. 



90-0 

 92-2 

 84-4 

 83-4 

 93-4 

 97-3 

 94-6 

 94-6 

 98-3 

 96-8 

 96-6 

 97-6 

 93-8 

 85-2 

 95-4 

 88-2 

 73-5 

 82-5 

 76-6 

 80-9 

 73-0 



Water. 



•73 



•94 



1^16 



2-02 



3-33 



•66 



•63 



4-74 



•79 

 2-02 

 6^82 

 6-03 



•54 

 2-9.5 

 2-56 



•51 

 1-04 

 2-47 

 1-22 

 1^78 



•84 



Organic 



Matter. 



1^29 

 1^78 

 2-80 

 2-98 

 4-19 

 1^47 

 1^31 

 10-90 

 1^69 

 2-98 

 5 64 

 4-98 

 1^17 

 3^11 

 3^38 

 1-31 

 2-13 

 3-91 

 2-19 

 2-47 

 1-71 



Lime. 



048 

 044 

 020 

 082 

 240 

 020 

 036 

 768 

 020 

 082 

 037 

 461 

 034 

 220 

 162 

 010 

 022 

 130 

 008 

 054 

 006 



Potash. 



•065 

 •050 

 •112 

 •056 

 •123 

 •046 

 ■035 

 •187 

 •037 

 •05G 

 •054 

 •027 

 •034 

 •101 

 •103 

 •030 

 •024 

 •118 

 •041 

 •074 

 •039 



Phos- 

 phoric 

 Oxide. 



•020 

 •031 

 •045 

 •038 

 •031 

 •013 

 •014 

 •101 

 •022 

 •038 

 •195 

 •154 

 •009 

 •063 

 •055 

 •014 

 •045 

 •059 

 •045 

 •040 

 •032 



Although some of the soils enumerated in this last table are of 

 good quality, nearly all of them show a deficiency in potash and 

 phosphoric oxide, while about a dozen lack lime as well. Their 

 averages are as follows : — 



Lime •310 



Potash -067 



Phosphoric oxide -051 



Of the rocks of the Cape System, the lowest are those of the Table 

 Mountain series. Table Mountain sandstone constitutes the greater 

 part of the lofty mountain ranges which extend for hundreds of miles 

 along the south-western part of the Colony ; they tower above all 

 other rocks for very many miles around, and it is, therefore, a safe 

 assumption to make that the virgin soils, collected from these high 

 altitudes, are quite uninfluenced by any other geological formations. 

 Furthermore, the rocks of the Table Mountain series consist of little 

 else than silica, namely, sandstones and quartzites, with occasional 

 shales. It may be anticipated, therefore, that the soils thence 



* Geol. Soc. Quarterly Journal, December, 1874. 



