346 BOTANICAL SURVEY OF DISMAL SWAMP REGION. 



The Plain. It comprises the great bulk of those soils which are at 

 present of the highesl agricultural value. Tin 1 lighter, sandier soils, 

 which chiefly occur near tide water, are largely devoted to truck farm- 

 ing, the principal industry of the region. The ideal truck soil is light 

 in texture, well drained, and easily worked, and has but a small 

 natural content of organic matter. By a happy coincidence it is pre- 

 cisely this type of soil which usually borders tide water, not along 

 the outer shore, where the sterile beach and dunes occur, but along 

 the numerous bayous and estuaries which intersect the coastal plain 

 in so bewildering a fashion. The value of the truck lands is thus 

 enhanced by the protection against late and early frosts which the 

 neighborhood of the sea affords, and by the ease with which their 

 products can be shipped to a distance by water. 



These three conditions are almost essential to profitable market 

 gardening on a large scale when the object is, as here, to force vege- 

 tables to early maturity, in order that they may reach the large North- 

 ern cities well in advance of the home-grown product. Inland soils 

 can rarely compete with those lying in the immediate vicinity of salt 

 water: (1) Because they are usually too heavy, containing too high a 

 percentage of silt or of clay in proportion to their sand content, The 

 consequence is that they retain too much water and are slower to 

 warm up at the beginning of the season, while also they become cold 

 earlier in the fall than do lighter soils. For these reasons they an; 

 much more liable to the effects of late or of early frosts than soils 

 near the coast.. All these soil conditions are obstacles to the quick 

 development of early vegetables. (-2) Because they are too far from 

 the sea, with its moderating influence 1 upon temperature in spring and 

 fall ami with its facilities for cheap transportation. 



It must not be understood, however, that there is any single type 

 of soil which meets the requirements of all truck crops alike in the 

 fullest degree. A soil that is light, sandy, ami without a stiff clay 

 bottom to a depth of 4 or 5 feet is admirably adapted to sweet potatoes 

 and melons, but is less suitable for potatoes, strawberries, and peas, 

 while distinctly unfitted for cabbage and spinach. In such land a 

 ten or twelve days' drought will burn out potatoes. 



In the fine truck region about Norfolk two well-defined types of 

 soil are recognized by some farmers. One is a light loam, possessing 

 only a thin clay bottom, beneath which there is often a bed of quick- 

 sand. This type is best suited for growing strawberries, and yields 

 excellent cabbages, although it is not the finest kind of soil for the 

 latter vegetable. The second is characterized by a sandy soil 1:2 to IS 

 inches deep, with a subsoil of clay sometimes stiff enough to be used 

 for brick making. Potatoes and tomatoes are said never to rot in such 

 soil, as frequently happens when they are put into thai of the first 

 type. This is also considered a. superior soil for cucumbers. 



Certain of the truck crops, especially those which are sown in the 



