24 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 



because of its geographical position, but it appears almost certain, 

 upon the basis of the reason just stated, that it must have been 

 derived from the basement beds of the Bokkeveld series. 



Above the Bokkeveld beds, and therefore geologically of more 

 recent date, are those of the Witteberg series. They consist of 

 quartzites associated v^ith shales, and the soils thence derived 

 would therefore be expected to conform in chemical character with 

 those resulting from the older Table Mountain series. I regret that 

 only four of the soils analysed in our laboratories can be assigned 

 with any definiteness to this formation. The results of their analyses 

 are as follows : — 



X. WITTEBERG SOILS. 



Serial 

 No. 



Division. 



Farm. 



Fine 

 Earth. 



Water. 



Organic 

 Matter. 



Lime. 



Potash. 



Phos- 

 phoric 

 Oxide. 



141 



142 

 143 

 144 



King William's 



Town 



Ladismith 



Victoria East ... 

 Worcester 



Evelyn Valley 

 Elands Vallei 



Hogsback 



Matjes Kloof... 



97 5 

 85-3 

 996 

 70-7 



6-26 

 •93 



5-87 

 •93 



16-60 

 4-08 



10-72 

 1-53 



•050 

 •036 

 •028 

 •088 



•082 

 •071 

 •038 

 •041 



•105 

 •068 

 •055 

 ■033 



On account of their fewness it is scarcely permissible to compare 

 these four soils with the forty- six derived from the Table Mountain 

 series ; but, as has already been remarked, it is one of the purposes 

 of this paper to point the need of greater exertion, and, on that 

 ground, it may not be unfitting to emphasise paucity of information 

 so as to induce fuller investigation. There are vast tracts of country 

 dominated and influenced by ranges of mountains built up of the 

 Witteberg beds, and, if the investigations proposed by me about a 

 dozen years ago had been both embarked upon and prosecuted with 

 the alacrity fondly pictured at the start, it is possible that the soils 

 of extensive areas would ere now have been mapped out in such a 

 way as to show, at all events in some respects, how they answer 

 chemically to the requirements of fei'tility. 



' These observations come in most suitably just at this stage, 

 because it was precisely in connection with the Witteberg soils 

 that I was first led to propose to the Government of the day that 

 a systematic agricultural survey of the Colony's soils should be 

 taken in hand, impelled thereto by the results of analyses I had 

 made of soils from the Albany and Humansdorp Divisions, in both 

 of which areas that bone disease in stock vernacularly termed 

 "lamziekte" (literally, "lame sickness") prevailed. 



The soils of a great part of the Albany Division, and of the 

 adjoining Divisions of Bathurst and Willowmore, are apparently 



