THE NORFOLK SAND. 9 



in maintaining the soil moisture supply essential for the production 

 of large yields per acre. Deep plowing upon the Norfolk sand is not 

 generally to be recommended as it tends to break up any compact- 

 ness in the structure of the subsoil and lessens its moisture-folding 

 capacity. 



It would be impossible in the case of such highly specialized 



as those which are produced upon the truck farms and especially*"" 

 under varying conditions of previous treatment of the soil, of attend- 

 ant climatic surroundings, and of presence or absence of an adequate. 

 organic matter supply in the surface soil, to recommend any particu- 

 lar fertilizers for use upon the Norfolk sand. In general it may 

 be said that in the trucking areas a sufficient amount of experi- 

 mentation has been conducted by the individual trucker so that each 

 one knows, within general limits, the kinds of fertilizers which will 

 be of the greatest value to him in the production of certain crops. 



There are a few general principles which may be modified to meet 

 local conditions under different circumstances of previous soil treat- 

 ment, of the class of crops to be grown, and of the methods of tillage 

 to be adopted. In the production of such crops as spinach, cabbage, 

 and lettuce it is frequently a good practice to lime the soil heavily 

 before the crop is to be grown. The form which this application is 

 to take depends largely upon the cost of the different forms of lime 

 in the different localities where it is to be used. Burned stone lime 

 or lump lime, which may be secured either by the barrel or in carload 

 lots, is the most effective for agricultural purposes. This material 

 must first be slaked and then when finely powdered, it must be evenly 

 distributed over the surface of the land and incorporated by harrow- 

 ing to the depth of 2 or 3 inches in the surface soil. Some econ- 

 omy in the use of lime is secured through its purchase in this form, 

 as it contains no extraneous materials such as water or carbon dioxide 

 to add to its bulk. 



EXTENT OF OCCUPATION. 



There is a wide variation in the degree to which the Norfolk sand 

 is occupied for agricultural purposes in the different districts where 

 it occurs. Wherever there is adequate transportation to the northern 

 markets, practically all of the favorably situated areas of the Nor- 

 folk sand in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and eastern North 

 Carolina have beer! used for the production of extra early vegetable 

 crops. Throughout all of this general region it is interesting to note 

 that the truckers have learned the adaptations of this type to such a 

 degree that in a single field under tillage to truck crops there will 

 be a careful selection of those crops suited to the warm, loose, porous, 

 early Norfolk sand as distinguished from crops which are habitually 

 planted upon the finer sandy soils, or upon the associated sandy loams 

 and silt loams. 



6775 Cir. 4411 - 2 



