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NEW SOUTH WALES.

SOIL NO. 1.

The locality of this soil is an old basin in the valley of the Karua; it is taken from Strout (Garden of Eden), farm of the Australian Agricultural Company. It is an alluvial soil, of a clayey nature, formed from the adjacent hills, which are composed of greenstones and porphyries. It is light, soft to the touch, easily crushed between the fingers, of sufficient cohesion to resist drought, and of sufficient permeability to allow the quick escape of the superfluous rain-water. Its colour is dark brown; it is very easily worked, has not been manured, and is every second year under a crop of wheat. Its subsoil is a clayey diluvium. The acre produces 20 bushels of wheat. Specific gravity, 1.9.

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SOIL NO. 2.

This soil belongs to the same farm as No. 1., but the elevation of its site is somewhat greater. It is an alluvion, heavier, coarser, and not so easily crushed between the fingers as No. 1.; but in respect to cohesion and permeability, it is similar. Its colour is more red; it is manured, and bears alternately crops of wheat and potatoes. Its subsoil is the same as that of No. 1. It yields 26 bushels per acre. Specific gravity, 2.2.

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This soil lies on a farm called Briton Coast, belonging to the Australian Agricultural Company. The farm consists of 120 acres, and is in the hands of a tenant, Mr. Nichols. The soil lies in the flatbottomed valley of the Karua. It is an alluvion of a clayey nature, formed partly by the drift deposited

during occasional inundations of the river, partly by the denudations of the Grauwacke and Porphyry hills of the immediate vicinity. It is light, tolerably soft to the touch, porous, and easily crushed between the fingers. Its colour is light brown: it is easily cultivated, and has been ten years under cultivation, but is not manured; its subsoil is, in its external character, of the same kind as the preceding soils. It is cropped with wheat and maize alternately; producing of the first, 25 bushels per acre; of the last, 40 bushels. One bushel of wheat is used in seed per acre. This soil is considered by the tenant to be of the highest productive power.

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This soil is the subsoil of the soil No. 3., and identical with it as regards its external character. It is taken at a foot deeper from the surface.

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Belongs to the same farm, but is taken from a situation a little higher than Soil No. 3. It is alluvial, and less exposed to inundation; softer, lighter, more easily crushed, less porous, more adhesive, and less red in colour, than No. 3. It is easily cultivated, and is not manured; its subsoil is clayey, but coarser than No. 3. It is alternately under tobacco and wheat, producing of the first 1200lb. per acre; of the second, it takes one bushel and a half in seed, and gives in return 18 bushels per acre. This soil is held by the

tenant to be of the highest productive power.

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On the same farm, and on the same level as the preceding one, from which it differs only in colour, being of a lighter shade. It is alternately under wheat and tobacco; takes one bushel and a half of seed to the acre, returns 25 bushels; is manured, and is estimated by the tenant as a soil of high productive

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