The A u s t r a l i a n S o c i e t y

of

So i l S c i e n c e

SOILS

V

N°2 JUNE 1957

S O I L S N E W S

THE NEWSLETTER of t h e AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF SOIL SCIENCE

No. 2 . J u n e , 1957

EDITORIAL

With the advent of the second issue of "Soils News", several points of policy with regard to the purpose, scope and arrangement of the newsletter have emerged. These have resulted partly from discussions by the Editorial Committee, and partly in consequence of some very welcome criticisms of the first issue.

Firstly, it is intended to increase the technical value of the newsletter Toy inviting challenging review articles on selected topics. The first of these, prepared for us "by Professor J.A. Prescott, appears in this issue.

Secondly, it will be out aim to cover general aspects of the duty of soil scientists in the utilisation and develop­ment of our agricultural resources on an Australia-wide basis. This field will also be covered in the main by invited contributions.

Thirdly, whiDe the newsletter is not intended as yet another periodical containing a series of scientific articles, and can never hope to be, yet it can fulfil a very worthwhile function in the field of soil science, if, by the medium of technical notes or provocative reviews, it can spur our members on to thought on contentious subjects. We visualise the newsletter as a medium for the expression and exchange of differing points of view, and, with this in mind, we invite contributions in the form of letters to the Editor. It is hoped that such contributions will stimulate discussion in the form of further articles which could be printed in succeeding issues, so that all possible points of view can be brought to the notice of our members. As the occasion warrants, the discussion on a particular topic could be summarised in an invited review.

Finally, "Soils News" will report on decisions reached by Federal Council, and on the reports of sub-committees appointed by Council, as such reports become available. Interesting technical notes and summaries, activities of the Branches, and personal jottings, will also be included.

You are urged to give serious thought to the place occupied by the newsletter in the affairs of the Society, and to demonstrate your interest by a steady flow of contributions*

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REVIEW ARTICLE

SOIL SCIENCE IN AUSTRALIA - AN APPRAISAL

"by

Professor J , A. Prescot t

As elsewhere, the Science of the Soil in Austral ia grew pr inc ipa l ly out of the need to provide a bas is for the under-standing of the problems of so i l f e r t i l i t y that were being referred to the Agricul tura l Socie t ies t.nd l a t e r to the Depart-ments of Agriculture by the farming community. That so i l s could be studied independently of t h i s need was obvious from the observations recorded during his voyages and elsewhere by Charles Darwin, but the point of view of the Russian school founded by Dokuchaev at the end of the Nineteenth Century did not become general ly known u n t i l a f te r the F i r s t World War, when Glinka's work became ava i l ab l e . I t proved possible to t e s t and apply t h i s point of view, tha t s o i l s were worthy of independent study, in Austral ia in the 1920's .

In the meanwhile, the f i r s t text books on so i l as such were appearing? A. D. Hall (1903) in England, Mitscherlich (1905) in Germany, and Hilgard (1906) in the United States of America were the f i r s t to provide text books dealing ex-clus ively with the s o i l . Unt i l then, the subject had been dea l t with in the general t ex t s on Agricul tura l Chemistry and Agricul tura l Geology. I t i s to be noted, however, tha t the subject of Soil Physics received independent treatment in a tex t by Warington in 1900.

In Aus t ra l ia , a g r i c u l t u r i s t s and chemists had begun to assess the nature of the s o i l problems affect ing the local farmers. In the wheat be l t of southern Aus t ra l ia , the importance of superphosphate for the successful growing of wheat was es tabl ished by the work of Pearson in Vic tor ia , and of Custance and Lowrie in South Aus t ra l ia ; the regular use of superphosphate in par ts of South Austral ia began as ear ly as 1892. Lowrie came to Roseworthy College in 1887, the year in which Hel l r iegel and Wilfarth announced t h e i r discovery of the nature of ni t rogen f ixa t ion by leguminous p l a n t s . Both Lowrie and Rennie, the Professor of Chemistry a t the University of Adelaide, were deeply impressed by t h i s discovery and Lowrie sought to explain some of the loca l aspects of so i l f e r t i l i t y in terms of ni trogen f i xa t i on . Ferrer a l so , in 1902, a f te r he had become Wheat Experimentalist to the Department of Agriculture of New South Wales, expressed his c lear recognit ion of the importance of chemical and b a c t e r i a l forces in determining l eve l s of s o i l f e r t i l i t y for the growing of crops.

I t i s obvious, therefore , tha t from the beginning of the 20th Century there was an awareness of the importance of chem-i c a l , physical and microbiological fac tors in determining /-,

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the l eve l s of so i l f e r t i l i t y in Aus t ra l i a . The period prior to the F i r s t World War saw Guthr ie ' s advocacy of so i l surveys, the work of Green and Ampt on s o i l permeability, and that of Grieg-Smith on so i l microbiology,,

This background a l so influenced the University of Adelaide in determining i t s policy when es tab l i sh ing the Waite I n s t i t u t e . A.J . Perkins, who had succeeded Lowrie a t Roseworthy and who l a t e r became Director of Agriculture in South Aus t ra l ia , played an important part over the period 1915-1921+ in a s s i s t i n g the Council of the University to e s t ab l i sh i t s policy in t h i s matter with the r e s u l t tha t " ag r i cu l tu ra l so i l problems, chemistry, microbiology, survey of the s o i l s of the S ta te , crop and fodder inves t iga t ions" were placed f i r s t among the possible l ines of inves t iga t ion and guided the University in i t s search for the foundation s taff of the Waite I n s t i t u t e .

The establishment of t h i s I n s t i t u t e in 1921+ and of the CSIR in 1926 may be taken as convenient s t a r t i n g points for the modern developments in Soil Science in Aus t ra l i a . Most people w i l l agree tha t the two most important aspects of t h i s development have been: (1) the recognit ion of the importance of the t r a c e - or micro-elements, in addi t ion to phosphorus, in determining the f e r t i l i t y l eve l s of many Austral ian s o i l s , and (2) the achievement in the way of formal so i l surveys and t h e i r in terpre ta t ion, , There w i l l be unanimity with respect to the need for carrying on so i l surveys, and i t would be rash to assume that the chapter on micro-elements in plant nu t r i t i on i s approaching completion in view of the fact that both sod.ium and chlorine have recen t ly been added to the l i s t . I t i s one th ing, however, to prove tha t these elements are e s sen t i a l for plant growth and tha t economic plants respond to t h e i r use as f e r t i l i s e r s on appropriate so i l s* I t i s another thing a l together to e s t ab l i sh t he i r functions in the physiology of plants and to e s t ab l i sh the so i l fac tors tha t determine t he i r a v a i l a b i l i t y to p l a n t s . Much more i s known about the role of phosphorus and ni trogen than in 1925, but l i t t l e about potassium and varying amounts about the micro-elements,, I t i s in the study of the biochemistry of plant growth that progress i s cal led forQ

The a v a i l a b i l i t y of plant nu t r i en t s in the so i l i s important for two reasons. The f i r s t i s the economic reason of es tab l i sh ing what proportion of an element added as f e r t i l i s e r remains avai lable for use by future crops. The second i s the s c i e n t i f i c one of determining the nature of the chemical combinations which these n u t r i t i o n a l elements assume in the so i l and how these combinations are modified by physical fac tors and the a c t i v i t i e s of micro-organisms. The de ta i led study of the Rhizosphere may well play an important part in t h i s understanding. Because of the economic importance of developing the poorer s o i l s in t h i s respect , there has been

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s c i e n t i f i c neglect of so i l s na tu ra l ly well-endowed with plant n u t r i e n t s , and i t may well be tha t important information could come from such s tud ie s , pa r t i cu l a r l y of some of our natura l grass lands .

In the case of s o i l surveys, time has frequently been the essence of the contract , so tha t the scale of the work has been determined by the urgency of the task of development of the land r e sou rces . ' Of necess i ty , p r i o r i t i e s have had to be assessed and any development involving a subs tan t i a l change in land use has been given the highest p r i o r i t y . Within the scale from de ta i led survey to broad reconnaissance, probably the most i n t e r e s t i n g development has been the study and de f in i t ion of land systems as developed by the Division of Land Research of CSIRO for the rapid reconnaissance or explorat ion of t rop i ca l Aus t r a l i a . All these a c t i v i t i e s have es tabl ished a s e r i e s of boundaries on the s o i l map of Aust ra l ia , boundaries of undoubted accuracy but separating so i l uni t s of varying degrees of homogeneity. The task of preparing a new s o i l map of the country as whole i s e s s e n t i a l l y one of giving a l l the u n i t s en cuch a map equal weight in any system of c l a s s i f i c a t i o n or grouping ul t imate ly adopted. The "Great Soil Groups" of the World are those to be sought and the main problem involved in defining these i s to e s t ab l i sh c r i t e r i a for placing loca l co l lec t ions of s o i l types in to such groups, In the f i r s t place: What i s a "Great Soil Group"? I t can be assumed that the word "Great" means something subs tan t ia l on the scale of world geography, such as the Great Wall of China or the Great Barr ier Reef, something - as has been said -tha t would be v i s i b l e with the naked eye from the moon. Something can be done by continuing to examine as many so i l p rof i l es as possible u n t i l they log ica l ly f a l l in to a natura l system, but i t i s doubtful now whether t h i s i s enough. There must be some guiding p r inc ip l e , l ike the or ig ina l Russian concept of na tura l s o i l zones correlated with the na tura l c l imatic zones. Glinka's or ig ina l c l a s s i f i c a t i o n was not of s o i l s but of soil-forming processes. In i t s simplest form, the processes of rock weathering to form s o i l s were considered to be purely mechanical under polar condit ions, to r e s u l t in the formation of kaolin under temperate condi t ions, and to lead to the complete break-down to free oxides under t rop ica l condi t ions . The physical chemists have, however, not been sa t i s f i ed tha t the differences in temperature were adequate to account for these considerable differences in soil-forming processes, an opinion which was expressed by Mellor (1929) in his Comprehensive Treat ise on Inorganic Chemistry when dealing with the or igin of bauxi te .

I t i s s t i l l in order to endeavour to catalogue, and, i f poss ib le , to c lass i fy the various processes contr ibut ing to the formation of s o i l s , A useful concept i s to recognise t ha t , although s o i l prof i les represent conditions of equilibrium with current c l imat ic condi t ions, the idea of equilibrium must

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not "be carr ied too fa r , for some of these processes are , in f ac t , i r r eve r s ib l e and w i l l leave a permanent mark on the character of the so i l p ro f i l e , which remains long a f te r the process i t s e l f has ceased to function,,

What then are the processes to be kept in mind in seeking the key to the Great Soil Groups? The concept of the leaching fac tor in s o i l formation has proved to he so useful that i t can be re ta ined and used to separate the Desert Group, which do not undergo leaching in a general sense, from the b e t t e r -understood s o i l s in which the leaching factor i s a l l important. Factors responsible for deser t landscapes and t h e i r r e su l t ing s o i l s need de ta i led study in Aus t r a l i a . The Inselberg ~ the res idua l of rock - an island in a sea of i t s own debris (such as Ayer's Rock) i s a cha r ac t e r i s t i c deser t f ea tu re . But what about the s o i l s themselves? What areas are subject only to na tura l r a i n f a l l ? Which receive per iodical flooding from the very e f f i c i en t catchment areas? How far can the boundaries of the hardpan so i l s in the West Austra l ian deser t s be corre la ted with the boundaries of t racks of t rop ica l r a i n -bearing cyclones in t h i s ?roc? Can the leaching fac tor responsible for the character of the s o i l s of the Channel Country of western Queensland be quan t i t a t ive ly defined in terms of r a i n plus flood waters? These are questions which suggest themselveso Another feature of our desert s o i l s i s tha t they show jus t as much expression of varying f e r t i l i t y level as do the s o i l s of the more humid regions, and an appreciat ion of t h i s factor and of i t s or igin may well help to a b e t t e r understanding of these other s o i l s .

Another s tep towards the rev is ion of the Great Soil Groups would be the d iv is ion of Austral ia in to geochemical provinces within which, the parent material would be reasonably uniform in terms of i t s origin and chemical leve l of f e r t i l i t y . Conway's concept of cycles of weathering and t h e i r number w i l l probably be found to be more important than the so-cal led "age" of the s o i l . In t h i s respect , i t must be recal led tha t the or ig ina l concept of Dokuchaev was the age of the land.

I t i s possible tha t , on the broader s ca l e , the recognit ion of the Great Soil Groups, the formulation of so i l categories in a system of c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , and the geographical mapping of so i l s as associations, , may have to be t rea ted quite independently. For example, assoc ia t ions , even on the most de ta i led sca le , may have to include elements of the Great Soi l Groups themselves.

The choice of the so i l prof i le as a bas is for descr ip t ion and c l a s s i f i c a t i o n has ju s t i f i ed i t s e l f . Field s tudies need to be carr ied fur ther , pa r t i cu l a r ly with respect to the de f in i t ion of the edaphic fac tor in ecological s t u d i e s . For a l l the important s o i l types, there should be known at l ea s t

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the storage capacity for useful water, so that rainfall, use by vegetation, leaching, and frequency of replenishment could be linked with climatic studies.

In summary then, the future of Soil Science can be expected to include as independent subjects: the recognition and mapping of the Great Soil Groups, the classification of soils by categories purely on the basis of the soil profile, and the geographical grouping of soils as associations of various types. The understanding of the Great Soil Groups calls for geochemical considerations in addition to climatic ones. More information may be needed with respect to the soil profile, for example, the presence of free alumina.

From the chemical point of view, apart from the establish­ment of geochemical provinces, more information is needed with respect to the availability of all the plant nutrients, not only in the poorest country under development, but also in highly fertile soils under native grassland„ Microbiological studies should be all important herec

DR. G. DONALD SHERMAN - FULBRTGHT FELLOW

The University of Queensland is honoured by the visit of Dr. G. Donald Sherman of the University of Hawaii as a Fulbright Fellow during 1957«

Dr. Sherman's chief mission in Queensland will be a study of the nature and genesis of latosolic soils. He is particularly interested in the weathering of rock minerals and the development of soils, and will combine with this an examination of the occurrence of laterite in Australia.

Dr. Sherman was born in a farming community in the famous Red River Valley of Minnesota, where black soils, not unrelated to the Queensland black earths, are forming on the varve clays of Lake Agg-assiz* He took his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in the University of Minnesota, and later was awarded the Doctorate at Michigan State University for work on organic soilsc Subsequently, he worked in the University of Kentucky on trace elements and soil analysis and as a bio­chemist in the United States Southern Utilisation Research Branch at New Orleans0 In 1 3khf he joined the University of Hawaii as Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, and ten years later was appointed Senior Professor of Soil Science and Chairman of the Department of Soil Science and Agronomy.

Dr. Sherman is the pr+-hor of a number of important articles on the chemistry of soils and associated rock weathering, and on the nutrition of plantsc

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In Australia, Dr. Sherman will discuss with Australian workers ideas on soil genesis and utilisation, particularly with respect to the latosolic types. He has taken part in field trips to the rain forest areas of Queensland and Northern New South Wales, to the Darling Downs and southern brigalow areas, and to Northern Queensland as represented by the Atherton Tableland and adjacent coastal areas. On the agricultural side, Dr. Sherman is especially interested in sugar cane and pineapple culture.

During his stay at the University, Dr. Sherman is giving a series of lectures on Hawaxian soils and their utilisation.

Dr. Sherman will attend the Soil Conference in Melbourne in August, and thence proceed to Adelaide and Perth for discussion on soils. In Western Australia, he will be particularly interested in the lateritic formations. On his return, he will visit Canberra and Sydney and leave for New Zealand about the middle of October for a month with the New Zealand Soil Survey Department before returning to the United States.

The Society has been pleased to honour Dr. Sherman by conferring on him honorary membership for the duration of his stay in Australia.

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A MESSAGE PROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Fellow-members,

Members w i l l be disappointed at the decis ion of the Agr icul tura l Council not to permit our newly-formed Society to organise the Conference in Soil Science being convened for Melbourne next August, One of the cogent reasons for the Society i s an independent organisation to conduct such funct ions . The disappointment need not af fec t our a c t i v i t i e s . Most of the organisation and contr ibut ions to the Melbourne meeting w i l l be in the hands of our members and i t i s gra t i fy ing tha t our Vice-President i s Chairman of the Organising Committee - a courteous recognit ion on the par't of the C.S.I.E.O,

There i s s t i l l plenty of scope for the Society, Perhaps i t i s fortunate tha t much of the administrat ive respons i -b i l i t y has been taken over by other organisations we l l -equipped for such work and our members are free to devote t h e i r energies to the technical aspects,, In other d i r ec t i ons , there are challenging problems ca l l ing for new ideas , and new approaches ca l l ing for further information* These new ideas can be sharpened at the meetings of members; through the a c t i v i t i e s of the Society, approaches can be speeded up by the mutual s t imulat ion of discussion and crit icism,,

The Society w i l l take advantage of the Conference to hold i t s f i r s t general meeting and the afternoon and evening of Friday, August 23rd, has been made avai lable to us by the Organising Committee, Your council i s now considering a programme for t h i s occasion and i s grateful to the Victorian Branch for i t s offer to arrange the f u n c t i o n Correspondence from Victoria ind ica tes that a p res iden t ia l address i s expectedo I s h a l l endeavour to give a provocative t a l k to draw discussion which i s des i rable in our infant Society.

Our "Soils News" can be used for serious contr ibut ions giving viewpoints on matters of broad importance, emphasising the part so i l science can play in the welfare of the country and pointing to f i e l d s of nat ional importance. For our members general ly , i t should be an avenue for more l i g h t -hearted and l i ve ly exchange of views on more r e s t r i c t e d top ics ; for mention of observations, d iscover ies or gadgets - even f a i l u r e s ; i t can convey personal no tes .

The chief contr ibut ions w i l l be through meetings of members - formal meetings, lunch-hour meetings and f i e ld meetings w i l l enable the expanding science to be kept a l ive in our minds in sp i te of our spec ia l i sa t ion and our consignment to th^ clraclg-ry of rout ine work and office commitmentso

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In conclusion, I wish to extend a hearty welcome to the Western Australian Branch which has recently been formed. There has always been an active group of soil scientists in Western Australia and I wish them every success.

Yours sincerely,

L.J.H. Teakle

FEDERAL COUNCIL NOTES

Since the f i r s t i s sue of " S o i l s News", Council has met once, on 6th March, and i t s next meeting i s scheduled for 12th J u n e . Absence of members on t o u r s of duty and on leave has i n t e r f e r e d wi th the arrangement of f u r t h e r meet ings .

Bus iness :

1957 S o i l s Conference: This Conference i s now being convened by CSIRO and a note on conference arrangements appears on a l a t e r page of t h i s i s s u e . Our Soc ie ty a t l e a s t has had the s a t i s f a c t i o n of see ing a number of our members appointed t o the Conference Committee and P ro fes so r Leeper e l e c t e d as i t s Chairman,

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Committee for H o r t i c u l t u r a l Congresses : P ro fesso r Teakle has agreed t o be the A u s t r a l i a n correspondent t o t h i s Committeeo He, wi th Drs„ Marshal l and Quirk, have been appointed as a sub-committee to cons ider s t a n d a r d i s a t i o n of u n i t s of measurement of -

( i ) So i l moi s tu re ; ( i i ) So i l s a l i n i t y :

( i i i ) To ta l s o i l moisture s t r e s s -and the s t a n d a r d i s a t i o n of terminology a s s o c i a t e d t h e r e w i t h .

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Socie ty of So i l Sc ience : F i f ty - two members of the A . S . S . S . a re a l s o members of the I e S . S . S . Contact has been mainta ined wi th the Sec re t a ry -Genera l of the I . S . S . S .

Contact wi th Overseas So i l Science S o c i e t i e s : Exchange of n e w s l e t t e r s wi th the N . Z . S . S . S . has con t inued .

Communications have been rece ived from the Venezuelan So i l Science Soc i e ty , Th« Imper ia l College of Trop ica l A g r i c u l t u r e and the S o i l Science Soc ie ty of the P h i l i p p i n e s . The l a t t e r p lans t o sponsor the F i r s t South-East Asian So i l Science Conference t o be held in Manila from 7 th t o 22nd ,. n

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December, 1957, and has i n v i t e d the A . S . S . S . t o p a r t i c i p a t e . The Conference w i l l "be followed by one-week s tudy t o u r s .

BRANCH NOTES AND ACTIVITIES

QUEENSLAND:

Two evening meetings have been held du r ing the ha l f year , a t the f i r s t of which Pro fesso r W.H. Bryan presen ted the g e o l o g i s t ' s views on " L a t e r i t e " . At the second, Dr. G-.D. Sherman spoke on some a s p e c t s of s o i l r e s e a r c h in Hawaii, w i th p a r t i c u l a r r e f e r ence to genes i s and rock w e a t h e r i n g .

A group of i n t e r e s t e d members has met on a number of occas ions t o d i s c u s s the F i f th Approximation of the U.S.D.A. S o i l C l a s s i f i c a t i o n Scheme, and a r e p o r t of t h e i r f i nd ings has been p repa red .

The f i r s t f i e l d day organised by the Branch was as success fu l a s i t was we l l a t t e n d e d , Over twenty members and two overseas v i s i t o r s assembled in good weather on Saturday, March 1 6 th , near the new Brisbane housing suburb of I n e l a . The va r i ed programme was wel l planned beforehand and g r e a t c r e d i t i s due t o the o r g a n i s e r s and the chemis t s , whose p r i o r e f f o r t s provided a l l wi th c o n t r a s t i n g p r o f i l e s and suppor t ing chemical d a t a .

The f i r s t p r o f i l e examined, near I n a l a , was desc r ibed as a nodular r ed-ye l low podzol ic s o i l 0 I t was exposed in a g rave l p i t and provided an i n t e r e s t i n g i n t r o d u c t i o n t o a s o i l which i s common in the Queensland c o a s t a l b e l t . Some time was spent i n d i s c u s s i n g the o r i g i n of the B hor izon nodules , whether or not they had any th ing t o do wi th the A hor izon and even whether the l a t t e r were a t r ue A hor i zon . Some of the pedants doubted i f the two l a y e r s had any pedo log ica l connec t ion . I t was, in f a c t , a t y p i c a l f i e l d d i s c u s s i o n i n s o i l g e n e t i c s and morphology.

The pa r ty then proceeded t o A r c h e r f i e l d aerodrome t o i n s p e c t the p r o f i l e of a dark grey f i n e - t e x t u r e d Wiesenboden or Humic Gley developed on b a s a l t i c alluvium,, This s o i l occurs i n a dra inage b a s i n and shows marked gley f e a t u r e s , e s p e c i a l l y a long roo t c h a n n e l s . In some r e s p e c t s i t resemblQe c e r t a i n r e s i d u a l Black E a r t h s of the Dar l ing Downs, except perhaps fo r i t s low content of " a v a i l a b l e " phospha te . The a n a l y t i c a l f i g u r e s produced s t a r t e d the usua l d i s c u s s i o n on the high magnesium s t a t u s of many A u s t r a l i a n s o i l s and i t s p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n t o a c c e s s i o n s of c y c l i c s a l t ; no s a t i s -f a c t o r y conc lus ion was reachede

After lunch , we were shown a podzol p r o f i l e in an area somewhat e u p h e m i s t i c a l l y c a l l e d The Blunder . This s o i l has

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a l l t h e u s u a l f e a t u r e s of a Podzol - s h a l l o w A 0 , g r e y i s h - w h i t e A-i and a m o d e r a t e l y b l e a c h e d A2 b u t w i t h a s u r p r i s i n g l y t h i n o r g a n i c B h o r i z o n u n d e r which was p o s s i b l y a t h i n f r a g i p a n . The p a r e n t m a t e r i a l i s q u a r t z o s e sand (mar ine o r i g i n s u g g e s t e d ) u n d e r l a i n by a m o t t l e d c l a y which , i t was u l t i m a t e l y d e c i d e d , was n o t i m p l i c a t e d i n t h e s o i l f o rming p r o c e s s * A n e a r b y p r o f i l e , c o n s i s t i n g of two f e e t of sand over a m o t t l e d c l a y , was t e n t a t i v e l y d e s c r i b e d a s a Low Kumic Q ley , T h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n was t h o u g h t by some t o be u n s u i t a b l e , and s e v e r a l t e r m s , i n c l u d i n g p l a n o s o l , were b a n d i e d a b o u t w i t h o u t much f i n a l i t y , ,

One f a c t emerg ing from t h i s v e r y e n j o y a b l e m e e t i n g was c l e a r : t h e gap be tween f i e l d and l a b o r a t o r y i s even w i d e r t h a n was f o r m e r l y s u s p e c t e d , I t was unan imous ly a g r e e d t h a t we s h o u l d t r y t o b r i d g e i t by h a v i n g two or t h r e e such t r i p s e a c h y e a r c

NEW SOUTH WALES:

The Annual G e n e r a l Meet ing of t h e Branch was h e l d on 3 rd J u n e . F o l l o w i n g e l e c t i o n of o f f i c e - b e a r e r s , t h e major p o r t i o n of t h e e v e n i n g was d e v o t e d t o a d i s c u s s i o n of t he F i f t h A p p r o x i m a t i o n of t h e U eS 0D.A 0 S o i l C l a s s i f i c a t i o n Scheme.

At p r e v i o u s g e n e r a l m e e t i n g s , t h e f o l l o w i n g a d d r e s s e s were d e l i v e r e d -

"The I n f l u e n c e of B a c t e r i o p h a g e on t h e Eco logy of Rhizobium i n S o i l s " by K.C. Marsha l l , ,

"The E l a c e of t h e G l a s s h o u s e i n F e r t i l i s e r R e s e a r c h " by J . T , Moraghan0

" C i t r u s N u t r i t i o n I n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n t h e M 8 I . A . " by DoN0 Munns.

A symposium was a l s o h e l d on t h e t o p i c "How can t h e S o i l Chemis t and P e d o l o g i s t h e l p t h e A g r o n o m i s t ? "

SOUTH AUSTRALIA:

At a g e n e r a l m e e t i n g , t he Branch h e a r d a d d r e s s e s g i v e n by D r . C.Go S t e p h e n s on "Some P e d o l o g i c a l R e f l e c t i o n s f o l l o w -i n g a v i s i t t o New Z e a l a n d " , and Dr 0 R . J 0 Swaby on "New D i s c o v e r i e s by New Z e a l a n d A p ? i c u l t u r a l 1 ' i c r o b i o l o g i s t s and B i o c h e m i s t s . "

Dr<> S t e p h e n s CI.6CJC.L-JLbed p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e g e o m o r p h o l o g i c a l phenomena a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e a l p i n e and s u b - a l p i n e r e g i o n s of t h e South I s l a n d and t h e v o l c a n i c a r e a s of t he N o r t h I s l a n d ,

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and t r a c e d the development of a c r o s s - s e c t i o n of the South I s l and from the Alpine a r e a s t o the Canterbury Plain, , He poin ted out t h a t t h i s would be a cobble d e s e r t but for the 11 inches (average) of l o e s s cover over the cobbles which form the old r i v e r t e r r a c e s of the p l a i n . Dr. Stephens s t r e s s e d the func t ion of the c o l l e c t i n g and d ischarge zones of the a l p i n e a r e a s . He drew a t t e n t i o n t o the c i r q u e s of the former a r ea s and the very c l e a r l y def ined r i v e r t e r r a c e s , e s p e c i a l l y of the middle r i v e r c o u r s e s , of r i v e r s d i s cha rg ing from the a lp ine c o u n t r y . The sequence of s o i l s which covers t h i s c r o s s - s e c t i o n i s bare rock, a l p i n e humus s o i l s , L i t h o s o l s , and minimal Qrey-Brown Podzo l ic s o i l s and Brown Podzol ic s o i l s .

In the North I s l a n d , Dr . Stephens s t u d i e d the i s o l a t e d v o l c a n i c cone of Mt. Egmont fo r which a very complete s o i l map and time sequences of the ash showers based on Clk d a t i n g are a v a i l a b l e .

Dr. Swaby ou t l i ned the work of the Microbiology Sec t ion of the D . S . I . R . Soi l Bureau a t Ta i ta i n the Hutt Va l ley , some work on the uptake of F-- ' by mycorrhizal p l a n t s of Pinus r a d i a t a . work on s o i l organic mat te r be ing done by the Canterbury U n i v e r s i t y College group, and summarised papers p resen ted a t an A.N.Z.A.A.S. symposium on n i t r o g e n f i x a t i o n .

This address i s summarised elsewhere i n the n e w s l e t t e r .

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY:

Although the number of members a t t e n d i n g the f o r t n i g h t l y lunch- t ime d i s c u s s i o n meeting has not been l a r g e , t he re has been s u f f i c i e n t i n t e r e s t shown t o mainta in t h i s f e a t u r e , Fu r the r , many of these r e g u l a r meetings were given over t o r o u t i n e b u s i n e s s , bu t i n s p i t e of t h i s a good range of t o p i c s was d e a l t withe Included amongst these were the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and occurrence of a t t a p u l g i t e and b a r y t e s i n the s o i l s of the Wagga d i s t r i c t , the format ion of l a t e r i t e , and s o i l surveys i n the Toowoomba d i s t r i c t .

In r e c e n t months, t h e r e has been only one evening meet ing, a t which Mr, R. Brewer gave an address e n t i t l e d "Comments on Overseas V i s i t , 1956".

A s e r i e s of informal meetings was conducted by a smal l group of i n t e r e s t e d members t o d i s c u s s the F i f t h Approximation of the U.S.D.A. S o i l C l a s s i f i c a t i o n Scheme0 A summary of comments and c r i t i c i s m i s be ing prepared t o forward t o Dr. Guy Smitho

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VICTORIA:

On March 22nd, a joint meeting was held with the Victorian Branch of A.I.A.S. at which Mr. Frank Penman gave an illustrated account of his visit to Russia to attend an F.A.O. Irrigation Study Tour. Mr. Penman showed a really fine collection of Kodachrome slides which he took while in Russia. These featured irrigation development in the Central Asian region as well as many scenic views in and around Moscow.

Many Branch members are participating in preparations for the Second Australian Conference in Soil Science. Inspection sites for the two excursions have been chosen and sampled, and analytical work is proceeding in the laboratories of the Department of Agriculture and Soil Conservation Authority. Mineralogical examinations are being carried out under the direction of Dr. J.S. Hosking of CSIRO. Special Geological and Topographical maps are also being compiled for these excursions.

PERSONAL NOTES

Professor L.J.H. Teakle and Mr. G.D. Hubble (Qld.) have been showing Dr. Sherman some of the so i l s of the Darling Downs, Burnett Valley and Atherton Tableland areas of Queensland.

Dr. L.H.P. Jones (Vict„) has spent s ix months working with Dr. Stout at the Kearny Foundation, Universi ty of Calefornia, and i s proceeding on a short tour of England and Europe.

Drs, Best, Piper, Swaby and Stephens and Mr. K. Nicholls (SA) attended the A.N.Z.AcA.S. Conference in Dunedin, N.Z. during January. Papers concerned with s o i l science were given by Dr. Piper (phosphates in two South Austra l ian so i l s ) ; " by Dr. Swaby (rhizosphere of spindly pine t r e e s , a v a i l a b i l i t y of phosphatic materials to so i l micro-organisms, amino-acid complexes in so i l humus); and by Dr. Stephens (probable need for crop ro ta t ions in planta t ion s y l v i c u l t u r e ) ,

Mr. F. Chippendale (Qld.) recent ly conducted Dr. Roy R. Bennett, Agronomy Extension Spec ia l i s t (Tobacco) of the North Carolina State Cpllege on an inspect ion of the s o i l s of the tobacco d i s t r i c t s of South Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Mr. G-.D. Aitchison (Vic t . ) l e f t Austral ia recent ly to at tend the Uth In te rna t iona l Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering in London, and w i l l subsequently v i s i t Europe, Africa, Canada, and the USA before returning in s ix months' time0 /, i,

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Dr. Richard Bradfield of the Agronomy Department, Cornell Univers i ty , USA, v i s i t ed Adelaide in March and met many members of the Society a t the Waits I n s t i t u t e . At the 6th In te rna t iona l Congress of Soil Science, Dr. Bradfield was appointed President of the In te rna t iona l Society,

Mr. G. Bieske (Qld*) has been t ransferred to the newly-opened s o i l s laboratory of the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Sta t ions a t Mackay. This laboratory w i l l handle a l l s o i l work for the d i s t r i c t , in addi t ion to providing a f e r t i l i s e r advisory service»

Mr. R.F. I sbe l l (Qld.) has been t ransferred to the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock, but w i l l continue to carry out s o i l survey work for the Bureau of Inves t iga t ion .

Two members of the SA Branch recent ly have gained higher degrees a f t e r s tudies concerned with so i l problems: C.R. Panabokke (Ceylon) graduated Ph.D. Adelaide. His thes i s i s "Physical Factors influencing the Water S t a b i l i t y of Soil Aggregates". K.G. T i l l e r graduated M.Sc Adelaide, His thes i s i s "The Geochemistry of Basa l t ic Mater ials and Associated Soi ls of the South-East of South Aus t r a l i a . "

Mr. Hubble (Qld.) and Mr. Mulcahy (WA) spent a short time in Canberra during t he i r v i s i t to the South-East Region of the Division of So i l s , CSIRO.

Dr. E.L, Greacen (SA) has been appointed secretary of the SA Branch of the Austral ian I n s t i t u t e of Agricul tura l Science •

R0 J . Millington (SA) l e f t Adelaide in February on stufly leave, most of which w i l l be spent a t the Imperial College of Science, London.

During May, a v i s i t to Tasmania was made by K„ T i l l e r (SA) who collected samples from do le r i t e areas for geochemical inves t iga t ions of s o i l s . In the same month, E.A. Jackson (SA) moved to Alice Springs to continue his inspections of so i l s in the ar id zonec

G. Blackburn (SA) has been appointed jo in t secretary of Section K (Agriculture and Forestry) for the A.N.Z.A.A.S. meeting in Adelaide, August, 1958°

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SECOND CONFERENCE IN SOIL SCIENCE

MELBOURNE. AUGUST. 1957

This A u s t r a l i a - w i d e conference fo r s o i l s c i e n t i s t s w i l l take place a t Melbourne U n i v e r s i t y from August 21s t t o 27 th . The conference i s feeing held under the ausp ices of the A u s t r a l i a n A g r i c u l t u r a l Council and i s be ing convened "by the C . S . I . R . O . , in conjunct ion wi th i n t e r e s t e d V i c t o r i a n Departments . Among the d i s t i n g u i s h e d overseas v i s i t o r s w i l l be Professor G-.D. Sherman of Hawaii, and Dr. J .K. Dixon, A s s i s t a n t D i r e c t o r of the So i l Bureau, D . S . I . R . , New Zealand, bo th of whom w i l l l ead d i s c u s s i o n s on c o n t r i b u t e d p a p e r s .

A major aim of the Organis ing Committee has been t o s t imu la t e the d i s c u s s i o n of papers , and t o al low the d e l e g a t e s t o have the f u l l e s t oppor tun i ty t o prepare t h e i r comments, the p r e - p r i n t e d papers w i l l be d i s t r i b u t e d a t l e a s t a f o r t -n i g h t before the conference b e g i n s . De lega tes r e q u i r i n g accommodation w i l l be housed a t Ormond Col lege , w i t h i n the U n i v e r s i t y grounds , and t h i s should encourage the informal meetings which a re such an impor tan t pa r t of any conference .

To those who are a t t e n d i n g the conference , the S e c r e t a r i e s make an u rgen t p l e a : I f you have not a l r eady t o l d them you are coming and what your accommodation requ i rements a r e , then p lease do so a t once! If your r e p l y was on the o r i g i n a l A.S.S.S. q u e s t i o n n a i r e , then please confirm wi th the S e c r e t a r y .

SUMMARIES OF TALKS

Comments on Overseas V i s i t . 1 95,6 - summary of an address given by Mr. R. Brewer. C .S . I .R .O . D i v i s i o n of S o i l s , t o the ACT Branch: ~"

The i n t e r e s t s of the v i s i t were d iv ided between f i e l d and l a b o r a t o r y wi th l a b o r a t o r y v i s i t s aimed c h i e f l y a t s o i l microscopy and f i e l d v i s i t s a t s o i l i n s p e c t i o n s .

(a ) S o i l microscopy - Techniques i n use c o n s i s t of t h i n s e c t i o n s , s tereofluoroscopy, f ine sand mineralogy, phase c o n t r a s t microscopy, po l i shed b l o c k s , d e b r i s p r e p a r a t i o n s and p e e l s .

Broadly, t he re are two groups of workers wi th r a t h e r d i f f e r e n t p o i n t s of v iew. One group, working mainly i n Europe, tends t o c l a s s i f y mic rofabr ics b road ly and i n t e r p r e t t h e i r h i s t o r y of development in terms of c l imate and b i o l o g y . The o ther group, working c h i e f l y outs ide Europe, t ends t o s tudy complete p r o f i l e s and a t tempt t o i n t e r p r e t the p r o -cesses of format ion of i n d i v i d u a l micromorphologlcal phenomena.

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Kubiena "belongs to the f i r s t group. He i s by far the most experienced and controvers ia l worker in so i l micro-morphology. He s tudies s o i l materials as such, r a the r than p ro f i l e s , by means of the stereomicroscope and th in sec t ions . He contends that the h i s to ry of so i l materials can be i n t e r -preted from a small piece, since they w i l l r e t a i n some c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e i r mode of formation i r respec t ive of subsequent a l t e r a t i o n s . His l a t e s t work has been on the development of red colourations and iron separations in s o i l s . These, he considers , r e s u l t from one of the two processes rubef icat ion and l a t e r i s a t i o n , which have rperated on a widespread so i l material of Ter t iary origin which he c a l l s braunlehm. Thus, with zu ta f ica t ion , under an a l t e r n a t e l y wet and dry climate braunlehm changes through a sequence of fabr ics to Roterde6 With a cont inual ly hot wet cl imate, any of these stages can be l a t e r i s e d .

Several points were made as a r e su l t of advances in s o i l microscopy:-

( i ) The necess i ty for bui lding up a fund of da ta , ( i i ) The need for names and def in i t ions for individual

phenomena and complete fabr ics to simplify desc r ip t ion ,

( i i i ) The proven fact of strong heterogeneity in most s o i l horizons so tha t analyses of ground materials are r e l a t i v e l y meaningless compared with the inform-at ion which could be obtained by so i l d i ssec t ion and analys is of the separated p a r t s .

(b) Weathering and s o i l genesis - L i t t l e work i s being done on weathering and s o i l genes is . Whiteside 's school at the Universi ty of Michigan i s studying quant i ta t ive changes in s o i l prof i les by X-ray analysis, t r e a t i ng quartz as a s table mineral. Bloomfield, Thorp and several others are studying changes in s o i l materials under the influence of l ea f - l eacha tes , chelat ing agents , e t c . , in the laboratory . Jackson's idea of a weathering sequence of c lay-s ize minerals seems to be in conf l ic t with Fieldes and Swindale's hypothesis for r e s i l i c a t i o n , while some r e s u l t s indicate l i t t l e or no change in clay mineralogy with degree of weathering. With regard to weathering, the only mineral which has been studied a t a l l in tensively i s the mica group.

Points brought out in discussion were:-

(i) Too loose generalisations on the rate and kind of weathering have been made from individual studies.

(ii) The effect of leaching on weathering has not been sufficiently emphasised,,

(iii) Micas are the most suitable minerals at present on , n

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which to base the degree of weathering of a p ro f i l e , but no one c r i t e r i o n i s suf f ic ient in i t s e l f .

(c) Class i f ica t ion - I t was pointed out tha t there are innumerable r e l a t i v e l y incompatible c l a s s i f i c a t i o n systems in use in various parts of the world a t the present time having d i f ferent bases, groupings and purposes. As a r e s u l t , i t was suggested -

( i ) That Austral ian pedologists should aim at a c l a s s i -f i ca t i on of Austra l ian s o i l s without reference to other c l a s s i f i c a t i o n systems.

( i i ) That t h i s should be a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of s o i l s and should not be confused with a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of areas of s o i l , i . e . s e t t i ng up the un i t s or groups in the c l a s s i f i c a t i o n system should not be f e t t e red by considerations of so i l mapping.

( i i i ) The c l a s s i f i c a t i o n should be as genetic as i s possible and should allow for modification as knowledge of genesis grows.

New Discoveries by New Zealand Agricul tura l Microbiologists and Biochemists - summary of an address given by Dr. R. J . Swaby to the SA Branch:

The work at Taita aimed to follow changes in the microbial populations in h i l l country when v i rg in so i l was broken up and sown to pasture or allowed to rever t to f o r e s t . Experiments were being carr ied out on three kinds of s o i l , associated with ash, greywacke and mica-schist r e spec t ive ly . Dr. Swaby described the contr ibut ion made to the study by mycologist, b a c t e r i o l o g i s t , protozoologist , biochemist and others , and wondered whether the scope of the experiment was not too wide to give an answer to the questions posed.

Morrison, working on the uptake of P*2 by pines with

and without mycorrhiza found that in both groups P was taken up in two s tages :

( i ) the i n i t i a l s t age , rapid with mycorrhizal t rees but slow with those without mycorrhiza, and

( i i ) the secondary s tage , slow with the mycorrhizal t r ees and f a s t e r with those without mycorrhiza.

The net r e s u l t was that, from s o i l s adequately supplied with P, there was grea te r uptake of phosphorus by t r ees with mycorrhiza than by those without, but in P def ic ient s o i l s the reverse appliedo

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The work by Walker and Adams on so i l organic matter had shown that the r a t i o s of C:N:S:P were approximately as 100:7*6:1 :1 .5 and tha t large amounts of N, P and S were locked up in t h i s organic matter and immobilised. There was a good cor re l a t ion between organic matter and cat ion exchange capacity - 1 p.c* carbon being roughly equivalent to four mi l l iequivalents of exchangeable ca t ion .

The buildup of organic matter in grassland s o i l s caused an increased ac id i ty which had to be countered by liming.

At the symposium on ni trogen f ixa t ion , Allison, of Crop Research Division of D.S. I .R. , described some work with label led ni t rogen from which he concluded t h a t , in the f ixa t ion of atmospheric nitrogen by Azotobactor v ine land i i . glutamic acid was the f i r s t organic intermediate, and tha t t h i s then entered in to the formation of a peptide, which may act as a sor t of s tore of amino acids*

Sears, Ayde and Greenwood (Grasslands Division of D.S.I .R.) dea l t with the mechanics of es tab l i sh ing pastures on the l i g h t , powdery, pumice s o i l s , and Davies and Stockdi l l (Rukahia) described f i e l d experiments in which i t was found tha t small amounts of tungsten could a t l e a s t p a r t i a l l y replace molybdenum in Mo def ic ien t s o i l .

Factors involved in the underground t r ans fe r of ni t rogen from clover to associated grasses were described by Butler and Bathurst, of the Plant Chemistry Division of D.S.I .R. As much as 72 l b . of N per acre per annum was t ransfer red underground mainly by nodule and root sloughing brought about by decap-i t a t i o n and other f a c t o r s .

Dr. Swaby finished his t a l k with a summary of what he described as the most i n t e r e s t i ng paper of the whole meeting, v i z . , a descr ip t ion by Dr. Cone of ni trogen f ixa t ion by a non-leguminous plant , native to New Zealand - Coprosma robusta . Taking precautions to avoid a l t e rna te routes for N f ixa t ion , Dr. Cone's experiments were strong evidence tha t coprosma plants fixed atmospheric nitrogen and tha t associated rye grass (for example) benefited from the W so f ixed.

Soil Survey and Soil Science in Forestry Research - summary of an address given by Mr. H. D. Waring. Forestry and Timber Bureau, to the ACT Branch:

The study of fores t s o i l s i s a d i s t i n c t branch of s o i l sc ience. The same basic s o i l i s being studied, but the economics, general lack of cu l t iva t ion and other c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the crop make fores t so i l s a special ised study. Invest igat ions in to fo res t s o i l s are l a rge ly s tudies of "wild" land and the pr inciples of ecology must always be kept in mind.

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An understanding of the precise relationship existing "between a tree association and the soil is frequently essential for proper management of indigenous forest.

Essentially, research into forest boils resolves itself into investigations of the relationship existing between soil characteristics and the growth and health of trees. Some important aspects are:

(i) Chemical: level of chemical nutrients present compared with known requirements.

(ii) Physical: soil moisture; space for rootsj texture, structure, aeration.

crop: Certain problems arise because of the nature of the

(1 ) Depth of root penetration makes soil sampling difficult in that the whole of the solum must be studied. In addition, the nature of the underlying parent material must be known.

(2) Length of the rotation affects availability of nutrients and makes it difficult to complete studies,

(3) The low fertility requirements of trees in general. Great extremes of soil are utilised and frequent attempts are made by forest authorities to use very poor soils.

(i|) The production of woody tissue is studied rather than the quantity of fruit. This may have a bearing on some rather inexplicable cases of a lack of response to certain fertilizers.

(5) The spacing at which individual trees are planted and the necessary thinning schedule.

These factors affect many experiments adversely, especially field experiments. The following important effects can be listed:

(a) Field experiments must necessarily cover large areas introducing many additional variable factors, e.g. soil type, aspect, drainage, stocking, etc.

(b) High costs of establishment and maintenance due to longevity, area covered, and the fact that some fertilizers must be applied at a heavy rate,

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(c) Greater doubt of the inferences that can be drawn from pot experiments with young trees,.

In addition, of course, forest fires are not uncommon and one fire can destroy years of painstaking work.

Some important problems being studied by the Commonwealth Forestry and Timber Bureau are;

1.a. General nutritive requirements cf the important exotic specieso

b. Similar requirements of indigonous species.

2. Soil Moisture -

a. The so i l moisture "balance sheet" under stands of the various species,. Effect of periodic drought upon various spp. , e . g . "Dead Top".

b . Effect of imnning upon the water regime.

c. Does thinning re l ieve the effect of periodic drought? If so, for how long? There i s evidence that roots and water consumption build up a f te r thinning,,

d. Does the thinned fores t eventual ly use as much as an unthinned stand? How long i s i t before t h i s happens?

3 . Long Term Soil Changes - Effect of the fores t on the

s o i l .

l\. Soil Survey - especially of areas considered to be potentially suitable for plantations of introduced species.

As far as the general nutrition of Pinus spp. is concerned, the only very significant responses in Australia have been from phosphorus and zinc, In the USA, reed pine and white pine have responded to potassium and magnesium. The writer considers that the general lack of response to applications of nitrogen is anomalous in view of the importance of vegetative growth in forestry, and the general low level cf nitrogen in Australian forest soils. It is considered that this lack of response may be due to the necessity of relieving some other more limiting factor or to the form of nitrogen used. Further investigation of this issue is proceedings

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TECHNICAL MOTES

(1 ) _TJig__C.09.stal Sand Dunes of Southern Queensland_-^ tE,Coaldrake: The large coastal is lands - Moreton, Stradbroke, Bribie

and Fraser - and portions of the mainland fronting the beach carry a massive aggregation of sand dunes; the t o t a l area i s approximately -1,500 square miles. Individual dunes reach to a height of 900 feet (700 feet i s common) and there are large areas with a basement height of IjOO - 500 f ee t . All of t h i s i s s i l i ceous sand.

These dunes have been discussed spasmodically by geologis t s , especia l ly with regard to the i r age and mode of bu i ld ing . They are , however, a po ten t i a l ly r ich source of information to so i l s c i e n t i s t s . In spi te of the i r being formed of pure quartz sand of ex t raord inar i ly low nutr ient s t a t u s , they carry a dense cover of vegetat ion including large areas of Eucalyptus forest and sub- t ropical r a in forest 100 feet in height . Podzolisation ( r ea l podzolisation) i s an act ive process in these a reas ; there i s an equivalent to the "egg-cup" Podzols of New Zealand; multiple prof i les occur in the valleysr Ground-W3ter Podzols cover extensive areas on the flanks of the main dune systems; extremely acid bog-peats and mound peats occur in the val leys between dunes - one peat was proved to a depth of 19 f e e t . Final ly, these s i l i ceous sands contrast sharply with the calcareous sands so common in southern Aus t ra l i a .

These, and other matters r e l a t i n g to these sand dunes, w i l l be discussed in a se r i e s of papers now in preparat ion.

(2) Mechanical Core-sampling Soil Borer - C.B. Wells: In an attempt to reduce the amount of time and labour

required to take r ep l i ca t e so i l prof i le samples over and above the ones taken from a p i t , a cheap, hand-operated core sampler was developed in Adelaide in 1955. With t h i s machine, i t was possible to take a to le rab ly good two-inch diameter core from a prof i le three feet deep. This could be done by one man in twenty to t h i r t y minutes in a moist, f r i a b l e , well-drained s o i l , but, under dry conditions, or i f the clays were p l a s t i c , i t might take up to three hours, and considerable exert ion to achieve a reasonable sample. The machine was in two par ts and consisted e s sen t i a l ly of a sampling tube which f i t t e d through the hollow centre column of a boring s p i r a l . The sampling tube was hammered by approximately s ix- inch increments into the ground, and between each advancement the surrounding so i l dug out by turning the borer . This equipment had the advantage that i t was cheap, portable and simple, to the extent of-being most unl ikely to go wrong. I t produced a sample decidedly adequate for so i l purposes and one which was a lso considered very sui table for carrying out r e l i a b l e routine physical measurements.

/2 2.

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The success of the hand equipment led to designs for mechanising i t , not only with the idea of cu t t ing down the work and time required per sample taken, but because i t was found that in some s o i l s , especial ly, for instance, those with a th ick horizon of powdery diffuse carbonate in predominating amounts, the length of the core taken out was less than the depth to which the sampler had penetrated. That t h i s may have been the d i rec t r e su l t of hammering the sampling tube in to the ground seems to be crnfirmed by the near absence up to date of such an effect when the mechanical equipment i s used. In cases where the depth to or thickness of ce r ta in horizons may have important ag r i cu l t u r a l implicat ions, i t i s obviously preferable to be able to use the t ruer reading given by the mechanical borer . The mechanical borer can furthermore bo economically used in the f i e ld over a longer period of the year than the hand one. In November, 1956, i t took nearly three hours to get a three foot profi le a t the Waite I n s t i t u t e using the hand borer, and only four minutes for a very much b e t t e r sample from the mechanical one in an adjacent pos i t ion .

The mechanical sampler has not yet been t r i ed under routine so i l survey condit ions: t h i s i s about to s t a r t at the time of wr i t i ng . But from the few samples taken so far in red-brown ea r ths , i t can be said that i t i s possible to give a very r e l i a b l e descr ip t ion of the so i l profi le a t the s i t e since there i s no d iscernible disturbance of the material taken in the core . To date , depths greater than six feet have not been inspected in t h i s way.

(3) Boron Toxici»y in Pine Seedlings - J .D. Hughes; An in t e r e s t i ng problem i s reported from the Queensland

Department of Agriculture concerning boron tox ic i ty in pine seedlings at the Hancock and Gore Nursery, Emu Vale.

A disorder developed in those seedlings growing in shaded sect ions of the nursery. Following ra in , severe •burning occurred on the fo l iage , followed by s tunt ing , branching and d i s t o r t i o n of the growing po in t s . Those plants in unshaded areas developed none of the symptoms.

I t seemed possible tha t the disorder was due to the fact that the shades had been constructed from timber which had been t rea ted with borax to combat borer in fes t a t ion , and that some cf t h i s borax was being dissolved by the ra in , carr ied downwards to the so i l and s e t t i ng up tox ic i ty condi t ions .

An analysis of s o i l s and plants from affected and non-affected areas gave tho following r e s u l t s : -

/23 .

- 2k -

ppm. a v a i l . Boron

s o i l from e f fec ted area 32.00

s o i l from non-affoctod area 0.88

ppm. t o t a l Boron

a f f ec t ed p l a n t s M\0,0

hea l thy p l a n t s 13 .5 These r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e c l e a r l y t h a t the t r oub l e was due

t o boron t o x i c i t y .

(k) Exchangeable Sodium in Alka l ine and Sa l ine S o i l s - J .T .Hut ton : ""The de t e rmina t ion of exchangeable c a t i o n s in a l k a l i n e

and s a l i n e s o i l s by the u sua l method of l e ach ing wi th N/1 ammonium c h l o r i d e (1 ) i s t h e o r e t i c a l l y and p r a c t i c a l l y d i f f i c u l t . This has been recognised by o the r s and the s t a f f of the United S t a t e s S a l i n i t y Laboratory (2) has developed a method of a n a l y s i s of the s a t u r a t i o n e x t r a c t of s o i l s and, from the r e s u l t s ob ta ined , the percentage of exchangeable sodium can be c a l c u l a t e d . The c a l c u l a t i o n i s based on the sodium a d s o r p t i o n r a t i o def ined as -

Na + / , / ' ( C a + + +

Mg++

) / 2 , where Na + , Ca

+ +, and Mg

++

r e f e r t o the c o n c e n t r a t i o n of the c a t i o n expressed in m.equiv. per l i t r e i n the s a t u r a t i o n e x t r a c t . The adso rp t ion r a t i o i s r e l a t e d t o the exchangeable sodium i n the s o i l (expressed a© a percentage of the t o t a l c a t i o n exchange capac i t y ) by an exp re s s ion der ived from the study of 59 s o i l samples from the wes te rn s t a t e s of U.S.A.

The same exp re s s ion has been found t o hold for 25 s o i l samples from southern A u s t r a l i a on which exchangeable metal ions have been determined by the usua l l e a c h i n g wi th ammonium c h l o r i d e . The exchangeable sodium in these s o i l s ranged from 1 t o 3k percent of the t o t a l c a t i o n s and the s tandard d e v i a t i o n for the c a l c u l a t e d value of percentage sodium s a t u r a t i o n was 1 . 5 .

0 ) P i p e r , C.S. (19^2) - So i l and P l an t AnalysiB - Univ. of Adelaide

(2) United S t a t e s S a l i n i t y Labora tory S ta f f (19510 -Diagnosis and improvement of s a l i n e and a l k a l i n e s o i l s - U .S . Dept . A g r i c . A g r i c . Handb. No. 60

/ 2 5 .

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(5) Neutron Soil Moisture Meter - J.W, Holmes: The measurement of the water content of soil by neutron scattering is a promising technique for following seasonal soil moisture changes in the field, Overseas work and recent work in the Division of Soils has demonstrated that in situ measurement of moisture profiles is possible, causing negligible disturb­ance of the soil and the root zone of plants growing nearby. An advantage of the method is that the same volume of suil -several cubic feet in size - may be measured at regular intervals of time, if it is desired to measure the time change of soil moisture storage, This eliminates the error which soil variability introduces when different samples are compared.

During the summer and autumn just past (1957), measurements of the moisture profile of a red-brown earth soil have been made, under both fallow and pasture, near Adelaide. There was a negligible evaporation of water from the soil whose surface was a bare fallow between the dates 9th January and 6th May, the beginning and ending of the experiment. The pasture had dried the soil considerably by the 9th January and had either died or become dormant by that date. Thereafter, it also lost very little water by evaporation. Other measure­ments of evaporation are proceeding at sites near Meningie, in the Upper South East of South Australia,

A portable neutron meter is now available commercially. It is manufactured in Adelaide, to specifications of the Division of Soils, Field experience with it is as yet limited to about 9 months' use, during which time it has performed satisfactorily.

(6) The Possible Occurrence of Parna in Queensland - R.F,Isbell: In recent years, due mainly to the efforts of Mr, B.E.Butler

and others of the G.S.I.R.O. Division of Soils, attention has been drawn to the extensive occurrence in south-eastern Australia of certain aeolian deposits of varying thickness. This material has been called parna and its properties and relationships have been discussed in several recent papers,

Queensland soil workers have thus been interested to ascertain if such material is also present in this State, as Mr. B.E. Butler has already stated that evidence suggesting the presence of parna has been obtained near the Queensland-New South Wales border in the vicinity of Goodooga, south-west of Dirranbandi. A recent reconnaissance soil survey of the St, George district in south-west Queensland has indicated that it is more than likely that parna is present in this region. In particular, there is a widespread occurrence of the dense grey acid clay similar to the Katandra layer at Deniliquin, That aeolian activity has been active in this region in the past is shown by the extensive occurrence of ,

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sand sheets and dunes, many of which do not bear any r e l a t i on to the drainage pat tern of e i the r present or pr ior streams as i s so commonly the case in the Riverine Plain of New South Wales.

Further to the ea s t , in the general region centred around Goondiwindi and extending in te rmi t t en t ly nurthwards at l ea s t as far as the Tropic of Capricorn, there i s a widespread sheet of clay s o i l s supporting a dense vegetation of brigalow. Theee clay s o i l s (normally very strongly gi lgaied) possess sev3ral unusual fea tu res , the chief being the i r wide-spread uniformity and frequent extremely acid nature a t often shallow depths. Attention has been focussed on these so i l s for some time, and, in a recent jo in t paper submitted for publ icat ion, G.D. Hubble and R.F. I s b e l l have advanced the p o s s i b i l i t y that some at leas t of t h i s clayey material may represent parna. Further work on t h i s question i s a t present in progress by the Bureau of Invest igat ion and the C.S.I.R.O. Division of So i l s ,

(7) Coolum Field Stat ion - A. McDonald: The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock's 1,930-acre Coolum Field Sta t ion i s located on typica l "Wallum" country approximately 100 miles north of Brisbane. Wallum i s the term commonly applied to some three to four million acres of coastal Queensland between the southern border and Rockhampton.

Major features are very low f e r t i l i t y , poor drainage, a predominantly summer r a i n f a l l of 1+0 - 70 inches, and proximity to major towns, road and r a i l communications. Topography, vegetation and s o i l s exhibi t a ra ther wel l -def ined 'pa t te rn in which the major associa t ions are t ea - t r ee swamps with a peaty layer overlying clay, t r e e l e s s heathland with 2 - 5 f t . of sand above a sandy organic hardpan several feet thick, and low r idges carrying poor c lass eucalypt f o r e s t . On th i s l a s t c l a s s , t e a - t r e e appears where drainage i s poor and the s o i l ranges from a sandy loam at the surface to clay at a few f e e t .

At Coolum, inves t iga t ions have been focussed mainly on heathland and associated so i l types while, a t other loca t ions , the C.S.I.R.O. i s working on more elevated wallum country. A typ ica l analysis of a heath so i l i s pH U.8, ava i lab ls P2O5 10-20 ppm., t o t a l nitrogen .03- ,06^, t o t a l exchangeable cat ions l e s s than 2 m.e.%. Experimental work has included drainage (a p r e - r equ i s i t e , in most cases, to c u l t i v a t i o n ) , r a i s i n g of the nut r ien t s t a tus of the s o i l , introduct ion and t e s t i n g of plant species , and management. Successful crops cf pineapples have been grown economically, but most work has been done on pasture grasses and legumes, mainly t rop ica l and sub- t ropical species . Invest igat ions

/2 V.

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have progressed to the stage of conducting small-scale grazing t r i a l s on pasture mixtures.

NEW MEMBERS

.^.Churchward, H.M.

*~ Co l l i s -George , N.

Edye, L.A.

—Jackson, D.L.

^-McLachlan, K.D.

~>Muirhead, W.A.

-"Rixon, A.J .

,- Sless , J .B .

—Steinbergs, A.

"-Tracey, J.G.

—Webb, L.J.

ACT CSIRO Division of Soils

NSW University of Sydney

Q CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

NSW University of Sydney

ACT CSIRO Division of Soils

NSW Soil Conservation Service, Hay

Q Department of Agriculture and Stock, Atherton

NSW Soil Conservation Service, Kempsey

ACT CSIRO Division of Soils

Q CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

Q CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

HONORARY MEMBER (for the period of his visit to Australia)

Dr. G.D. Sherman, Senior Professor of Soil Science, and Chairman of the Department of Soil Science and Agronomy, University of Hawaii.

TRANSFER

Little, I.P. - from NSW Branch to Qld. Branch.

RESIGNATION

Emms, E.M. (Mrs.) - SA Branch.

Membership of the Society now totals 156.