410 



BOTANICAL SUHVKY OF DISMAL SWAMP REGION. 



CULTURAL FORMATIONS. 



FIKI,I> CRO] 



An extended account of the agricultural products of the region 

 would not be in place here, but will be presented in another section 

 of this report. Vet some discussion of the cultural formations is nec- 

 essary to a complete description of the plant covering. The valuable 

 bodies of cultivated land that have been reclaimed from the wooded 



Fi<i. 77. — Erianthus canturtus ulon^ a ditch noiir Portsmouth, Va. 



swamps are included in this subdivision of the subject, because it is, 

 of course, impossible to regard them as any longer forming a parti of 

 the hygrophile vegetation. 



Qarden vegetables. — The principal field crops of the region east, of 

 the western border of the Dismal Swamp are, first and foremost, cer- 

 tain table vegetables and fruits, which are cultivated on a large scale, 

 this being well known as one of the principal market-garden or "truck- 

 ing" areas along the Atlantic coast. Of these plants, Irish potatoes 

 hold the first place in quantity grown, with cabbages second, and 



