The effect of soil series, cultivation, soil depth, and parent material on the correction factor which should be applied to organic carbon values determined by the method of Walkley and Black, has been examined using 450 low‐activity‐clay soil samples from high rainfall tropical Queensland. There were minimal effects due to soil depth, and differences between virgin and cultivated soils were greatest in soils formed on beach sands. However, soils formed on granitic or metamorphic rocks require a factor of 1.24, whereas the originally recommended factor of 1.32 (Walkley and Black) has been confirmed for soils formed on basalt, alluvium, and beach sands.