14 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



tion of this crop. However, its production in conjunction with peas 

 and beans is coming to be an established practice, particularly in 

 eastern North Carolina and Virginia. 



Tomatoes are produced upon this soil only for market-garden 

 purposes. The early varieties are planted and shipped in baskets 

 to the city market. For the canning crops, other finer textured soils 

 are, and should be, selected. 



Cucumbers, lettuce, and eggplant are somewhat unusual crops 

 upon the Norfolk sand, since they produce larger yields and a better 

 quality upon the finer grained soils usually found associated with it 

 in the majority of trucking districts. 



Among the small -fruit crops the early varieties of straAvberries 

 are most extensively grown upon the Norfolk sand. This type of soil 

 produces the earliest berries which find their way to the northern 

 market, and, while the yields are not particularly high, still the 

 higher prices secured for early berries warrant the extension of 

 strawberry cultivation upon the type. Dewberries and blackberries 

 may also be produced to advantage upon the Norfolk sand where 

 the market for these exist, and where a particularly early crop is 

 desired. 



Among the tree fruits peaches are the only ones which may be 

 grown to any advantage upon the Norfolk sand, and the planting of 

 peach orchards upon this type may only be advocated in the North 

 Atlantic States. The life of the trees is usually short, but the qual- 

 ity and color of the fruit are exceptionally fine. For box shipments 

 of peaches in small-sized carriers, the Norfolk sand probably excels 

 any other soil of the North Atlantic coastal region. 



In more southern localities some pecan orchards have been planted 

 upon the Norfolk sand. None of these have attained to such ma- 

 turity that the value of the soil for pecan production can be estimated. 

 In general other soil types of the section, particularly the Norfolk 

 sandy loam and the Norfolk fine sandy loam, are rather better suited 

 to the production of this crop. 



Cover crops for green manuring. One of the great problems of 

 the trucker or market gardener is to secure an adequate supply of 

 organic matter for the maintenance of the producing capacity of his 

 soil. Wherever city supplies of stable manure may be secured, this 

 method is usually employed. It is attended, however, by considerable 

 expense. The methods employed by the trucker are such that he is 

 forcing his crop to the earliest possible maturity, and frequently the 

 land upon which the vegetables are produced is free from any mar- 

 ket crops by the month of June. In the majority of areas this 

 leaves a considerable growing period during which either later sea- 

 son truck crops may be produced or some valuable forage or cover 

 crop may occupy the land. 



